Here's something you might be interested in.
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?
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?