Amy Winehouse continues to be something of her own worst enemy. Whether she’s inviting a fellow singer with substance abuse issues to shack up with her (The Libertines’ Pete Doherty), lashing out at Back To Black producer Mark Ronson for taking too much credit for her success, or tweeting “My Dick” lyrics, such recent actions (the last just this morning) make it extraordinarly difficult to accept that the 27-year-old’s previous personal troubles are in the past.

Of course, even ardent Winehouse supporters like myself can’t help but be distracted by such frippery when the singer’s focus seems to be on everything but music, based on her public actions. I know I’m not alone in waiting impatiently for the follow-up to 2007’s Back To Black, the brilliant set that garnered her five Grammys, including Best New Artist, and won Ronson the Producer of the Year prize. Winehouse promised a new album was forthcoming in January, but no serious details have emerged since her announcement this summer.

Thus, the years-long delay means any new music by Winehouse warrants major attention, and microscopic dissection. On Q: Soul Bossa Nostra, a new album that finds artists like John Legend, Mary J. Blige, and Jennifer Hudson recording songs associated with legendary producer/composer musician Quincy Jones, Winehouse revisits Lesley Gore’s “It’s My Party.” The teen-pop drama spent two weeks at #1 in June 1963, marking the first hit single for both Jones and Gore.

Winehouse’s cover of “It’s My Party” was produced several months ago by Ronson, conjuring up a bit of that Back To Black magic. (The session, of course, pre-dated Winehouse’s Twitter taunts, though the singer has since wisley extended an olive branch or two). Reaction has been surprisingly negative, with some saying the singer simply slurrs her way through the classic tune, but I think her performance is quintessential warts-and-all Winehouse. I mean, listen to her spoken interlude, which includes these genius words (a nod to her own “You Know I’m No Good”): “Sisters come before carpet burns and blisters. I learned the hard way — again.” That’s why Winehouse’s rough-and-tumble revision of the otherwise too-precious-for-today “It’s My Party” totally works:

I will, however, absolutely allow that Winehouse’s recording isn’t the best cover song ever captured on tape, but when it comes to “It’s My Party,” it’s a marked improvement over the travesty committed by Kings Of Convenience a little over a year ago. 

Purchase Quincy Jones feat. Amy Winehouse – “It’s My Party” via iTunes, Amazon MP3.