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Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Aug 1, 2013 0:14:33 GMT -5
Since the last was getting on up there, and I'm about to start a new theme month, I decided to just go ahead and start anew. And, I have to move during the day. So, I"m just gonna go ahead and post this. Time for another theme month. And, the theme will be cover songs! Yes, I will be posting songs from musicians that were originally done by other musicians. But, that’s not all! I will also post the original song as well. Yes, it’s Cover Songs (And The Original) Month. And, we begin with one of the most famous cover songs ever: Jimi Hendrix’s version of “All Along The Watchtower.” While Hendrix pretty much owns the song today, it was originally written by another famous musician: Bob Dylan. www.youtube.com/watch?v=jff6pZJvrWk Following a motorcycle accident in July 1966, Dylan spent the next 18 months recuperating at his home in Woodstock and writing songs. According to Clinton Heylin, all the songs for John Wesley Harding, including “All Along The Watchtower” were written and recorded during a six-week period at the end of 1967. The song released the next year, but it would soon be overshadowed by Hendrix’s cover. His cover would be released on the album Electric Ladyland in September of 1968 and became a Top 20 Billboard hit. Dylan has described his reaction to hearing Hendrix's version: "It overwhelmed me, really. He had such talent, he could find things inside a song and vigorously develop them. He found things that other people wouldn't think of finding in there. He probably improved upon it by the spaces he was using. I took license with the song from his version, actually, and continue to do it to this day." In the booklet accompanying his Biograph album, Dylan said: "I liked Jimi Hendrix's record of this and ever since he died I've been doing it that way... Strange how when I sing it, I always feel it's a tribute to him in some kind of way." Of course, Hendrix’s cover isn’t the only one. There have been other notable versions of the songs from such artists as The Grateful Dead, Bryan Ferry, and The Dave Matthews Band. However, I’m only going to post two more. First, here’s U2’s version from their movie “Rattle And Hum.” www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kudxg8tfzFcAnd, here’s an unusual version done for the TV show Battlestar Galactica. www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUchAD44xA8
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Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Aug 2, 2013 17:34:55 GMT -5
Cover Songs (And The Original) Month continues. Today, we’re looking at one of the more recent cover songs that has become more famous than the original. It’s only a decade old, but it quickly surpassed the original as soon as in came out in 2003. I’m speaking of Johnny Cash’s version of “Hurt.” Funny enough, the original isn’t that old either. “Hurt” was originally a Nine Inch Nails song. Trent Reznor wrote it for the band’s 1994 album The Downward Spiral, and it was released as a single in 1995. It received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Rock Song in 1996 but lost to Alanis Morissette's You Oughta Know. www.youtube.com/watch?v=htmKZKR7oycThe song clearly includes references to self-harm and heroin addiction, although the overall meaning of the song is disputed. Some listeners contend that the song acts as a suicide note written by the album's protagonist, as a result of his depression, while others claim that it describes the difficult process of finding a reason to live in spite of depression and pain. Suicide is a major theme of the album, appearing in songs such as "The Downward Spiral" and the unreleased track "Just Do It." The gun violence of "Big Man with a Gun" is occasionally interpreted as an alternative ending to the album, with the protagonist inflicting violence on others, rather than, or possibly in addition to, himself. However, Cash’s cover changed the meaning of the song, from being about suicide and heroin to old age. The line "crown of shit" was changed to "crown of thorns", not only removing profanity from the lyrics, but also more directly referencing Christ and Cash's devout Christianity. Its accompanying video was very instrumental into the change of theme as well. The music video was directed by former NIN-collaborator Mark Romanek, who sought to capture the essence of Cash, both in his youth and in his older years. In a montage of shots of Cash's early years, twisted imagery of fruit and flowers in various states of decay, seem to capture both his legendary past and the stark and seemingly cruel reality of the present. When Trent Reznor was asked if Cash could cover his song, Reznor said he was "flattered" but worried that "the idea sounded a bit gimmicky." He became a fan of Cash's version, however, once he saw the music video. “I pop the video in, and wow... Tears welling, silence, goose-bumps... Wow. [ I felt like ] I just lost my girlfriend, because that song isn't mine anymore... It really made me think about how powerful music is as a medium and art form. I wrote some words and music in my bedroom as a way of staying sane, about a bleak and desperate place I was in, totally isolated and alone. [Somehow] that winds up reinterpreted by a music legend from a radically different era/genre and still retains sincerity and meaning — different, but every bit as pure.” Though Cash’s version is much more well known, it’s not the only cover of the song. British singer Leona Lewis covered the song and included it on her first EP, Hurt: The EP in 2011. Lewis told Radio 1's Newsbeat, "People write music and the music is out there for people to interpret it how they want to. As long as it's coming from a genuine place. I actually am a big fan of that song and a big fan of the Johnny Cash cover. But that song in particular really speaks to me. Lyrically it's a song that is very intense and has painful lyrics." www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkWo2srE7nY
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Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Aug 3, 2013 20:58:22 GMT -5
Sorry this is so late. I’ve just been busy today. Anyway, Cover Songs (And The Original) Month continues. Today, I’m going to start things off with the original. And, that song is David Bowie’s “Space Oddity”
Bowie’s first big hit came out in 1969. It tells the story of Major Tom, an astronaut who abandon’s his space station and goes off on an adventure. The song came out around the time of the Apollo 11 mission to the moon, helping to make it a big hit. The song put Bowie on the map, and he would later write two more songs about Major Tom: “Ashes To Ashes” in 1980 and “Hallo Spaceboy” in 1995.
As for the cover, it wasn’t really made by a musician. In fact, the person who did this cover is an actual astronaut. Chris Hadfield is a Canadian astronaut who recorded this version and made a music video for it aboard the International Space Station. It became a big sensation on the Internet and has pretty much rendered any other covers of the song moot since it was made in outer space. It’s hard to top that.
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Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Aug 4, 2013 16:37:41 GMT -5
Cover Songs (And The Original) Month continues. And now, we're gonna have a theme week in this theme month. Crazy, I know. Now, just because someone writes and records a song doesn't mean that person will be the one whom will be associated with that song. Sometimes, someone will later come along, cover a song, and will be the one who makes it famous. It happens a lot. So much in fact that I've decided to dedicate a whole week to this trend. It's Songs You Might Not Know Are Cover Songs Week. And, we begin with The Animals's most famous hit song "House Of The Rising Sun." While The Animals's version may be the most well known, it isn't the first. In fact, no one really know came up with the first version. You see, "House Of The Rising Sun" is a traditional folk song. Musicologists say that it is based on the tradition of broadside ballads such as The Unfortunate Rake of the 18th century and that English emigrants took the song to America where it was adapted to its later New Orleans setting. Alan Price of The Animals has even claimed that the song was originally a sixteenth-century English folk song about a Soho brothel. The oldest known existing recording is by Appalachian artists Clarence "Tom" Ashley and Gwen Foster, who recorded it for Vocalion Records in 1934. Ashley said he had learned it from his grandfather, Enoch Ashley. www.youtube.com/watch?v=147kS8O59QsOther early covers have been done by the likes of legendary country sing Roy Acuff, folk singer Woody Guthrie, and Bob Dylan. (Roy Acuff) www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIhW_xA--XE(Woody Guthrie) www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlbLs_bvimU(Bob Dylan) www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2PxlUqLF54Then in 1964, The Animals recorded and released their version of the song, and it’s been associated with them ever since. But, theirs wasn’t the last. In 1969, Detroit band Frijid Pink recorded a version of "House of the Rising Sun" which became an international hit in 1970. In September 1981, Dolly Parton released a cover of the song as the third single from her 9 to 5 and Odd Jobs album. And, most recently, the British rock band Muse recorded a cover of the song on the charity album NME in Association with War Child Presents 1 Love released in 2002. (Frijid Pink) www.youtube.com/watch?v=t40INnb6DnY(Dolly Parton) www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSlPldlmVtk(Muse) www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DPDpz-m0xg
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Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Aug 5, 2013 11:07:12 GMT -5
Songs You Might Not Know Are Cover Songs Week continues. Today, we’re looking at one of the most covered songs of all time. Various artists have sung this song, from Bing Crosby to Percy Sledge, from Etta James to Sheena Easton, from Cyndi Lauper to Florence And The Machine, from… well, you get the idea. However, this song has been owned by one man ever since he released his version back in 1966. I’m talking about Otis Redding, and the song is “Try A Little Tenderness.” But, what about the original? Just whom did Otis steal this song from. Well, “Try A Little Tenderness” was written by Jimmy Campbell, Reg Connelly, and Harry M. Woods and recorded initially on December 8, 1932 by the Ray Noble Orchestra (with vocals by Val Rosing). A year later two covers of the song by Ruth Etting and Bing Crosby came out. (Ray Noble Orchestra) www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJMFurJxxF8(Ruth Etting) www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtvMuVsp-vw(Bing Crosby) www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmRiHVmPZB8And, from these it’s not hard to see how Otis has own the song since his cover came. By making the song sexy and soulful, he added a lot of energy to the song that was sorely lacking from the original. However, Otis wasn’t the first soul singer to cover the song. Aretha Franklin covered it in 1962, and Sam Cooke released a cover after hearing her version soon after. (Aretha Franklin) www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ff5ACn3LV0 (Sam Cooke) www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1cnFB345xY However, Otis’s cover wouldn’t be the last. In 1969, Three Dog Night had a hit with a cover of the song. Other covers have been done by Rod Stewart, Michael Bolton, and Michael Bublé. And, these covers prove one thing: it’s not hard to see why we’ve stuck with Otis’s version for all these years. (Three Dog Night) www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQnBKm2L8_g(Michael Bolton) www.youtube.com/watch?v=26KO6guh3Hw (Michael Bublé) www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mG8gcsVeH0
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Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Aug 6, 2013 10:36:37 GMT -5
Songs You Might Not Know Are Cover Songs Week continues. Today, we’re looking at a song that is attributed to the cover artist rather than the originator because this cover was pretty much the lone hit song the cover artist had. At least in America anyway, it’s Natalie Imbruglia with “Torn.” Imbruglia may own the song now, but it was originally created by the band Ednaswap. "Torn" was written by Scott Cutler, Anne Preven, and Phil Thornalley during a demo session in 1993 before Ednaswap was formed. The lyrics were written by Preven, and Thornalley and Cutler produced the session. Two years later, the song was released as the band’s second single. “Torn” has been covered a surprising number of times, considering that it was written by a nearly unknown alternative rock band; this is due to Thornalley's involvement, as he worked with all of the artists who covered it. He’s the one who has pretty much kept it out there in the spotlight. www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1SH1YdITDI Two years after the original’s release, the song was covered by Australian pop singer Natalie Imbruglia, becoming the huge hit that is still remembered to this day. While the original didn’t really chart, Imbruglia’s cover was a Number 1 hit in many countries around the world. Imbruglia’s version really soften the hard edge of the original, making it more radio friendly, which helped it to become so popular. You can still hear it on the radio or in grocery stores today, which really sums up just how bigger the cover is than the original.
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Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Aug 7, 2013 9:32:01 GMT -5
Songs You Might Not Know Are Cover Songs Week continues. Today, we’re looking at a song that you might know was a cover. I mentioned it back during More Than Just… Month. It’s Soft Cell’s “Tainted Love.” But, like I said, it’s not really Soft Cell’s. The song was composed by Ed Cobb and originally recorded by Gloria Jones in 1964. It was the B-side to the 1965 single "My Bad Boy's Comin' Home," which was a commercial flop, failing to chart in either the US or the UK. However, in 1973, British club DJ Richard Searling purchased a copy of the almost decade-old single while on a trip to the United States. The track's Motown-influenced sound (featuring a fast tempo, horns, electric rhythm guitar and female backing vocals) fit in perfectly with the music favored by those involved in the UK's Northern Soul club scene of the early 1970s. Searling popularized the song at the Northern Soul club Va Va’s in Bolton, and later, at Wigan Casino. Due to the newfound underground popularity of the song, Jones re-recorded "Tainted Love" in 1976 and released it as a single, but this version also failed to chart. (Gloria Jones) www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UrRxta8doM Five years later, Soft Cell became aware of the song through its status as a UK "Northern Soul" hit, and recorded a drastically different arrangement that became the huge we all know today. But, their version wouldn’t be the only well-known cover of the song. Twenty years after Soft Cell’s cover came out, the song was covered again, this time by Marilyn Manson. It was released as a single from the “Not Another Teen Movie” soundtrack, because that’s the kind of entertainment that appeals to the shock rocker. (Marilyn Manson) www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkKulSH2nNc
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Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Aug 8, 2013 9:24:45 GMT -5
Songs You Might Not Know Are Cover Songs Week continues. Now, I’m sure you all are familiar with Naked Eyes. If not, they were a British pop duo from the early 1980s. And, they had one big hit with “Always Something There To Remind Me.” If you don’t know the band, then you probably know that song. It was a big hit in 1983 and still gets radio play. Now, I’m sure some of you have heard of Mad Men. Their latest season ended about a month or so ago. Anyway, during one of their latest episodes, you probably heard this song playing during the end credits. www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOQ1NUdkg50That was Lou Johnson, and he was singing “Always Something There To Remind Me.” Yes, it’s not really Naked Eyes’. The song was written songwriting team Burt Bacharach and Hal David in the early 1960’s. Johnson’s version is the original, becoming a hit in the summer of 1964. However, he wasn’t technically the first person to record the song. Dionne Warwick recorded the demo version and later released her own cover of the song in 1967. (Dionne Warwick) www.youtube.com/watch?v=56m63bsQvB8However, the song became a bigger hit in 1970 when R.B. Greaves’s cover. After that, several other famous singers has covered the song, including Patti LaBelle, Johnny Mathis, and Dusty Springfield. But, it was the Naked Eyes cover that was the biggest hit. I guess people just wanted to hear this song with an Eighties synth beat. Go figure. (R.B. Greaves) www.youtube.com/watch?v=izvMbQpGDi0(Johnny Mathis) www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-d0_dR7hFMFunny enough, Naked Eyes weren’t even the first British artists to cover the song. That distinction belongs to Sandie Shaw. This came about when British impresario Eve Taylor heard Johnson's version while on a US visit scouting for material for her recent discovery Sandie Shaw. Shaw consequently covered the song for the UK market, becoming a hit for her as well. So, this has been pretty popular. It’s not hard to see why. With so many covers, there’s always something there to remind people of this song. Huh!? Hu… oh forget. That was terrible. I’m sorry. Here’s Shaw’s version, and let’s be done with it. (Sandie Shaw) www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xx5otxLS3qc
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Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Aug 9, 2013 9:58:59 GMT -5
Songs You Might Not Know Are Cover Songs Week continues. Today, we have a song that I didn’t even know was a cover. I just found out that this was a cover, so I decided to put this in at the last minute. Sorry, Tiffany. Anyway, the song is question is this catchy diddy from George Harrison. It’s “Got My Mind Set On You.” Yes, the quiet Beatle did not compose this song. It was actually written by Rudy Clark in 1962. The original singer was James Ray, an early 1960s R&B singer. The song was a minor hit for Ray, but it wasn’t as big as his other two hits ("If You Gotta Make a Fool of Somebody" and Itty Bitty Pieces"). Unfortunately, Ray didn’t live long enough to enjoy his chart success. Ray died from a drug overdose, but no one really knows when. Some sources have it in 1962, others 1963 or 1964, and others sometime later in the decade. www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJdCmtWJsCgCut to 20 years later, Harrison recorded a cover, which became much bigger than the original. The song went all the way to Number 1 in the U.S. and was a hit elsewhere in the world. This became the third Number 1 hit for Harrison and is the last Number 1 hit from any of The Beatles, which is a weird distinction since it’s not that good of a cover. It’s pretty repetitive, mainly because Harrison cut some of the lyrics from the original. Still, it just goes to show that sometimes the cover will become more popular than the original.
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Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Aug 10, 2013 9:04:10 GMT -5
Songs You Might Not Know Are Cover Songs has come to an end. Let’s close it out with another song that even I had no idea was cover. Though, I found out months ago. Anyway, here is the song in question: Sheryl Crow’s version of “The First Cut Is The Deepest.” This version I had heard, and I figured it was a typical Crow song: okay, but a little bland. Then, I heard this version playing in the movie “Seven Psychopaths.” www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1-g5VG2pWg That is P.P. Arnold, and she is the first person to have a hit with the song. Arnold was an American expatriate who recorded the song in 1967. The song went all the way to number 18 on the UK charts. Now, she may have had the first hit with the song, but she didn’t write. Cat Stevens did. He did record a demo but didn’t release it as he had originally planned to just be a songwriter. Then, things changed; and Stevens released his own version a few months after Arnold’s version. www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBccr-aLu4I There have been other covers. The song proved popular with reggae singers. Norma Frazer was the first. Other reggae artists who covered it were The Sixth Revelation, Barbara Jones, Joy White, Dawn Penn, Hortense Ellis, I-Roy who provides an unsual rapping version, Myrna Hague who adds jazz inflections, and Judy Mowatt who renames the song "First Cut" and features it on her album "Mellow Mood." (Norma Frazer) www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKKm9GkvXLc(I-Roy) www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYLgHOGVAvk(Judy Mowatt) www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxN7AzEMOuw Two other notable versions come from Keith Hampshire and Rod Stewart. Hampshire had a Number 1 hit in Canada with his 1973 cover of the song. And, Stewart had a big hit with his cover in 1977; it went all the way to Number 1 in the UK. (Keith Hampshire) www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRxBe24FkbE(Rod Stewart) www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9pnRjLfVWc
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Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Aug 11, 2013 19:39:55 GMT -5
Cover Songs (And The Original) Month continues. Today, we’re going to look at how a cover can improve on the intent of the original song. And, the song we’ll be looking at is “Common People” from the band Pulp. The idea for the song's lyrics came from a Greek art student whom Pulp singer/songwriter Jarvis Cocker met while he was studying at the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design. Cocker said that he was having a conversation with the girl at the bar at college because he was attracted to her, although he found some aspects of her personality unpleasant. He remembered that at one point she had told him she "wanted to move to Hackney and live like 'the common people'." Cocker used this phrase as the starting point for the song and embellished the situation for dramatic effect, for example reversing the situation in the song when the female character declares that "I want to sleep with common people like you"; Cocker admitted that in real life he had been the one wanting to sleep with the girl, while she had not been interested in him. Taking this inspiration, the narrator explains that his female acquaintance can "never be like common people," because even if she gets a flat where "roaches climb the wall" ultimately, "if [she] called [her] dad he could stop it all," in contrast to the true common people who can only "watch [their] lives slide out of view." Now, this isn’t a bad idea; but the execution is lacking because Cocker sings the song as if he’s annoyed with the girl. And, I feel that’s not right for song. It really needs some bite and righteous anger behind. Luckily, there is a cover that has that. And, it comes from the most unlikely source: William Shatner. In 2004, William Shatner made an album with Ben Folds. Shocking, I know. Even more shocking, it’s pretty damn good. As proof, here is their cover of “Common People.” www.youtube.com/watch?v=ainyK6fXku0Now, there’s the anger I was talking about! Shatner is singing for all those poor, disenfranchised people who have to deal with snobby rich people who think playing poor is cool. It just goes to show that sometimes the cover improves on the original.
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Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Aug 12, 2013 11:17:02 GMT -5
Cover Songs (And The Original) Month continue. Today, we’re looking at “The Man Who Sold The World.” First up, the cover. Here’s Nirvana’s version. The original was done by David Bowie. The song's title is similar to that of Robert A. Heinlein's 1949 science fiction novella The Man Who Sold the Moon, with which Bowie was familiar. However, the song has no similarities to the story in the book. The persona in the song has an encounter with a kind of doppelgänger, as suggested in the second chorus where "I never lost control" is replaced with "We never lost control." Bowie himself has commented about the song’s meaning: "I guess I wrote it because there was a part of myself that I was looking for. Maybe now that I feel more comfortable with the way that I live my life and my mental state (laughs) and my spiritual state whatever, maybe I feel there's some kind of unity now. That song for me always exemplified kind of how you feel when you're young, when you that there's a piece of yourself that you haven't really put together yet. You have this great searching, this great need to find out who you really are." www.youtube.com/watch?v=6x5OubSeb-UIt has been interpreted that the song is about selling out. Though, a lot of that could be attributed to the Nirvana, mainly because Kurt Cobain was most likely dealing with some stuff about selling out around the time that cover was made. Nirvana recorded their cover on MTV’s Unplugged in 1993. The performance was released on an album the next year, and the single became Nirvana’s last after Cobain’s death. While Nirvana’s cover is the most famous, there was another famous cover before it, from Scottish singer Lulu. I’m not joking. She released it in 1974, and it went all the way to Number 3 on the UK Charts. www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyFAnA9oPRE
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Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Aug 13, 2013 10:31:53 GMT -5
Cover Songs (And The Original) Month continues. Today, we’re going to look at how a cover can change meaning of the song from the original version. First, we’ll look at the original, and that is Otis Redding’s “Respect.”
Redding wrote and recorded the song in 1965. He had intended it to be a ballad for singer Speedo Sims, who intended to record it with his band, the Singing Demons. However, Redding rewrote the lyrics and sped up the rhythm. Then, Speedo went with his band to the Muscle Shoals studios but was unable to produce a good version. This lead to Redding singing the song himself, which Speedo agreed to. Redding's version is a plea from a desperate man, who will give his woman anything she wants. He won't care if she does him wrong, as long as he gets his due respect, when he comes home ("respect" being a euphemism). The inspiration for the song had come when, in response to Redding's complaints after a hard tour, MGs drummer Al Jackson reportedly said, "What are you griping about? You're on the road all the time. All you can look for is a little respect when you come home." That all changed when Aretha Franklin recorded her version.
Franklin recorded her version two years later. She made some changes to the song. A bridge was added, as was the famous lyrics that spell out the word “respect” and the backup singers singing “Sock it to me.” In Franklin’s hands, the song became declaration from a strong, confident woman, who knows that she has everything her man wants. She never does him wrong, and demands his "respect." This led the song to become a bit of a feminist anthem. It also made Franklin’s version much more popular Redding’s. The song was an international hit, and even Redding himself was impressed with the performance of the song. At the Monterey Pop Festival in the summer of the cover's release, he was quoted playfully describing "Respect" as the song "that a girl took away from me, a friend of mine, this girl she just took this song."
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Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Aug 14, 2013 10:20:57 GMT -5
Cover Songs (And The Original) Month continues. Today, we’re looking a pretty famous cover song. I don’t know if many people know that it’s a cover; but it a pretty good example. It’s Quiet Riot’s version of “Cum On Feel The Noize.” The original was done by Slade back in 1973. It was a big hit for them, going all the way to Number 1 on both the UK and Irish carts, which was quite a rare feat at the time and was the first occasion this had happened since The Beatles' "Get Back" in 1969. The song went on to spend four weeks at the top of the chart in March 1973. Upon release, the single sold 500,000 copies in only three weeks of release. As a result, the pressing factory was completely out of stock for a few days. www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLsw668PVyY A decade later, Quiet Riot came along with their cover. In fact, the band had cover quite a few Slade songs, but “Cum On Feel The Noize was the most popular. It went to Number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and helped to make their Metal Health album a Number 1 hit. It even created some renewed interest for Slade, which just goes to show that sometimes a cover can bring attention to the original.
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Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Aug 15, 2013 9:10:45 GMT -5
Cover Songs (And The Original) Month continues. Today, we’re looking at one of the most famous songs of all time. And, it’s famous songs like this one that covered a lot. So, let’s start with the original: The Rolling Stones’ “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.” The song came about in an inauspicious manner. Keith Richards recorded the riff after waking up in the middle of the night. He said when he listened back to it in the morning, there was about two minutes of acoustic guitar before you could hear him drop the pick and "then me snoring for the next forty minutes." Yes, Richards fell asleep after coming up with one of the most famous guitar riffs in music history. That riff and its lyrics about the frustration of a young with many aspects of the then-modern culture led to the song becoming a big hit. It has also had a hint of sexual frustration to it, which has made the song pretty timeless. It was The Stones’ first Number 1 hit in America on July 10, 1965. It also went to Number 1 in the UK after a period where it was initially for its sexual content. The song still resonates with people to this day, frequently appear on lists of the Greatest Songs Of All Time. Of course, this popularity has led to many covers. One of the first came from Otis Redding. His version came out the same year The Stones’ version was released. The cover does change the song a lot. For one, the main riff is done with horns instead of a guitar, which, funny enough, is what Richards had originally intended for the song. Also, Redding claimed that he did not know the lyrics of the song, saying: "I use a lot of words different than the Stones' version… That's because I made them up." (Otis Redding) www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmnZRBTPzg0Another famous cover of the song comes from Devo. The New Wave band released their cover in 1977, and it radically changes the song. Steve Huey of Allmusic stated that the cover version "reworks the original's alienation into a spastic freak-out that's nearly unrecognizable." Also, the sexual frustration theme of the song fits better with Devo than the Stones. I mean, can anyone really believe that Mick Jagger can’t get laid? Mark Mothersbaugh on the other hand. Hell, the names themselves pretty much sums it up. Anyway, while the cover itself wasn’t much of a hit, the video received a lot of play on MTV. (Devo) www.youtube.com/watch?v=jadvt7CbH1oFinally, another cover comes from Britney Spears. Yes, I’m serious. Spears recorded her cover for her second album Oops!... I Did It Again. It received mixed reviews, which is lot kinder reception that I thought it would receive. Then again, I doubt most people even remember this cover; so humanity isn’t a total loss. (Britney Spears) www.youtube.com/watch?v=vF2l_rWdvDs
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Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Aug 16, 2013 12:23:38 GMT -5
Cover Songs (And The Original) Month continues. Today, you’re gonna see something a little peculiar. You’re gonna see Elvis Presley covering The Beatles. Yes, this happened. Here is The King’s version of “Hey Jude.” The original was written by Paul McCartney in 1968. He was inspired by the divorce of John Lennon and his first wife Cynthia because of John’s affair with Yoko Ono. The song's original title was "Hey Jules," and it was intended to comfort Julian Lennon from the stress of his parents' divorce. McCartney said, "I started with the idea 'Hey Jules,' which was Julian, don't make it bad, take a sad song and make it better. Hey, try and deal with this terrible thing. I knew it was not going to be easy for him. I always feel sorry for kids in divorces ... I had the idea [for the song] by the time I got there. I changed it to 'Jude' because I thought that sounded a bit better." Julian Lennon discovered the song had been written for him almost twenty years later. He remembered being closer to McCartney than to his father: "Paul and I used to hang about quite a bit—more than Dad and I did. We had a great friendship going and there seems to be far more pictures of me and Paul playing together at that age than there are pictures of me and my dad." McCartney eventually changed the song’s title to “Hey Jude” since “Jude” was easier to sing than “Jules.” The song became a big hit for the Beatles. It spent 9 weeks at Number 1 on the American charts, making it the band’s longest run at the top. And, the single has sold approximately eight million copies and is frequently included on professional critics' lists of the greatest songs of all time. www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDdI7GhZSQA So, how did Elvis end up covering the song? Well, that’s the thing about Elvis: he never really wrote any of his hit songs. He did a lot of covers during his career, and this one came about after his 1968 comeback from many years spent making movies in Hollywood. It was recorded during the legendary sessions at the American Studio in Memphis in early 1969. However, it didn’t get released until 1972 on the Elvis Now album. Judging by its casual performance, it wasn’t really intended for an album release. But, it did get released, which is a good thing, since it’s not that bad of a cover. It can be a little futile to cover such a legendary band like The Beatles. So, it just stands to show that you’d need another legend like Elvis to do the job perfectly.
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Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Aug 17, 2013 9:03:28 GMT -5
Cover Songs (And The Original) Month continues. Today, we’re looking at another song in which the cover became bigger than the original. It’s Whitney Houston’s version of “I Will Always Love You.” The original was written by Dolly Parton back in 1973. She wrote it around the time she was ending her partnership with her one-time partner and mentor Porter Wagoner. Even though Parton had had some problems with Wagoner, she still felt grateful to him for helping her career, which explains why it’s about an amicable breakup, something that was a little unusual to her in a country song. The song was big hit for Parton, going all the way to Number 1 on the country charts. The song also made her very rich since Parton wisely decided to not sign over half of the publishing rights to Elvis Presley when he wanted to cover it sometime after it first came out. Smart girl. (Dolly Parton) www.youtube.com/watch?v=gS-F4rfU4nsThis decision really paid off when Houston recorded her version for “The Bodyguard” soundtrack. Houston was originally to record Jimmy Ruffin's "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted" as the lead single from “The Bodyguard.” However, when it was discovered the song was to be used for “Fried Green Tomatoes,” Houston requested a different song and her co-star Kevin Costner brought her Linda Ronstadt's 1975 version of "I Will Always Love You" from her album Prisoner in Disguise. Houston and producer David Foster re-arranged the song as a soul ballad. It became a huge hit, spending 14 weeks at Number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 as well as spending several weeks at the top of various charts around the world. Houston’s version became so popular that her take on the song has become her signature song. Of course, there are other covers of the song. Beyoncé recorded a cover after Houston died in 2012. There was also the Linda Ronstadt version that I mentioned earlier. And, Parton rerecorded the song a few times, once for her movie “The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas” in 1982 and again as a duet with Vince Gill in 1995. But, Houston’s version has been the definitive version. (Beyoncé) www.youtube.com/watch?v=D31WtLBc00M (Linda Ronstadt) www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tzDCIJ57SA
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Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Aug 18, 2013 9:22:36 GMT -5
Cover Songs (And The Original) Week continues. Time for another theme week in this theme month. Now, there’s this website I like to frequent called The AV Club. And, they have this video series in which they have bands come in to cover a song from a list; it’s called AV Undercover. And, it’s led to some interesting covers. So, I decided to feature some of these covers in my Cover Song month. It will really save from doing research. So, it’s AV Undercover Week. And, we start with the first song they did: Tears For Fears’ “Everybody Wants To Rule The World.” www.dailymotion.com/video/x20x5b_tears-for-fears-everybody-wants-to_music?search_algo=2The original came out in 1985. It was a huge hit for the band, going all the way to Number 1 on the American charts. In fact, it was the Number 1 song during the week of my birth. Yes, that’s how much of a nerd I am. The cover was done by indie band Ted Leo And The Pharmacists. Yeah, there’s going to be a lot of indie bands featured on this thing. Anyway, here’s their cover. Enjoy. www.avclub.com/articles/ted-leo-and-the-pharmacists-cover-tears-for-fears,38869/
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Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Aug 19, 2013 9:29:52 GMT -5
AV Undercover Week continues. Today, we’re looking at one of my favorite songs: Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here.” The song was written by David Gilmour and Roger Waters for their follow up Dark Side Of The Moon. It would end up as the title track since it reflected what they were feeling at the time and because it refers to former member Syd Barrett, as does the rest of the album. Though, Waters has admitted that he wrote the song around the time his grandmother died. So, there is a little of that in the song as well. As for the cover, it was done by The Antlers. And, here it is. Enjoy. www.avclub.com/articles/the-antlers-cover-pink-floyd,38874/
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Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Aug 20, 2013 8:18:44 GMT -5
AV Undercover Week continues. Today, we’re looking at Van Halen’s classic song, “Panama.” The original was reportedly written about a car. According to David Lee Roth, this was because critics accused him of writing about nothing more than partying, sex, and cars, but Roth realized that he had yet to write a song about cars. In an interview with Howard Stern, Roth explained the meaning behind the trademark song. Although the song features some suggestive lyrics, it is about a car that Roth saw race in Las Vegas; its name was "Panama Express", hence the title of the song. This however, is contradictory to a previous remark made by Roth during a backstage interview during Van Halen's 1985 tour. There was no mention of the song being about a car and not more of the usual Van Halen material. Never the less, during the bridge of the song where Roth says "I can barely see the road from the heat comin' off of it," guitarist Eddie Van Halen can be heard revving his Lamborghini in the background. The car was backed up to the studio and microphones were attached to the exhaust pipe to record the sound for the song. Now, for the cover. It’s um… different. The cover was done by comedian Reggie Watts, and he took a lot of liberties with the lyrics. Basically, he went in a whole new direction and sang about the country Panama. So, it’s certainly the most original cover that’s been featured. And, here it is. Enjoy. www.avclub.com/articles/reggie-watts-covers-van-halen,70723/ (Also, I know that the link breaks at the comma. But, I couldn’t figure out how to fix it. So, copy and pasting the last part is about the only solution. Sorry.)
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