Musical Memories: Best Cover Versions
The track I've chosen is Thunderstruck. In its original 1990 format, it's a head-banging heavy metal anthem by the Australian rock band AC/DC : The cover is a little different. It's a bluegrass, hillbilly version by the Finnish band Steve ‘n' Seagulls (a pun on the name of the actor Steven Seagal). It's played not with electric guitars, but with spoons, a double bass, an accordion, a banjo, a mandolin and an anvil:
AC/DC : Thunderstruck (1990)
Steve ‘n' Seagulls : Thudersstruck (2014)
In the 1960s, I became a great fan of Billie Holiday. Born in 1915 in Philadelphia, the daughter of unwed teenage couple Sarah Julia "Sadie" Fagan and Clarence Holiday. Her father, a jazz musician, abandoned the family when she was a child. She frequently skipped school, and her truancy and when she was nine years old she sent to a Catholic reform school. She dropped out of school at age 11 and by this time her mother was working as a prostitute. At the age of 12 she found a job running errands in a brothel. At the age of 14 she was also working as a prostitute. In May 1929, Billie and her mother were both sent to prison for prostitution. On her release from prison she started singing in nightclubs in Harlem. By the age of 18 she was recording with Benny Goodman. One critic claimed: "Her singing almost changed my music tastes and my musical life, because she was the first girl singer I'd come across who actually sang like an improvising jazz genius." Holiday's improvisation of melody to fit the emotion was revolutionary. In 1935, she with appeared with Duke Ellington in Symphony in Black: A Rhapsody of Negro Life. In the film she sang Saddest Tale. Her first hit, What a Little Moonlight Can Do came later that year. This was followed by songs such as I Cried for You (1936), Summertime (1936), I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm (1937) I Can't Get Started (1938), Strange Fruit (1939), God Bless the Child (1941) and Lover Man (1942).
It was in an email from Chris Childs following a Musical Memories meeting that I first heard oabout Beth Hart. I searched her out on YouTube and I was so impressed I purchased several CDs by her. Hart, like Holiday, has had a troubled life and has struggled with drug addiction and bi-polar disorder. Maybe it is this past that has given her a tremendous blues voice. On one CD she covers a song, Don't Explain, that was recorded by Billie Holiday in 1944. The lyrics were written by Holiday and according to her biography, Lady Sings the Blues (1956), Holiday cites the infidelity of her first husband, Jimmy Monroe, as the inspiration for this song; specifically, an instance in which Monroe's woeful attempt to explain away lipstick on his collar elicits Holiday's disgusted response: "Take a bath, man; don't explain." I still love the original but have doubts about the arrangement that I find slightly sentimental. Hart, accompanied by the great guitarist, Joe Bonamassa, brings out the pain of being addicted to a man who is wrong for you.
Billie Holiday, Don't Explain (1944)
Beth Hart, Don't Explain (2014)
This is my offering for Cover Versions. This is The Killers singing Romeo and Juliet. This appeared on their third album entitled Sawdust which they released in 2007. The Killers, as you all probably know, are one of the biggest rock bands this century, and were formed in Las Vegas in 2001. They have released 5 albums, selling over 40 million records world-wide and toured in 50 countries across 6 continent The original by Dire Straits and written by Mark Knopfler was released on their 1980 album Making Movies. The track has been covered by over 20 people with the latest cover by Daniel Cavanagh of Anathema, who makes a good job of it also.
Dire Straits, Romeo and Juliet (1980)
The Killers, Romeo and Juliet (2007)
I am not suggesting that Dave Edmunds version is better than Chuck Berry, but it is certainly different. On my 10 tracks in a foreign language I picked some cajun/zydeco music and I think this is a good example of two Welsh musicians having a try at reproducing that sound. You be the judge of how well they do. There is a true cajun version of The Promised Land by Johnnie Allan available on Youtube which I almost selected, but I have always liked Dave Edmunds and I think he should be better known. People may remember The Sabre Dance or I Hear You Knocking, but not who the artist was.
Chuck Berry, The Promised Land (1964)
Dave Edmunds & Geraint Watkins, The Promised Land (1994)
My choice is Sunday Morning Coming Down sung by Johnny Cash; original by Kris Kristofferson. I really like both singers but I think Johnny Cash has the edge here: no one does despair quite like him. I've never been in quite that place myself but I can appreciate how it might feel.
Kris Kristofferson, Sunday Morning Coming Down (1969)
Johnny Cash, Sunday Morning Coming Down (1970)
I much enjoyed the White Stripes album "Elephant" which I bought as a CD in 2003. The most well-known song is Seven Nation Army by Jack White which had great success, winning numerous awards and so far gaining 700 million plays on Spotify and over 300 million views on YouTube. Postmodern Jukebox (PMJ), featuring Haley Reinhart, covered Seven Nation Army turning it into a New Orleans funeral march. This is great fun if you have a moment: Wannabe (2020)
White Stripes, Seven Nation Army (2003)
Haley Reinhart & Postmodern Jukebox, Seven Nation Army (2015)
According to legend, as a young man living on a plantation in rural Mississippi, Robert Johnson had a tremendous desire to become a great blues musician. One of the legends often told says that Johnson was instructed in a dream to take his guitar to a crossroads at midnight. There he was met by the Devil who took the guitar and tuned it. The Devil played a few songs and then returned the guitar to Johnson, giving him mastery of the instrument. This story of a deal with the Devil at the crossroads mirrors the legend of Faust In exchange for his soul. Johnson was then able to create his famous blues style. People quoted this legend about Robert Johnson and linked it to Eric Clapton when with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker as Cream he played great guitar riffs on Crossroads, which became a part of Cream's repertoire in July 1966. Their version features a prominent guitar riff with hard-driving, upbeat instrumental backing and soloing. I had never heard of Robert Johnson at that time but 1966 was a very important year for me as I set off for university and Cream and this song was part of the sound tapestry of that and the following few years.
Robert Johnson, Crossroads (1936)
Cream, Crossroads (1968)
Angel from Montgomery was written by singer-songwriter John Prine and it was released on his 1971 debut album John Prine. He says that he was intrigued by the idea of "a song about a middle-aged woman who feels older than she is....... I had this really vivid picture of this woman standing over the dishwater with soap in her hands...... She wanted to get out of her house and her marriage and everything. She just wanted an angel to come to take her away from all this".
He chose Montgomery as the setting for the song, being drawn to the city by the fact that Hank Williams (someone he admired) had ties there. Interestingly the song Angel from Montgomery is now a concert staple of Hank Williams' granddaughter Holly Williams.
John Prine has written many great songs and this is one of my favourites. (Mind you I am a sucker for anything related to the American West – cowboys and rodeos included.) He is also a good performer but I don't think his rendition of this song is one of his best performances. I also think this song needs to be sung by a woman to give it real credibility.
The song has been covered by many artists but the version that gained it widespread recognition was the one Bonnie Raitt recorded on her 1974 album Streetlights. Hers is probably regarded as the definitive version and Bonnie Raitt herself considers it one of the most important songs she has ever recorded. I think she sings it really well but maybe her performance is a bit too polished for me. I prefer Susan Tedeschi's voice – just a hint of gravel - and I think her rendition of the song is more soulful.
It's difficult to categorise John Prine but he is often described as an American country/folk artist and "Angel from Montgomery" is often seen as a "country" song. I'm a fan of country music, including the more modern "alt country", so my choice could be seen as another attempt in the futile campaign Edward and I are conducting to convince the group of the merits of country music.
Susan Tedeschi released Angel from Montgomery in 1998 on her second studio album Just Won't Burn . This was in the days when she had her own band - before her marriage to Derek Trucks in 2001, and the formation of the Tedeschi Trucks Band in 2010.
Although she is known as a blues artist, she also sings soul and country etc. Her studio recording of this song is more countrified, and is accompanied by fiddle and steel guitar. But I have chosen a live performance from 2009. (I believe the date is right but I can't verify it.) She is accompanied here by piano and sax and I think the performance is a lot more soulful. You also get to see her and her band performing.
John Prine, Angel from Montgomery (1971)
Susan Tedeschi, Angel from Montgomery (2009)
Mine is a Bob Dylan composition, All Along the Watchtower, reportedly one of his most played in concert. First recorded on the John Wesley Harding album in December 1967 with other versions on various live compilations. The cover I really like is by Jimi Hendrix. Did Jimi cover any other of Dylan? Possibly. The words do not seem to have any particular relevance but the interpretation is superb.
Bob Dylan, All Along the Watchtower (1967)
Jimi Hendrix, All Along the Watchtower (1968)
I'm going to slightly go off-line by nominating a CD full of cover versions Hard Rain - the songs of Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen. I will nominate my best cover later on, but Barb Jungr is certainly a good interpreter of other people's compositions especially Dylan and Cohen although I have heard her do some great Springsteen as well. She also completed a cd of Beatle's compositions and Pamela saw the concert and raved about it.
I knew of Barb Jungr from earlier work with Dylan songs and when she brought out Hard Rain in 2014 Pamela and I were able to go and see her at the Komedia Brighton Fringe and she brought the house down. She has a delightful, witty, irreverent sense of humour and her sets are just great.
I grew up in the Dylan era and was a follower until he seemed to go a little off road producing long monologues with a growling tone that was hard to follow and hear. My interest wandered and it was so great to have my appetite for his great words rekindled in 2014. After all he is a Nobel Prize Winner and the words of his earlier works are very poignant and hard hitting although now I feel their effectiveness limited a little by his delivery style which very much captured the era some 50 years ago.
Jungr's interpretation of his words hammer them home in the 21st century and acknowledge the true mastery of his composition and sadly the relevance still to life today. Pamela and I also saw Girl from the North Country up in London based around some of Dylan ‘s lesser known songs. Well worth visit if the theatres open again and it's on.
I could have chosen any of the tracks on Hard Rain, but following the brief have nominated Chimes of Freedom although the classic Masters of War and the exquisite Cohen's 1000 Kisses Deep ran it close. Her interpretation does all that a good cover should achieve, in my opinion, highlighting and accentuating the original composition, but adding another dimension to make it even more dynamic in the changing modern era so that its effectiveness can continue and multiply.
Bob Dylan, Chimes of Freedom (1964)
Barb Jungr, Chimes of Freedom (2014)
The song Respect is a song written and originally released in 1965 by American recording artist Otis Redding (1941-1967). The American soul singer Aretha Franklin (1942-2018) recorded a cover version of Otis Redding's song on 14th February, 1967 for her Atlantic Records debut album, I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You. After the title track (I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You) became a hit record, Atlantic Records issued Franklin's cover version of Respect as a 7"single on 29 th April 29, 1967. Aretha Franklin's single ‘Respect' became a hit across the world. In the United States, Franklin's ‘Respect' became a No. 1 in both the ‘Billboard Hot 100' Chart and ‘Billboard's R&B Chart' and reached No. 10 in the UK's hit record chart.
Respect was originally written by Otis Redding as a ballad but rewrote the lyrics and sped up the rhythm so that it could be recorded by Earl ‘Speedo' Simms and his group The Singing Demons . When ‘Speedo' Simms found he could not perform the song satisfactorily in the studio, Otis Redding decided to record the song himself. ‘ Respect' was included as a track on Redding's third studio album, ‘ Otis Blue' (1965). In the Summer of 1965, ‘ Respect' was released as a single and reached the top five on Billboard's ‘Black Singles' Chart.
Apparently, the title and theme of the song was inspired by a remark made by Redding's drummer Al Jackson junior , who, commenting on the hard demands of touring with a band, said to Redding: "You are on the road all the time. All you can look for is a little respect when you come home ".
The message of Redding's song Respect is that when a man is away working hard to support a woman financially, he is entitled to some respect from her on his return to the house. (SAMPLE LYRICS: " I'm about to just give you all my money, but all I'm asking is a little respect when I get home.")
In Otis Redding's version of his own song Respect the musical style is essentially ‘funky', with a heavy, insistent drumbeat to the fore, supported by a bass line provided by an electric bass guitar and keyboards and a strong but " playful " horn section consisting of tenor saxophone, two trumpets and a baritone sax. The "complaining" lyrics are delivered by Otis Redding's characteristic raspy lead vocals, with backing vocals by two male singers - William Bell and Earl Simms, the original recipient of the song. The track was produced by Steve Cropper , who also plays guitar on the number.
In Aretha Franklin's version of Otis Redding's original song, the short intro is by a dominating electric guitar and the horn section. When the drums come in, they set the same insistent beat of the original, but they are further back in the mix and are complemented by a vamping piano (played by Aretha Franklin herself). As with Otis Redding's original track, there is a forceful 4-piece horn section but on the Franklin recording the instrumentation consists of two tenor saxophones, a cornet and a baritone sax and in the middle of the song there is short instrumental passage played by the horns with a fierce tenor sax solo by the r&b/soul/jazz saxophonist King Curtis .
The lyrics are delivered in an impassioned manner by the soulful voice of Aretha Franklin, but she is aided and abetted by two female backing singers – Aretha's two sisters, Erma and Carolyn Franklin. The female backing singers provide gospel-influenced ‘call and response' vocal interspersions [e.g. " All I'm asking, Is for a little respect when you get home ("just a little bit") Hey baby ("just a little bit") when you get home ("Just a little bit") mister ("just a little bit")].
The sound recording was engineered by Tom Dowd, the same person who worked on Otis Redding's original release, but for Aretha Franklin's version of the song, the production was directed by Jerry Wexler who was assisted by Arif Mardin , who helped with the new musical arrangement. Franklin had been performing the song ‘ Respect' at her live shows prior to the recording, so she already had set ideas on how the song would be performed. In the recording studio, Franklin gave instructions to the rhythm section and worked out new parts for her two backing singers, Erma Franklin and Carolyn Franklin.
Although Aretha Franklin's cover version of ‘Respect' differs musically from Otis Redding's original, the real change is in the message of the song. Otis Redding's original song is from the viewpoint of a self-pitying man who wants to reassert his power in a domestic relationship, mainly through his control of the finances and his role as ‘breadwinner' ("I'm about to just give you all my money, But all I'm asking, Is a little respect when I get home."). Naturally, as a woman, Aretha Franklin has to bring a female perspective to the song, but, with the assistance of her sisters, she manages to turn the song into a demand for equal rights. By changing the lyrics here and there and introducing a new emphasis, Aretha Franklin transforms the song Respect into a feminist anthem.
The opening few lines of the song are changed to the perspective of the woman in the original composition. From the start, the change in the lyrics asserts the confidence and power of the woman. (e.g. "What you want, Baby, I got it. What you need; Do you know I got it?"). By changing the viewpoint of the lyrics, it is now the woman in the relationship who is demanding her rights (e.g. "All I'm asking is for a little respect when you get home."). In Franklin's version, it is the woman who holds the purse strings and it is the woman who is asking for her proper dues in return. (e.g. "I'm about to give you all of my money, and all I'm asking in return, honey, is to give me my propers ."). The demand for her ‘propers' was a Franklin improvisation in which she asks to be treated properly and with respect. In Franklin's version, the woman spells out to the man her demands (i.e. "R-E-S-P-E-C-T") and she gives the man in her life very clear instructions on what he has to do (e.g. " R-E-S-P-E-C-T, Find out what it means to me. R-E-S-P-E-C-T . Take care, TCB " i.e. 'Take Care of Business'). The female singer is voicing her anger and frustration ("I get tired. Keep on trying. You're running out of fools.") and issuing an ultimatum and detailing the consequences of inaction on his part (e.g. " And I ain't lying. Respect when you come home. Or you might walk in and find out I'm gone.").
It has been claimed that Aretha Franklin's cover of Respect was "a landmark for the feminist movement ". Franklin's version of the song was released in 1967 when there were notable changes in society and the ‘Women's Liberation' and the ‘Civil Rights Movement' were growing in strength. The song emerged when women were calling for equal rights and recognition of their contribution to the community. It is not surprising that Aretha Franklin's version of ‘Respect' became an anthem for the Feminist Movement and created echoes for those fighting for Black Civil Rights
Aretha Franklin's feminist version of Respect gained greater commercial success and recognition than Otis Redding's original recording of the song. Respect by Aretha Franklin became a hit record and in 1968 her version of the song was rewarded with two Grammy Awards - for "Best Rhythm & Blues Recording" and "Best Rhythm & Blues Solo Vocal Performance by a Female Artist". In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine placed Franklin's version of the song at No.5 in its list of ‘The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time'. An education project organised by the American Recording Industry and a national Arts organisation ranked Aretha Franklin's cover version of Respect at No. 4 in its list of the ‘Songs of the Century', positioning the recording behind Judy Garland's ‘Over the Rainbow', Bing Crosby's ‘White Christmas' and Woody Guthrie's ‘This Land Is Your Land '.
Otis Redding acknowledged that Aretha Franklin had made his composition Respect her own when he introduced his performance of the song at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, declaring it was a song "that a girl took away from me, a friend of mine, this girl she just took this song ", but added "but I'm still going to do it anyway."
The first cover version of Otis Redding's recording was by the American rock band The Rationals, featuring a strong vocal performance by the lead singer Scott Morgan . It became a minor hit in the USA. In 1988, country music singer Reba McEntire recorded a cover of Franklin's version for her self-titled album ‘Reba' . The American singer Adeva recorded a very different version of the song in "house music" style the same year and it became a hit single in the UK in 1989. Melanie Amaro produced an up-tempo dance version with electronic instrumentation in 2012. Her recording of the song was featured in Pepsi-Cola advert and it became a minor dance club hit in the USA. All four cover versions can be heard on YouTube .
Otis Redding, Respect (1965)
Aretha Franklin, Respect (1967)
Ron Payne
I thought originally thought of Lerner and Loewe's 'On the Street Where you Live', sung by Vic Damone and Concrete and Clay by Unit 4 plus 2 , but decided the reworking was too extreme to count.
So here instead- as a pledge until I can reply to your Puccini with my Wagner's Top 10 - are two versions of The Ride of the Valkyries. The first is the classic recording by Wilhelm Furtwangler, another of those artists who had some explaining to do after the war.You can also enjoy Arthur Rackham's famous illustrations from the ring.
As the poster says the sound is a bit ropy because the recording is 80 years old. I had it as a classical single when I was a teenager. If I still have it it is much worn. Furtwangler is in no hurry, but manages to push the piece relentlessly forward to its conclusion, with only a slight sense of relaxation, or relief, in the central section.
The music itself comes from the beginning of Act 3 of The Valkyrie, where the valkyries gather for their daily get-together after a busy day rounding up the corpses of the slain for the afterlife. In the opera the music is interrupted as the girls come in in ones and twos (cue for battle cries), park their (flying) horses and greet each other with the kind of witty badinage common in Wagner ( cue for horsey laughter). There is simultaneously a suggestion of wild, wild women ( no cigarettes and whiskey and not that kind of wild woman, they are all virgins) and a coming storm. in then end they turn out to be a bunch of wimps when faced with a really, really angry papa. It must be a bugger to stage as these days you have to suggest the presence of horses, referred to in the exchanges, without having any on stage. The orchestral Ride cuts out all of the intermittent exchanges and knits together the orchestral parts into a single short piece, basically in ABA form, with a central section on a rising theme, before the main theme returns. Wagner generally didn't approve of that kind of thing unless it made him money or gave him publicity, and complained to his publisher when the piece was printed, although he got over it later. So the arrangement isn't his own work.
And now for something not completely different. I do not need this kind of arrangement to to make me laugh at Wagner (although Verdi is really the king of comedy) but it is worth an occasional outing. Sky was formed around John Williams, a classical guitarist who went over to the dark side. (That is perhaps understandable as classical guitarists don't really have much to do except play the major works of minor Spanish composers or arrangements of Bach and other baroque masters.There is probably about 3 or 4 CDs worth and it must get very repetitive, and competitive.) As Wagner said 'Kinder, schafft neues'; except that Sky also offered arrangements of classical pieces, which is probably just as well when you hear their original pieces. According to Steve Gray the Ride of the Vakyries is ' The daftest tune ever written. So we decided to take the mickey and make it sound like a tinny little band struggling with this huge music. Unfortunately, the reviewers didn't get the joke, so this is the most misunderstood piece we ever did'. Who ever said it was a mere tune ? It is a generative motif; shows what he knows. I hope you enjoy it for whatever it is.
And now for something not completely different. I do not need this kind of arrangement to to make me laugh at Wagner (although Verdi is really the king of comedy) but it is worth an occasional outing. Sky was formed around John Williams, a classical guitarist who went over to the dark side. (That is perhaps understandable as classical guitarists don't really have much to do except play the major works of minor Spanish composers or arrangements of Bach and other baroque masters.There is probably about 3 or 4 CDs worth and it must get very repetitive, and competitive.) As Wagner said 'Kinder, schafft neues'; except that Sky also offered arrangements of classical pieces, which is probably just as well when you hear their original pieces. According to Steve Gray the The Ride of the Valkyries is "The daftest tune ever written. So we decided to take the mickey and make it sound like a tinny little band struggling with this huge music. Unfortunately, the reviewers didn't get the joke, so this is the most misunderstood piece we ever did". Who ever said it was a mere tune ? It is a generative motif; shows what he knows. I hope you enjoy it for whatever it is.
Wilhelm Furtwangler, The Ride of the Valkyries (1954)
Sky, The Ride of the Valkyries (2001)
Howard Johnson
Maybe I can chance my hand this time round on a song many of us associate with the blues and the 60's revival where I was introduced to it all those years ago on on RSG. I've just selected this at random as I know there are countless cover versions out there which if I took time I might have chosen in preference but hey ho its Sunday and only 2 hours remaining to get an entry into the group and with all my cds in lockdown whilst our home goes into a major reshuffle this is the best I could do although I'm not totally enamoured with the cover version but it is different, jazzy and has a kind of 'soft machine' flavour about it. See what you think. Probably the first 5 minutes will give you an appreciation of the different arrangement and if you choose to stay with it, then do so.
Big Joe Williams, Baby Please Don't Go (1935)
Al Kooper, Baby Please Don't Go (1970)
