Tune du Jour: “Thirteen” – Big Star
THE CLASH of Cover Tunes: Kind of Like Spitting vs. Wilco vs. Evan Dando vs. Mary Lou Lord
VOTE, COMMENT, then DO SOMETHING NICE FOR YOURSELF
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The Original
Big Star:
THE CLASH of Cover Tunes
Kind of Like Spitting vs. Wilco vs. Evan Dando vs. Mary Lou Lord
Kind of Like Spitting:
Wilco:
Evan Dando:
Mary Lou Lord:
SPACE
Oh the disharmony! Much like Harlan County there are no neutrals here. It is your solemn responsibility to decide which cover song prevails. In other words … Which Side Are You On!??!
Disclaimer: Votes cast from Florida may or may not be counted.
cover me impressed 
An all-time favorite. Big Star hits a sweet spot for me and this is one of Chilton’s brightest gems. The purity of the sound matches the innocence in the teenage depiction. Nobody reinvents the song and I’m OK with that. I’ve heard Jeff Tweedy do this with only a guitar and it’s great. Here adding piano, some very tasty pedal steel guitar and some light strings it stills sounds great. Also among my favorite covers by Mary Lou Lord. Her acoustic guitar has such a vibrant sound live and she sings it well. Evan Dando, like Stipe has a voice that makes me feel like everything will be alright. Couple that with this beautiful song and his facility with it and it’s hard to top. My vote today among others also deserving.
Difficult choice here. All four artists delivered competent, reverend versions. It was close and really ended up being almost a coin flip between Evan Dando and Mary Lou Lord. I ended up voting with Mary Lou on this one.
Agonizing choice, as all four have their merits. This song seems meant to be just a voice and acoustic, but the additional instrumentation in Wilco’s version was so subtle and understated that it fit just right.
I’ve always liked Evan Dando’s voice, and he does an excellent job here as well.
I saw Mary Lou Lord’s name amongst the choices and knew right away she’d be competitive, and she was, making the decision even tougher.
Surprisingly, I gave it to Kind of Like Spitting, a band I’d never heard of. What I like are really quiet vocals. In some places, it’s almost a whisper. It makes the song feel very intimate, and with the quiet, non-flashy harmonies, it just won me over. Nice way to start my morning here in Zanzibar, with four excellent takes on a gem of a song.
Great choices here, but in my opinion the definitive cover is not even included here. I nominate Elliot Smith’s cover of this song, which was released posthumously after his untimely death. His version offers an understated and somber reflection on adolescence and heartbreak that really elevates the song, despite its stripped down sound. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2P1dNR8hlU I vote for Elliott’s version.