Comments on: Can A Good Cover Rescue A Song From Drowning In Its Bad Production?

By: iantenna

iantenna — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 05:42:17 +0000

@kaate: west coast dude. check out johnny paycheck's "colorado kool-aid", awesome tune about race relations and beer drinking.

By: bcapirigi

bcapirigi — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 06:09:06 +0000

my father still breaks out the cocktail soundtrack anytime company comes over in the summer. still. as in, he didn't stop in 1989 and then revisit it 20 years later. it's been constant. since it came out. this cd has don't worry be happy on it, for christ's sake.

i just had to say that.

By: Kate Richardson

Kate Richardson — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 04:53:43 +0000

@iantenna: Oh my god, you made my evening. Amazing. Thank you. I love how Jimmy calls Coors Light "Colorado Kool-Aid."

If you live in NYC email me for sure. kate at idolator dot com.

By: ninety_nine

ninety_nine — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 05:10:39 +0000

It took several years (I’m a stoner, I forget Google exists, etc.) to find out the Buzzcocks are the progenitors of ‘Why Can’t I Touch It’, and I think it’s amazing in it’s own right, but the Lambchop cover (done to close shows a couple years back; haven’t heard it in some time) is stunning. Oh, and I love Dump (see below), but their cover of ‘It’s Not Alright’ is absolutely better.

And I don’t know if this post should just be a compendium of Yo La Tengo moments. Gates of Steel, Speeding Motorcycle, Oklahoma, USA, Nuclear War (and though I don’t know it is strictly speaking a cover, when they do Dreaming with members of Sun Ra, but it’s even better), and that’s just the obvious stuff.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 12:34:37 +0000

Nina Simone wrecks the Bee Gees' "To Love Somebody."

Then again, she makes nearly every cover she does sound better than the original, so maybe she deserves a category of her own.

By: BakerStreetSaxSolo

BakerStreetSaxSolo — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 11:19:11 +0000

this thread could go on forever, there are hundreds of covers better than the original. I’ll add Al Green’s “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart?” (Bee Gees) to the list, and as much as I love Stevie Wonder, I can’t remember how his “Golden Lady” goes after hearing Jose Feliciano’s version.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 11:06:38 +0000

@Marth:

I don't know, I like both takes on "Heartbeats", but something about the original production by the Knife seems more interesting to me. Gonzales' cover is exquisite, to be sure, but turning a song acoustic and soothing seems a little trod to me now.

By: the earl grey

the earl grey — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 09:49:11 +0000

check out carl’s “long promised road’ on surfs up .

By: Kate Richardson

Kate Richardson — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 07:00:09 +0000

@iantenna: I think we could definitely be friends.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 06:27:04 +0000

@iantenna: Oooh, I haven't heard Roberta Flack's version of that song, I will have to look it up. Thank you for the suggestion.

After I wrote this I went home thinking about Roberta Flack, actually, and how her cover of "Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye" always makes me forget that Leonard Cohen exists. I get chills just thinking about the way she sang that song.

By: iantenna

iantenna — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 06:07:49 +0000

@kaate: let's hang out and jam to this: [concerts.wolfgangsvault.com]

By: iantenna

iantenna — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 06:06:07 +0000

@slowburn: that versions is crazy good indeed. but given your name you should dig the roberta flack version, she puts the serious slow burn on that jam. and while we're on the topic of bee gees covers, swamp dogg absolutely destroys "got to get a message to you" on rat on which may very well be the dopest album cover of all time. it should be noted though, that while we may dig versions of bee gees jams, they must be pretty fucking stellar songs to begin with to bring about so many good covers.

By: Chris N.

Chris N. — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 04:43:22 +0000

Crap! I almost forgot John Coltrane’s version of “My Favorite Things.”

By: Lucas Jensen

Lucas Jensen — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 03:55:30 +0000

@slowburn: That Nina Simone version of that song is unstoppable. You are very correct.

By: MickFNS

MickFNS — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 11:22:41 +0000

@iantenna:

NO.

By: TheContrarian

TheContrarian — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 11:04:21 +0000

Nope, the original version of “Kokomo” is better. I, however, have recorded http://www.thecontrarianmedia.com=“” the_contrarian=”" 2006=”" 12=”" hold_on_dear_br.html”=”">a version of The Beach Boys’ lesser-known number “Hold on Dear Brother” from Carl & the Passions: “So Tough” that I think may come close to the original.

By: rogerniner

rogerniner — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 10:55:18 +0000

I love Kate Bush, but damn if the Futureheads don’t knock “Hounds Of Love” straight into the sublime.

By: iantenna

iantenna — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 10:39:12 +0000

@kaate: throw in a large joint and some whiskey and that sounds about like my yesterday.

By: Chris Molanphy

Chris Molanphy — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 10:20:35 +0000

I’m all for people reassessing records with hardened critical opinions — as a fan of a lot of cheesy pop, I do it all the time — but I must say I never thought it would happen with “Kokomo.” This is where my being in my mid-30s gives me a handicap; I don’t, like, despise the record, but all I see in my mind’s eye when it plays is that stupid Tom Cruise movie and former “Papa” John Phillips earning an absurd paycheck.

I guess you could adapt the old Woody Allen rule: great music is travesty plus time.

By: rocknrollwife

rocknrollwife — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 10:06:49 +0000

I’d take a bullet for Ray Davies; but Hugo Largo’s version of “Fancy” is wonderful; better than Yo La Tengo’s stab at it.