“And now, a duet for you!” That’s the way Tiny Tim introduces his duet with himself, as both Sonny and Cher on a cover of their hit “I Got You, Babe.” That’s one of my favorites. There’s a nice list of “The 25 Greatest Duets of All Time” on Retrocrush: http://retrocrush.buzznet.com/archive2008/duets/index.html
Tiny Tim
It’s got some goodies, including Ray Charles and Betty Carter’s version of “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” Snoop and Dre’s “Nuthin But a G Thing,” and k.d. lang joining Roy Orbison on “Crying.” My favorite on the list is one I’d somehow missed: the unlikely pairing of KLF and Tammy Wynette on the song “Justified and Ancient.” Each of the 25 duets listed on Retrocrush includes the music video, and this one’s wonderful.
A few other favorite duets of mine: Mama Cass and Andy Williams (on his TV show) in a dueling duet of “Words” (Andy) and “Words of Love” (Cass); Willie Nelson teaming up with Toots Hibbert of Toots and the Maytals on the Putumayo compilation One World, Many Cultures on Willie’s song “Still is Still Moving to Me” (when I first heard Willie come in on the second verse of this reggae version he sounded like he’d wandered into the wrong party, but it grew on me); and my favorite Ray Charles duet, “The Night Time is the Right Time,” sung with Raelette Margie Hendricks and made famous in a Cosby show scene in which youngest daughter Rudy lip-synchs Margie’s part.
Most of the duets albums that pair a great singer with a variety of other singers aren’t very successful. The best ones are the happy accidents–the off-the-wall match-ups that work against all odds.
Running/Breathing 
