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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
What a song!!! It was revolutionary for its time. Changed music forever! Melts me …
The Original
The Ronettes:
I know. I know. Five songs are a bit much! I always try to limit it to a maximum of four and only rarely at that. But I did my damnedest to keep it at four but then found a Beach Boys live cover. While not a fan I know a few of you are so I broke precedent and begrudgingly went with five.
THE CLASH of Cover Tunes
The Dollyrots vs. Yo La Tengo vs. John Lennon vs. The Beach Boys vs. 6X
The Dollyrots:
Yo La Tengo:
John Lennon:
There is another longer outtake of John doing this song on youtube that is also brilliant. Seek it out!
The Beach Boys:
6X:
Don’t worry Be My Baby is just over three and a half minutes long. The rest is a hidden track that, frankly, is not very good. However, this local Atlanta band produced a lot of great songs. I really hate hidden tracks!
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.
Johnny Thunders and Patti Palladin vs. Alex Chilton vs. Yo La Tengo
Johnny Thunders and Patti Paladin:
Alex Chilton:
Yo La Tengo:
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.
Potpourri du Jour: “Sheena is a Punk Rocker / Let’s Dance” – The Ramones / “Baby It’s You (The Shirelles) / A Message to Michael” (Dionne Warwick) / “The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys (Traffic) / Mr. Soul” (Buffalo Springfield)
THE CLASH of Cover Medleys: Sigi Pop vs. Chrissie Hynde vs. Yo La Tengo
For our purposes we will rely on medley standards as outlined at the 2012 Institute of Chartered Music Listeners Music-Medley Symposium, which identified and defined the following categories of
Broccoli For Miles And Miles And Miles And Miles And Miles … Oh Yeah!
Music Medleys:
The Meager-Medley – a musical composition comprised of parts from two independent songs.
The Mini-Medley – a musical composition comprised of parts from three independent songs.
The Medial-Medley – a musical composition comprised of parts from four independent songs.
The Mega-Medley – a musical composition comprised of parts from five or more independent songs.
THE CLASH of Cover Medleys
Sigi Pop vs. Chrissie Hynde vs. Yo La Tengo
Sigi Pop:
“Sheena is a Punk Rocker” / “Let’s Dance” (The Ramones)
Chrissie Hynde:
“Baby It’s You” (The Shirelles) / “A Message to Michael” (Dionne Warwick)
Yo La Tengo:
“The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys” (Traffic) / “Mr. Soul” (Mr. Soul)
Oh the disharmony! Much like Harlan County there are no neutrals here. It is your solemn responsibility to decide which medley of cover songs prevails. In other words … Which Side Are You On?!!?
Disclaimer: Votes cast from Florida may or may not be counted.
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.
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?!!?
THE CLASH of Cover Tunes: The Chemistry Set vs. The Duke Spirit vs. Yo La Tengo
Everybody’s Dressin’ Funny … Cover Me Impressed!
Read it in the Sunday Papers:
Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s capital have erected five arm-waving robots to help manage Kinshasa’s traffic-clogged roads. The 8-foot-tall, solar powered robots were built by a local association of female engineers and direct Kinshasa’s traffic flow using flashing red and green lights on their hands. Residents are optimistic that the aluminum robo-cops will bring order to the city’s congested and chaotic streets. “There are certain drivers who don’t respect the traffic police, but with the robot it will be different,” said cabbie Poro Zidane. “We should respect the robot.”
The Original
Love:
THE CLASH of Cover Tunes
The Chemistry Set vs. The Duke Spirit vs. Yo La Tengo
The Chemistry Set:
The Duke Spirit:
Yo La Tengo:
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?!!?
Pots-Pourris du Jour: “Pink Elephants on Parade / Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah” – (Music from Vintage Disney Films) / “(I’m Not) Your Steppin’ Stone / Hit the Road Jack” – (Paul Revere & The Raiders / Ray Charles) / “Mendocino / Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head” – (Sir Douglas Quartet / Burt Bacharach)
THE CLASH of Cover Medleys: Sun Ra & His Arkestra and Harry Nilsson vs. Johnny Thunders & The Oddballs vs. Yo La Tengo
For our purposes we will rely on medley standards as outlined at the 2012 Institute of Chartered Music Listeners Music-Medley Symposium, which identified and defined the following categories of
Broccoli For Miles And Miles And Miles And Miles And Miles … Oh Yeah!
Music Medleys:
The Meager-Medley – a musical composition comprised of parts from two independent songs.
The Mini-Medley – a musical composition comprised of parts from three independent songs.
The Medial-Medley – a musical composition comprised of parts from four independent songs.
The Mega-Medley – a musical composition comprised of parts from five or more independent songs.
THE CLASH of Cover Medleys
Sun Ra & His Arkestra and Harry Nilsson vs. Johnny Thunders & The Oddballs vs. Yo La Tengo
Sun Ra & His Arkestra and Harry Nilsson:
“Elephants on Parade” (Disney Films: Dumbo) / “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah” (Disney Films: Song of the South)
Johnny Thunders & The Oddballs:
“(I’m Not) Your Steppin’ Stone” (Paul Revere & The Raiders) / “Hit the Road Jack” (Ray Chares)
Yo La Tengo:
“Mendocino” (Sir Douglas Quartet) / “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head” (Burt Bacharach)
Oh the disharmony! Much like Harlan County there are no neutrals here. It is your solemn responsibility to decide which medley of cover songs prevails. In other words … Which Side Are You On?!!?
Disclaimer: Votes cast from Florida may or may not be counted.
Here Comes My Baby was written by Cat Stevens and appeared on his first album, Matthew and Son, which was released in 1967. Shortly thereafter The Tremeloes released a single of Here Comes My Baby. The Tremeloes’ version was a huge success, reaching No. 13 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Chart and No. 4 in the UK Singles Chart.
The Original
Cat Stevens:
The Most Popular
The Tremeloes:
THE CLASH of Cover Tunes
The Smith vs. Bart Davenport with Joe Goldmark & The Seducers vs. Yo La Tengo
The Smith:
Bart Davenport with Joe Goldmark & The Seducers:
Amoeba Records. Nice!
Yo La Tengo:
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.
The Night Chicago Died reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for one week in 1974, reached number 3 in the UK charts, and number 2 in Canada. And why not? This assault on one’s sensibilities had everything you’d look for in a 1970’s hit: rudimentary, grade-school level verses, lyrics teeming with sappy emotion, a simple John Wayne good guys always win in the end patriotic mentality, a catchy chorus that stays with you like herpes and some electric guitar licks to enforce just how hip the song and, by extension, its listeners must truly be. Many would argue that The Night Chicago Died is the worst song of all time. However, they’d be wrong. The song’s potential for infamy is limited to possibly being the second worst song of all time as Billy, Don’t Be A Hero currently and mostly likely always will hold the distinction of being the worst the music world has ever produced. Amazingly, both abominations were first recorded by the same band, the all-time abysmal “Paper Lace”.
“Paper Lace” sent a copy of The Night Chicago Died to then Mayor Richard J. Daley who apparently hated it. So at least there is one minute reason to extend a very small modicom of respect to the man.
The Original
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Paper Lace:
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THE CLASH of Cover Tunes
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Frontier Wives vs. Jaak Joala vs. No Empathy vs. Yo La Tengo
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Frontier Wives:
Okay, these guys’ rendition was included because it looks like they are having a really good time and the raucous audience is definitely enjoying themselves as well.
Jaak Joala:
This guy’s version was included because it is sung in Estonian and any significant change as such to this miserable song is most certainly a welcome relief.
No Empathy:
This version was included because it is forkin’ great and something had to save today’s blog from its own misery.
Yo La Tengo:
Beginning in 1996, Yo La Tengo supported the fundraising efforts of New York’s world-renowned independent radio outlet WFMU with annual studio visits. All listeners who pledged money during the band’s appearances were offered the chance to request a favorite song that Yo La Tengo would then attempt to perform; no rehearsals, no advance word of what the requests might be, just plug it in and kick it out. The spontaneous element is impressive and, at times, hysterical. It is from one of these sessions that Yo La Tengo’s version of The Night Chicago Died was produced.
And so this version was included because … it’s YO LA TENGO so of course it had to be included!!!
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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?!!?
SPACE
SPACE
Disclaimer: Votes cast from Florida may or may not be counted.
You Broke My Will, Oh What A Thrill, Goodness Gracious Great Balls Of Broccoli!
A real confusing history to this song. Sea Cruise was composed by Huey “Piano” Smith. It was first recorded by Huey “Piano” Smith & His Clowns at Johnny Vincent’s Ace Records in 1959. The lead singer on the original recording was Bobby Marchan. Vincent loved the music but, for reasons that are not entirely clear, decided to ax Marchan from the recording. It may have been that Vincent felt the vocals could be improved upon. It may have been for racial reasons (Marchan was black). Or it may have simply been that Vincent disliked Marchan on a personal level, which is the reason most in the industry seem to believe. Whatever the reason, enter 19 year-old, up-and-coming vocalist Frankie Ford. Vincent cut Marchan’s singing from the recording, added some nautical sounds and over dubbed Frankie Ford on vocals. Sea Cruise, with Frankie Ford on vocals, quickly became a huge success, reaching No. 14 on the US Charts.
Frankie Ford had changed some of the lyrics slightly so he could get songwriter credit. Ultimately, Huey Smith received little-to-no royalties on the song he wrote and composed. In 1971, twelve years after Frankie Ford’s version, the original version of Sea Cruise with Bobby Marchan on vocals was finally released.
The Original Recording
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Huey “Piano” Smith & His Clowns featuring Bobby Marchan on Vocals:
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The First Released Recording
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Frankie Ford with Huey “Piano” Smith & His Clowns:
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THE CLASH of Cover Tunes
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Rico vs. Yo La Tengo
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Rico:
Yo La Tengo:
Yo La Tengo 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 yellow!
Yo La Tengo’s triumph in CMI’s THE CLASH of Cover Tunes competition is detailed below:
10/1/2013 – “Somebody’s Baby” (Jackson Browne) – Yo La Tengo (90%) annihilateThe Gamits (10%)
Beginning in 1996, Yo La Tengo supported the fundraising efforts of New York’s world-renowned independent radio outlet, WFMU, with annual studio visits. All listeners who pledged money during the band’s appearances were offered the chance to request a favorite song that Yo La Tengo would then attempt to perform; no rehearsals, no advance word of what the requests might be, just plug it in and kick it out. The spontaneous element is impressive and, at times, hysterical.
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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 