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Cover Me Impressed
With a focus on the 60's-90's music scene, CMI is a Paradiso for Lovers Cover Songs! Each post focuses on a particular song and provides its original and most popular recordings as well as covers versions. Patrons of CMI vote on the most deserving cover version, which will then live to compete again, battling other cover songs in a future post.
Bands, musicians, troubadours, and their ilk, submit your cover songs for future CMI competitions.
CMI welcomes the opportunity to introduce new artists.
Contact RDubbs at RDubbsTunage@gmail.com
Music Genres?
We've Got 'em Covered ...
Rock / Alt-Rock / Rock 'n Roll / Rockabilly / Indie Pop / New Wave / Old Wave / Surf / Reggae / Ska / Punk Rock / Psychobilly / Cowpunk / Alt-Country / Bluegrass / Folk / Croon-Tunes / A Cappella / Motown / Gospel / Blues / Rhythm & Blues / Jazz / Big Band / Lounge / Classical / Celtic / Bossa Nova / Worldbeat / Show Tunes / Cartoons / Bizarro / Musical Calamities
Billy Carter vs. Sonic Youth vs. Teenage Fan Club feat Donna Matthews
Billy Carter:
Well this is patently unfair but I could not decide whether I liked Billy Carter’s acoustic or electric version of Personality Crisis better. So I’m offering up both.
Acoustic:
Electric (Sound quality is not very good but the performance still shines!):
Sonic Youth:
Teenage Fan Club featuring Donna Matthews:
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.
“Green, Green Grass of Home” was written by Claude “Curly” Putman and first recorded in May 1965 by Johnny Darrell. Porter Wagoner wasted no time joining the Green Grass Party, releasing his version in July 1965. Wagoner’s version reached No. 4 on the country chart. By the year 2000 over one hundred other musicians would take a ride on the Green Grass train with none coming close to the popularity of Tom Jones’ release in November 1966, which became a worldwide number 1 hit.
“Green, Green Grass of Home” is one of those songs I hated as a kid. It sounded corny and how could anything my parents enjoyed listening to have any redeeming qualities? Then I grew up. And in the process grew to really appreciate the song. The imagery and ultimate impact of the lyrics are simply fantastic. While I don’t appreciate the musical presentations that many musicians used in their interpretations of “Green, Green Grass of Home” the lyrics are so well-crafted as to make most versions at least palatable.
The Original
Johnny Darrell:
The Most Popular
Tom Jones:
THE CLASH of Cover Tunes
Mike Farris vs. Ted Hawkins vs. John Otway
Mike Farris and the Roseland Rhythm Revue:
Ted Hawkins:
John Otway:
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.
Pink Floyd’s first hit in the United States, Money, from the band’s seminal album The Dark Side of the Moon.
The Original
Pink Floyd:
THE CLASH of Cover Tunes
Easy Star All-Stars vs. Indra Rios-Moore vs. The Squirrels
Easy Star All-Stars:
Indra Rios-Moore:
The Squirrels:
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.
Tommy Les Cappuccino & The Scarlettes vs. Mike Dennis vs. The Jam
Tommy Les Cappuccino & The Scarlettes:
Mike Dennis:
The Jam:SPA
CE
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.
Crooked Fingers vs. The National vs. The String Quartet
Crooked Fingers:
The National:
The String Quartet (aka Vitamin String Quartet):
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.
I’ve been a Puppet, a Pauper, a Pirate, a Poet, a Broccoli Man …
The Original
Ray Charles:
THE CLASH of Cover Tunes
The Barbarians vs. Andy Stokes vs. Toots & The Maytals
The Barbarians:
Andy Stokes:
Toots & The Maytals:
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.
And In My Hour of Need, I Truly Am Indeed, Alone Again, Broccoli …
“A Little Bit Country, A Little Bit Rock & Roll” is one of those songs that is so brutally awful there should really be a class action suit against its producers for the personal pain and suffering it has caused to the multitudes. Who knows where I might be if I had never heard this audio-tripe? And given that it was a pretty big hit it is quite interesting how few covers there are of the song. It’s as if there is a concerted effort by all to erase that horrible memory from our collective consciousness.
Yet, this is a post that ultimately had to happen. Despite the deplorable memories that the mere mention of this song conjures up, it does have one ultra-fantastic redeeming quality. The incomparable Kelly Hogan and the ever-so-nearly incomparable John Wesley Harding collaborated on a version of “A Little Bit Country, A Little Bit Rock & Roll” that stands as one of my favorite covers of all time. They power their way through the tune with pitch-perfect harmonies, enhanced lyrics and a slightly chaotic score. Brilliant delivery, simply brilliant. Definitely a Cover Me Impressed Hall of Famer!
The Original
Donny & Marie Osmond:
THE CLASH of Cover Tunes
Bill Funt, Carey Farrell & Steve Della Maggoria vs. John Wesley Harding & Kelly Hogan vs. An Unidentified Cockatiel
Bill Funt, Carey Farrell & Steve Della Maggoria:
John Wesley Harding & Kelly Hogan:
An Unidentified Cockatiel:
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.
I’ve been a Puppet, a Pauper, a Pirate, a Poet, a Broccoli Man …
The Original
Ian Dury & The Blockheads:
THE CLASH of Cover Tunes
Nina Hagen & Freaky Fukin Weirdoz vs. Jewish Monkeys vs. Kurt Gober Band
Nina Hagen & Freaky Fukin Weirdoz:
Jewish Monkeys:
Kurt Gober Band:
Who knew that Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick was such a popular song with children?
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?!!?
Why Can’t You See, I’m A Stalk of Broccoli Incapable of Cheatin’ On You, Baby…
Well, as a matter of fact, I don’t like Billy Joel!
The Original
Billy Joel:
This is an example of a really poor song.
Nick > Billy:
And here we have an example of making a mockery out of a really poor song.
THE CLASH of Cover Tunes
Me First & The Gimme Gimmes vs. Mortanius vs. Yellowcard
Me First & The Gimme Gimmes:
Mortanius:
Yellowcard:
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.
From Waits’ sublime masterpiece, Rain Dogs, Downtown Train beautifully captures the romance, hopes and desires, insecurity and confusion, and, at times, overcrowded-loneliness of a New York City weekend.
As Bill Janovitz of AllMusic puts it: “The verses of Downtown Train are chock-full with more concrete and evocative images than all of the contemporary Top 40 pop hits combined; images like ‘another yellow moon has punched a hole in the nighttime,’ ‘The downtown trains are full/With all those Brooklyn girls/They try so hard to break out of their little worlds,’ and ‘you wave your hands and they scatter like crows’ ring of Ira Gershwin and Cole Porter.”
One rock critic observed “a Lou-Reedish guitar lead pervading the song” but, personally, I think Downtown Train has much more of a Springsteen-esque feel to it. Although, whether Waits was influenced by Springsteen or vice versa is difficult to say.
The Original
Tom Waits:
That’s former World Middleweight Boxing Champion, Jake LaMotta, in the video.
TheMost Popular
Rod Stewart:
Rod Stewart recorded a lousy cover version of Downtown Train that became a #3 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in late 1989, and was also a number-one single on the album rock and adult contemporary charts. Strangely enough, Stewart’s lackluster debasing of Downtown Train went to number-one in Canada – a country where people generally make intelligent choices – and made the top ten on the UK Singles Chart in 1990. And if all that wasn’t putrefying enough, Stewart also received a Grammy nomination for the song in the category Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. When asked to comment on Stewart’s version of Downtown Train, world renowned scholar and preeminent expert on cover songs, R.J. Dubbengoth IV, vomited profusely.
THE CLASH of Cover Tunes
Mary Chapin Carpenter vs. Rocking Chairs vs. Patty Smyth
Mary Chapin Carpenter:
Rocking Chairs:
Patty Smyth:
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 