Christopher Guest was recently awarded an honorary doctorate at Berklee. Link to this page to watch videos of a fifty bassist (combined IQ: 78) rendition of 'Big Bottoms' and other good stuff. The real treat for me, if you look under the videos, is an mp3 of Elvis Costello performing a pre-taped version of 'Penny For Your Thoughts' from Waiting for Guffman, one of my favorite songs from one of my favorite movies!
Excellent find! And beautiful version of Penny.
ReplyDeleteQuick! List your favorite and least favorite covers. Your time begins...now!
Fave covers:
ReplyDeleteFaves:
Flop - Big Sky (Kinks)
Judas Priest - Diamonds and Rust (Baez)
Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs - Care of Cell 44 (Zombies)
Ryan Adams - Wonderwall (Oasis)
Beatles - You Really Got a Hold on Me (Smoky Robinson)
Subteens - You May Be Right (Billy Joel)
Those are just off the top of my head; I'm sure there are loads more.
Least faves:
Bolton - When a Man Loves a Woman
That bad cover of Imagine from several posts ago.
Clash - Brand New Cadillac
ReplyDeleteDwight Yoakum - Long White Cadillace
Pophead - Fuck and Run
The Band - I Shall Be Released
Elvis - everything
Least Favorite:
Manfred Mann's Earth Band - Blinded By the Light.
Dave, was that Matthew Sweet / Susanna Hoffs any good? For awhile I bought everything he ever did -- even the Thorns -- but lately I've lost touch with him.
ReplyDeleteHighly recommended sir. That Zombies cover, And Your Bird Can Sing, Who Knows Where the Time Goes,Cinammon Girl, The Kids are Alright, are all excellent. Maybe if you Frown Through Pudding you'll see it.
ReplyDeleteThe Kids are Alright? Interesting. Good lists.
ReplyDeleteFav:
Van Halen - You Really Got Me
Clapton - Layla
Muse - House of the Rising Sun
Jesse Malin - Bastards of Young
Gas House Gang - Blackbird/I Will
Dead Kennedys - Viva Las Vegas
Least:
Manic Street P's - Suicide is Painless
Bolton - entire opus
George Thoroughgood - One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer
James Taylor - Steamroller Blues
Hmmmm.... Clapton is covering Layla? Even though it was Derek and the Dominos, its still Clapton. Or do you mean his muzakey version from Unplugged? Explain yourself!
ReplyDeleteOkay, dang it. I tried to pick some you guys hadn't listed.
ReplyDeleteThe good:
Quiet Riot - Cum On Feel The Noize
The Beatles - Twist and Shout
Perfect - Crocodile Rock
The Replacements - Route 66
David Bowie - Cactus
Elvis Costello - What's So Funny ('Bout Peace Love & Understanding)
Faces - Memphis, Tennessee
The Jam - David Watts
Rolling Stones - Beast of Burden
Rod Fucking Stewart - The First Cut Is The Deepest
The bad:
Most covers.
I actually liked the Muzaky unplugged version. To me, a good cover is about reinterpretation, which is why I hate hearing the Thorougood knock-off of JL Hooker. The radios did play the hell out of the Unplugged Layla, but I liked it slow and bluesy.
ReplyDeleteTwist and Shout, that's a great one!
Good List, Jay. I like the cover of Wicked Messenger that the Faces did.
ReplyDeleteAnd the 'Some Girls' record I have has Jagger / Richards as composers on 'Beast of Burden.'
Similarly, I think JT wrote 'Steamroller Blues.' And Mike, have you ever heard DK do 'I Fought the Law'? Brilliant. "Drinking Beer in the Hot Sun / I fought the Law and I won."
Wow, good catch, Joe on the Steamroller Blues! Still, EP's ruled, JT's blew. That somnambulist voice insisting he's a steamroller just didn't work. But if he wrote it, I respect his right to record it. I retract its inclusion on my list.
ReplyDeleteReplace it with G&R's Live and Let Die, which I thought was just so damned unnecessary.