The Cleverlys….bluegrass arrangements of contemporary music. Great musicians, great voices, great arrangements. Totally unique. And they blend in humor. Very funny at times. Check out YouTube videos. Bluegrass cover of “Owner of a Lonely Heart. Short but sweet. And then Justin Bieber’s “Baby”. Stunning. Just found them on YouTube and of course missed them here in KC by one month.
Modern Covers of Classics
I'm putting together a playlist of covers just because I'm a little bored of my current playlists. There are plenty of threads on this but I'm looking for more modern covers. Some examples I already have are:
Dancing in the Dark - Biz Colletti
Don't come around here no more - Rhianna Giddens
You Can't always get what you want - Lainey Wilson
Cindy I'll marry you some day - Robert Plant
Paint it Black - Wednesday Addams ( I know, weird, but compelling for some reason
Any suggestions?
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Rhiannon Giddens - I Won't Back Down (audience recording) Bill Frisell and Greg Leisz - Goin' Out Of My Head Madeleine Peroux - You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go |
Superb musicianship but be advised that what they offer are note-perfect duplications, as opposed to "reinterpretations" or "re-visions". Personally, I never much cared for Chicago. Do I like Leonid? You bet I do!
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Check out bands 'The Main Squeeze' and 'Leonid and Friends'. The Squeeze will blow you away with Led Zep, and other covers. Leonid, band from Russia does wonderful covers of Chicago, Carpenter, various 70's soul and funk bands. Both bands will chill your soul! YouTube is where you'll find great videos of both bands, Leonid very little on cd or streaming platforms as of now. |
"Groovin' Is Easy" by The Third Mind on their second album, The Third Mind/2. Totally acid-rock music genre, done in a current day recording sound quality. The album was released in 2023. I first heard that song by The Electric Flag, in 1968. As a very young teenager it really stuck with me, played that album a million times. Still loving it, but sounding very "new" on this cover, and certainly with much better SQ. |
Can’t believe no one has mentioned Scary Pockets & Pomplamoose, the LA-based cover bands that continually churn out terrific covers. Examples: Pomplamoose/Moby’s "Extreme Ways" (with Moby on keyboards). This was on the soundtrack of THE BOURNE IDENTITY: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0OWyoXNjcw&list=RDs0OWyoXNjcw&start_radio=1 Scary Pockets/Judith Hill’s great cover of Aerosmith’s "Walk This Way" (with Oz Noy on guitar): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFddsP_-mqU And then there’s Morgan James, the one-woman cover factory. Here’s her cover of the Beatles’ "Back in the USSR" (a tune not often covered): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJsUV2Nfv5E And her superior cover of Clapton’s "Lay Down Sally": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBLeEJzZfqE There are so many more out there. I listen to a lot of covers. |
Jerry Garcia Band - Senor (Tales of Yankee Power) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=830_e6tD8Fw Cowboy Junkies - Powderfinger https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_fdwqctmwg Lucinda Williams - Ode to Billie Joe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xz22Lm0WO6Q Patricia Barber - Ode to Billie Joe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0PAwj-UORc Los Lobos - The World Is a Ghetto |
Bettye Lavette - Salt of the Earth https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYx4xMsejew Lucinda Williams - Salt of the Earth |
The original by Marc Jonson: https://youtu.be/OrpIELDJBys?si=wFHCBrwLlYnTZ8CH
The cover by Dave Edmunds: https://youtu.be/SIM4HSiiOPA?si=Xwrbfi4ntDBDlfuy
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The original Blues by Smiley Lewis: https://youtu.be/DIeY7J9kjg0?si=RvAx8GSg3OFcAAQT
The Rock ’n Roll re-imagining by Dave Edmunds: https://youtu.be/xnzRhAy62cI?si=G8ruvRRgvoFzrRl9
Believe it or not, Dave’s version reached number 1 on the UK charts and number 4 in the U.S.A., both in 1970. Is 1970 "modern"?
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The original by Bob Seger: https://youtu.be/9WWHdBuOC6Q?si=MVLUyhs7fn8svJ1r
The far superior (imo) cover by Dave Edmunds: https://youtu.be/vhbV2yZidrE?si=93yzE2gNg743W84r
In either case, 100 proof American Rock 'n' Roll!
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The original by The Chantels: https://youtu.be/IePTH1PWzAs?si=dOULGMo4XeqUCwPD
A cover (with every vocal and instrument performed) by Dave Edmunds: https://youtu.be/s1jjzOfl6Xk?si=y0NVVo9lk4d3PAmP
Both versions are stunningly majestic!
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The original by John Fogerty: https://youtu.be/HHW9dNLx3pE?si=HTqjYTQWAYzygLg2
A cover by a favorite guitarist/singer/producer of mine, Dave Edmunds: https://youtu.be/05OMFvtgNRs?si=TMhzHRBrE2Fw9At6
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The original by the song's writer, Jackie DeShannon: https://youtu.be/IZf6YdPVwNY?si=ilnv9QRv_j4eRFw_
The cover by Agnetha Faltskog of ABBA: https://youtu.be/SzE5akQDSEo?si=FEmlmfEszUwPCApb :
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A Bob Dylan song done by a favorite Rock ’n’ Roll band of mine, The Flamin’ Groovies: https://youtu.be/QEHzoYCyxC8?si=Ri16MreXkqoXbVTN
A Tom T. Hall song done by a favorite guitarist/singer/producer of mine, Buddy Miller: https://youtu.be/q2tXW0OhfKI?si=t2ifu8qXa_3Lv6tI
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Great thread! Cat Power singing Dylan’s Royal Albert Hall concert and Joan Osborne’s “What Becomes of the Broken-Hearted” were new to me and are amazing. I will listen to more of each. Thanks to @ezwind for Cat Power and to bdp24 for Joan Osborne. @Viridian: I clicked the link to Pat Boone’s “Stairway to Heaven.” The album cover was worth my time, thanks. |
I love Disturbed's take on the Sound of Silence, but I far prefer the live take on the Conan show to the official studio version linked above
Disturbed "The Sound Of Silence" 03/28/16 | CONAN on TBS - YouTube Enjoy. This one moves my soul. Crazy Bill |
Original by Jimmy Ruffin: https://youtu.be/cQywZYoGB1g?si=Zx8fmuYqnxEhDX4n
Cover by Joan Osborne: https://youtu.be/j-U-WK0lKq8?si=AgkO3M4A1aADOuol
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@soix If you want to hear a version of Sound of Silence that will give you goosebumps, listen to the acoustic version from "The Ghost of Johnny Cash" with the lights turned off. |
This is a fun one: Zonkey is a studio album by progressive rock band Umphrey's McGee. The album was released on November 11, 2016. It consists of mashups, combining various covers crossing different musical genres.
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Interesting how a cover can bring new life to a song or act as a lens through which previously unnoticed or under-appreciated aspects/qualities can be perceived/appreciated. Having said that, for me it’s a fairly rare occurrence in popular genres There are plenty of (technically) competently-sung covers that sound generic because the artist simply lacks the creativity or vision to make it their own. And vocal technique can be a liability if that's all an artist brings to a cover. Of course, it’s not just about the artist. If the listener has heard the song in its original version so often that they’re sick of it (thanks to "classic rock" radio formats, for example), then the ear may embrace a cover out of sheer relief. There are some artists who, by virtue of a particularly idiosyncratic vocal approach manage to make any cover sound new. Richie Havens, Joe Cocker, Taj Mahal, Willie Nelson, Janis, Leon Russell, Lucinda Williams and Nina Simone immediately spring to mind. I’d argue that Jazz, as a genre based in improvisation/reinvention is a treasure trove in this regard. I’ve never cared for the Classical vocal esthetic but perhaps someone who is a fan can share their perspective
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Seu George's covers of David Bowie. Also Butterfly Boucher's cover of Changes that Bowie liked so much he dubbed in additional vocals on it. The Under the Covers series by Susanna Hoffs and Dave Matthews. There's always Bryan Ferry. If you're interested in more traditional interpretations of the Broadway-Hollywood-Tin Pan Alley repertoire the various Smithsonian songwriter anthologies will lead you to singers you might thought of. Like for instance: |
A timeless classic, anyway. And as with every other song on his debut solo album entitled Rockpile, every voice and instrument by Dave himself.