The Playlist — Cover Versions
Welcome to my imaginatively titled series, ‘The Playlist’, where I take a deep dive into the music of a particular artist, genre, subject matter, place, or year. I’ll write about the songs that mean the most to me, and put together a playlist of my favourites.
This time — Cover Versions
I wrote about the history and importance of cover versions a couple of weeks ago, so thought this would be a good opportunity to put together a playlist of some of the best examples. Spotify version of the playlist is below, Apple Music version can be found here and I also wrote about some of my very favourites below.
Merry Clayton — Gimme Shelter
Does it count as a cover version if you featured on the original song? Merry Clayton’s backing vocals are inarguably the highlight of the original Gimme Shelter, and arguably one of the highlights of the Rolling Stones whole catalogue, but her own version of the song from the following year is also well worth a listen.
Tricky — Black Steel
An example of a cover which is more like a total transformation, to the point it barely seems like the same song. Even covering a rap song is a bold move, as they usually don’t lend themselves to covers, being so associated with the original rapper’s flow. In this case, switching from a male to a female voice totally changes the perspective of the song, and repeating the first verse of the original Public Enemy version multiple times really highlights and hammers home the brilliance of the lyrics and the message of the track.
Kirsty MacColl — A New England
This followed hot on the heels of the original, with MacColl quickly recognising that she could do the song even greater justice than Billy Bragg himself did with the original. She even got him to write an extra verse and change a couple of the lyrics to better suit her.
“I saw two shooting stars last night, I wished on them, but they were only satellites” remains one of my all time favourite lyrics.
Soft Cell — Tainted Love
I’ve always enjoyed the anecdote that some right-wing pundit back in the early 80s bemoaned the filth in the charts, stating that ‘Tainted Love’ was clearly about a gay relationship gone wrong. This must have been news to Gloria Jones who first performed it in 1965. In a funny way though, he might be right. A cover of a song can be ‘about’ something different to the original. It’s all about the context, the performer and the performance.
Tainted Love also proves that you don’t have to outdo the original to make a great cover. Gloria Jones version is one of my favourite songs of all time, but I love Soft Cell’s version almost as much despite being totally different (although the less said about the Marilyn Manson version the better)
Happy Mondays — Step On
This is one of those covers that many people don’t realise is a cover. The Happy Mondays version being so very different from the original (by John Kongo), and so unimistakably them, that you would have no reason to think that it was anything other than their own.
Pixies — Winterlong
There are a few Neil Young covers on my playlist, and many more I could have included, but this one holds a special place in my heart. For a start, it is one of my very favourite bands covering one of my very favourite songwriters.
I also have a more specific memory. After waiting many years to see Pixies play live (I was 11 when they split up), when they stepped on stage at the Brixton Academy for their first UK show in 15 years, Winterlong was the first song they played. Strange choice of opener perhaps (not as strange as their decision not to play Where Is My Mind?), but a fond memory nonetheless.
Jeffrey Lewis — Systematic Death
Covers albums are fairly common. Covers albums with one artist covering only songs by one other artist less so. Jeffrey Lewis’s album 12 Crass Songs is a fine example though. Crass are not a band I’d particularly listened to or even thought about much before hearing this record, but their songs turned out to be better than I imagined, with lyrics still totally relevant today “Every little counts when the cost of living mounts” indeed.
Mates of State — Son Et Lumiere
Now you’d think that The Mars Volta’s unique experimental blend of prog/latin/metal/everything would make them impossible to cover, but Mates of State, one of the Jody underrated bands, do a pretty awesome indie-pop take on Son Et Lumiere.
Adem — Hotellounge
I was already a fan of Aden from his excellent Homesongs album, and when he announced his covers album, I was very excited by the track list. Low! Aphex Twin! Bjork! Basically all of my favourites. However, the song I ended up loving the most was his version of ‘Hotellounge’ by 90s Belgian indie-rockers Deus. He turned a song I had enjoyed but essentially forgotten about into a heartachingly beautiful lament, that will never be off my personal playlist.
Miles Davis Quintet — It Never Entered My Mind
Does a jazz interpretation count as a cover version? It’s maybe not what we think of as a cover but I’ll allow it, if only because this version of a Rodgers & Hart showtune is one of most beautiful pieces music I’ve ever heard. An opinion clearly shared by whoever chooses the music for TV shows, as this has cropped in Better Call Saul & Atlanta amongst others in recent years. Currently the top of my list of songs to play at my funeral.
Originally published at http://colourthecortex.wordpress.com on August 15, 2022.
