Favorite Cover Album
Tesla was announced as the 1st band coming to the music venue at the lake this summer. So I started listening to their 2 cover albums, Real to Reel volumes 1 and 2, to get ready and keep warm thinking about the coming summer. Volume 1 is my favorite. Please share what’s your favorite cover album?
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I particularly like the French duo who goes by the name Nouvelle Vague. There self-titled album is particularly good. They primarily cover Brit Pop. For the really outrageous, so bad it is interesting, I suggest: Pat Boone (Christian music) doing weird jazz band covers of heavy metal, the album is called "No More Mr. Nice Guy" (he is wearing leather on the cover art). How about "Sebastian Cabot, Actor/Bob Dylan, Poet" (the actor does a dramatic reading of Dylan lyrics while truly awful versions of Dylan's music plays in the background. For individual tracks, check out Klaus Nomi: "Just One Look" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yplwTe5IFQ And then there is Yoko Ono doing Adele: |
I need new glasses, or I'm becoming Emily Litella. I was starting to post the COVER of the Dead album Aoxomoxoa. Now that I've escaped this embarrassment--"never mind." The Beatles Second Album Nanci Griffith-Voices From Another Room Jennifer Warnes-Famous Blue Raincoat Til the Night is Gone-A Tribute to Doc Pomus |
Another favorite of mine, for awesomely awful covers is the CD called “Golden Throats: The Great Celebrity Singoff.” It includes two William Shatner numbers: “Mr. Tambourine Man” and “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds”, Mae West doing “Twist and Shout”, Andy Griffith doing “House of the Rising Sun”, and a whole lot more. |
Willie Nelson's album of Kris Kristofferson tunes (don't recall the name). I like some of the tunes on Deadicated but to my ears, it's wildly inconsistent (like the Dead). My favorite track is Dwight Yoakam's killer cover of "Truckin"". The first time I heard that, it was a revelation. I thought "He'll yeah -- that's how it's supposed to sound"! |
@larryi ....👀! I'd suggest therapy.....rubber mallets don't cut one up, but the bruises can make you look like a leopard....(...jus' jesting...*G*) @wharfy .....but you Are Emily Litella....and glasses, even those filled with *fav Here* won't change you back......Stop snorting that 'sroom dust would be a start....*sheesh* "...lil' mutter flunkers ain't got Annie scents of proportions....." |
This one took no thinking: Get It by Dave Edmunds, released in 1977. Dave is not much of a songwriter, so all his albums contain lots of songs written by others. That might sound like a major shortcoming, but Dave regularly delivered versions of songs better than the originals (compare his blistering hot Rockabilly re-imagining of "I Hear You Knocking" to the original Blues by Smiley Lewis). His recording of the classic song "Queen Of Hearts" (written by his good friend Hank Devito) was the first to appear on record, and is (imo) far superior to the cover version by Juice Newton His 1972 debut solo album Rockpile (the album title, though he later used it as the name of his group with Nick Lowe, Billy Bremner, and Terry Williams) and it’s 1975 follow-up Subtle As A Flying Mallet are also fantastic, but on those two albums he plays and sings almost all the parts (recorded at Rockfield Studios in Wales). On the Get It album Dave is provided accompaniment by Nick Lowe, Terry Williams, Billy Rankin (drummer in Nick Lowe’s early group Brinsley Schwarz), and Bob Andrews and Steve Goulding of Graham Parker’s backing band. Get It was the first album I heard from Edmunds, after reading a story on him (and The Dwight Twilley Band) in 1977 in Bomp!, the great Rock ’n’ Rock fanzine written and published by Greg Shaw. After hearing the album, I searched out his first two albums, and was blown away. I had tuned out most Rock music in the early-1970’s (Led Zeppelin? Black Sabbath? Aerosmith? The Doobie Brothers? Queen? David Bowie? Pink Floyd? ELP? Deep Purple? The Moody Blues? Alice Cooper? Heart? Boston? Santana? Chicago? OMG, Kiss?! Uh, no thanks.), and had set out on a journey to discover the roots of Rock ’n’ Roll, following the breadcrumbs back to the Hillbilly and Jump Blues music the original Rockabillies had combined to create the music I DID love. I had also been hired to play drums in a Jump Blues/Swing Band that performed around the Bay Area and down to Monterey. A white male singer, a black female singer, a guitarist (a Gibson ES-175), a pianist (upright acoustic. Weighed a ton!), a bassist (a Fender Telecaster, basically a copy of the original 1950’s P-Bass), two sax players (tenor and baritone), and my Gretsch kit with a 26" bass drum.
On Get It, Dave performs songs either written or already recorded by:
- Nick Lowe ("I Knew The Bride") - Bob Seger ("Get Out Of Denver"). Dave’s version leaves Bob’s in the dust. - Graham Parker ("Back To Schooldays" transformed into Rockabilly) - Rodgers & Hart (a dreamy version of "Where Or When") - Lolly Vegas---of the Native American band Redbone ("Ju Ju Man") - Bob Kelly (who?)---("Get It") A new Rockabilly classic. - Otis Blackwell ("Let’s Talk About Us", originally by Jerry Lee Lewis). Blackwell also wrote "Fever", "All Shook Up", "Don’t Be Cruel", "Return To Sender", "Great Balls Of Fire", "Breathless", and "Handyman", to name just a few. Wow. - Hank Williams ("Hey Good Lookin’"). This version really displays the Hillbilly influence in Rockabilly music. - Another by Nick Lowe ("What Did I Do Last Night") - Arthur Crudup ("My Baby Left Me"). One of Elvis’ Sun Records singles. An amazing recreation, with killer slap-back echo. - Plus a coupla songs credited to Dave and Nick Lowe ("Here Comes The Weekend"--- 1:59 of pure Everly Brothers-style music, and "Little Darlin’", full of acoustic guitars and sweet harmonizing) - And lastly one song credited to Dave alone ("Worn Out Suit, Brand New Pockets"). A gen-u-ine Country & Western classic.
Get It is in my Top 10 all-time favorite albums list, and if you haven’t yet heard it, used copies are plentiful and cheap. On Swan Song Records, Dave personally signed by Robert Plant, who was a big fan of Dave’s. Dave is now retired and back home in Wales, turning 81 in April. Thanks for all the great music Dave.
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I’m a big fan of The Bird and the Bee’s “Interpreting the Masters Volume 1: A Tribute to Daryl Hall and John Oates”. The Bird and the Bee did a great job of adding their own flair to the songs on this album without making them completely unfamiliar. It’s hard to strike the right balance in this regard, and I think they nailed it. Hope others enjoy it as much as I do! |
Leonid and Friends do mostly Chicago covers, led by the bass player, who transcribes all the parts note for note and anchored by a very solid drummer. The level of musicianship is consistently outstanding for everyone involved. I’ll admit it -- I never cared much for Chicago (and I still pretty much stick to the uptempo Chicago tunes) but these players have managed to win me over. They also sprinkle in covers by other bands. These are far more than typical covers. It’s terrifically alive and engaging music. Check them out on youtube. A taste: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJzlHBN3BT4 Note: the guy singing here at the piano is actually the leader/main bass player. |
Wow Leonid and Friends really rock. Excellent cover/tribute band. On a related topic, I have started to check out cover/tribute bands at local theaters. They play the songs I know by heart, the sound in the theaters is excellent, much better than a typical coliseum or stadium and the prices are reasonable. Plus they can still sing unlike some legacy bands that sound like they should stop touring. |
@wharfy , now I don't feel so bad. |
I was standing at the stove this morning drinking a Bloody Mary and making breakfast while thinking about David Lynch (I’ve been watching a lot of YouTube videos regarding him since his death), when out of the blue The Band’s covers album Moondog Matinee popped into my head. It was released in the Fall of 1973, and is unlike any other covers album I’ve heard. The album contains the type of material they were performing as Levon and The Hawks from 1960 till 1965 (when they became Dylan’s road band, dropping the Levon from their name), playing for drinking audiences in bars, dance halls (a phenomenon you younger fellas are undoubtedly unaware of), etc. The songs range from material by Chuck Berry ("Promised Land"), Junior Parker and Elvis ("Mystery Train"), Allen Toussaint ("Holy Cow"), Fats Domino ("I’m Ready"), Leiber & Stoller ("Saved"), and Sam Cooke ("A Change Is Gonna Come"). One unusual choice is "The Third Man Theme", from the great 1949 Noir film. All the songs are played and sung as could/can no other band.
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@wharfy , now I don't feel so bad. LOL...my mama always told me not to look into the eyes of the sun.... |
