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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
“Find what you love and let it kill you.” – Charles Bukowski
“Without music, life would be a mistake.” – Fredrich Nietzsche
“Music has always been a matter of Energy to me, a question of Fuel. Sentimental people call it Inspiration, but what they really mean is Fuel. I have always needed Fuel. I am a serious consumer. On some nights I still believe that a car with the gas needle on empty can run about fifty more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio.” – Hunter S. Thompson
“If one should desire to know whether a kingdom is well governed, if its morals are good or bad, the quality of its music will furnish the answer.” – Confucius
“Virtually every writer I know would rather be a musician.” – Kurt Vonnegut
“When I hear music, I fear no danger. I am invulnerable. I see no foe. I am related to the earliest times, and to the latest.” – Henry David Thoreau
“I like beautiful melodies telling me terrible things.” – Tom Waits
“What is that feeling when you’re driving away from people and they recede on the plain till you see their specks dispersing? – it’s the too-huge world vaulting us, and it’s good-bye. But we lean forward to the next crazy venture beneath the skies.” – Jack Kerouac
“I’m not saying I didn’t enjoy myself, but I didn’t.” – Woody Allen
“Goodbye is too good a word. So I’ll just say fairly well.” – Bob Dylan
George Harrison vs. Jason & The Scorchers vs. Niedecken
George Harrison:
George Harrison, 18 years removed from his last U.S. concert, performs Absolutely Sweet Marie at Bob Dylan’s 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration (or as Neil succinctly put it, “Bob-Fest”).
Jason & The Scorchers:
Niedecken:
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.
Sam Cooke wrote A Change Is Gonna Come in December 1963. Cooke’s previous work had been in gospel music and, later, soulful pop songs that were sentimental and, at times, satirical in nature. A Change Is Gonna Come was markedly different from anything Cooke had ever composed before. The song is defiant in nature, emphatic that a change for long-suffering African Americans “is gonna come”. Cooke wrote A Change Is Gonna Come in response to an ugly incident he endured in October 1963. Cooke and his band were touring the south and had reservations at a Holiday Inn in Shreveport, Louisiana. When they arrived they were told that no rooms were available; it was obvious that the hotel had rooms available but was a whites-only establishment, which was the real reason Cooke’s reservations would not be honored. Cooke was furious and let the manager know it. When Cooke drove off in search of another hotel, a police car followed and arrested him for disturbing the peace. Not surprisingly he was traumatized by the overtly racist treatment. Another inspiration in Cooke writing such a blunt song about racial inequality was his admiration for Bob Dylan’s masterpiece, Blowin’ In The Wind, which was released in August 1963. Cooke was captivated by the song’s frank admonishment of racism and was said to be a bit ashamed that a white man was speaking out for the black community while he had yet to make any statement at all. Indeed, Cooke told his producer, J.W. Alexander, that he hoped A Change Is Gonna Come would make his father proud.
Everybody’s Dressin’ Funny … Cover Me Impressed!
Sam Cooke debuted A Change Is Gonna Come on The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson on February 7, 1964. It would be the only time he ever performed the song. The musical accompaniment was complex and its essence foreboding and somewhat frightening. After hearing it on The Tonight Show, Cooke’s friend and protege, Bobby Womack, told him that the song sounded “like death.” Cooke responded, “Man, that’s kind of how it sounds like to me. That’s why I’m never going to play it in public.” Womack clarified his thoughts, that it wasn’t deathly, but rather “spooky,” but Cooke never performed the song again.
A Change Is Gonna Come was released on December 22, 1964. Tragically, under circumstances that to this day are still mysterious, Sam Cooke had been shot and killed on December 11, 1964, at the Hacienda Motel in Los Angeles, California. He was but 33 years of age at the time.
Though only a moderate success in terms of sales, A Change Is Gonna Come is widely recognized as Sam Cooke’s seminal work. Not surprisingly the song became a staple for the country’s rising civil rights movement.
The Original
Sam Cooke:
THE CLASH of Cover Tunes
Billy Bragg vs. Mike Farris & Roseland Rhythm Review vs. The Gits
Billy Bragg:
Mike Farris & Roseland Rhythm Review:
The Gits:
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.
You used to be so amused, At Broccoli Man, and the carrot for a guitar he used …
The Original
Bob Dylan:
THE CLASH of Cover Tunes
Bad Religion vs. Robyn Hitchcock vs. Nena
Bad Religion:
Robyn Hitchcock:
Nena:
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.
You used to be so amused, At Broccoli Man, and the carrot for a guitar he used …
One of my favorite Dylan songs. And I’m particularly proud of all three selected covers.
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The Original
Bob Dylan:
Copyrights preclude Dylan’s original version from appearing.
Bob Dylan’s 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration (aka “Bobfest”):
Okay this is just plain ridiculous. Bob Dylan, Roger McGuinn, Tom Petty, Neil Young, Eric Clapton and George Harrison on stage at the same time! I mean c’mon. I don’t know, can anyone name another show that featured as many music icons on stage at the same time?
The Most Popular
The Byrds:
THE CLASH of Cover Tunes
Angry Salad vs. Wolfgang Niedecken & Anne de Wolff vs. Tamio Okuda & Sincerity Brothers
Angry Salad:
Wolfgang Niedecken & Anne de Wolff:
Tamio Okuda & Sincerity Brothers:
NOTE: To view this video hit play and then click on the YouTube logo on the bottom right-hand side.
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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.
You used to be so amused, At Broccoli Man, and the carrot for a guitar he used …
Blowin’ in the Wind was written by Bob Dylan in 1962 and released in 1963 on his album The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan. Dylan’s manager, Albert Grossman, also managed Peter, Paul & Mary. Before The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan had even hit the stores, Grossman brought an acetate to Peter, Paul & Mary who immediately recorded and released their version of the song. Peter, Paul & Mary’s version of Blowin’ in the Wind would ultimately be the most commercially successful version of the song. It sold a phenomenal three hundred thousand copies in the first week of release and reached number two on the Billboard Pop Chart with sales exceeding one million copies.
Lyrically, Blowin’ in the Wind is one of Dylan’s most revered songs. Upon first hearing the song, Mavis Staples described herself as being astonished, wondering how a young white man could write something which captured the frustration and aspirations of black people so powerfully. Sam Cooke was also in awe of the song. He covered Blowin’ in the Wind in live shows and in 1964 wrote A Change Is Gonna Come as his response.
In 1994, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In 2004, it was ranked #14 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the “500 Greatest Songs of All Time”. Okay, enough said …
The Original
Bob Dylan:
The Most Popular
Peter, Paul & Mary:
THE CLASH of Cover Tunes
The Abyssinians vs. Nena vs. Neil Young & Crazy Horse
The Abyssinians:
Nena:
Neil Young & Crazy Horse:
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.
It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)appeared on R.E.M.’s 1987 album Document. It was released as a single in November 1987, reaching No. 69 on the US Billboard Hot 199 and later reaching No. 39 in the UK singles chart on its re-release in December 1991. In an interview with Guitar World magazine published in November 1996, R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck agreed that End of the World was in the tradition of Bob Dylan’s Subterranean Homesick Blues (a song notable in that RDubbs does not particularly care for it).
The Original
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R.E.M.:
SPACE
THE CLASH of Cover Tunes
SPACE
Discount vs. Pickin’ On Series
SPACE
Discount:
Pickin’ On Series:
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?!!?
SPACE
Disclaimer: Votes cast from Florida may or may not be counted.
You used to be so amused, At Broccoli Man, and the carrot for a guitar he used …
When The Ship Comes In appears on Bob Dylan’s third album, The Times They Are A-Changin’, released in 1964. According to Joan Baez, Dylan wrote When The Ship Comes In in a hotel room, incensed, after the clerk initially denied him a room. The clerk had felt the remarkably unkempt Mr. Dylan was not the type of guest the establishment preferred to accommodate. Baez, who was traveling with Dylan, had to intervene on his behalf, vouching for his “good character”.
According to Dylan’s old girlfriend, Suze Motolo, as well as his biographer, Clinton Heylin, an additional inspiration for the song was probably Bertolt Brecht/Kurt Weill’s song, Pirate Jenny. Pirate Jenny, from the Threepenny Opera, tells of Jenny’s dark dream of a mysterious ship that arrives to vanquish her foes.
While these suppositions represent the generally accepted beliefs on the origin of the song, in fact, Dylan’s inspiration for When The Ship Comes In was actually the celebrated composition, I’ll No Longer Shave For You, by the criminally underappreciated Gatorwood Sunshine Singers, a tune that, oddly enough, would not be written until decades later.
The Original
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Bob Dylan:
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THE CLASH of Cover Tunes
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David Franklin vs. The Clancy Brothers and Robbie O’Connell with special guest Tommy Makem
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David Franklin:
The Clancy Brothers and Robbie O’Connell with special guest Tommy Makem:
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Oh the disharmony! Much like Harlan County there are no neutrals here. Only one cover tune will live to play another day and it is your solemn responsibility to decide which one prevails. So tell me … Which Side Are You On?!!?
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Votes can be cast up to three months from the day and time of the original post.
Disclaimer: Votes cast from Florida may or may not be counted.
Sam Cooke wrote A Change Is Gonna Come in December 1963. Cooke’s previous work had been in gospel music and, later, soulful pop songs that were sentimental and, at times, satirical in nature. A Change Is Gonna Come was markedly different from anything Cooke had ever composed before. The song is defiant in nature, emphatic that a change for long-suffering African Americans “is gonna come”. Cooke wrote A Change Is Gonna Come in response to an ugly incident he endured in October 1963. Cooke and his band were touring the south and had reservations at a Holiday Inn in Shreveport, Louisiana. When they arrived they were told that no rooms were available; it was obvious that the hotel had rooms available but was a whites-only establishment, which was the real reason Cooke’s reservations would not be honored. Cooke was furious and let the manager know it. When Cooke drove off in search of another hotel, a police car followed and arrested him for disturbing the peace. Not surprisingly he was traumatized by the overtly racist treatment. Another inspiration in Cooke writing such a blunt song about racial inequality was his admiration for Bob Dylan’s masterpiece, Blowin’ In The Wind, which was released in August 1963. Cooke was captivated by the song’s frank admonishment of racism and was said to be a bit ashamed that a white man was speaking out for the black community while he had yet to make any statement at all. Indeed, Cooke told his producer, J.W. Alexander, that he hoped A Change Is Gonna Come would make his father proud.
Everybody’s Dressin’ Funny … Cover Me Impressed!
Sam Cooke debuted A Change Is Gonna Come on The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson on February 7, 1964. It would be the only time he ever performed the song. The musical accompaniment was complex and its essence foreboding and somewhat frightening. After hearing it on The Tonight Show, Cooke’s friend and protege, Bobby Womack, told him that the song sounded “like death.” Cooke responded, “Man, that’s kind of how it sounds like to me. That’s why I’m never going to play it in public.” Womack clarified his thoughts, that it wasn’t deathly, but rather “spooky,” but Cooke never performed the song again.
A Change Is Gonna Come was released on December 22, 1964. Tragically, under circumstances that to this day are still mysterious, Sam Cooke had been shot and killed on December 11, 1964, at the Hacienda Motel in Los Angeles, California. He was but 33 years of age at the time.
Though only a moderate success in terms of sales, A Change Is Gonna Come is widely recognized as Sam Cooke’s seminal work. Not surprisingly the song became a staple for the country’s rising civil rights movement.
The Original
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Sam Cooke:
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THE CLASH of Cover Tunes
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Billy Bragg vs. Mike Farris
I suppose it’s “been a long time coming” but this is a momentous first on Cover Me Impressed. Two Melodious Maximi squaring off against each other!!! May the Best Maximus Win…
Billy Bragg:
Billy Bragg is a recipient of CMI’s universally coveted title of Bi Victor Melodious Maximus in Adversarial Replication. Among the title’s myriad of rewards and benefits, perhaps most desirous is that it bestows upon the recipient the eminently yearned for privilege of having one’s name appear in print media in bold orange!
Billy Bragg’s triumphal exploits in CMI’s THE CLASH of Cover Tunes competitions are detailed below:
12/26/2014 – “Fairytale of New York” (The Pogues) – Billy Bragg with Florence + the Machine (75%) thump Third Eye Blind (25%)
11/18/2013 – “Which Side Are You On?” (Almanac Singers) – Billy Bragg (57%)bests Dropkick Murphys (43%)
Mike Farris:
Mike Farris is a recipient of CMI’s universally coveted title of Uni Victor Melodious Maximus in Adversarial Replication. Among the title’s myriad of rewards and benefits, perhaps most desirous is that it bestows upon the recipient the eminently yearned for privilege of having one’s name appear in print media in bold gold!
Mike Farris’ triumph in CMI’s THE CLASH of Cover Tunes competition is detailed below:
1/11/2014 – “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” (The Carter Family) – Mike Farris & The Roseland Rhythm Revue featuring the McCrary Sisters (86%)humiliateKen Parker (14%)
I eschewed Farris’ studio version of A Change Is Gonna Come for this stompin’ live rendition with The Roseland Rhythm Revue:
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Oh the disharmony! Much like Harlan County there are no neutrals here. Only one cover tune will live to play another day and it is your solemn responsibility to decide which one prevails. So tell me … Which Side Are You On?!!?
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Votes can be cast up to three months from the day and time of the original post.
Disclaimer: Votes cast from Florida may or may not be counted.
You used to be so amused, At Broccoli Man and the carrot for a guitar he used …
Girl From the North Country was released in 1963 on Bob Dylan’s second album The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan. Dylan wrote the song after his first visit to England. During his stay, Dylan became friendly with an English folk singer by the name of Martin Carthy. Carthy introduced to Dylan a number of English traditional folk songs including his own arrangement of Scarborough Fair, a ballad that dates back to Medieval times. Dylan composed Girl From The North Country in the spirit and cadence of an old English folk song, going so far as to clip a line straight from Scarborough Fair: “For she was once a true love of mine”. A few years later Paul Simon would steal much more than a line, he pilfered Carthy’s whole arrangement! But that’s another story … and not a very pleasant one at that.
Girl From the North County is an infectious ballad of a man’s love who has moved on and away. Much speculation revolves around which of three former girlfriends inspired Dylan to pen the song. But in fact, it was written about me. Although only two at the time I had a major impact on Dylan, assuring and providing him with much needed confidence and direction. Embarrassed by his adoration of a two year-old, Bob chose to mask my identity by writing of a girl who moved abroad.
Though never a hit, Girl From the North Country has become one of Dylan’s more enduring songs. Dylan often performs it in concerts – including his 30th Anniversary Concert Extravaganza (or as Neil Young dubbed it, “Bobfest”) – and it has been recorded by over 50 musicians.
The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan
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Nashville Country: Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash
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In 1969 Dylan re-released Girl From the North Country on his album Nashville Skyline, this time singing the song as a duet with Johnny Cash. Bob had previously quit smoking and his voice sounded better than it had in years. But it’s anyone’s guess as to how much rehearsing the two did prior to recording. Exchanging verses, Bob kicks off the song with its first verse but when Johnny’s turn comes up he goes right into the third verse. Without missing a beat Bob follows with the second verse. And when they combine to sing there’s clearly confusion on where to go from there. It’s debatable whether the fourth verse gets sung at all as Bob and Johnny differ on a line or two, kind of melding the fourth and final verses together. But other than that it’s great. Actually, no kidding, it is great.
THE CLASH of Cover Tunes
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Eels vs. The Waterboys
Eels:
The Waterboys:
The Waterboys hold the distinction of being CMI’s Reigning Exultant Virtuosic Performer of “Girl From the North Country”. Additionally, The Waterboys are recipients of CMI’s universally coveted title of Uni Victor Melodious Maximus in Adversarial Replication. Among the title’s myriad of rewards and benefits, perhaps most desirous is that it bestows upon the recipient the eminently yearned for privilege of having one’s name appear in print media in bold yellow!The Waterboys‘ triumph in CMI’s THE CLASH of Cover Tunes competition is detailed below:
10/23/2013 – “Girl From the North Country” (Bob Dylan) – The Waterboys (71%) thump Eddie Vedder (29%)
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Oh the disharmony! Much like Harlan County there are no neutrals here. Only one cover tune will live to play another day and it is your solemn responsibility to decide which one prevails. So tell me … Which Side Are You On?!!?
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Votes can be cast up to three months from the day and time of the original post.
Disclaimer: Votes cast from Florida may or may not be counted.
cover me impressed 