Bands Who Give Good Cover Version

[Groucho]

though i still don't quite get your POV, i think you're UTTERLY wrong on your own terms. if you believe Presley's best work was as much the work of Scotty Moore et al, then you can't possibly claim it was any different for Cash - the absolutely archetypal Cash sound of those early records is totally to do with his band.

It is my opinion that Elvis, great voice though he had, didn't ever again match his early recordings which were phenominal. I'd go so far as to say that he did little that was in any way special after the fifties. The Scotty Moore guitar sound was a very important element in his groundbreaking early recordings. Cash, I have overlooked to my embarrassement for much of my life. Perhaps when I have spent more time with Cash I'll form the view that his golden era was with the Tennessee Three and I'll become dismissive of the rest!

I think the films did for Elvis which is a great shame because King Creole proves that he could act and that, with decent material, he would have worked at perfecting his acting.

 

[Leica]

i've always used the term 'original' to mean self-penned, and i think most people do. but no matter..

Well for me original is a song first recorded by one person (since the invention of recording equipment).

I think strictly there is a case to be made that covers are songs that were originally recorded by another person first. In that case I guess Elvis doing something like You Don't Have to Say You Love Me is a cover.

However that doesn't mean that a cover is necessarily of inferior value to the original.

For singers who are primarily performers their material can be both original and covers. It is their interpretation of the material that seals it with value.

 

[Leica]

It is my opinion that Elvis, great voice though he had, didn't ever again match his early recordings which were phenominal. I'd go so far as to say that he did little that was in any way special after the fifties.

In my view you are very, very wrong. He got better and better.

 

[Dubversion]

i don't disagree that Presley's career was ruined by his movies (and i also agree that he did actually have an acting ability Parker never let him demonstrate by putting him in one 'helicopter pilot in Hawaii' movie after another) but to privilege Presley's 50's career to that extent is madness. you'd be ignoring - off the top of my head -

Suspicious Minds
I Just Can't Help Believing
Hunk Of Burning Love
Goodtime Charlie Gets The Blues
his later gospel work
In The Ghetto
Suspicion
Polk Salad Annie
etc
etc
etc

 

[Leica]

I get a little annoyed when I hear people say that Elvis' career was ruined by this and that. I also think it is condescending to take apart and grade everything he ever did. He was a genuine person and put his heart in every single thing he undertook, and he was always very aware of his roots.

 

[Dubversion]

I get a little annoyed when I hear people say that Elvis' career was ruined by this and that.

why? i don't buy the old saw that Elvis was only good before he joined the army, but like anybody there were mistakes in his career and..

put his heart in every single thing he undertook,

he didn't. He came to hate his Hollywood career, found it stifling and mechanical. Not saying he didn't work at it, but he didn't believe in it or enjoy it and a lot of the sadness in his later life derived from that. Parker managed Presley's career to suit himself, not Presley (no manager takes a fucking 51% cut of an artist's income). Presley was a brilliant, brilliant artist - perhaps in some ways the most brilliant - but to pretend he wasn't victim to some terrible career (and personal mistakes) and that for most of the 60s he wasn't treading water is naive, IMO

 

[Leica]

why?

because you are speaking from a priviledged position to judge someone like that.

he didn't. He came to hate his Hollywood career, found it stifling and mechanical. Not saying he didn't work at it, but he didn't believe in it or enjoy it and a lot of the sadness in his later life derived from that.

Really? So you know what went through his mind, or you have read too many biographies?

Parker managed Presley's career to suit himself, not Presley [...] but to pretend he wasn't victim to some terrible career (and personal mistakes) and that for most of the 60s he wasn't treading water is naive, IMO

Well call me naive then but I think a person bears responsibility for his/her choices in life and I don't see Elvis as a victim.

 

[Groucho]

I get a little annoyed when I hear people say that Elvis' career was ruined by this and that. I also think it is condescending to take apart and grade everything he ever did. He was a genuine person and put his heart in every single thing he undertook, and he was always very aware of his roots.

Well we are going to disagree and partly this is a matter of taste in music rather than right or wrong as such. Except that as it happens my taste in music is clearly superior to yours.

I think he was aware of the poor quality of many of his films and that he hated them, and was not happy. He apparently regarded King Creole as his greatest film, which is cool because it is. Soundtrack is fantastic too. His later films and soundtracks were just formulaic trash. In my opinion. I don't mean to annoy you...but I really think that an immense talent went shamefully to waste.

I don't even like Suspicious Minds, I Just Can't Help Believing...

I do like the 1960 hit It's Now Or Never but I prefer the B side Mess Of Blues.

 

[Leica]

partly this is a matter of taste in music rather than right or wrong as such.

I don't even like Suspicious Minds

Well yes it's also a matter of taste I guess

 

[Dubversion]

because you are speaking from a priviledged position to judge someone like that.

in which case, we should abandon all criticism entirely. I've seen you comment on the work of film makers. aren't you being a hypocrite?

Really? So you know what went through his mind, or you have read too many biographies?

i have read a lot of biographies, and have learned to read between the lines. But when they're brilliantly well researched (for example Guaralnick's books) and contain unsensational testimony from his friends as well as quotes from Presley himself, and when those doubts and regrets crop up across all works about his career, i think it would be a little wilfully naive to write it all off as speculation

Well call me naive then but I think a person bears responsibility for his/her choices in life and I don't see Elvis as a victim.

oh come on. a person has to take some responsibility for their choices, but they may not always know all the facts or be as smart as the people around them. Presley was a smart guy in many ways from what i can tell, but he was basically a farmboy. Make him the biggest star in the world in a matter of a couple of years - do you really think he controlled all the decisions about his career? and do you really think he always knew what was best for him? and do you really believe that he loved appearing in 3 movies a year where he sang a novelty song to some fucking dogs in a helicopter?

i think YOU'RE doing Presley a disservice by failing to see any drop in quality in his career at any point. I agree with you that much of his 70s output was the best he ever did, but to pretend that Wooden Heart or Yoga Is As Yoga Does is the equal of Suspicious Minds is just ludicrous.

 

[Leica]

There is a difference between criticism and snubbery. You sound like a music journalist when you talk about people in terms of their "career".

do you really think he always knew what was best for him?

Do you think you you know for him? Do you think anyone in this world always knows what is best for them?

 

[Callie]

Do you like the music people?! the rest is all bollocks

 

[electrogirl]

I always found it weird how loads of soul artists covered eachothers songs but Otis Redding did ace covers

A Change is Gon' Come
Satisfaction
You Send Me
Respect (although he did this before Aretha no?)

 

[Dubversion]

There is a difference between criticism and snubbery. You sound like a music journalist when you talk about people in terms of their "career".

i don't know why
a) you're being quite so aggressive about this
b) you're being so defensive of Elvis with me of all people, i'm probably one of the 4 or 5 biggest Elvis fans on these boards.

i'm sorry you have a problem with the term 'career'. How should I refer to the passage of a person's art and commercial output through a period of years?

i love Elvis' music very very deeply, and it's for that very reason that i find parts of his 'musical journey' very sad and unfulfilling. WHy is that such a horrid notion to you?

Do you think you you know for him?

no. where have i claimed that? i do feel i have *some* insight into what he felt about what his life had been like.

Do you think anyone in this world always knows what is best for them?

definitely not. i didn't say that either. You seem to be having an argument with things i'm not even saying.

 

[Callie]

i don't know why
a) you're being quite so aggressive about this

because sometimes people feel very strongly about music and it can be frustrating when things that have nowt to do with music cause arguments and people get insulted for their tastes.

Thats not leicas gripe im sure but i thought id butt in and say it anyway

 

[Leica]

i don't know why

I apologise for being aggressive and I know you care for his music. Don't you know that in order to disagree with someone you need to have a common base with them?
Anyway, it's a little late... Goodnight people

 

[Dubversion]

because sometimes people feel very strongly about music and it can be frustrating when things that have nowt to do with music cause arguments and people get insulted for their tastes.

but in the case of Elvis, i am talking about his music. Which at one point in his 'musical journey' took the backseat to an ill-advised movie career. i'm TOTALLY talking about his music.

and if that last bit was a dig, i try to only insult the music, not the person. Unless it's Kained, or it's for a gag with people who know i'm joking.

Thats not leicas gripe im sure but i thought id butt in and say it anyway

why? my conversation with Leica seems to be me suggesting that Elvis was brilliant but flawed at points, and her refusing to allow any criticism of him ever as if he were precious little flower. I'm certainly not insulting her tastes, which i share.

 

[Callie]

why - because thats how I feel. I get very frustrated when people say something I like is crap and I know im going off on a complete tangent here. I think sometimes when you insult the music you do insult the person iyswim?! Im sure its not done intentional but still thats what I have found. This is me saying to you I dont like what you said to KE, whether they got the joke or not.

Im going to bed being belligernant is tiring!

 

[tangerinedream]

The best thing elvis ever did was 'black limousine'. No relevance to anything on here really, but hey!

Nowt else really makes me think 'genius' in the same way that does.

But anyway the thread is about covers.

I 'heart' Crooked Finger's cover of 'the river' by Bruce Springsteen

I think Schneider Tm's 'there is a light 2000' was remarkably good.

I am rather fond of some dodgy yankee punk bands doing fast versions of old songs that previously I had seen little merit in (ala 'Gameface - 'time after time').

I would love to hear the Will Oldham/Tortoise version of 'daniel'

I agree with dubversion about low. (mogwai - 'the problem with most bands is, they aren't low')

Tram's version of Tim Buckley's 'once I was'

 

[strummerville]

Nouvelle Vague. And I know I'm a bit of an obsessive but The Clash always gave excellent covers, Police and Thieves, Brand New Cadillac, Armegedion Times, Police On My Back anyone? For anyone between the age of 35-45 they were an education.

 

[Dubversion]

Nouvelle Vague. And I know I'm a bit of an obsessive but The Clash always gave excellent covers, Police and Thieves, Brand New Cadillac, Armegedion Times, Police On My Back anyone? For anyone between the age of 35-45 they were an education.

have to disagree on both counts - Nouvelle Vague are just a covers band and thus disqualified; and much as i like the Clash, their covers could be fucking painful (the worst example is Pressure Drop which makes me wince).

 

[Dubversion]

why - because thats how I feel. I get very frustrated when people say something I like is crap and I know im going off on a complete tangent here. I think sometimes when you insult the music you do insult the person iyswim?! Im sure its not done intentional but still thats what I have found. This is me saying to you I dont like what you said to KE, whether they got the joke or not.

but that's what happens in the Music Forum, and always has. I get the shit ripped out of things i like all the time, and i'm entirely unbothered by it - i like what i like. KE has been around long enough to know that's what happens. It's not malicious (and like i say, claiming Metallica is shit is not the same as saying 'Metallica is shit and therefore you're a twat').

should all music threads be

"i like X".
"that's nice. I don't but i respect your choices"
"thanks"



(and this has been done to death too many times.. )

 

[Magic Sam]

I quite like The Who's covers of Heatwave and Eyesight to the blind, I also thought of The Clash but I had "I fought the law" in mind rather than the more cod reggae ones.
Can't recall ever hearing the original version though (crickets?)

 

[Shippou-Sensei]

william shatner... because the cover vertion are insane and fun...

plus his cover of commen people is actually quite good in it's own right ... plus his is the definative vertion of rocket man

 

[*Miss Daisy*]

I remember seeing the "Australian Pink Floyd" at the Kings(Newport)
a while ago, and they were pretty good,,- (was that the question?)
Paul Weller does some nice covers

 

[strummerville]

I also really like covers that totally reinvent the song, Satisfaction by Devo being a good exaample, there was a brilliant I think Brazillian cover of Come as you are on a Giles peterson comp a few years back done as a strange bossanova, cant remember who by.

 

[maya]

and the Nick Cave did Kicking Against the Pricks and lo! it became the best cover version album ever ...

i second that- normally i can't stand listening to whole Nick Cave albums anymore,
but Kicking Against The Pricks is one of my fave albums ever,
up there with the best imo.

 

[kained&able]

Obviously i wont get away with saying me first and the gimmie gimmies but it seems wrong to have a cover thread and not mention them.

Umm mxpx do the odd decent cover(or at least its labelled as them) going to say joss stone as well seeing as the soul sessions thingy was all covers and had some quality tracks on it. Oh and rage against the machine beacuse of the renegades album there are some sweet things on there(how could i just kill a man being the best.

oh and metallica are obviously class but umm garage inc really really wasn't good.


dave

 

[onemonkey]

tori amos - strange little girl is mostly amazing

I wish cake did more cover versions because their versions of perhaps and i will survive are both brilliant

and i know doesn't count cos it's jazz but john coltrane's my favourite things is one of my favourite things

 

[Kid_Eternity]

well you've got it completely wrong because all Metallica did was reduce everything to a dreary obsidian sludge, but at least you've got the idea

Hah hah hah, good example of someone who doesn't get metal!