With all this talk about covers, Fever, etc. I relistened to Elvis and
Little Willie John's versions last night and was wondering when and by
whom the song was first recorded. Little Willie's is from 1956. Are
there recordings before that?
Curious,
--junior
As far as I know, Little Willie was the originator.
Barry
With all this talk about covers, Fever, etc. I relistened to Elvis and
Little Willie John's versions last night and was wondering when and by
whom the song was first recorded. Little Willie's is from 1956. Are
there recordings before
You know, I'm glad this came up because as we speak I'm taping some of the
Pine Valley Cosmonauts LP. What strikes me is that the songs which fail do
so because they spotlight vocalists who are weak singers. Or, maybe it's
that they are trying to adopt the Wills arrangements too strictly, which
This covers thread raised a question for me -- what's it called when an
artist -- I'm thinking of Dave Alvin, specifically -- "covers" a tune that
he wrote for a band that he played in, but didn't sing, and covers it in a
wildly different (and better, in Alvin's case) fashion? Bo
r original
performer.
I certainly agree with all of that, but I don't think that's the same
thing as saying "all good covers" should be "reinterpretations
rather than rehashes". Unless you are saying that a note-for-note
remake is a reinterpretation when you like it and a rehash
First Amy:
Well, referencing Peggy Lee's "Fever" isn't going to win any points with
me, as I don't love either the song or her toneless version of it. If this
loses me major kitsch-cred points, that's fine with me.
Then Ross:
Well thanks, I guess, for pointing out to me that I'm just
This covers thread raised a question for me -- what's it called when an
artist -- I'm thinking of Dave Alvin, specifically -- "covers" a tune that
he wrote for a band that he played in, but didn't sing, and covers it in a
wildly different (and better, in Alvin's case) fashion? Bo
At 10:32 AM + on 4/5/99, Ph. Barnard wrote:
First Amy:
Well, referencing Peggy Lee's "Fever" isn't going to win any points with
me, as I don't love either the song or her toneless version of it.
If this
loses me major kitsch-cred points, that's fine with me.
Then Ross:
Well thanks, I
Hey, I like the song too. Little Willie John's version is
*terrific*, imho, etc.
--junio
Yeah Ross-I'm on your side on this one too. I like Peggy Lee's...I love
Little Willie John's--and I consider the Elvis version from the sensational
"Elvis Is Back" post-Army LP, one of the better
How about when Bob Dylan covers Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away," but the
arrangement of the song adheres pretty closely to the Dead's version? Is
there a name for that? Isn't it Harmolodic Bifurcation? OR maybe I'm
thinking of Caesarean Retrofication? Yeah, that's it.
Lance . . .
At 4:39 PM -0400 4/4/99, Amy Haugesag wrote:
Well, referencing Peggy Lee's "Fever" isn't going to win any points with
me, as I don't love either the song or her toneless version of it. If this
loses me major kitsch-cred points, that's fine with me.
Well thanks, I guess, for pointing out to me
Dr. Ross writes:
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 Le
Amy says:
A talented artist can sing a
note-for-note rendition of a song they didn't write and still
make it their
own, by virtue of having a) a distinctive voice and b) emotional honesty,
and specifically the ability to give the listener a sense that the song
resonates emotionally for the
Any, then, Jon says the following, on covers:
Exactly, and what's spooky, at least to me, is that while sometimes the
emotional resonance is responsible for the "note-for-note" rendition,
sometimes it's the other way around - that is, by concentrating fiercely on
doing just what th
You know, I'm glad this came up because as we speak I'm taping some of the
Pine Valley Cosmonauts LP. What strikes me is that the songs which fail do
so because they spotlight vocalists who are weak singers. Or, maybe it's
that they are trying to adopt the Wills arrangements too strictly, which
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 shoul
ns: "High and Lonesome: The Story of Bluegrass Music"
Er, that's "High Lonesome," Mitch; no "and" in it.
That's what happens if you get a dose of Grand Funk Railroad first g.
BTW, my favorite part of the movie is a brief clip of the Osborne Brothers
on TV with Harley Gabbard playing guitar
In a message dated 3/14/99 5:50:50 AM !!!First Boot!!!, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
writes:
BTW, my favorite part of the movie is a brief clip of the Osborne Brothers
on TV with Harley Gabbard playing guitar and singing the third part. He was
only with them for a few months, and it's probably the only
On Sat, 13 Mar 1999 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
I was hoping that there could be this P2 jam session going and we could do a
bluegrass version of "Some Kind of Wonderful".
That might be new enough to get past good ol' Mike Woods. But HTC would
have to get pretty damned obscure to get *any* GFR
So, if you had a set at Twangfest, what Grand Funk tune would you slip
into the list, and why?
Gee, that's a tough one. Maybe T.N.U.C. from that double live album with a
really long theremin solo. That leaves "American Band" for Gravel Train and
"Closer To Home" for Hillbilly Idol - Al can
In a message dated 3/14/99 3:44:30 AM !!!First Boot!!!, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
writes:
So, if you had a set at Twangfest, what Grand Funk tune would you slip
into the list, and why?
Gee, that's a tough one. Maybe T.N.U.C. from that double live album with a
really long theremin solo. That
I want to make a few more comments on a couple of points raised by Carl
and Barry about my covers piece. I started this a week or so ago, and just
now kind of finished it off. Hope it's not too stale by now. This'll
probably be my last words on the subject (but I'm always psyched to hear
what
Jake--
Your quoting of critical theorists is frightening me. I'm only a caveman.
But, just out of curiosity, while I wouldn't argue the irony at work on the
Mat's take of "Black Diamond," hadn't they already done this? I'm speaking
of their appropriations of both "Oh Darling" and "Strawberry
the point.
Generational bonds are one of the layers that scrape beneath our feet.
(NB: I'd clarify that my question about the timing of the first
punk-style ironic covers wasn't meant to be a criticism of Jake's use
of the Mats, just a music-trivia sideline.)
I
Grow up, Lance, please. You cakehole.
Anyway, around here they say "piehole".
Joe Gracey
I used to say "piehole" until my girlfriend said thought "cakehole" was
funnier. So, "cakehole" it was. And between the 700 of us, I think
"wordhole" is my favorite.
Lance . . .
New Yorkers may be seething with suppressed rage, but they're still
friendly, or at least talkative.
New Yorker, giving artificial respiration; bent at the waist, hands cupped
around mouth, shouting down at the needy one - "GET UP! BEFORE YOU DIE!
Phil Esposito
(Dodging that "anti-HNC" Stinger missile fired by the Ndubbinistas...g,
I respond);
Jon wrote;
I dunno, Dan; I don't think I've ever seen anything but dismissals of
Garth's "Shameless" or "The Fever," and not because people argued that they
were bad jobs or that he didn't do a good
At 04:08 PM 3/2/99 -0500, you wrote:
The first time I heard their version was on the televised portion of the
Opry a few years ago; that flat 7 chord jumped right out at me.
Uh... as a non-musician who doesn't even aspire to play three chord Lou
Reed songs, what the hell are you talking
Can you create flash cards for me? Uh... I'm sorry I asked the
original
question.
Jeff
[Matt Benz] Jeff, what Jon is doing is "translating" the chords
of a song into numbers. The whole key of a song, say G becomes numbers:
G -1 A -2 B-3 C-4 D-5 E-6 F-7. So, your standard
On Thu, 4 Mar 1999, Bob Soron wrote:
At 5:00 PM -0500 on 3/3/99, Jon Weisberger said of Garth Brooks:
Personally, I think he made a good country record on
"Shameless"; the kickoff still fools me every time g.
Always one to either take the bait or serve up the straight line,
"Jet" cover was what put the "alt" in his alt-country, as
well as Dina's comment about how covers are received from alt-country
artists as compared to those of New Country singers.
It resonated, of course, but what struck me is that the cheeze-cover
syndrome is actually n
Personally, I think he made a good country record on
"Shameless"; the kickoff still fools me every time g.
Always one to either take the bait or serve up the straight line,
depending...
Fools you ... into thinking it's a country song? g
Fools me into thinking it was never anything *but*
Hey there,
Ex-Boston Bob, who never goes out in Chicago anymore g
Ive heard both Cake and Robbie introduce old covers by explicitly
stating
something along the lines of 'I think this is a really good song'
Cake
even went so far as to say 'we're not doing this ironically.'
But don't some
In a message dated 3/2/99 8:07:14 PM Central Standard Time,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
If you are a Hot New Country star and you cover a 70's pop or rock hit, you
will probably be vilified for it.
If you are an alt-country star and you cover a 70's pop or rock hit, you
will probably be
On Tue, 2 Mar 1999, Jennifer K. Heffron wrote:
On the topic of covers, generally, I enjoy the occasional incongruous
cover that an artist throws into the set, even the cheese. Especially
when the artist can make the cover song sound uniquely "theirs." I guess
I like t
Hey there,
Slonedog says: Nirvana were pretentious 90s shits but I guess they
were
better than Shania.
Better how?
Jon Weisberger Kenton County, KY [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://home.fuse.net/jonweisberger/
*sigh*
Later...
CK stupid and contageous
Hey there,
I never thought I'd be glad to hear "These Boots Are Made For Walking"
again until I heard Candye Kane reinvent it on her CD. If any song
screamed "cheese", this is it, and Kane turned it into a campy
cover that I like better than the original.
It _does_ have the greatest bass line
Bob wrote:
Ive heard both Cake and Robbie introduce old covers by explicitly stating
something along the lines of 'I think this is a really good song' Cake
even went so far as to say 'we're not doing this ironically.'
If that's referring to their cover of "I Will Survive,"
Barry says:
The song SOUNDS
tongue-in-cheek as McGuinn sings it on the released version, always
has--and is difficult to hear any other way.
I would agree with this and with Junior's thoughts. The arrangement and
the affected singing are so exaggerated that it's hard to hear serious
intent in
This may seem weird, but there's a gay rock band here who does a completely non-ironic
cover of "Son of a Preacher Man". Works really well in their situation.
-B "tying two threads together" B-
It's sorta like the Ramones taking a very bad novelty record like
"Surfin' Bird" and turning it a pretty great rock n roll song.
Will Miner
I'm not sure what the story is with the Ramones covering this song, but I'd
be willing to bet dollars to cakeholes that it was a self-conscious homage.
I
On Wed, 3 Mar 1999, lance davis wrote:
Irony--for me anyway--is sort of like marijuana. You might wanna dip
into the bag every now and then, but a lifestyle based on it is silly
and boring.
This, my friends, is the quote of the decade. And it's part of a great
post as well- way to go,
Include Maria McKee's cover of the Dusty in Memphis gem, "I Can't Make
it Alone," from You Gotta Sin to Get Saved. OK, technically, this is a
Goffin/King cover, but you know what I mean. And speaking of Maria, I just
bought her first 2 albums today for my girlfriend, and then, a few minutes
later
Dina wrote;
Now I just want to be sure my understanding is correct.
If you are a Hot New Country star and you cover a 70's pop or rock hit, you
will probably be vilified for it.
In my book, not if it was a good song in the first place and you do a
solid job of it. If it ends up
If you are a Hot New Country star and you cover a 70's pop or
rock hit, you will probably be vilified for it.
In my book, not if it was a good song in the first place and you do a
solid job of it. If it ends up being like almost all of the
versions on the Rolling Stones or Eagles
If you are a Hot New Country star and you cover a 70's pop or rock hit,
you
will probably be vilified for it.
I tend to think that if your a Hot New Country star you should be vilified
whether you cover a 70's pop/rock hit or not.
NW
Garden variety covers aside, *startling* covers provide
wonderful thread fodder because they are so damn rich
in ambiguity.
Intended or not, they are a test...the question is...which test?
Ironic covers: the hipness test
I know that
you know that
I know you know I know
Now if current altie type bands, rock or country or whatever, were to dig
back to my AM listening days, they'd be covering (OK, I'll exclude the
Beatles and the Stones): "98.6," "Don't Walk Away, Renee" (God, I love that
song), "Snoopy and the Red Baron," "Incense and Peppermints," "Ichycoo
Anyway, I got through this whole post without using the word fuck. Maybe I
am growing up. : )
Lance . . .
Grow up, Lance, please. You cakehole.
Anyway, around here they say "piehole".
--
Joe Gracey
President-For-Life, Jackalope Records
http://www.kimmierhodes.com
March 1999 12:51
To: passenger side
Subject: Re: Covers and a defense of irony (long)
Anyway, I got through this whole post without using the word fuck. Maybe
I
am growing up. : )
Lance . . .
Grow up, Lance, please. You cakehole.
Anyway, around here they sa
The other Junior writes:
Sorry - just practicing for my trip to New York later in the year.
Junior "Can you tell me the way to Staten Island or should I just go fuck
myself now?" Walker
A common misconception is that if you stop a New Yorker on the street and
ask a question, the response will
ot; Walker
-Original Message-
From: Amy Haugesag [SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Thursday, 4 March 1999 13:18
To: passenger side
Subject: RE: Covers and a defense of irony (long)
The other Junior writes:
Sorry - just practicing for my trip to New York later in the year.
Junior "
Hey there,
Dina 'Gundy' Gunderson
OK, OK, finally I just have to ask "WHY?!!!" I just don't get it. Why
do
people love for country or alt.country bands or so-called alt.country
bands
to do covers of godawful cheesy rock songs? Why do people respond to
these
more than they do to th
Barry Mazor wrote:
OK, OK, finally I just have to ask "WHY?!!!" I just don't get it. Why do
people love for country or alt.country bands or so-called alt.country bands
to do covers of godawful cheesy rock songs? Why do people respond to these
more than they do to th
Barry says,
And bonus 3:
It is a passing peculiarity of the late 90s that it passes for ultrahip to
celebrate the most addlebrained and plain dull pop pablum of years gone by,
at the deliberate expense of what somebody's older brother with taste
liked. So you scream for Karen Carpenter and
Excerpts from recent postcards:
Why do people love for country or alt.country bands or so-called
alt.country bands to do covers of godawful cheesy rock songs? Why do people
respond to these
more than they do to the, OK, I'm going to say it, "real" songs?
Two reasons I think.
1. If y
a slightly disconcerting trip
that still remains quite faithful to the original with its uplifting message,
a tone punctuated by the trumpet parts. It's worth noting too that "Survive"
is one of three covers on that album, the others being "Perhaps Perhaps
Perhaps" (by which old time fema
By the way, speaking of covers, the Del
McCoury Band did a great cover of Tom Petty's "Love Is A Long Road" on
Sessions at West 54th.
The first time I heard their version was on the televised portion of the
Opry a few years ago; that flat 7 chord jumped right out at me. It's on
their
ed alt.country bands
to do covers of godawful cheesy rock songs? Why do people respond to these
more than they do to the, OK, I'm going to say it, "real" songs?
Secret confirmation that those godawful songs we all loved as kids aren't
as godawful as many of us publicly claim. It isn't ju
Someone (sorry, missed the initial message) wrote:
> Why do people love for country or alt.country bands or so-called
> alt.country bands to do covers of godawful cheesy rock songs?
And Jeff Weiss responded:
> Secret confirmation that those godawful songs we all loved as kids
On Tue, 2 Mar 1999, Dave Purcell wrote:
If Jake London is out here still, he should forward his very fine
essay on covers to the list.
Speakin' of Jake and cool covers, he does a swell version of the Spinners'
"Games People Play."
Hi everyone. Did I miss anything good?
Nah.
At 12:54 PM 3/2/99 -0500, you wrote:
By the way, speaking of covers, the Del
McCoury Band did a great cover of Tom Petty's "Love Is A Long Road" on
Sessions at West 54th.
The first time I heard their version was on the televised portion of the
Opry a few years ago; that flat 7 chord ju
...covers of godawful cheesy rock songs? Why do people respond to these
more than they do to the, OK, I'm going to say it, "real" songs?
The obvious answer here is that people like to have fun (and
unfortunately sometimes people like to have fun much more than they
Aw, Dave's back.
Hi everyone. Did I miss anything good?
Smooches,
Dave
Actually, you didn't. Marah is still the future of alt-country. g
marie
The first time I heard their version was on the televised portion of the
Opry a few years ago; that flat 7 chord jumped right out at me.
Uh... as a non-musician who doesn't even aspire to play three chord Lou
Reed songs, what the hell are you talking about?
Hah, am I glad you asked, because
Dina asked why a person might scream out for a cheesy pop cover...
Well, speaking only for myself, I have to say that I enjoy "Jet." A lot.
So sue me g.
On the topic of covers, generally, I enjoy the occasional incongruous
cover that an artist throws into the set, even
At 04:40 PM 3/2/99 PST, John K. wrote:
I never thought I'd be glad to hear "These Boots Are Made For Walking"
again until I heard Candye Kane reinvent it on her CD.
My favorite version of this song is Loretta Lynn's. And she don't do it
campy, neither--I mean, she is all but out the door!
covers "Jet" he takes part in the tradition I talk about in the piece. At
some level, it's part of what puts the "alt" in his alt country
categorization (imho). Actually, I'd argue that it's a big part of what
puts the "alt" in alt-country generally. But I won
Slonedog says: Or perhaps it's because the artists actually like the songs.
I for one love "Dancing Queen", "Jet" and "I Will Survive". They're not
"guilty pleasures", they're just fun songs.
I don't like to do the "But that's what I said in the firts place"
thing--but I did--before those,
Jake--can I call ya Jake--
That's as good a dissection of the issue Dina's question raised as I've
seen anywhere.
And also something of an excellent defense of something which probably
SHOULDN'T have needed to be defended--an audience's recation to what it
herad, the way it heard it.
Now,
Thanks, everyone for all the comments.
Now I just want to be sure my understanding is correct.
If you are a Hot New Country star and you cover a 70's pop or rock hit, you
will probably be vilified for it.
If you are an alt-country star and you cover a 70's pop or rock hit, you
will probably be
Excerpts from internet.listserv.postcard2: 1-Mar-99 Re: Robbie Fulks and
covers by Dina Gunderson@mindsprin
OK, OK, finally I just have to ask "WHY?!!!" I just don't get it. Why do
people love for country or alt.country bands or so-called alt.country bands
to do covers of godaw
top of her lungs when
Mr. Fulks hits town next month...
OK, OK, finally I just have to ask "WHY?!!!" I just don't get it. Why do
people love for country or alt.country bands or so-called alt.country bands
to do covers of godawful cheesy rock songs? Why do people respond to thes
eople love for country or alt.country bands or so-called alt.country bands
to do covers of godawful cheesy rock songs? Why do people respond to these
more than they do to the, OK, I'm going to say it, "real" songs?
Dina
Two reasons I think.
1. If you do like the twang--then
In a message dated 3/2/99 3:45:36 AM !!!First Boot!!!, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
writes:
Wait. . .I've never heard Robbie do this particular cover. Are you
referring
to that cheesy rock song Suffragette by the Beatles?
Linda!
I know that this isn't a Beatles discussion group, but I'm shocked
Carl Z. says:
I dunno, but Fulks plays the hell out of that song, so I think he really
likes it. Jamie S. will testify to how well he did it in Pittsburgh
last fall.
Yeah, I'll testify. Here's my deal, Dina--usually I don't like it much when
a band covers a cheesy song. I'm thinking
In a message dated 3/1/99 10:10:38 PM Central Standard Time,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
That's Jet all right, Linda--but it was by Wings.
I knew that.
lr, sleep deprived from the Tweedy show. he covered some Uncle Tupelo. I
don't think the Woody Guthrie stuff counts as covers.
Jaime sez:
Robbie made "Jet" sound like the best damn
song ever written when he played it. (And that takes some doing. g) I
think it was his sheer enthusiasm.
Or sheer perversity.
Tom Moran
The Deliberate Strangers' Old Home Place
http://members.tripod.com/~Deliberate_Strangers/index.html
Have I ever mentioned that I like the Stones better?
lr
CK wrote:
So did anyone else catch the non-ironic Primus cover of The Devil Went
Down to Georgia on MTV's 120 Minutes last night? Quite the nifty
clay-mation type video.
Indeedin fact, the first time I watch few segments of 120 Minutes in
literally years, and I see that *and* the new
Hey there,
So did anyone else catch the non-ironic Primus cover of The Devil Went
Down to Georgia on MTV's 120 Minutes last night? Quite the nifty
clay-mation type video.
Later...
CK
It's a common failing of the listening public that they listen to old
Rhythm and Blues records and miss the
I've just heard the new Reckless Kelly album Acoustic Live at Stubb's BBQ with the
mind-blowing cover of the Led Zeppelin classic Whole Lotta Love.
I like such acoustic versions of great rock songs. Like the stunning Okra All Stars
cover of Purple Rain (recentley re-issued).
Do you know other
, February 03, 1999 9:48 AM
Subject: Re: Covers
We do "You Shook Me All Night Long" by AC/DC, in 3/4 time, on our new CD.
The fiddle player has a pretty amazing break on it.
The CD is available at finer Wal-Marts...HA!
We actually have a distribution deal in the works. Until then, email me
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