Three Days [L7 with Waylon Jennings / Willie Nelson]
From the Vault … July 26, 2012
For money L7 was one of the most underrated bands of the grunge era. Me thinks it was because with a 100% female line up, they got lumped in with the Angry Cooter music with Alanis and Tori. Which is a shame because they were pretty kick ass.
Here they are with country legend Waylon Jennings covering Three Days from the Alt Rock Willie Nelson tribute album, Twisted Willie.
Free Fallin’ [John Mayer / Tom Petty]
I try really hard to dislike John Mayer. He comes off as a bit of a twat, but he makes great music so it confuses me. Anyway here he covering that guy who played the mayor in that Kevin Coster post-apocalyptic movie. No, not Water World. The other one. The one that didn’t suck as much, The Postman.
Take Me To Church [Postmodern Jukebox featuring Morgan James / Hozier]
Okay, you already know I’m totally in love with Postmodern Jukebox for their tongue in cheek throwback flavored covers. This cover, the tongue has been removed from the cheek, and it’s powerful and moving and slightly unexpected,
Lullabye (Good Night My Angel) [John Stamos / Billy Joel]
From the Vault … September 13, 2012
Every singer wants to be an actor, every actor wants to be a singer. The singer to actor works most of the time, the actor to singer not so much. Remember Eddie Murphy? Bruce Willis? William Fucking Shatner?!?
Anyway back in 2006 someone thought it’d be a good idea to get a bunch of actors together, including Xena and what’s-her-name-with-a-smile-like-a-velocoraptor from Alias and record a bunch of non-traditional lullabies. Surprisingly it didn’t suck. Here from his pre-Glee singing career is Uncle Jesse … I mean John Stamos covering Billy Joel.
Imagine [Scott Bakula / John Lennon]
From The Vault … January 19, 2012
If you must know two intimate quirky details about me, here they are:
1) I’m fairly indifferent on the Beatles. I don’t know why but they do nothing for me.
2) If I were ever to “go gay,” it would only be for one man, and that one man is Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka. I might however consider a little bi-curiosity for Scott Bakula though.
So with that in mind, from season 3, episode 1 of Quantum Leap, here’s Sam Beckett covering Imagine.
What’s New Pussy Cat? [Mike Meyers / Burt Bacharach]
From Inside the Actors’ Recording Studio, here Mike Meyers (not the hockey mask guy, though he is Canadian).
Like A Hurricane [Adam Sandler / Neil Young]
I think everyone knows that Adam Sandler can sing. But did you know Adam Sandler can *sing*? Here inside the Actors Recording Studio is his very serious take on a Neil Young tune.
No One Knows When I’m Gone [Scarlett Johansson / Tom Waits]
Today from “Inside The Actors Recording Studio” is the second least popular Avenger covering Tom Waits. She actually did a whole album of Tom Waits covers and I’ll be darned if it ain’t slightly above mediocre.
Gold Dust Woman [Hole / Fleetwood Mac]
From The Vault … September 28, 2011
Ya Know for a chick who named her band after her late husband’s head, Courtney Love did pretty okay for herself … for a while. She was at the top of her game when this here Fleetwood Mac cover appeared on The Crow soundtrack.
Also did you know Courtney Love has an uncredited role in the Tim Robbins / John Cussack cult classic TapeHeads? She plays the hooker hitting by the senator with the ridding crop. Neat! Learn something new everyday. Also Weird Al is in the movie. And Ted Nugent. Possibly Kevin Bacon.
Take Me To Church [Ed Sheeran / Hozier]
Take me to church, there’s a bake sale and I want chocolate chip cookies.
Stairway to Heaven [Heart / Led Zeppelin]
Zep got all misty eyed hearing this cover as done by the ladies of Heart. BOOM! Winning the music industry.
Wish You Were Here [Catherine Wheel / Pink Floyd]
From the vault … Feb. 26, 2012
For some reason when the Rock ‘N Roll Hall Of Fame had an exhibit on “Women Who Rock” they totally overlooked Catherine Wheel. So here, as some matter of payback, is a Pink Floyd cover.
Chandelier [Postmodern Jukebox feat. Puddles Pity Party / Sia]
Postmodern Jukebox … while relatively unknown, still seems to show up in my Facebook feed on an almost daily basis. “Check out this version of (Insert song here) like you’ve never heard before!” So uhm … check out this version of Chandelier like you’ve never heard before.
My Generation [Hilary Duff / The Who] CRAPPY COVER
I search high and low for covers, don’t believe me? Here … this is low. This is a crappy cover. Say what you will about Ms. Duff’s singing ability, you can;t Disney-fy this song by inserting “don’t” into the line “Hope I die before I get old” and expect it to not suck. Unless of course the “not” youre using in the line was directly stolen from before the word “suck.”
Complicated [Dick Brave and the Back Beats / Avril Lavigne]
From the Vault … November 20, 2011
Rockabilly covering bubble gum punk? Sure why the hell not. Dick Brave and the Backbeats covering Avril.
All Along the Watch Tower [Jimi Hendrix / Bob Dylan] DEEP COVER
From the Vault … Nov 16, 2012
Hey new semi regular feature of the blog. The “Deep Cover.” What’s “Deep Cover?” you ask? You didn’t? Can we pretend? Okay great … “Deep Cover” is a cover song that’s so well known that the original version is all but lost to the sands of time, or more often than not mistaken for the original version by people less edumicated than I.
So the first “Deep Cover?” All Along The Watch Tower. It was Jimi Hendrix’s only Top 40 hit. It’s one of the greatest rock songs of all time. VH1 put it in it’s top 3, Rolling Stone put it at number 47, shockingly low if you ask me. Guitar World said it had the #5 greatest guitar solo of all time. And Total Guitar magazine called it the greatest cover song of all time.
The original was of course by Bob Dylan. And who doesn’t do a Dylan cover? The legend is that Dylan liked Hendrix’s version so much, it’s what prompted him to pick back up the electric guitar, which he had previously sworn off. I’m sure this set off all sorts of hippie protests. I can’t find anything to “verify” this on Wikipedia, so maybe not. Anyway Dylan did say about the Hendrix cover ”It overwhelmed me, really. He had such talent, he could find things inside a song and vigorously develop them. He found things that other people wouldn’t think of finding in there. He probably improved upon it by the spaces he was using. I took license with the song from his version, actually, and continue to do it to this day.”
Sure the song has been covered a billion times by a billion artists, but they all play it more in the style of Jimi than of the Dylan original. And yes, that now includes Dylan himself.
Hello [Me First and the Gimmie Gimmies / Lionel Richie]
It’s the first Friday of the year. So let’s say “Hello” to Me First Fridays for 2015.
Give It Away [Renee and Jeremy / Red Hot Chili Peppers]
Nothing is more disturbing to be than crude British stop motion children’s animation set to a song about a slut.
