Blogs | Daily Crasher
Under the Covers
By Josh Board | Posted June 27, 2008, 11:53 a.m.
It's weird. I've said this before. I can blog about something like the legal system. Or child abuse. And a few people comment. Yet, I do a list of the best comedians and that's where I get the most comments.
When I logged onto my computer today, I saw there was a list of the Top 5 cover songs and the worst 5 cover songs.
Celine Dion singing the AC/DC track "You Shook Me All Night Long." That was from Total Guitar Magazine, done by "music experts" calling it "sacrilege".
She performed the tune at a Vegas concert six years ago and it never got released, which to me means, it shouldn't even be on a list like this. Lots of bands have done songs in concert, like Nirvana covering the Doors "The End". You don't put them on lists.
"Cover versions have never been bigger," Total Guitar editor Stephen Lawson told the BBC News. "Producer Mark Ronson became a household name on the back of his quirky covers album, with Amy Winehouse's version of 'Valerie' outselling The Zutons' original."
I remember Guns N Roses doing an album called The Spaghetti Incident, which was all covers (their version of Dylans "Knocking on Heavens Door and McCarntney's Live and Let Die are both horrid...but I realize now that, I just hate Axl's voice, although it works well on their cover of Nazareth's "Hair of the Dog")
The top 5 worst cover songs (from Total Guitar Magazine): 1. Celine Dion singing AC/DC's "You Shook Me All Night Long" 2. Sugababes and Girls Aloud version of "Walk This Way," a huge hit for Aerosmith and Run DMC 3. Westlife's 1999 version of the ballad "More Than Words" by rock band Extreme 4. Will Young with his cover of The Doors' "Light My Fire" 5. The Mike Flowers Pops with their cover of Oasis' "Wonderwall"
The top 5 best cover songs: 1. Jimi Hendrix's performance of the Bob Dylan song "All Along the Watchtower" 2. The Beatles' rendition of "Twist and Shout," first recorded by the Top Notes 3. Guns N' Roses version of the Wings' song "Live and Let Die" 4. Nirvana's cover of "The Man Who Sold the World" by David Bowie 5. Muse's "Feeling Good," made famous by Nina Simone
Now…I mentioned my complaint with Celine. Regarding “Walk This Way,” I’d also like to say, I never much cared for the Run DMC cover. It got praised, but really, if a rap band was going to cover it, why have Aerosmith on it? That’s lame. Cover songs aren’t supposed to have the original musicians on it. As much as I love the Doors, on their CD of cover tunes, the surviving members played on the tracks. That, is completely lame. Now, you want to hear a smokin’ Doors cover tune…check out X doing “Soul Kitchen.” That’s everything a cover should be. It sounds nothing like the original. I mean, why cover a song, and make it sound “just like the record.” What’s the point?
Regarding “Light My Fire” on the subject of the Doors, why not slap Jose Felicianos version on there. It’s just awful. It came out a year after the original (which, by the way…why was that done so much in the 60s? A band like Buffalo Springfield would do Bluebird, then Joe Walsh/James Gang would cover it a year later, or CSN would do Wooden Ships and Jefferson Airplane would cover it…very odd).
For the list of best covers…Hendrix doing Watchtower, I think everyone agrees. I would also put both Manfred Man doing the Springsteen tunes “Blinded by the Light” and “Spirits in the Night”. Have you even heard the original by Springsteen? Actually, not a very good tune.
I never cared for the Beatles “Twist and Shout”. Love watching Bueller sing it on the float, sure. But, the song just doesn’t do it for me. I love hearing the Beatles cover Buddy Holly’s “Words of Love” and “Not Fade Away.” Oh wait, that was the Stones.
Nirvana doing Bowie. Well, you really can’t go wrong covering Bowie. Although, he went very wrong, when he covered Whiskey Bar…the song The Doors covered nicely. It’s Kurt Weill/Brecht, from the 20s “The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahoganny”.
Other songs I’d put on my list: Love Rod Stewart doing Tom Waits “Downtown Train,” and Love doing Bachrach’s “Little Red Book”.
So, what’s on your list of the best/worst cover tunes?
Johnny Cash - "Hurt". Love it. The video also brings a lot to the table. Even Reznor himself said the song was no longer his once he heard Cash's version and saw the video. Also dig Cash's cover of Soundgardens "Rusty Cage", but not a top 5'er. Cash has a lot of covers out there, kind of became the novelty in his later years. Hell though, if I was a writer I'd be stoked for Cash to do a cover of my song. Expect if my name was Tome Petty. Cash's version of "Won't Back Down" is TERRIBLE. In fact, Cash will probably be the only artist to make it in both my top 5 and bottom 5. I'm not going to consider Ring Of Fire as a cover, even though June wrote it. We'll say that's all in the family.
Like Cash, the Kinks are a group who artists will always cover. The Pretenders cover a few of their songs which I think are good. Not top 5 though. Plus, Chrissie Hyde looks like she could be related to Ray Davies. His much better looking female 3rd cousin.
"Hound dog" - I recently heard the original version of "Hound dog" by Big Mama Thorton. Her version BLOWS Elvis' out of the water. I still couldn't put his in my bottom 5, but her original is way higher up there then his.
"American Woman" - Lenny Kravitz. How the hell didn't this make the bottom 5 of this list you saw, I don't know. I actually like much of Lenny's work, but covers are not his thing. I can't even believe this track gets as much play as it does. It's absolute garbage.
"Higher Ground" - Red Hot Chili Peppers. Love it. I can see Stevie weaving his head side to side with this right now. No pun.
"Sweet Jane" - Cowboy Junkies. Better then the original for me and I'm a Velvet Underground fan.
"Wonder Wall" - Ryan Adams original Oasis. We could do without everything involved in this one. Be gone Oasis, be gone Wonderwall, be gone Ryan Adams...and take Brian Adams with you while you're at it.
"I Fought The Law" - covered by so many. I can deal with The Clash's version, even though I quickly switch stations anytime it comes on (which has to at least be 3 times a day), it isn't in my bottom 5. But really, nobody else needs to cover this one and yet, they do.
By towelheadedcameljockey 3:12 p.m., Jun 27, 2008 > Report it
"Wild Horses" - this is like the female version of "I Fought The Law". This just needs to come to a halt, hippies.
"Only The Lonely" - The Motels. Original is a classic, but the cover is pretty solid too and can run with the punches.
"Jolene" - The White Stripes. Even though White doesn't have the boobage that Parton does, I can definitely get down with the Stripes funk on this one. Actually, the Stripes have a few damn good covers they do.
Red Red Wine - UB40. Really UB40? Really? You needed to revive this song? But this brings me to something...someone recently told me how Neil Diamond credits Quentin Tarantino and Pulp Fiction for the revival of his career. Now, Urge Overkills cover of his "Girl, You'll Be A Woman" is in the movie, not his version. So, why is it that he thinks this saved him and not UB40's cover of Red Red Wine. I can't tell you how many douche bags still keep this song in rotation. Again, I don't understand why my ears even have to fear being subjected to such crap.
"Take Another Piece Of My Heart" - Joplin. Again, one I would never have known was a cover unless my friend with a big music brain pointed it out. I dig the cover though. Not top 5.
"Gone, Gone, Gone" - Allsion Krauss/Robert Plant. Great cover. Never listened to original until this version came out. To me the Krauss/Plant version is straight fire compared to the original. Could well be in my top 5.
"Sweet Dreams" - Manson. I'm actually not a fan of the song period whether it be the original or cover yet I'm just going to point out he took the original and improved on it it. Creepy is better then crap.
"Landslide" - Smashing Pumpkins. Anyone know that "Powder" was actually a bio-pic on Billy Corgan? Yep. I'm running with Fleetwood on this one. Even if Stevie does sound like a goat at certain points, I'll take it over Corgan.
This one can go on forever.
By towelheadedcameljockey 3:14 p.m., Jun 27, 2008 > Report it
Cash's version of Hurt. Amazing. Video, showing all those lines. So sad. But yeah, doing Rusty Cage...it sounds good, but it then became this novelty thing.
Ring of Fire is also nicely done on Wall of Voodoo's first album. And, done very funny by local comedian/singer Tim MacDonald (back in 70s/80s when he was with Texas Tuxedo then Bird & MacDonald...Ring of Fire was about catching VD...too dirty to print all the words).
Van Halen loved covering the Kinks. My fav was Where Have All the Good Times Gone.
Not only did Chrissie Hynde look like Ray Davies. She went and married him, for a brief time. Just imagine if they would've had kids. You wouldn't know whether to say they looked more like the dad or the mom.
Bib Mama Thorntons version does blow Elvis' out of the watre. Just like Carl Perkins original Blue Suede Shoes does, too.
Yeah, hate Kravitz version of American Woman. I hate Madonna's version of American Pie, while we're on "American" cover tunes. Does anyone cover Tom Petty's "American Girl"???
I totally dig the Peppers Higher Ground, but it's such a great song, I'm sure even Kravitz wouldn't be able to mess it up. I like the Peppers "Rollercoast of Love" better, though. More fun, more funk. Nice use of the bullhorn, too.
By the way, it's Bryan Adams, and Brian Wilson (beach boys).
I haven't heard any cover of "Only the Lonely." Would like to, though. Hard to beat Martha's sultry, torch sounding vocal delivery, though.
Hey...I Fought the Law....everyone should cover it. It's that good of a song.
And, I almost forgot. The best cover of all-time: Bow Wow Wow doing the Strangelove's I WANT CANDY, which, was sort of a cover of Bo Diddley, since the Strangelove's stole the beat from Mr. Diddley.
By JoshBoard 3:49 p.m., Jun 27, 2008 > Report it
Geez...I didn't even realize I only commented on half of your stuff. Uh, okay.
White STripes...I love Jacks energy when he covers Jolene. I was standing next to a couple at SOMA, that got in a huge fight when they did it. The guys wife didn't believe it was a Dolly Parton song. I just think it's odd he still sings the line "Don't take my man/just because you can." He has great energy and intensity when he sings it. I swear, a vein in his neck is about to pop.
I like their cover of Conquest, too. Which reminds me, Cake does some amazing covers. Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps. And, best of all, that cheesy disco crap "I Will Survive," they actually make cool.
I like that UB40 cover. Although, I prefer Deep Purple cover Neil with Kentucky Woman.
I bought the Robert Plant/Krause CD based on how much I loved Gone/Gone/Gone. The rest of the disc was okay, but kinda put me to sleep. (in my best Homer Simpson voice: Stupid bluegrass)
Sweet Dreams...I think I'd hate any version of this song.
By JoshBoard 3:55 p.m., Jun 27, 2008 > Report it
Jan and Dean's version of "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" is the only remake of a Beatle song I've ever heard that surpasses the original. Funny how no one has mentioned David Bowie's _Pinups_ album, or Bryan Ferry's contemporaneous _These Foolish Things_ record; db's version of "I Can't Explain" is easily the best remake of a Who song that I know of, tantalizingly slow and grinding. And yes, the Hendrix version of "All Along the Watchtower" is untouchable and reigns supreme.
By russl 4:10 p.m., Jun 27, 2008 > Report it
Yeah, I wasn't sure if it was Bryan or Brian, because of Ryan, so I just decided to go with the generic. Serves his parents right anyway for putting a frekin "y" where there is meant to be an "i". <in Stewie from Family Guy's voice> "Ohhh, let's be different. Yeah. Let's throw a y in Bryan, it's hip, it's cool. And we'll spell fat with a PH. Yeah".
I can't believe you like UB40's version of Red Red Wine. My image of these fans are always in the 40 plus age range, wearing white tube socks with black sandals, khaki shorts, Tommy Bahama button down beige shirt and one of those safari hats with a mini fan built in the front. They then proceed to sway side to side as the song plays on and get straight pumped when "Kokomo" comes into rotation right after. "Weekend At Bernie's" is usually their favorite movie.
I just realized that Annie Lennox and M. Manson actually look like they could be related too.
By towelheadedcameljockey 4:41 p.m., Jun 27, 2008 > Report it
Ugh. Cake is a damn good band, but that "I Will Survive" crap is not what I want to hear them covering. I don't want to hear anyone covering it. It's like "Sweet Dreams". One can improve a step up from crap, but only to a pre-turd.
They do several other covers which I dig.
When I was a tot I vaugly remember watching a California Raisins cartoon on Saturday mornings. All I remember is they sang a lot on the show. "I Heard It Through The Grape Vine" cover by these guys was all the hype when I was 6.
By towelheadedcameljockey 5:04 p.m., Jun 27, 2008 > Report it
CCR doing "Heard it Thru the Grapevine" vs Marvin Gaye. Tough call on which is better.
Russ: I actually like Eddie Vedder singing You've Got to Hide Your Love Away better. But Jan & Deans is sweet, too. It's hard to top the Beatles, fer sure. Aerosmith doing Come Together...well, they add some nice muscle to that track. I remember hearing the Georgia Satellites do a nice cover of "Don't Pass Me By." I thought it was an odd Beatles tune to cover. I read the liner notes, and they said something like "If we're going to cover a Beatles tune, best to cover one Ringo sings. Good idea!!!
By JoshBoard 11:08 p.m., Jun 27, 2008 > Report it
The most useless, completely unnecessary remake ever made: Midge Urine's version of "Living in the Past." There's no point in redoing a song that was definitive in its original version.
By russl 10:12 a.m., Jun 28, 2008 > Report it
It occurred to me only today, Josh, that one of the *best* interpretations, though hardly a "hit," was Quicksilver Messenger Service's remake of Hamilton Camp's simple acoustic "Pride of Man." If you know that song, you know that Quicksilver OWNS that song. And I realized that CSN&Y did very much the same thing with another very similar song: Joni Mitchell's "Woodstock." Again, a simple acoustic song, but Joni purists to the contrary, CSN&Y made that song their own. And the 4AD group This Mortal Coil deserves mention here too, being essentially the world's hippest cover band, whose remakes of several Tim Buckley songs were instrumental in the rediscovery of that unjustly forgotten performer. (Oh, and the late Country Dick Montana, God rest his sodden soul, used to call the San Diego Symphony a "35-piece cover band.")
By russl 12:13 a.m., Jul 10, 2008 > Report it
Nice post, russl. I like Quicksilver, but am not familiar with that song. That did start me thinking about so many 60s covers, though. Like the Airplane doing Wooden Ships (not nearly as good as CSN&Y). Or Vanilla Fudge doing perhaps the worst cover of the 60s -- You Keep Me Hangin' On.
I never liked the song Woodstock. Not sure why, though. Nice harmonies...it just annoys me, though.
By JoshBoard 1:39 a.m., Jul 15, 2008 > Report it
"You Keep Me Hangin' On"? That wasn't any worse than any other Fudge song. They all followed the same formula: a hard-rock remake of a popular song, slowed down to an agonizingly slow pace, and stretched out so long and so far, like a rubber band, that you swear it's going to snap any second now. In my fourth-grade class, they were the hip group to like, along with the Velvet Underpants. (This was in El Cajon in 1968. I later learned that Lester Bangs was hanging around an older brother or two and most likely having record parties with them.)
By russl 4:15 a.m., Jul 15, 2008 > Report it
Lester Bangs. Great writer. I always thought that would've been a great porn name.
By JoshBoard 1:42 a.m., Jul 17, 2008 > Report it