Cover versions. Love 'em or hate 'em but they've been a part of music since it very beginning.
I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, I get annoyed every time I find out that a song I've loved forever is a cover version because then I go to the original and it doesn't sound right. Songs like Tainted Love by Soft Cell have been played so much more than the original (Gloria Jones' version) that in my head they no longer constitute a cover version. They become their own song in their own right (which is unfair to the original).
On the other hand, cover versions of iconic songs can go two ways. Either they're a great rendition and the artist knows how to add their personal touch to make it differ from the OG or it's absolutely devoid of feeling and it just feels like the white brand version of the song.
Then there are the GREAT cover versions. Those are the ones where artists take songs that are the opposite of the genre that they move in and bring them to their home turf to make the perfect symbiote. For example, Lost in Music which is a disco song by Sister Sledge was covered by The Fall who made an ace job of it because the original is so popular you can recognise it right away but it still sounds like a Fall song. If you didn't know of the existence of Sister Sledge you would never say that it's meant to be a disco tune. The same goes for The Slits and their reggae-punk version of Heard It Through The Grapevine or Walk On Guilded Splinters by Paul Weller (originally by Dr. John Creaux). Although, a lot of it has to do with the fact that the original is such a good song that it would work in whatever genre you want to put it in. So kudos to the OGs.
I've been making a compilation of excellent covers of songs. It's a work in progress and I'm missing all the biggies still (yes, Man Who Sold The World by Nirvana will be added eventually). Let's take a look at a couple of these.
I want to point out Jackie Wilson's version of Light My Fire. It came out in 1968, a year after its original release by The Doors. And to me, it's odd to find a soul artist cover music from someone else. Soul artists do a million different versions of soul songs (see My Girl for reference, originally by The Temptations), but I have rarely seen them cover other genres and certainly not psychedelic rock. The great thing is that Jackie Wilson doesn't stray from his line of music at all so Light My Fire sounds like a great Motown song. There's no organ, and obviously, the dreamy reverbed Jim Morrison which gives it so much personality is nowhere to be heard. Instead, we have some great percussion work and some horn charts. And forget about being taken into a dreamlike trance with Morrison, Jackie Wilson's voice is here to directly seduce you.
It's one of those times that I wish my ears were virgin ears and I was listening to both versions for the first time just to see in which genre it fits best.
Have a go at both and get back to me.
Okay, let's go now to the most annoying and at the same time one of the most beautiful songs ever written (in any of its forms). Forever, I thought that It's All Over Now, Baby Blue was a song by Them. And I remember thinking, wow I knew Van Morrison was good but this is something else. it was only last year that I found out by chance that it's in fact a Bob Dylan song (1966) and it was covered by Them, The Animals and probably a bunch of other people. Even Echo & The Bunnymen did a version (not their best work).
Of course, to me, the version by Them is the best, even better than the original if I'm being honest. Van Morrison's bluesy voice, paired with the sweet guitar just works a treat to my ears. I've heard the Bob Dylan version and why is it, that if he's the one who wrote the thing, does it feel to me that there's not so much heart poured into it? I feel terrible saying anything remotely bad about Bob Dylan since he's pretty much the father of music but still, it's true.
The only other version of the song that can compete is the recently released version by ANOHNI, who if you didn't know is the lead singer of Antony and the Johnsons only she went solo a few years back. This version just sounds like a different song altogether. The effects on her anguished voice and that damn guitar sends chills up and down my spine for four minutes straight. Direct line to the waterworks.
Give the three versions a go and tell me I'm wrong.
And now for a very odd finish. I don't know why, don't ask me but I have a very soft spot for Julio Iglesias. I DON'T KNOW WHY. I just do. Actually, I have a guilty soft spot for his son too but never mind that, it's completely generational. With Iglesias (father) there's something about being transported back in time immediately as soon as I hear his voice. He sings like it's an eternal summer in the 1970s. He's like the Spanish Tom Jones and I'm here for it. Julio Iglesias did a cover version of Solamente Una Vez which is originally by the genius Mexican musician Agustín Lara (1953). And as much as I love Agustín Lara's version (which also sends me back almost a century), with Julio Iglesias the lyrics feel true-er and I would happily give myself to the song and sway along with whatever he told me. To me it feels more paced, like the song is taking its time to get its point across. Like savouring a meal almost. I don't think I can explain it any better than that.
I bloody love this cover.
I could go on forever but I won't. Just give the list a follow and make your own opinions.
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