Friday, June 17, 2011
ALOTT5MA FRIDAY PLAYLIST: With Adam in another state, it falls to me to set up our playlist suggestion for the week. For this week, let's go with awesome/unorthodox covers, and I'll offer two to get us started--Shawn Colvin covering the Police's "Every Little Thing [He] Does Is Magic" and Modern Family's Jesse Tyler Ferguson covering Lady Gaga's "Alejandro."
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I love the Sugarland/Little Big Town cover of Walking in Memphis.
ReplyDeleteThe Rainbow Connection - Willie Nelson. Pretty sure this is my favorite cover ever.
ReplyDeleteAnd it feels like stating the obvious, but the Coverville podcast is a remarkably awesome source for covers.
And others: Indigo Girls covering Tangled Up In Blue, and Kris Allen covering Heartless.
ReplyDeleteIt's not on youtube, but somewhere out on the Internet the Decemberists do a version of "The Night they Drove Old Dixie Down" that is a bit more desperate and raw than the original. And of course I never shut up about Mark Ronson's Toxic (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnJAB0ASeqc). If you asked me this 25 years ago I probably would have gone with "Diamonds and Rust" by Judas Priest.
ReplyDelete90s era? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJ1c9ErCn7w
ReplyDeletealso cliched, but Sonic Youth's "Superstar" and Cowboy Junkies' "Sweet Jane."
Brandi Carlile's cover of "Folsum Prison Blues"
ReplyDeleteRichard Thompson's "Oops I Did It Again."
ReplyDeleteCibo Matto's "About a Girl" and Calexico's "Ocean of Noise" (originally Arcade Fire).
ReplyDeleteI love Dolly Parton's cover of "Shine".
ReplyDeleteTiga covering Nelly's Hot in Herre. Greatness.
ReplyDeleteIdina Menzel/Lea Michelle's Pokerface on Glee leaps to mind. I will have more.
ReplyDeleteObidiah Parker covering Outcast's "Hey Ya"
ReplyDeleteBen Folds' cover of the Cure's "In Between Days"
Mark Ronson w/ODB covering Britney Spears' "Toxic" (in fact all of Mark Ronson's Versions album)
Mates of State covering Fleetwood Mac's "Second Hand News"
Awesome covers:
ReplyDeleteEva Cassidy, Fields of Gold
Johnny Cash, Hurt
Indigo Girls, Mona Lisas & Mad Hatters
David Cook, Man in the Box
Fun covers:
Sugarland, Irreplaceable
Little Big Town, Born This Way
Pomplamousse, Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)
Basically, you can't really go wrong with a cover by most of these bands. I'd also throw Ben Folds in there as someone who has great taste for covers.
Ditto on CJ's Sweet Jane.
ReplyDeleteI love the Cowboy Junkies' covers. Sweet Jane is fantastic.
ReplyDeleteIs it considered a cover if it's the version better known than the original? I'm thinking of Aretha doing "Respect," which was an Otis Redding tune.
ReplyDeleteJoey Ramone doing a punkish "What A Wonderful World."
And since you mentioned Shawn Colvin, how about her version of Zevon's "Tenderness on the Block"?
Any Me First and the Gimme Gimmes.
ReplyDeleteI know a million people (and of course I can't remember who) did acoustic versions of "Gin and Juice" and I still love those.
Weird/awesome covers
ReplyDeleteFountain of Wayne's "Baby One More Time."
Cyndi Lauper's "When You Were Mine"
Placebo's "Running Up That Hill"
Annie Lennox's "Waiting In Vain"
Just plain awesome covers
U2's "Dancing Barefoot"
The version of "To Sir With Love" that 10,000 Maniacs did with Michael Stipe during MTV's Clinton inaugural ball.
The Corrs' version of "When The Stars Go Blue" with Bono
Adele's "Make You Feel My Love"
Bryan Ferry's "Crazy Love" (played at the end of the movie She's Having a Baby)
Daryl Hall and John Oates' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling"
I love Tenderness on the Block, but I didn't realize it was a cover. My favorite song from that Sean Colvin covers album that included Every Little Thing He Does Is Magic was her version of Steve Earle's "Someday" (though I think the Steve Earle version is even better).
ReplyDeleteI love Tenderness on the Block, but I didn't realize it was a Zevon cover. That whole Zevon tribute album "Enjoy Every Sandwich" was awesome. My favorite song from that Shawn Colvin covers album that includes Every Little Thing He Does Is Magic was her rendition of Steve Earle's "Someday," though I prefer the original.
ReplyDeleteOh, I love this theme. I have a playlist of a couple hundred awesome covers, so I will have to select a few of my favorites -- and I second those here who put Fountains of Wayne doing "Baby One More Time," Aretha's "Respect," Obadiah Parker's "Hey Ya," the Michael Stipe/Natalie Merchant "To Sir With Love" and Cowboy Junkies "Sweet Jane."
ReplyDeleteOther favorites not yet named:
Maria Muldar - "Buckets of Rain"
Peter Gabriel - "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa"
Prince - "A Case of You" (probably my favorite cover ever)
Van Morrison - "Comfortably Numb"
Greg Laswell - "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun"
The Black Crowes - "Hard to Handle"
David Byrne - "I Wanna Dance With Somebody"
Tom Waits - "Somewhere"
Franco Battiato - "Ruby Tuesday"
Scissor Sisters - "Take Me Out"
Tuck & Patti - "Time After Time"
Elvis Costello - "Ring of Fire"
Kelly Clarkson - "Shelter"
Beck - "Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat"
Johnny Cash - "Hurt"
The Bird and the Bee - "How Deep Is Your Love"
Hellsongs - "Jump"
Ryan Adams - "Wonderwall"
Following Jenn's lead, I'm a big fan of Sugarland's version of "Life in a Northern Town". (And my 2 year old son absolutely loves it.)
ReplyDeleteThree of my favorite covers: PJ Harvey's "Highway 61 Revisited", Rufus Wainwright covering his dad's "One Man Guy" (with an assist from his sister and Teddy Thompson), and PJ Harvey and Bjork covering "Satisfaction" at the Brit Awards in 1994. That last one probably fits the awesome/unorthodox theme best.
ReplyDeleteOf course, I'd be delighted if Dolly Parton covered Iron Maiden's "Aces High"
ReplyDeleteNot *quite* a cover, but I love Colin Hay's accoustic album "Man at Work" covering the best Men at Work tunes.
ReplyDeleteJohnny Cash "Personal Jesus"
Molly Lewis "Poker Face"
Elvis Costello "Ship of Fools"
Gotta throw in there Jeff Buckley's Hallelujah as "version better known that the original."
ReplyDeleteAlso: Iron & Wine's Such Great Heights.
Kelly Clarkson also does an awesome version of Reba McEntire's Why Haven't I Heard From You? Not available for sale, unfortunately---I would buy it in a heartbeat if it were.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite version of A Case of You is kd lang's.
The White Stripes - Jolene
ReplyDeleteand I second Me First and the Gimmee Gimmees.
Glen Phillips (of Toad The Wet Sprocket) does a great cover of "I Want A New Drug." Yeah, the Huey Lewis song. Trust me.
ReplyDeleteThe Indigo Girls mention above made me think of their cover of "Romeo and Juliet." And I love Aimee Mann's "The Scientist" and Nirvana's "The Man Who Sold The World."
Oh my goodness, yes. There goes my weekend, downloading.
ReplyDeleteSinead O'Connor covering Elton John's "Sacrifice"
Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme, "Black Hole Sun"
Darius Rucker and Mark Bryan, "I Hope That I Don't Fall in Love With You" (Tom Waits)
Sugarland/Little Big Town's cover of "Life In A Northern Town" is phenomenal. It gives me chills every time I hear it.
ReplyDeleteLissie's cover of "Pursuit of Happiness". (This is ~so~ good: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQMJCOT2wlQ)
ReplyDeleteFrom Sons of Anarchy, Paul Brady and the Forest Rangers "Gimme Shelter" and Lyle Workman and the Forest Rangers "Fortunate Son".
Ted Leo "Since You've Been Gone".
The Coverville podcast will on occassion have what host Brian Ibbit calls "Originalville" episodes, full of the original versions of songs you might have not realize were covers.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of tributes and Steve Earle, Steve Earle's album of Townes Van Zandt songs is pretty awesome. Also, in the vein of entire albums of covers devoted to a single artist: Nilsson singing Randy Newman,
ReplyDeleteTori Amos does an awesome Smells Like Teen Spirit
ReplyDeleteThe Indigo Girls take on Elton is fantastic. Really brathes life in to the song.
ReplyDeleteIsrael Kamakawiwo'ole's version of "Over the Rainbow"
ReplyDeleteThe Watson Twins cover of "Just Like Heaven"
Nina Simone's version of "Mr. Bojangles"
I'd add most Eva Cassidy covers. I love her "True Colors" and her "Time After Time."
ReplyDeleteA thousand times yes. "Fields of Gold" is my favorite.
ReplyDeleteAnd speaking of covers of Steve Earle, Levon Helm's version of "The Mountain" gives me chills.
ReplyDeleteCan't help myself:
ReplyDeleteBear McReary's All Along the Watchtower (from Battlestar Galactica)
Sting's Come Down in Time (orig. Elton John)
John Mellencamp's The End of the World
Cassandra Wilson's Shelter from the Storm, Love Is Blindness (orig. U2), and The Weight
Elvis Costello's God Only Knows
Sinead O'Connor's Sacrifice
Johnny Cash's Mercy Street (orih=g. Nick Cave, I think)
I absolutely love PJ Harvey's Highway 61 Revisited. It is batshit crazy. I would add the equally batshit crazy Wang Dang Doodle that she recorded in the same sessions.
ReplyDeleteI came to add Indigo Girls' Uncle John's Band, but I agree that they and Ben Folds have all arous great covers.
ReplyDeleteI am sort of sad I didn't know Such Great Heights was a cover, but it is one of my favorite songs.
ReplyDeleteNirvana -- "Lake of Fire"
ReplyDeleteFlaming Lips -- "Seven Nation Army"
Raconteurs -- "Rich Kid Blues"
Cake -- "I Will Survive"
One I forgot--David Wilcox's version of John Waite's "Missing You," which changes the mood of the song from defiant to plaintive. (Oddly, only version of it on YouTube is when it was used by Brian Boitano as exhibition skating music.)
ReplyDeleteNina Gordon - Straight Outta Compton
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6D5xpCgETk&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Tom Jones -- "You Can Leave Your Hat On". I meant to add this to last week's playlist since it's at the end of "The Full Monty" but it works here, too.
ReplyDeleteI'd add the Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs cover of "Monday, Monday"
ReplyDeleteYeah. I'd put The Gourds' "Gin and Juice" up as still being the best acoustic cover in that ever widening field.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNmz00dHv2A
very psyched to know that this exists!
ReplyDeleteThat whole album, Under the Covers Vol. 1, is tremendous (I haven't yet picked up the followup, but I should).
ReplyDeleteObadiah Parker's "Hey Ya".
ReplyDeleteNik Kershaw's "Wouldn't it Be Good" as performed by Danny Hutton Hitters in "Pretty in Pink"
ReplyDeleteHall & Oates "Kiss on my List" as covered by The Bird and the Bee
One of my favorites, Boston band Jim's Big Ego (formerly solo act Jim Infantino), doing "Feelin' Groovy." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDaIuzxVxAM (not exactly like my CD version)
ReplyDeleteLinks from friends (we had an email conversation about this last year):
http://www.coversproject.com/
<span>http://www.boingboing.net/<span></span>2008/05/10/hiphopbluegrass-<span></span>mash.html</span>
Toots and the Maytals, "Take Me Home, Country Roads" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2VbRiBDcCk
<span>Rodeohead (bluegrass covers of Radiohead songs)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyzVXFIbSDM</span>
The Moldy Peaches singing "Little Bunny Foo Foo"
Carbon Leaf, "Crazy Train"
Dick Dale and the Del-Tones - surf guitar "Hava Negila" (we may have to play this at the bar mitzvah, but I might sprain something dancing the hora that fast)
Peter Gabriel, "My Body is a Cage"
ReplyDeleteWhen I teach my advanced ballet students and the professional company, I forego the traditional pre-recorded (mostly classical) piano accompaniment and use a wide variety of selections -- so topics like this really help me a lot. Thanks!
Aimee Mann and Michael Penn, "Two of Us"
ReplyDeleteActually, the soundtrack to "Me, Myself & Irene" is nothing but great Beatles covers.
I had this bookmarked as well (sorry for all the separate posts! I forgot this one.)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.melissajensen.com/2011/03/ She's a YA author whose debut book, "Amy and Roger's Epic Detour" (which I definitely recommend), includes some terrific playlists. So she posts some playlists on her blog regularly.
<span>
here is my Monday playlist of some <span>covers</span> to start the week:
Under Pressure (My Chemical Romance/orig: Queen and David Bowie)
Take on Me (A.C. Newman/orig: A-ha)
Hey Ya (Mat Weddle/orig: Outkast)
The Tide Is High (Blondie/orig: The Paragons)
Heart of Glass (The Puppini Sisters/orig: Blondie)
Lovesong (Adele/orig: The Cure)
Some Kind of Wonderful (Joss Stone/orig: Soul Brothers Six)
Personal Jesus (Johnny Cash/orig: Depeche Mode)
The Heart of the Matter (India.Arie/orig: Don Henley)
Being Green (Van Morrison/orig. Kermit the Frog)
and, for the sheer, “Is this for real?” guilty pleasure of it:
In My Life (Sean Connery/orig: The Beatles)
(more listed in comments to her post)
</span>
And if it's ok to stray in this direction, Herbie Hancock's cover of "Ravel's Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in G, Second Movement."
ReplyDelete<span>I had this bookmarked as well (sorry for all the separate posts! I forgot this one.)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.melissajensen.com/2011/03/ She's a YA author who posts some playlists on her blog regularly. </span>
<span>(also, speaking of YA authors and playlists, if you like YA, I highly recommend "Amy and Roger's Epic Detour," by Morgan Matson. With great playlists starting most of the chapters.)
<span>I really liked Melissa Jensen's covers' lists:
Under Pressure (My Chemical Romance/orig: Queen and David Bowie)
Take on Me (A.C. Newman/orig: A-ha)
Hey Ya (Mat Weddle/orig: Outkast)
The Tide Is High (Blondie/orig: The Paragons)
Heart of Glass (The Puppini Sisters/orig: Blondie)
Lovesong (Adele/orig: The Cure)
Some Kind of Wonderful (Joss Stone/orig: Soul Brothers Six)
Personal Jesus (Johnny Cash/orig: Depeche Mode)
The Heart of the Matter (India.Arie/orig: Don Henley)
Being Green (Van Morrison/orig. Kermit the Frog)
and, for the sheer, “Is this for real?” guilty pleasure of it:
In My Life (Sean Connery/orig: The Beatles)
(people posted more in comments to her post)</span></span>
<span> </span>
LB: I had a similar experience with To Live Is to Fly, which I was stunned to learn was not a Cowboy Junkies' original.
ReplyDeleteI love pretty much any cover that Bruce Sprinsteen did in the Seeger Sessions mode.
ReplyDeleteCake's covers are fantastic. Mahna Mahna is a personal favorite of mine.
ReplyDeleteI was going to add Indigo Girls Romeo and Juliet if no one else had. LOVE it.
ReplyDeleteA lot of the ones I would have mentioned have already been posted, but I'll add another Shawn Colvin cover to the mix. She does a spectacularly different version of the Talking Heads' This Must Be the Place. It's from her CD of covers (aptly titled Cover Girl) which includes the Police cover Adam mentioned, and a great version of Dylan's You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go, too.
ReplyDeleteOoh, and I also love Joan Osborne's covers of The Man in the Long Black Coat and Make You Feel My Love.
Another great BNL cover is Lovers in a Dangerous Time.
ReplyDeleteIn the unorthodox box, I'll offer Sting covering "Up From The Skies".
ReplyDeleteIn the awesome box, CCR doing "I Heard It Through The Grapevine"
Forgive the threadjack, but as the unofficial ALLOT5MA artist-in-residency, I offer up:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/v/VD3m8hI8TSI" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="170" height="140
Barb Jungr, "Things Have Changed"
ReplyDeletePhish covering Gin n Juice
ReplyDeleteI love that Decemberists cover! I believe you pointed us to a website a while back that had it available for download, but I don't remember what it was.
ReplyDeleteElliott Smith - "Thirteen," "Jealous Guy," "Trouble"
ReplyDeleteMore covers of his here (lots of Beatles and Bob Dylan): http://www.rawkblog.net/2009/02/elliott-smith-the-complete-live-covers/
Also, the Starfucker cover of "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun."
First thing that popped into my head was Sinead's beautiful cover of Sacrifice. Used to have it on cassette... haven't been able to find it anywhere to download.
ReplyDeleteCollege a capella groups do tons of great covers. I'm partial to "Yeah" by Usher covered by Univ. of Oregon Divisi.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/v/mJkoPr0436Q" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="170" height="140
And I forgot to mention Prince's version of "Best of You" from the Super Bowl.
ReplyDeleteWeird, my first choice disappeared. Nina Gordon, Straight Outta Compton:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/v/otL6FvpALQg" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="170" height="140
Mark Lanegan's version of Leaving Trains' "Creeping Coastline of Lights" (The covers album it's from, "I'll Take Care of You," is amazing.)
ReplyDeleteFranz Ferdinand "All My Friends"
The Ramones "Substitute"
In high school, I always put the Jawbox cover of "Cornflake Girl" on my mixes, hopeful that the other kids in my carpool would be intrigued.
Tori Amos covering Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit
ReplyDeleteAnother vote for Indigo Girls' Romeo and Juliet.
ReplyDeletek.d. lang's version of Crying.
Gary Jules' version of Mad World.
U2 & Maria McKee's live cover of People Get Ready.
Bruce Springsteen's version of Santa Claus is Comin' to Town.
I love cover songs, but I never realized there were so many I'd never heard. It'll take me days to track down and listen to all of these, but I've already fallen hard for the Prince version of "A Case of You." Thank you.
ReplyDeleteA few that haven't been mentioned:
Aretha Franklin "The Thrill is Gone" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pV406NMhP_M)
Alanis Morrisette "My Humps" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRmYfVCH2UA)
Bobby Womack "California Dreaming" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDhDeAzbGsE)
Buddy Holly - "Slippin and a-Slidin" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZWeFB2mdEI)
Tom Jones - "Bet You'ld Look Good on the Dancefloor" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7p7766P5r5E)
And probably my favorite cover (at least at the moment I write this):
Sarah Vaughn "Rainy Days and Mondays" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1Ua2uklQZ8)
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, "Trapped" (orig. Jimmy Cliff). Nice Clarence solo in this live version. (Get well Big Man!)
ReplyDeleteI love so many of these y'all are introducing me to - the People Get Ready by Maria McKee and U2 (I love Maria McKee's song Breathe) and the Sugarland Life In a Northern Town, especially. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThree of my favorites that I don't think have been mentioned yet:
ReplyDeleteSting -- Little Wing
Fiona Apple -- Across the Universe
Jonatha Brooke -- Eye in the Sky
Chick Corea's Mozart album is, well, interesting. Classical covers: "A lover's concerto" is Bach's Minuet in G, and Paul Simon's "American Tune" is Bach
ReplyDelete<span>Chick Corea's Mozart album is, well, interesting. Classical covers: "A lover's concerto" is Bach's Minuet in G, and Paul Simon's "American Tune" is Bach's St. Matthew passion.</span>
ReplyDeleteI think the passing of Clarence Clemons calls for next Friday's playlist to be fave sax solos. Especially given the fondness for the Sax Solos fan page around here.
ReplyDeleteI love Sufjan Stevens' cover of Dylan's Ring Them Bells (from the "I'm Not There" soundtrack).
ReplyDeleteAlso,
Cat Power - I Found a Reason (from Velvet Underground)
Seu Jorge - Life on Mars (from David Bowie)
Gillian Welch - Black Star (from Radiohead)
Cee Lo Green - No One's Gonna Love You (from Band of Horses)
One more:
ReplyDeleteBlue Oyster Cult covering "Roadhouse Blues" on their brilliant live album, Extra-Terrestrial Live (with Robbie Kreiger on keyboads). Got-damn that's a good track.
Blue Oyster Cult covering Roadhouse Blues (w/ Special Guest Robbie Krieger) - damn that's a good track.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kd-iYnFUKik
Much as I like Buckley's "Hallelujah" (and I really, really do), I think Rufus Wainwright's is even more fantastic.
ReplyDeleteAlso,
ReplyDeleteWhiskeytown - "Dreams" (orig. Fleetwood Mac)
I also like the Dixie Chicks' version of Landslide.
ReplyDeleteJose Gonzalez covering The Knife's "Heartbeats" is one I can listen to over and over and over again.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4_4abCWw-w&feature=player_embedded
Heard this one thanks to WFNX (yeah, Boston!), which has a two-hour Sunday morning show called "The Sunday Sessions" that's all acoustic versions of popular alternative music--fan-freakin-tastic.
Can't believe that I forgot this: Kelly Hogan, Papa Was a Rodeo.
ReplyDeleteI like Dolly's cover of Stairway to Heaven better than the original now.
ReplyDeleteWarning: Doctor Who spoilers from not the current season, but I love Chiwetel Ejiofor's version of "I Want to Be Evil" which is from the Kinky Boots soundtrack: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-B--JG18xk
ReplyDeleteBoth of the top hits for this song on YouTube have creepy pictures of kids as their imagery. What on earth?
ReplyDeleteThere's a woman from my hometown named Jodie Manross - she's a children's librarian and folk singer and she has this tiny little voice when she talks but a big voice when she sings and she got a bit of buzz for her cover of a Snoop Dog song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzL-xrHlsRs
ReplyDeleteI could enjoy a subset of this theme: Best Bob Dylan songs as sung by people other than Bob Dylan.
ReplyDeleteAmen. I love Bob Dylan songs as sung by people other than Bob Dylan.
ReplyDeletemy cousin is the bassist for Jim's Big Ego!
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, that cover is awesome.
I'm adding in (late), Fountains of Wayne doing These Days
It's on the "Two Rooms" CD.
ReplyDeleteYour cousin is awesome.
ReplyDeleteI have a good Jim's Big Ego story if we ever meet.
Heard her do this live a few years back. Great.
ReplyDeleteI agree Melissa's list is great! I am, however, biased since I worked with her on that book. (Ok, this is now getting weird between the Jim's Big Ego connection and now this....)
ReplyDeletePlaylist (for posterity's sake): http://www.youtube.com/playlist?p=PL7267AD0630108341
ReplyDeleteWatts, you are 100% awesome. Thanks!
ReplyDelete