Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Under the Covers

So my fascination for today is covers. Yes, i know. They're the last vestige of bands without any new ideas but after hearing this band do a cover of Outkast's Hey Ya last night, i think that in some cases (as with Chris Cornell doing Billy Jean) the cover actually takes on a new life. It's amazing to me that these songs, when covered by someone with a guitar in their hands, sound like they could have been written that way originally.

So here's a hastilly written and poorly thought-out top 5 of my favorite covers.
1. Ghost of Tom Joad - Rage Against the Machine
2. Baba O' Reilly - Pearl Jam
3. Gin and Juice - Unknown (The Internets says it is Phish, i beg to differ.)
4. Dave Mathews - All Along The Watchtower (Technically Hendrix covered it from Bob Dylan, but hey, who's counting?)
5. Everywhere - Yellowcard (My Michelle Branch fascination is well documented.)

I'm practically begging you to add your favorites in the comments area. PLEASE.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

God you are so lazy. There are a lot of fun covers out there... in no particular order, here are a few:

Cake: I Will Survive
Damian Marley: And Be Loved
The Muff: Kids in America
Tristan Prettyman: Toxic
Michael Buble: Come Fly With Me
Save Ferris: Come On Eileen
Max-A-Million: Sexual Healing
The Gossip: Are You That Somebody
Britney Spears: My Perogative

-Mrs. DiFranco

Lewis Cash said...

Brittney Spears- Satisfaction
Madonna- American Pie
Cheryl Crow- Sweet Child of Mine
Kid Rock- Feel Like Making Love
Limp Bizkut- Faith
Limp Bizkut- Behind Blue Eyes

Oh, wait, we are talking about covers that don't suck. My mistake. I got it backwards. Good covers are the ones that take a good song and page homage to that song back making it their own while still respecting and appreciating the original. The following do just that:

Johnny Cash- Hurt (NIN), Bride Over Trouble Water (Simon & Garfunkel), Rusty Cage (Soundgarden)
Ryan Adams- Wonderwall (Oasis)
Marylin Manson- Sweet Dreams (Annie Lennox)
Guns and Roses- Knocking of Heaven's Door (Bob Dylan)
Eric Clapton- I Shot the Sheriff (Bob Marley)
The Stiletto Formal- The Everlasting Gaze (The Smashing Pumpkins)[The drummer on that recording is amazing!]
UB40- Only Fools Rush In (Elvis)
Before Braille- Mother (Danzing)
P.O.D.- Bullet to Blue Sky (U2)

kidAlaura said...

Oh my god, the Pumpkins cover that Stiletto Formal did = No. 1!! (I'm pretty sure I've seen the cellist naked). And the former drummer was pretty rad(didn't see him naked. Well...yeah no.)



Anyway,


1. Elliott Smith, Because(Beatles)
2. Cat Power, Satisfaction(I Can't Get No)(Stones)
3. Xiu Xiu, Fast Car(Tracy Chapman)
4. Rufus Wainwright, Hallelujah(Jeff Buckley)
5. Jimi Hendrix, All Along the Watchtower(Dylan)


yay!

Anonymous said...

Not to be overly annoying with facts and corrections, but...
- The "gin and juice" cover is the Gourds
- Hallelujah was originally done by Leonard Cohen
- Nole Kennedy demands respect for throwing out UB40. nice.

My favs that I can think of which haven't been mentioned besides cash, because that is my favorite:


Johnny Cash - Hurt (Nine Inch Nails)
Brand New - Am I Wrong (Love Spit Love)
Gary Jules - Mad World (Tears for Fears)
Ted Leo - Since U Been Gone/Maps (Kelly Clarkson/Yeah Yeah Yeahs)
The Starting Line - Nothing's Gonna Stop Us (Jefferson Starship)
Iron & Wine - Such Great Heights (Postal Service)
Elliot Smith - Thirteen (Big Star)
Jeffrey Gaines - Your Eyes (Peter Gabriel)
Jenny Lewis & The Watson Twins w/Ben Gibbard, Connor Oberst, and M. Ward - Handle With Care (Traveling Wilburys)
Smashing Pumpkins - Landslide (Fleetwood Mac)
New Found Glory - Glory of Love (Peter Cetera)
The Shins - We Will Become Silhouettes (Postal Service)

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