Tag Archives: cover songs

I have no idea who might have done this originally, so I nominate the King’s Singers for the canonical version: The main problem with this song is that it’s so easy to do an over the top schmaltzy version of … Continue reading →

A little classic Elton John: Wilson Phillips did the honors on the “Two Rooms” tribute CD: That song wasn’t written for them, of course, but it sure sounds like it could have been.

All hail ABBA: Did they know how to craft pop music or what? It’s not a surprise that the concept of a jukebox musical, where all the songs are taken from a single artist, has had its best success with … Continue reading →

A lovely little tune from Queen: Oh, Freddy. You left us way too soon. Now here’s a version you may remember from a Gap commercial, by Dwight Yoakum: A straight-up countrified version, a little up tempo, and it works quite … Continue reading →

Is it really a cover when the lead singer of a band re-does one of that band’s songs as a solo artist? Here’s Squeeze, with Chris Difford at the wheel, doing “Cool For Cats”: Sometimes solo artists completely change the … Continue reading →

I think we’re all familiar with the original version of this one, so since I just have cover versions of it, let’s go straight to those. First, here’s Aerosmith: Steven Tyler was two years younger than I am right now … Continue reading →

Not one of Elton John’s biggest hits, but a lovely tune nonetheless: And a very good cover of it by Sting, from the “Two Rooms” tribute to Sir Elton and Bernie Taupin: Sting’s voice just works on that song, doesn’t … Continue reading →

The one and only Stevie Ray Vaughan, ladies and gentlemen: I had no idea SRV even did MTV-style music videos. That one was amusing, if somewhat disturbing. I like how he has an endless supply of guitars at his fingertips. … Continue reading →

And we go back even farther, to the early 70s and one of the enduring hits of the Grateful Dead: I figure with all the bootlegs out there, there are probably more live recordings of songs like “Casey Jones” than … Continue reading →

Back to the 80s, a time and place we’ve visited more than a few times, and one of the biggest hits by Wham!. I wasn’t a big fan of Wham! back in the day, but this was the song of … Continue reading →

One of the best songs Paul Simon ever wrote, and he wrote it for Art Garfunkel’s voice. Hard to top that, but you can approach it with your own sense of style. That’s what Johnny Cash did. I’ll say again, … Continue reading →

An iconic song from an iconic album: Two iconic songs, really, since “Brain Damage” leads inexorably to “Eclipse”; I’d say 90% of the time the former is played on the radio, the latter comes along as well. By the way, … Continue reading →

I’ve already done the videos for Bruce Springsteen’s classic “Born To Run”. Now here’s a classic of a different kind: Clearly, some people at the Children’s Television Workshop really get The Boss.

“Blue Moon” is a Rodgers and Hart song with a complicated history and a number of iconic versions. The first time it was a hit was when it was recorded by the Velvet Fog himself, Mel Torme: Gotta love the … Continue reading →

I’ve sung the praises of Pete Townshend’s Deep End Live concert before, and here’s another awesome cut from it, “Barefootin’”: Back in the day when mixtapes were a thing, I’d make party music mixes, and this would be my go-to … Continue reading →

I trust this needs no introduction: Have you read the oral history of that video yet? Go ahead, I’ll wait. Besides, you know what’s coming next, right? You’re probably also aware of the Latin translation of the lyrics, which qualifies … Continue reading →

Has there ever been a better free concert than the one Simon and Garfunkel did in Central Park in 1981? Here they are doing “America”: I love Simon’s joke about “the guys who are selling loose joints” donating half their … Continue reading →

This may be the most covered song of all time. Here’s a traditional rendition from The Rogues: I once said on Facebook that all bagpipes come with three songs preinstalled: Scotland The Brave, The Minstrel Boy, and Amazing Grace. Hearing … Continue reading →

Songs from the folks tradition are by definition covers, since there obviously is no original recording. One of my favorites is All Around My Hat. It was a hit for Steeleye Span in the 70s: Later, Status Quo covered Steeleye’s … Continue reading →

This song is almost 100 years old, and it qualifies as a standard. Thanks to the magic of the Internet, here’s the original version, by Marion Harris: I’m impressed there’s still a recording around of that. The first place I … Continue reading →

I didn’t mean to start this series out with two Pete Townshend songs in a row, but I’m going alphabetically and this is what came next. It’s also one of my favorite songs, from one of my desert island CDs: … Continue reading →

Not many rock groups could pull off the “concept album” without it descending into a morass of self-indulgence and wretched excess. The Who was one of the bands that could get away with it, because Pete Townshend was such a … Continue reading →

How is it that I’d never actually seen the video for “99 Red Balloons” before? One of life’s little mysteries, I suppose. And may I just say…leather pants. God, I miss the 80s sometimes. I also got to wondering if … Continue reading →