Another twofer... in the same vein as yesterday with the original first, followed by a cover.
And then the inimitable Joan, with her take:
And... just like yesterday... we most certainly prefer the cover over the original. Today is such a brilliant day that we went and retrieved all of our Joan albums from The Tart and put them in our CD player for today's soundtrack. Which means we can... and most certainly DID... throw the windows and door open for to air out the house and avail ourselves of our own soundtrack, as opposed to something provided by Pandora.
I could plow this twofer field from now until the cows come home, mainly coz there's no dearth of tunes that were recorded in the past and covered in the now. One of the Good Thangs about bein' a geezer is we can remember... with absolute clarity... the original tune and compare it with the cover, rendering judgment as appropriate. This sez a couple o' few thangs, first and foremost bein' the state o' music today isn't quite as good as it once was. YMMV, Gentle Reader, but I certainly subscribe to that particular POV. Then again, I'm not nearly as much in-tune (heh) with music today as I was in the wayback. I suppose there are multiple reasons for that.
These two tunes were runners-up in today's twofer category: Dave Mason and, once again, Joan. Ah, that song... and the original Dave Mason album... REALLY go back into Former Happy Days, Part I. Lost youth, and all that.
And then the inimitable Joan, with her take:
And... just like yesterday... we most certainly prefer the cover over the original. Today is such a brilliant day that we went and retrieved all of our Joan albums from The Tart and put them in our CD player for today's soundtrack. Which means we can... and most certainly DID... throw the windows and door open for to air out the house and avail ourselves of our own soundtrack, as opposed to something provided by Pandora.
I could plow this twofer field from now until the cows come home, mainly coz there's no dearth of tunes that were recorded in the past and covered in the now. One of the Good Thangs about bein' a geezer is we can remember... with absolute clarity... the original tune and compare it with the cover, rendering judgment as appropriate. This sez a couple o' few thangs, first and foremost bein' the state o' music today isn't quite as good as it once was. YMMV, Gentle Reader, but I certainly subscribe to that particular POV. Then again, I'm not nearly as much in-tune (heh) with music today as I was in the wayback. I suppose there are multiple reasons for that.
These two tunes were runners-up in today's twofer category: Dave Mason and, once again, Joan. Ah, that song... and the original Dave Mason album... REALLY go back into Former Happy Days, Part I. Lost youth, and all that.
Ah, yes... lost youth, or as they say, "If I knew then, what I know now." [giggles]
ReplyDeleteYeah, and that is forever and always TRUE. But... there ain't no do-overs in life.
DeleteSpeaking of covers that are better than the original, how about the Alien Ant Farm cover of Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal?" I happen to like it better, but that's not my point. AAF is probably the ONLY band that I know of who are FAR best/better known for a cover song rather than any of their own. Anyone know of any other artists/bands to which this applies?
ReplyDeleteOK, Virgil... you got me on AAF. I had to go to the Tube o' You and seek 'em out, and it turns out that I had never heard their take on "Smooth Criminal." Where was I hiding, I wonder? Oh... in England, listening to Auntie.
DeleteAs for your question... Peter, Paul, and Mary come to mind for "Blowin' In the Wind" (Dylan) and "Hammer" (Seeger). Any Old School crooner, like Sinatra, Como, or Crosby, would also qualify as none of those guys wrote their own stuff. I'm sure there are more but it's early and I'm not fully caffeinated.
You're right--I had too much Barbancourt in me to think of the folk singer crowd--of which the incestuous cover is practically a given, But I sort of DID mentally cross-off all the Old School crooner types (I should have so stated) as in those days, as you note, it was indusry-wide standard practice..
DeleteNot being a Hendrix fan, I like the cover much better as well.
ReplyDeleteI AM a Hendrix fan, so I guess I've committed apostasy. ;-)
DeleteI like the Hendrix version for it's psychedelic sound, he was the master of the (As Zappa called it "Furrz-tone") and it adds to the quality of the tricky lyric. As for the Dave Mason song? The hottie has it all. I can see why you are in the Joan-Zone, today. Great talent, umm-hmm!
ReplyDeleteThis is Zappa singing some critical commentary about Donovan, Jimi, Jim, Mama Cass, and the silliness of wealthy kids from Long Island learning vagrancy as a way of life in the late 60's;
http://youtu.be/LxNlp0qPy1s
Whoever put that Zappa vid together did a GREAT job on the images and timing, eh? Ol' Frank was seriously ahead of his time. Thanks for that.
DeleteAs for Joan... she's rapidly gaining on Joni Mitchell as my favorite chirp.
Oh yeah, I like Joan Osborne, that woman can sing!
ReplyDelete