Topic: Cover Songs

[Bangsmith]

I was joking about the bickering,the posts themselves have been interesting. Now, back to business.
A song that I have always considered a true Rock Classic , a kick your ass and stomp your head type song is Whole Lotta Love by Led Zeppelin. Well, a couple of years ago I bought a CD called "Blues Masters Sampler ". On it was a song sung by Muddy Waters and written by Willie Dixon that sounded familiar, but I couldn't place it. I looked at the name and it was called " You Need Love ".Well it finally hit me that it was the original "Whole Lotta Love". I dug out my old  Led Zeppilin LP to see who got credit for writing it and it was listed as Page, Plant , J.P. Jones and  Bonham.
So even a Rock Classic like Whole Lotta Love was lifted from R.& B. 

I believe Led Zeppelin got sued by Willie Dixon over that lack of a writing credit. I have the original Muddy Waters version, and it kicks ass!! Willie Dixon went too far, however, because Blues in general has always copied older works. How many times has "Dust My Broom" been covered and presented as a new song? Elmore James had the biggest version, but it was done before and after by Leadbelly and others.

[FineBari3]

Speaking of "Cover Songs" (which no one seems to be doing). I can think of a song that has been covered by just about every Jazz and Big Band in the 20th Century. That would be Count Basie's One O'Clock Jump. I believe I have about 10 different versions of that song by different people.For anyone who thinks Jazz or Big Bands got better with time , you need to get a copy of Benny Goodman at Carnegie Hall 1938. His cover of One O' Clock Jump, with Gene Kruppa on drums on Harry James on the horn is second to none ( Even Basie's, in my opinion).

YES! Back on topic....

Ever hear the Ted Heath version where the trumpets do the 16th notes UP the scale instead of the usual version going down. Great kick ass band, Heath had....lotsa friggin brass!!!!!

[JazzBill]

As a rule , I think the original is better than the cover. But there are exceptions to this. One that comes to mind is a little tune released by a R.& B. artist named Richard Berry in 1957. It didn't go too far , but it did have a little success in the Los Angeles area. Then in 1963 it was covered by a band that defined what a garage band is all about. The recording was raw, it was flawed (the singer started singing a verse too early), it was controversial ( It was investigated by the FBI, and found to be unintelligible ). But even today, 43 years after the Kingsmen recorded it, every time I hear "Louie Louie " come on the radio. I find myself reaching for the volume knob , to jack up the volume. 

[Bangsmith]

As a rule , I think the original is better than the cover. But there are exceptions to this. One that comes to mind is a little tune released by a R.& B. artist named Richard Berry in 1957. It didn't go too far , but it did have a little success in the Los Angeles area. Then in 1963 it was covered by a band that defined what a garage band is all about. The recording was raw, it was flawed (the singer started singing a verse too early), it was controversial ( It was investigated by the FBI, and found to be unintelligible ). But even today, 43 years after the Kingsmen recorded it, every time I hear "Louie Louie " come on the radio. I find myself reaching for the volume knob , to jack up the volume. 

"Louie Louie" virtually started the garage band trend in the USA. Everyone wanted to be in a band after that(This was before America discovered The Beatles). It is strange that the very quality that gets loud music made fun of is what saved the Kingsmens' asses! Luckily, it never went beyond investigation, but starting with the Dead Kennedys in 1985, musical acts were dragged into court for their art itself. Ozzy, Judas Priest, 2Live Crew, Slayer, and the DK's all were hauled into court, and all got off, thank God!! While not really a "cover", the Dead Kennedys were charged with trafficking in "Harmful matter to minors" over a painting they used in their "Frankenchrist" album which they didn't even have anything to do with!! They were known for wacky covers, too! Probably the one that most people could get a chuckle out of(loud music notwithstanding) is their take on "Take This Job And Shove It". The lyrics are unchanged, but the music is balls-out punk rock. Even if you don't like that sort of music, that song is worth hearing for novelty's sake alone!

[Giff me dat fill-em!]

Bullshit! Paul Anka

[shemps#1]

A couple of covers that beat the originals that come to mind:

Hendrix's cover of Dylan's All Along The Watchtower

Johnny Cash's cover of Nine Inch Nails' Hurt

[Dunrobin]

Johnny Cash's cover of Nine Inch Nails' Hurt

I'm not a big Johnny Cash fan, but I really like that song.  I had no idea that is was a Nine Inch Nails song, though.

[Bangsmith]

A couple of covers that beat the originals that come to mind:

Hendrix's cover of Dylan's All Along The Watchtower

Johnny Cash's cover of Nine Inch Nails' Hurt

Excellent choices!!!!! I became a Johnny Cash fan after hearing that cover. He also does a version of Soundgarden's "Rusty Cage", which is quite different from the original, not necessarily better or worse in my opinion. I'm no Dylan fan, so I agree with that, as well! I heard a live Tori Amos cover of Springsteen's "I'm On Fire" several years ago on the radio that blew me away. On the other extreme, Rage Against The Machine's version of "The Ghost Of Tom Joad" was much louder, but worse than Springsteen's original!

[JazzBill]

I doubt if you'll finish it, Pils ...
check out THIS trash!
http://www.clivebanks.co.uk/Shatnersings.htm

Sorry, I didn't take time to see that you had included Bill's woeful rendition of Mr. Tamborine Man in your attachments ... but it does reinforce the fact that as long as there are microphones and idiots ready to use them, we'll have plenty of musical gunk to rail against.

I somehow missed this when you first posted it. This is really great stuff. It is worse than I remembered. I would have to call this album the "Plan 9 From Outer Space" of music. ( Man, I love that movie.)

[Giff me dat fill-em!]

Yeah ... this is REALLY gag-me-wid-a-spoon stuff to listen to. I can't see why ANYONE (even Shatner himself) would consider funding such chitterlings as this. (if only to feed his own ego)

However, the Nimoy rendition of "Bilbo Baggins" isn't all that bad, in fact, its kinda cute.

(FYI - "chitterlings", also know as "chittlins", is a food that is eaten in the South. It consists of the cooked intestines of the pig, that's all, no foolin'.)

[JazzBill]

That explains a lot— mainly, why those books were at the height of their popularity during the Hippie era. I used to toke up, but reading anything afterward was out of the question, because being high affected my concentration too much. I could either listen to or play music, but not read a book, because my mind would start wandering after a page or two. I finally had to quit when I got a job as an auditor, balancing the accounts for a large hotel every night. Fuzzy-mindedness just wouldn't have cut it, doing that work accurately. I'm not in that field any more, but I never got back into the habit of smoking weed.

It's the same syndrome as some of the rock music from that period; I suppose you had to be high to listen to a lot of that amateurish dreck. What else could possibly account for the popularity of all those "off-key kids?"

Why am I sounding so much like shemps#1 these days? For whatever reason, my cur is really mudgeoned lately.

I had to give it up too, because of my job as a truck driver (Random drug tests). But I agree with you, it did seem to help make the music sound better. Hell, I've been so toasted it made the test patterns on late night TV look interesting. Ahh yes, the good old days.

[Giff me dat fill-em!]

The group known as Thin Lizzy exercised great skill in choosing the name for their rock band. They were an Irish band originating in Dublin, and it has been speculated that the band’s name was derived from the nickname of the Ford Model – T car, Tin Lizzie, or perhaps from a Dandy comic book character of the same name, and thereby mimicking Eric Clapton’s 1966 album Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton, in which the album cover photo shows Eric’s band reading a copy of The Beano, a sister comic. They went as far as to change the spelling of “Tin” to “Thin” and “Lizzie” to Lizzy”, with the tongue-in-cheek nod to the band’s hometown where the word “thin” is pronounced “tin”.
   For all that braininess in constructing a name for a band, their first foray onto the charts came in 1973 from a cover of a very old traditional Irish Folk Song, titled “Whiskey in the Jar”. They gave it a hard rock spin while leaving most of the antiquated lyrics intact. It makes for a queasy ride, and I’m hard pressed to understand why this one even made it onto any charts. Leave antiquated lyrics where they belong, in the antiquated past! The song is pleasant enough to listen to without any modern twists. I’ve included a recording which I’ll consider a reasonable version of the original, in which the song is played before an Irish pub audience in pretty-much a traditional style.

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[Pilsner Panther]

I love that good old Pub music, myself... but it's just not the same without any Goons in it.

 

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[Giff me dat fill-em!]

Thanks, Pils ... now I have another tune to add to my wacky music collection. I was unfamiliar with The Goon Show, but with a quick websearch, I found a plethora of info and a few mp3 downloads. I now have a couple of radio shows to hear ... see you folks later.

[Pilsner Panther]

Thanks, Pils ... now I have another tune to add to my wacky music collection. I was unfamiliar with The Goon Show, but with a quick websearch, I found a plethora of info and a few mp3 downloads. I now have a couple of radio shows to hear ... see you folks later.

Most Americans aren't familiar with the Goon Show, unless you grew up in the northeast in the 70's and 80's. WBAI radio in New York used to broadcast it every Wednesday night, for years. There was a regular Goon cult at my junior high school— we used to go around quoting the tag lines, like "You silly twisted boy!" "He's fallen in the water!" and of course, "Ying tong iddle i po!"

This totally confused anyone who wasn't in on it... especially the teachers.

 

I should clarify my "pub music" remark: the early Goon Show scripts were written in a London pub called Jimmy Grafton's, which was a hangout for theatrical types in the 1940's and 50's.

[Giff me dat fill-em!]

Pilsner ...
As a personally public service, I offer a sketch which, taken from thegoonshow.net, is considered one of their all-time greatest. (for your nostalgic reverie)

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[Pilsner Panther]

Pilsner ...
As a personally public service, I offer a sketch which, taken from thegoonshow.net, is considered one of their all-time greatest. (for your nostalgic reverie)

Oh, I remember that routine! Eccles (Spike Milligan) and Bluebottle (Peter Sellers) having one of their screwy, surreal conversations. It's from an episode called "The Mysterious Punch Up The Conker" (American English: Punch In The Nose).

For this noble gesture, you are hereby awarded one Karma point, and a cardboard-and-string elastic-powered Arabian sock exploder.

You can actually get the Goon Show on CD's, but not in the U.S.; you have to buy them from Amazon.co.uk, but they're happy to ship your purchases over here to the Colonies. I've got a few, but since the show ran for nine years, buying the whole set would be pretty expensive!

Goon, but not forgotten... between these guys and the Stooges as childhood influences, it's no wonder I turned out so bent. 

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[Giff me dat fill-em!]

One of the BEST examples of a cover song done right ... 

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[Pilsner Panther]

One of the BEST examples of a cover song done right ... 

"Hey, Plymouth Rock...!" Talk about laying an egg! Spike Jones originated the singing chicken bit back in the 40's ("Holiday For Strings"), but it's still funny.

 

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[Giff me dat fill-em!]

Pardon me if'n I don't download the Spike Jones tune - I ardy gots it.

What I love about the song, though, is that not only is it a classic Spike tune, but the song was also used by Red Skelton in the 60's as the theme song for his television show, a show I religiously watched as a kid.

Opening Monologue
Well, the tops are getting lower and the bottoms are getting higher ... pretty soon the girls will have more than two cheeks to powder.

[Pilsner Panther]

Pardon me if'n I don't download the Spike Jones tune - I ardy gots it.

What I love about the song, though, is that not only is it a classic Spike tune, but the song was also used by Red Skelton in the 60's as the theme song for his television show, a show I religiously watched as a kid.

Yeah, Giff, Spike's takeoff was based on the original hit record by David Rose and his Orchestra, and David Rose later became the long-time musical conductor for the Red Skelton Show. "Holiday For Strings" was the closing theme of the show, right up to the end.

One of the greatest experiences I've ever had in a theater was seeing Red Skelton live, in what turned out to be his last tour, in 1991. Damn, but the man was hilarious, even at an advanced age!

Like all of the other vaudeville-trained classic comedians, the very idea of disappointing an audience would have horrified him. They all worked very, very hard at their craft.

Which is why they still convulse us with laughter, to this day.

[Giff me dat fill-em!]

Spike Jones did a parody of a VERY popular song in the forties - that of (Ghost) Riders in the Sky. He even went as far as to name Vaughn Monroe as the guy who sings it the most, and therefore I will present them both. Consider Spike's version as the cover song.

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[Giff me dat fill-em!]

America's Country Music Song Butchers leave no song unturned. Homer & Jethro's version of "Davy Crockett" beats the tar outa the original, although Fess Parker does a rousing job of singin'.

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[Giff me dat fill-em!]

Mairzy Doats is a novelty song composed in 1943 by Milton Drake, Al Hoffman and Jerry Livingston. It was first played on radio station WOR  in New York, by Al Trace and his Silly Symphonists. The song made the pop charts several times, with a version by The Merry Macs reaching No. 1 in March 1944. In addition to its success on the home front, it was also a hit with American servicemen overseas, who allegedly used its nonsensical lyrics as passwords. This tune is a cover made by The Pied Pipers, most likely in 1944, who were composed of Billy Wilson, Chuck Lowry, Jo Stafford, and her then-husband John Huddleston. They began with the Tommy Dorsey Band in 1939, backing Sinatra on many classic recordings. Their first single ("Deacon Jones"/"Pistol Packin' Mama") was released in 1943.
One of the writers, Milton Drake, says this number is based on an English nursery rhyme. Drake says the idea came to him when his four year old daughter came home singing the English rhyme which starts "Cowzy tweet and sowzy tweet and libble sharksy doisters."

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[Giff me dat fill-em!]

This one will make all of us cry ...
that flaky, achy-breaky song!!              

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