Covering songs can be a tricky thing and often the question arises “is there really a good reason for this other than to profit off an already successful song again”? Sometimes covers seem to be a result of lack of creativity, other times pure laziness, especially when these sound almost identical to the original. The same song packaged in a younger, sexier wrapping, completely lacking in originality, made to sell to a new audience who might not be familiar with the original.
That seems to hold true quite often but what people tend to forget is that many a great band started off as a cover band. And not only did they cover the songs but also emulated their heroes in that very instant. They were trying to be the people who wrote the songs they were playing, trying to sing, act and play their instruments like them. So was that a lack of originality, too? How does that fit in with creativity and laziness? After all, it takes quite a bit of effort to learn how to play like a pro, learn their techniques and tuning tricks / and often this copying led to huge spouts of creativity that have changed the world of music for good, much in the same way classical musicians like Mozart did centuries before.
Beginnings of the Beatles, Dylan, Rolling Stones
The Beatles started off covering early Rock’n’Roll, The Rolling Stones would find and replay old blues and r&b songs note for note and Bob Dylan was trying to follow in the footsteps of his hero Woody Guthrie.
The Beatles’ first album Please Please Me had a total of 6 cover songs on it, which had been a major part of their live repertoire at the time, with a blistering version of Twist and Shout closing it out. The debut of the Rolling Stones, England’s Newest Hit Makers, had only 3 originals from a total of 12 songs, with their first single being Buddy Hollie’s Not Fade Away. They did not release an original single until their 3rd Album,The Rolling Stones, Now!, with Heart of Stone while still relying heavily on covers to fill their albums. Bob Dylan’s debut only had 2 original songs with the rest being covers and rearrangements of traditional folk songs. All three of these acts went on to change and influence the musical landscape like few others and wrote and recorded some of the most memorable songs of all time, covered many a times by a wide array of musicians from all different musical directions.
Covers Are Common In Many Genres
In Rock’n’Roll there seems to be huge pressure on constantly being original and recording too many covers can often be interpreted as a lack thereof, while in many other musical styles it is completely normal to play and record the music of other artists. How often has Pancho and Lefty been covered by country musicians, how many bluegrass artists have a rendition of Orange Blossom Special in their catalog, how often have the works of Mozart and Beethoven been rerecorded, how many reinterpretations of Summertime or Cry Me A River are out there and how often has Hoochie Coochie Man or I Put A Spell On You been transformed in varying styles.
Do I need a 100% copy of an original song by someone who looks fresh and hip, not really, but if someone can take a familiar song and make it their own, give it their own DNA much like Willie Nelson does with every song he has ever played, I am game. I don’t even have to necessarily be a regular listener of the style of music to enjoy the creativity and imagination someone puts in to creating something new from something old and sometimes they even blow my mind.
The Cardigans – Iron Man
And that is exactly what happened when I heard Iron Man from The Cardigans the first time. Now there are lounge versions of many a harder song out there, but they often sound like a gimmick, not really to be taken serious. This version on the other hand of the classic Black Sabbath song fits in perfect with the Cardigans general musical style and sounds as honest as the original. You can tell that they fully understand the song and that their interpretation comes from a deep love of the material, giving it an indy, loungy groove with a fun twist while never loosing the dire predicament of our anti-hero.
Nina Persson sings his tragic story with her trademark sensual but innocent sounding vocal style over a tinny trip hop beat underscored with an atmospheric synth carpet and single note groovy guitar melody. At the end you picture a little pig tailed blond girl taking our sad Iron Man by the hand and leading him skipping through a scandinavian field of tall grass and flowers.
RotFront – The Robots
I have most of my music on a hard drive and let it play as a shuffle over my sound system. That can often lead to somewhat jarring style changes and keeps the mix very eclectic. I also have quite a bit of music I downloaded from friends to very surprising effects at times.
I was sitting on my couch just minding my own business when suddenly The Robots from Rot Front came swirling out of the speakers. I had never heard this version of The Kraftwerk classic but immediately recognized the song and tried to figure out who was interpreting it. Well, my app said unknown song from unknown album from unknown artist. That was it. I could not find this song on my harddrive anywhere after hearing it that one time and had no clue how to find it elsewhere. I searched on youtube, google, amazon and the like but to no avail.
Literally a year or more later I was visiting a friend in Germany and told her about the song and version and musical style. She suggested a compilation called Russendisko. And holy cow, there it was Ze Robots from RotFront, a World Music band from Berlin who play a mix of Balkan, Reggae, Ska, Dancehall, Klezmer and Hip Hop. And that is exactly what this song is, a musical blend of eastern european style music shaken and stirred with a trippy dose of hip hop. Absolutely fun and danceable.
Carolina Chocolate Drops – Hit ’em Up Style
Hit em up Style was a worldwide hit, and living in Europe at the time of it’s release I apparently had heard it quite a bit subconsciously. You can escape the modern pop world here in the U.S. if you want, but in Europe you are subjected to the style of the day whether you like it or not. They just don’t have that much musical outlet variety over there. So when I listened to the Genuine Negro Jig album from the Carolina Chocolate Drops for the first time this song seemed extremely familiar. I just couldn’t place it anywhere.
The lyrics are 100% modern Hip Hop, while Rhiannon Giddens‘ vocal style draws as much from the jazz greats of the past as she does from modern day r&b divas such as Beyonce. Yet their musical interpretation of the song sounds like it is coming at you from some fireplace hoedown 100 years ago somewhere in the Appalachian hills of Kentucky, West Virginia or the Carolinas while still keeping it’s Hip Hop Beat. The instrumentation is kept as raw as you would imagine it to be at the time, fiddle, banjo and washboard. This is something new ripped away from modernity and reduced back to the roots of all American music.
Blood Sweat & Tears – 40 000 Headmen
What the hell is 40,000 Headmen about? I have been asking myself that question since the first time I heard it but have yet to figure it out. And where did Traffic place it, what century, what country, what mythological genre? Are they pirates, highlanders, warriors, cowboys or indians? And where does the cigarette come in? Well, these questions seem even more confounding when listening to David Clayton-Thomas belting them out underscored with the psychedelic 60ies jazz rock style of Blood, Sweat & Tears.
The song starts off sounding like a Mary Poppins style nursery rhyme, then morphs in to a Jefferson Airplane hippy dream musing and suddenly the 40.000 headmen jump up with a 60ies style psychedelic guitar and piano funk groove, punch you in the face with a wall of brass, vear off in to space with jazzy horn improvisations, sail along calm oceans, crank out the groove, blow your mind with the horn section again and it is back to say farewell to Mary Poppins. Always a fun listen.
Keller Williams Incident – Hell’s Bells
So this next one is a little bit harder to find and won’t be found on any mainstream streaming service but still well worth a listen. Keller Williams’ collaboration with the String Cheese Incident had one of it’s highlights with their live performance at Bonnaroo back in 2002. This rendition of Hell’s Bells is from that concert and is a definite mind melter. They take a hard rock and heavy metal classic and hurl it out in to the jam-band–verse, set the groove, twist and turn it, make it danceable only to thrust you back in to the hard reality of Satan getting you, though it sounds like Keller is singing savior instead of Satan. Don’t know if he is garbling the lyrics or is changing it up on purpose. Maybe the thought of hell and damnation just wasn’t right for a bunch of tripping dancing hippies that night.
The band starts it off with the songs signature eerily damning intro and kick it in to high gear with an acoustic guitar groove and electric melody. They trip off in to an acoustic / electric jam, pick up the pace in typical String Cheese style, veer off in to space on an intense joy ride, the keys kick in and off we are. Suddenly we are in the middle of a funky String Cheese groove and electronic sounds start emanating from over the speakers. We are dancing and twirling through an electronic forest and submerged in the psychedelic sounds of keyboards and guitars. The jam finds it’s groove again, picks up speed, goes in to full throttle and hurls us back to Hell’s Bells. ACDC gone Hippy, who could have ever pictured that.
the song is # 13 on this link
Bruce Hornsby & the Range – Madman Across the Water
Madman Across The Water is one of my all time favorite songs, and this version from Bruce Hornsby off the Two Rooms CD celebrating the songs of Elton John and Bernie Taupin nails the spirit and inflection of the original with its musicianship and style. Bruce Hornsby mused on hearing songs that he wished he would have written and that is how he plays this one. He doesn’t veer off too much from the original piano heavy version when singing the actual song but he injects his signature piano style perfectly and keeps the dynamic up while placing beautiful and intense piano improvisations in between sections.
His vocal style is a little more modest than Elton’s which can throw you off at first but his playing underscores the frustrations of the protagonist which intensifies his singing in the process. This is not just a reinterpretation of a classic song but also a vehicle for Bruce to honor two of his heroes and thank them for the inspirations they have given him. The musicianship of The Range is top notch, which, upon hearing this song, helped me find a new appreciation for Bruce Hornsby that has remained to this day.
Hope you enjoyed this little selection. Let me know what you think of these songs and if you have any favorite covers you have in your mix. Please visit me on my social media, like and subscribe and don’t forget to keep on rockin’! Cheers!