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Cover Songs in Music

Started by roadman65, October 20, 2012, 10:11:32 PM

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Hot Rod Hootenanny

Quote from: kphoger on November 16, 2012, 04:40:08 PM
Quote from: vtk on November 16, 2012, 04:31:27 PM
Quote from: kphoger on November 16, 2012, 04:22:11 PM
Another very notable example for me is Arlo Guthrie's City of New Orleans:  Other artists' covers used to make me grumble, but now I like them just as well as (some even better than) Guthrie's.

I don't think the original author of that song is known.  I've acquired as many versions of that song as I can find, looking for the version that a local classic rock station played several years ago; Arlo Guthrie's might be it, but I'm not sure.  And I can't decide if I like Guthrie or Cash better on this song…

vtk, you and I have some interesting similarities.  Maybe you should move to Kansas.  :)

I once saw Arlo Guthrie perform at Croce's bar in San Diego—sat about 15 feet from him a couple of tables away from Jim Croce's wife and some other big names.  Quite a surreal experience.  He had just been busted on drug charges, yet still performed Coming into Los Angeles, which might not have been the most appropriate thing to do...

Steve Goodman originally wrote 'City of New Orleans' in 1970.
Please, don't sue Alex & Andy over what I wrote above


vtk

Quote from: Hot Rod Hootenanny on November 16, 2012, 09:53:22 PM
Steve Goodman originally wrote 'City of New Orleans' in 1970.

Wikipedia says the song was released by Goodman in '71, and credits him as its original author, so yeah I guess the origins of the song aren't as mysterious as I thought.  I must have misremembered previous research on the matter.
Wait, it's all Ohio? Always has been.

Dr Frankenstein

#77
I just heard Nickelback's cover of Elton John's Saturday Night's Alright.

Not sure what to think here.

bugo

I think of suicide every time I hear any Nickelback song.

hbelkins

Quote from: Dr Frankenstein on November 17, 2012, 06:05:13 PM
I just heard Nickelback's cover or Elton John's Saturday Night's Alright.

Not sure what to think here.

Some metal band covered that back in the '80s. I think it was Flotsam & Jetsam, but I wouldn't swear to it.


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

vtk

Quote from: bugo on November 17, 2012, 06:09:39 PM
I think of suicide every time I hear any Nickelback song.

Totally! Most of the lyrics sound like drunken crying!
Wait, it's all Ohio? Always has been.

kphoger

Quote from: vtk on November 17, 2012, 08:48:48 PM
Quote from: bugo on November 17, 2012, 06:09:39 PM
I think of suicide every time I hear any Nickelback song.

Totally! Most of the lyrics sound like drunken crying!

No, you're thinking of The Cure.
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

roadman65

Did not Don McClean dislike Madonna covering his famed American Pie as it was sacred to him about the three deaths of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Vallens, and the Big Bopper?

Plus, I think that she had nerve to do it herself anyway.  She and McClean are on opposite sides in music and in other areas.  Why would she need to cover his (or anyones) song anyway.
Every day is a winding road, you just got to get used to it.

Sheryl Crowe

bugo

Madonna should cover herself with six feet of dirt.  She's a no-talent skank who has jumped on every trend and bandwagon.  I'm sure she's going to do a dubstep album next.

english si

Quote from: bugo on November 19, 2012, 01:23:17 AMI'm sure she's going to do a dubstep album next.
Nah, Madonna is more likely to dance naked Gangnam style. Actually, anything to show off her aging flesh in a desire to show that she's still got it (not that she has). It's tragic.

It's not that Madonna has jumped on every trend, her desire (like here clone Gaga) is to make a show of herself, being exhibitionist and breaking taboos. Infamy is just as good as fame for her - she needs the attention.

Special K

Quote from: bugo on November 17, 2012, 06:09:39 PM
I think of suicide every time I hear any Nickelback song.

Actually, I think of homicide.

roadman65

Hey Lady Gaga turned down a request to perform with Madonna.

Anyway back on topic, how about when Rodney Dangerfield covered the Beatles Twist and Shout in Back to School way back in the great 80's?  Was not the best version as Rodney is not known for his singing talent but his comical aspect mainly.  That is what made is so great among his request to the waitress in the bar he sang the song before singing it..
Every day is a winding road, you just got to get used to it.

Sheryl Crowe

Stephane Dumas

I dust-off this old thread to mention another song well covered. ;) 

Cat Stevens' song "The first cut is the deepest" was covered by Keith Hampshire who was #1 in Canada in 1973.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBccr-aLu4I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4HiSM-0rfY

And covered again by Rod Stewart in 1977
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoitegszoRc

More recently covered by Sheryl Crow in 2003
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dK9eLe8EQps

jp the roadgeek

Quote from: hbelkins on November 17, 2012, 08:30:43 PM
Quote from: Dr Frankenstein on November 17, 2012, 06:05:13 PM
I just heard Nickelback's cover or Elton John's Saturday Night's Alright.

Not sure what to think here.

Some metal band covered that back in the '80s. I think it was Flotsam & Jetsam, but I wouldn't swear to it.

The Who covered it in the early 90's, and it even included a bar of " Take me to the Pilot"

https://youtu.be/SdGc-RJ0_wU
Interstates I've clinched: 97, 290 (MA), 291 (CT), 291 (MA), 293, 295 (DE-NJ-PA), 295 (RI-MA), 384, 391, 395 (CT-MA), 395 (MD), 495 (DE), 610 (LA), 684, 691, 695 (MD), 695 (NY), 795 (MD)

1995hoo

Interesting timing on the thread revival. I just finished reading Brian Wilson's autobiography and seeing this thread prompts me to think of how some of his solo albums include re-recorded versions of Beach Boys songs (for example, Imagination features "Let Him Run Wild" and "Keep An Eye on Summer"). Does that count as a cover when he's the guy who wrote and composed the songs in the first place? I suppose his live album contains a ton of Beach Boys songs, but I wouldn't count that because it's pretty normal for a former member of a band to play that band's hits while touring.

I guess that raises the interesting question of whether his release of Smile might count as a cover album since the original Beach Boys album was, infamously, never released unless you count the 2011 boxed set The Smile Sessions; also, on Brian Wilson's version, he used the original lyrics for "Good Vibrations" rather than the lyrics made famous on the single released in 1966. I wouldn't think any of that counts as a "cover."
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

allniter89

Quote from: Stephane Dumas on November 05, 2012, 04:24:12 PM
Speaking of Johnny Cash, let's mention also his cover of Nine Inch Nails of Hurt made before he passed away.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmVAWKfJ4Go

BRAVO Johnny!!! Thats a heavy video! RIP with June, Johnny. Thanks for all the great music.
BUY AMERICAN MADE.
SPEED SAFELY.

bugo


jp the roadgeek

Interstates I've clinched: 97, 290 (MA), 291 (CT), 291 (MA), 293, 295 (DE-NJ-PA), 295 (RI-MA), 384, 391, 395 (CT-MA), 395 (MD), 495 (DE), 610 (LA), 684, 691, 695 (MD), 695 (NY), 795 (MD)

Takumi

Dusting this thread off for Lana Del Rey doing a fantastic live cover of Nirvana's Heart-Shaped Box in 2013.
https://youtu.be/rPIJk0MKSWM
The studio version credited to her on YouTube is not her.
Quote from: Rothman on July 15, 2021, 07:52:59 AM
Olive Garden must be stopped.  I must stop them.

Don't @ me. Seriously.

bugo

This is the Deftones covering Sade's "No Ordinary Love". It is fantastic. The bass groove is smooth and Chino's vocals are great as usual.


roadman

Quote from: allniter89 on July 07, 2017, 11:33:17 PM
Quote from: Stephane Dumas on November 05, 2012, 04:24:12 PM
Speaking of Johnny Cash, let's mention also his cover of Nine Inch Nails of Hurt made before he passed away.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmVAWKfJ4Go

BRAVO Johnny!!! Thats a heavy video! RIP with June, Johnny. Thanks for all the great music.

With respect to the dear departed Mr. Cash, who was truly a great artist in many respects, IMO his cover of City of New Orleans totally butchered what I still consider to be one of the best folk songs, and still one of the best railroad-themed songs of any genre, ever recorded.
"And ninety-five is the route you were on.  It was not the speed limit sign."  - Jim Croce (from Speedball Tucker)

"My life has been a tapestry
Of years of roads and highway signs" (with apologies to Carole King and Tom Rush)

bugo

Quote from: roadman on March 09, 2018, 06:21:13 PM
With respect to the dear departed Mr. Cash, who was truly a great artist in many respects, IMO his cover of City of New Orleans totally butchered what I still consider to be one of the best folk songs, and still one of the best railroad-themed songs of any genre, ever recorded.

I am a big Johnny Cash fan and I like a lot of what he did, but I think he butchered "Hurt". The original Nine Inch Nails version spoke to me in a poignant, direct way. Cash's version didn't. When Cash changed "crown of shit" to "crown of thorns" it changed the meaning of the whole song and ruined it for me. Trent's version is about suicidal despair while Johnny's version is about old age and mortality along with a healthy dose of Jesus.

KeithE4Phx

Quote from: jp the roadgeek on July 07, 2017, 02:56:51 AM
The Who covered it in the early 90's, and it even included a bar of " Take me to the Pilot"

https://youtu.be/SdGc-RJ0_wU

The Who covered a lot of others' songs, especially early in their career.  Some were better than others.

The good:  Summertime Blues (Eddie Cochran), Shakin' All Over (Johnny Kidd & the Pirates, also the Guess Who), Eyesight To The Blind (Sonny Boy Williamson #2, tune rewritten by Pete Townshend for Tommy).  The first two were on Live At Leeds (1970).

The bad:  Heat Wave (Martha & the Vandellas), I Don't Mind, and Please Please Please (both James Brown).

The ugly:  Under My Thumb, and Fortune Teller (both Rolling Stones).
"Oh, so you hate your job? Well, why didn't you say so? There's a support group for that. It's called "EVERYBODY!" They meet at the bar." -- Drew Carey

michravera

Quote from: achilles765 on October 21, 2012, 04:34:25 AM
Quote from: bugo on October 21, 2012, 04:08:48 AM
Most Beatles covers are terrible. 


agreed.  that goes for Bob Dylan covers. I also don;t like when people cover Zeppelin and ruin it.  Zeppelin songs have one definite sound that should never be tampered with.


Mocedades covered "Let it Be" quite well.
Carpenters (maybe just Karen by herself) covered "Ticket to Ride" quite well.
Elton John and Billy Joel did a VERY good job of "Come Together".
I don't know if any of the Beatles actually ever recorded "You Won't See Me".


bugo

The only two Beatles covers that I really like are Eddie Vedder's version of "Hide Your Love Away" and Motley Crue's version of "Helter Skelter". There are a few others that are OK but those are the only two that approach being as good as the originals.



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