Pick a Classic, Rank its Covers

~~killcreek~~ · 11-11-2011, 04:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VEGANGELICA

While watching "The Full Monty" yesterday with my parents, I realized during the final scene that I'd heard the song, "You Can Leave Your Hat On," in another movie, "9 1/2 Weeks."

So I became curious about the song...although perhaps that was due to its tendency to be paired with scenes of stripping. I don't know, maybe that has something to do with it.

Below is the original, followed by my ranking of its covers:

THE ORIGINAL:
Randy Newman - "You Can Leave Your Hat On" (1972)
This song appeared in his album Sail Away. It's a good song. It serves its purpose well. My only real complaint about the original is that it lacks a little pep compared to some of the future covers.

* * * * * * *

COVER #1:
Tom Jones - "You Can Leave Your Hat On" (1997)
Tom Jones covered the song for the British film "The Full Monty." This cover has a lot more pizzazz and excitement than the original. I like the trumpets! Below is the song used in the cute final scene from the movie, which I feel is sweet because it shows how anyone can be sexy, since sexy is an attitude and not just a look. My favorite scene happens earlier, though, and is when Dave, who feels self-loathing and shame over his weight, doesn't want to strip and asks his wife dejectedly, "Who would want to see this?!" She looks at him and answers, "I would." Awwwww.

* * *

COVER #2:
Joe Cocker - "You Can Leave Your Hat On" (1986)
Used in the movie "9 1/2 Weeks." Maybe I'm biased by seeing Kim Basinger's playful striptease, but I think the cover is pretty nice.

* * *

COVER #3
Michael Grimm - "You Can Leave Your Hat On" (2010)
I didn't expect to like this cover, since I wasn't too impressed by Michael Grimm's style of singing on America's Got Talent, but I admit his voice works well for the song. This was a disappointment, because I liked disliking his music.

* * *

COVER #4
Ty Herndon - "You Can Leave Your Hat On" (1999)
I also didn't expect to like this version, since Ty is a country singer. Although I don't prefer his country accent and I feel the song seems a little bland, I still didn't hate the cover. I think that's because I feel the song is simply a good composition: short, sweet, amusing, seductive. Even a country singer couldn't kill off its good qualities entirely.

* * *

COVER #5
Three Dog Blind - "You Can Leave Your Hat On" (1975)
Sounds a little sluggish and I don't care so much for the singer's slurred voice or the organ (of course) in the background.

three dog blind is good but three dog night is even better

VEGANGELICA · 11-12-2011, 09:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by killcreek

three dog blind is good but three dog night is even better

Gracious me, someone actually read to the end of my post!

Yeah, "Three Dog Blind" are pretty good...for a non-existence band.

I think I got confused by thinking of three blind mice.

* * * * *

Today the song "Blue Moon" was going through my head, and I determined to track down the origin of this song.

* * * * *

THE ORIGINAL: "Blue Moon"
Written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart in 1934; first recorded by Connee Boswell (1935)
I learned from Wikipedia that "there is another verse that comes before the usual start of the song. Both Eric Clapton and Rod Stewart used it in their recent versions of the song. The last line of this extra verse is 'Life was a bitter cup for the saddest of all men.' " That line doesn't work so well when the singer is a woman, so that is probably the reason Connee did not sing it.

* * * * *

I'll post a few covers and rank them. It looks like there are a lot of covers...over 60. I'll have my work cut out for me if I listen to them all!

Cover #1:
Joe Robinson - "Blue Moon" (instrumental) (2007)
When deciding which covers to listen to, I picked Joe Robinson's as one of the first six because I read on Wikipedia that he is a 19 year old Australian virtuoso guitarist. I wanted to hear what a virtuoso guitar player would do with the song. He makes it interesting and I enjoyed his bluesy performance, so currently his cover is in The #1 Spot. You have to get through the little intro before you can see him play:

* * *

Cover #2
My Morning Jacket - "Blue Moon" (2005)
I didn't expect to like this cover after I read that My Morning Jacket is a rock band, but I was curious what they'd do to the song, so I listened. And although I think they got a little too electro-dancy with the beat, I liked the pretty, bell-like electric guitar, one of my favorite sounds to create with an electric guitar. I gave their cover extra points for surprising me with its sound and for making me feel a little wistful, which the other versions don't do.

* * *

Cover #3:
Johnny (Sha Na Na) - "Blue Moon"
I was familiar with this version from the movie Grease. I like that the song sounds solid and confident. I had thought it was the original version until I learned better (while creating this post):

* * *

Cover #4:
Greta Keller - "Blue Moon" (1935)
A very sweet version, I felt, with pretty, tinkling piano. I liked the depressed lyrics that proceeded the traditional "Blue Moon" song. I hadn't heard those before.

* * *

Cover #5
Frank Sinatra and Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra - "Blue Moon"
Pleasantly jazzy and light

* * *

Cover #6
Rod Stewart - "Blue Moon"
Too gentle and syrupy. Sounds like elevator music or, more specifically, the background music that would be playing in Hobby Lobby. I know that, because I go to Hobby Lobby. They've got some really nice kids' crafts and paint stuff and fabrics.

* * *

More covers to come...only around (let's see now) 58 - 4 = 54 more. :/

Electrophonic Tonic · 11-13-2011, 12:22 AM

Louie Louie. Yes, I know it's been covered by just about anyone with a music career. I'm pretty sure 75% of the members of this board have covered it, even if they don't realize it; much like we were all in King Crimson for some period of time between their first album in 1969 and now. But anyway... so how can I rank THE cover song of all time? By limiting my choices to the versions that came out of the northwest garage rock scene of the early and mid 60's.

The Evolution of Louie

The Original: Richard Berry & The Pharaohs

The original was recorded in 1957. It had some moderate success on the Billboard charts, but didn't sell as well as Richard Berry and his record company hoped. He sold a portion of the rights to his company for $750 in 1959. The song became a popular song for DJs in the northwest and received more airplay than anywhere else in the country. It took hold of the garage rock scene thanks to...

Cover #1: The (Fabulous) Wailers- 1959

Record by the Wailers at Spanish Castle with Rockin' Robin on vocals. I like this version because of the groove it has. It rocks pretty hard for the late 50's as well, and I have always liked that (I always prefer garage rock and proto-punk over punk). Their recording started a contest between Paul Revere & the Raiders and the Kingsmen to record their own versions and see whose would be more popular.

Cover #2: Paul Revere & the Raiders- 1963

I really do not like this version at all. This is one of those recordings that tries to straddle the line between mainstream accessibility and a underground sensibility. I think it fails at both. It really feels a cover of the Wailers' cover, rather than the Raiders' take on the Richard Berry original. I do like the sax in this version, however. It was initially more successful that the Kingsmen version in the northeast.

Cover #3: The Kingsmen- 1963

This is the version everyone knows. It was recorded in the same studio that the Raiders' used. The Kingsmen's version really a piece of shiitake. The sound quality is amateur at best, singer comes in early and has his drummer do a quick fill to cover the mistake and the drummer also yells out clearly audible 'f*ck!' when he hit his drum sticks together. Did I mention the FBI spent millions of dollars and 31 months trying to find the song's dirty hidden meaning and found absolutely nothing? Yeah. But the song was and is a hit to this day. I like it for the organ being the driving force of the song rather than the sax and because it is the antonym of the Raiders' version.

Cover #4: The Sonics- 1965

I love this version and it easily is my favorite. The Sonics take the Kingsmen's 'We don't give a fudge!' attitude and basically record a punk rock song in 1965. The Sonics are easily one of my top 5 all time favorite bands, so I'm not exactly impartial. But, it's hard to argue with the crunch and buzz of this version. I think this one even stands up to the versions done by Motorhead and Black Flag.

VEGANGELICA · 08-15-2014, 08:23 AM

^ I was surprised to learn that the Kingsmen, who sing the best-known version of "Louie Louie," were this straight-laced looking band of white boys. I wouldn't have guessed that from listening to their song:

The Kingsmen - "Louie Louie"

I prefer their version, but I'd say second-best is the cover by Paul Revere and the Raiders, who still sounded a little indignant in 1986 that their 1963 cover of "Louis Louis" got beat out by the Kingsmen's. Hey, at least they were still performing it more than 20 years later!

Paul Revere and the Raiders - "Louie Louie" (performing in 1986)

* * *

Now on to my current song obsession:

THE ORIGINAL: "Goodbye To You" by Scandal (Patty Smyth)

A great song, Scandal's "Goodbye to You" has a driving beat that makes you want to dance, and excellent, sassy, emotional vocals by Patty Smyth, who sings them with attitude and strength. No cover comes close.

Scandal;Patty Smyth - Goodbye To You - YouTube

1st Place Cover: Alvin and the Chipmunks - "Goodbye To You"
It's memorable. I'll give it that. I don't like it, but I'll remember it:

2nd Place Cover: The Veronicas -- "Goodbye to You"
The Veronicas do a fine job, I suppose, but this dance-pop version just doesn't catch my interest like the original. I think it sounds too pretty and over-worked with all its sweet duets and instrumental fireworks. Sounds like a Disney channel song:

3rd Place Cover: Allison Smith - Kate and Allie - "Goodbye To You"
A fairly insipid, pleasant cover, it tries to match the original but lacks its pep and punch:

Lisnaholic · 10-12-2016, 08:09 PM

A guy playing around on his guitar for his own amusement is nothing out of the ordinary, but one London evening in 1966, that strumming would end up reverberating for decades:

Quote:

Sitting at a party strumming his guitar, the Scottish troubadour Donovan came upon a riff that seemed to hypnotize him. He played it over and over again and was told later he worked on it for seven hours. This riff was to become “Season of the Witch.”

The song was polished up and presented to the public on Donovan´s next album, Sunshine Superman, and on an album largely devoted to psychedelic whimsy (check out Legend of a Girl Child Linda, for example), Season of the Witch is notable for being “a dark and prophetic song suggesting the new age dawning brings with it darkness”. There is a limit to how dark Donovan can sound, but the surging organ and lyrics about some unspecified unease do a pretty good job of conjuring up a swirling sinister mood.

This is Donovan, years later, talking about his song:

Quote:

"There was a feeling, even then, that all was not perfect in the Garden of Eden. Dealers were moving into bohemia and hard drugs were on the fringes. The song was also prophetic. It was about the bust, although of course I couldn't know that then….. There is a line in it that goes ‘Some cat looking over his shoulder at me’ … Soon these bad cats would come calling at my door.”

He was referring to his arrest for possession of cannabis—the first high-profile London drug bust of the sixties—which prevented him from travelling to the United States, where he was due to perform at the Monterey Pop Festival, in June, 1967. "Sadly, for Donovan, the summer of love was over before it began", one pop journalist wrote.

And the same year as Donovan's bust I enter the story myself: a schoolboy watching tv one evening as Julie Driscoll wove her extraordinary magic. Brian Auger takes the song for a leisurely excursion, but it's JD’s captivating voice and performance that stays in the mind:

Next up, chronologically, is probably best known cover of SotW, on the 1968 Super Session album. The highlights for me are the organ/guitar jams that punctuate this version. As the song develops, a horn section comes in with some great touches too. For me, as for many I imagine, this version is the yardstick against which subsequent covers must be measured:

And subsequent versions there are in abundance - here's a list which should explain why I'm not reviewing them all:

Spoiler for List of versions:

Just a couple of versions I'd like to mention quickly:
> Vanilla Fudge start out well enough, but when a solumn voice intones, “ And here we sit immersed in a liquid sea of love…” I was too embarrassed to continue.
> Dr. John’s version was disappointing; just the usual Dr.J treatment.
> Richard Thompson plays very well on a track made for a tv series.
> “Boneyard Ghoul of Blues” aka Alan Pizarelli creates a spooky atmosphere, stopping just short of parody:-


.....

So why is SotW such a popular song among musicians? Well, we have actual musicians on MB who are invited to answer that question with more authority than me, but I did find this out:

i) Jimmy Page played the guitar on Donovan’s original, which is presumably why Led Zep regularly used it as their sound check/ warm up song when they were touring. That’s got to be pretty good publicity for a song.

ii)According to Mojo magazine: “ This song is ideal for long jams. The two main chords (A and D) are played during the verses, and during the chorus there are three chords (A, D and E).”

iii) Donovan again: "Season of the Witch continues to be a perennial influence because it allows a jam – not a 12-bar or Latin groove, but a very modern jam... it makes me very proud that I've created certain forms that other bands can get off on, to explore, be experimental, or just break the rules."

Lisnaholic · 10-22-2016, 05:33 PM

^ Grading the versions of this song is pretty simple. Modestly-issued as a B-side, the original from Them was outstripped by the leering sexual version from Jim Morrison [Lisna Discretion advised with the lyrics, ok?]:-

In the past a female singer's version of a male-point-of-view song often sounded a little false, regardless of how carefully the pronouns were swapped from "her" to "him". In a surprise development, Pattie Smith completely side-stepped that awkwardness; she took on the Morrisons- Van and Jim- and outdid them both by turning Gloria into a proud declaration of lesbian lust:-

Plus, Pattie Smith's lyrics are gloriaous (geddit?) :-

Spoiler for Pattie's Gloria:

11-13-2011, 12:22 AM	#33 (permalink)
Electrophonic Tonic Your Ad Here Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: The Twilight Zone Posts: 876	Louie Louie. Yes, I know it's been covered by just about anyone with a music career. I'm pretty sure 75% of the members of this board have covered it, even if they don't realize it; much like we were all in King Crimson for some period of time between their first album in 1969 and now. But anyway... so how can I rank THE cover song of all time? By limiting my choices to the versions that came out of the northwest garage rock scene of the early and mid 60's. The Evolution of Louie The Original: Richard Berry & The Pharaohs The original was recorded in 1957. It had some moderate success on the Billboard charts, but didn't sell as well as Richard Berry and his record company hoped. He sold a portion of the rights to his company for $750 in 1959. The song became a popular song for DJs in the northwest and received more airplay than anywhere else in the country. It took hold of the garage rock scene thanks to... Cover #1: The (Fabulous) Wailers- 1959 Record by the Wailers at Spanish Castle with Rockin' Robin on vocals. I like this version because of the groove it has. It rocks pretty hard for the late 50's as well, and I have always liked that (I always prefer garage rock and proto-punk over punk). Their recording started a contest between Paul Revere & the Raiders and the Kingsmen to record their own versions and see whose would be more popular. Cover #2: Paul Revere & the Raiders- 1963 I really do not like this version at all. This is one of those recordings that tries to straddle the line between mainstream accessibility and a underground sensibility. I think it fails at both. It really feels a cover of the Wailers' cover, rather than the Raiders' take on the Richard Berry original. I do like the sax in this version, however. It was initially more successful that the Kingsmen version in the northeast. Cover #3: The Kingsmen- 1963 This is the version everyone knows. It was recorded in the same studio that the Raiders' used. The Kingsmen's version really a piece of shiitake. The sound quality is amateur at best, singer comes in early and has his drummer do a quick fill to cover the mistake and the drummer also yells out clearly audible 'fck!' when he hit his drum sticks together. Did I mention the FBI spent millions of dollars and 31 months trying to find the song's dirty hidden meaning and found absolutely nothing? Yeah. But the song was and is a hit to this day. I like it for the organ being the driving force of the song rather than the sax and because it is the antonym of the Raiders' version. Cover #4: The Sonics- 1965* I love this version and it easily is my favorite. The Sonics take the Kingsmen's 'We don't give a fudge!' attitude and basically record a punk rock song in 1965. The Sonics are easily one of my top 5 all time favorite bands, so I'm not exactly impartial. But, it's hard to argue with the crunch and buzz of this version. I think this one even stands up to the versions done by Motorhead and Black Flag. Last edited by Electrophonic Tonic; 11-13-2011 at 12:28 AM.

10-22-2016, 05:33 PM	#36 (permalink)
Lisnaholic ...here to hear... Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: He lives on Love Street Posts: 4,444	^ Grading the versions of this song is pretty simple. Modestly-issued as a B-side, the original from Them was outstripped by the leering sexual version from Jim Morrison [Lisna Discretion advised with the lyrics, ok?]:- In the past a female singer's version of a male-point-of-view song often sounded a little false, regardless of how carefully the pronouns were swapped from "her" to "him". In a surprise development, Pattie Smith completely side-stepped that awkwardness; she took on the Morrisons- Van and Jim- and outdid them both by turning Gloria into a proud declaration of lesbian lust:- Plus, Pattie Smith's lyrics are gloriaous (geddit?) :- Spoiler for Pattie's Gloria: Jesus died for somebody's sins but not mine Meltin' in a pot of thieves Wild card up my sleeve Thick heart of stone My sins my own They belong to me, me People say 'beware!' But I don't care The words are just Rules and regulations to me, me I walk in a room, you know I look so proud I'm movin' in this here atmosphere, well, anything's allowed And I go to this here party and I just get bored Until I look out the window, see a sweet young thing Humpin' on the parking meter, leanin' on the parking meter Oh, she looks so good, oh, she looks so fine And I got this crazy feeling and then I'm gonna ah-ah make her mine Ooh I'll put my spell on her Here she comes Walkin' down the street Here she comes Comin' through my door Here she comes Crawlin' up my stair Here she comes Waltzin' through the hall In a pretty red dress And oh, she looks so good, oh, she looks so fine And I got this crazy feeling that I'm gonna ah-ah make her mine And then I hear this knock on my door Hear this knockin' on my door And I look up into the big tower clock And say, 'oh my God here's midnight!' And my baby is walkin' through the door Leanin' on my couch she whispers to me and I take the big plunge And oh, she was so good and oh, she was so fine And I'm gonna tell the world that I just ah-ah made her mine And I said darling, tell me your name, she told me her name She whispered to me, she told me her name And her name is, and her name is, and her name is, and her name is G-l-o-are-i-a G-l-o-are-i-a, Gloria, G-l-o-are-i-a, Gloria G-l-o-are-i-a, Gloria, G-l-o-are-i-a, Gloria I was at the stadium There were twenty thousand girls called their names out to me Marie and Ruth but to tell you the truth I didn't hear them I didn't see I let my eyes rise to the big tower clock And I heard those bells chimin' in my heart Going ding dong, ding dong, ding dong, ding dong. Ding dong, ding dong, ding dong, ding dong Counting the time, then you came to my room And you whispered to me and we took the big plunge And oh you were so good, oh, you were so fine And I gotta tell the world that I make her mine, make her mine Make her mine, make her mine, make her mine, make her mine G-l-o-are-i-a ... And the tower bells chime, 'ding dong' they chime They're singing, 'Jesus died for somebody's sins but not mine.' Gloria, G-l-o-are-i-a ... __________________ "Am I enjoying this moment? I know of it and perhaps that is enough." - Sybille Bedford, 1953