Covers

We are having a band rehearsal tomorrow in which everybody is going to pick some cover tunes to flesh out the setlists.

For some reason I thought it was going to be easy for me to pick a couple of songs but, it’s driving me a little nuts.

There’s a lot to consider. I want to find something that I can, maybe, bring a little different twist to. Also it has to be something that I can play and sing in the context of a three piece band. Not always an easy trick.

A while back, I made an offhand remark about not wanting to do any songs that my buddies the Skeletons/Morells had ever covered. That’s about impossible, especially after the two recent releases, The Skeletons “Live at the Amador”, and the four disc set The Morells “101 Songs About Cars Girls and Food“.

For years I have threatened to do a version of
“Rock an Roll Doctor” by Little Feat. I’ve been dissecting it note by note this afternoon. What a funky band. We will probably do this song at some point but I don’t want to spring it on the guys cold. There is a lot going on here in 2:35.

I was surfing around this morning and found several lists of “best” and “worst” (who knew that Dolly Parton did “Stairway to Heaven”?) cover songs. I started to make a mental list so, here are some of my current favorite covers in no particular order.

Best:
Aretha Franklin, “Respect”
Jimi Hendrix, “All Along The Watchtower”
Mel Torme, “Goodbye Look” (original was on the Donald Fagen album “Nightfly”, it’s a surreal moment when Mel sings, “the Colonels standing in the sun, With his stupid face, the glasses and the gun”)
Jaco Pastorius, “Blackbird”
Joe Cocker, “With A Little Help From My Friends”
Dwight Yoakum, “Wichita Lineman” (I was surprised by this one)
Roy Buchanan, “Sweet Dreams” (fabulous instrumental version that is closer to Don Gibson’s original than the, also excellent cover, by Patsy Cline)
Willie Nelson, “Whiskey River”
Boz Skaggs, “Loan Me A Dime” (Fenton Robinson wrote this but, the Boz Skaggs record I had listed Boz as writer, I hope Fenton got his money)
B.B. King, “Bluebird”
George Benson, “Here, There, And Everywhere”
Johnny Cash, “Hurt”

As for the worst ones, I don’t have the right to judge anyone too harshly as I once produced a country singer on a version of Whitesnake’s, “Here I Go Again” (complete with banjo, that I played) and it was my idea. So, I can certainly understand a lapse in judgment. Also, one should never underestimate the sheer entertainment value of a bad cover song, so, here are a few that stand out in my mind.

Worst:

Limp Bizkit, “Behind Blue Eyes”
Michael Bolton, “Dock Of The Bay”
Pat Boone, “Tutti Fruity” (well… it’s kind of cute on one level)
Bob Seger, “16 Shells From A Thirty-Ought Six” (When I heard Tom Waits sing, “I’m gonna whittle you into kindlin’”, I locked the doors ’cause I thought he was coming after me. Bob doesn’t seem that manic.)
Celine Dion, “You Shook Me All Night Long” (this may have been a bad dream but I thought I saw her do this on some awards show)

Let me know what some of your favorites and least favorites are.

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Tags: cover songs, Little Feat, Morells, Skeletons