At 12:27 AM -0500 4/3/99, Amy Haugesag wrote:
>I love the whole record, even the not-as-good-as-the-first-version "Fading
>Fast," and I'm especially impressed with the Nick Drake and Replacements
>covers, which are reinterpretations rather than rehashes, just like all
>good covers should be.
Tsk tsk. So Peggy Lee's "Fever", Bob Dylan's "Broke Down Engine",
and Merle's "San Antonio Rose" (to name just three rehashes that
immediately came to mind) are not good covers?
I'd say there are lots of way to make good covers. An artist
with a strong, distinctive voice -- and I'd put all of the above
in that category -- can make a note-for-note remake of a song
and still make a recording I find valuable on the strength of
the subtle variations that that distinctive voice brings to
the song.
Stepping up for Jon W. who is probably tired of making this point
(except he probably would not require even subtle variations
if the cover was performed with good grace and skill),
Ross Whitwam [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Molecular Pharmacology & Therapeutics Program
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, NYC
