Bangles were brilliant, and Hoffs' cover album with Matthew Sweet (two gifted pop aficionados brought together...who made THAT phone call?!), 2006's "Under the Covers, Vol. 1," gives us a clue as to just who the cover mastermind of the group might be!
As for "Hazy Shade," yep, a great update of an already good song, but dredging it out of the cobwebbed '60s malaise, and juicing it up wonderfully for a new generation.....a record produced by Rick Rubin (see my Rubin props elsewhere in this comment section)! Seriously, if he's not in the Rock Hall yet, maybe, what, in 5 minutes, please?😁Great song suggestion, Andrew!
You need to dig up that Sweet/Hoffs album. We could split up the tracks and do a collab on it, or just cover the whole album sharing our thoughts on each track! As for TT Pt. 2, you only have to ask! Just e-mail a song, and you'll be in the Q. We're doing weekly, as you know, and there's already 3 or 4 in the Q, but one or two are stuck, and I haven't heard back with the next song. It's first come, first serve....so, I'm happy to start another TT with you!
In addition to Whitney’s version of I Will Always Love You, a few cover versions that (to me) always felt like the definitive versions of the song:
Santana’s Black Magic Woman (Fleetwood Mac)
Hendrix’s All Along The Watchtower (Dylan)
Paul Young’s Every Time You Go Away (Hall & Oates)
Soft Cell’s Tainted Love (Gloria Jones)
Cat Power (Chan Marshall) has had some amazing cover songs, whole albums of them in fact. She quite often completely reimagines the songs she’s covering
One of my favorites is “I Found A Reason” which is very different from the Velvet Underground original:
And I absolutely adored her cover of Frank Ocean’s “Bad Religion” from last year’s Covers album (my 13th ranked AOTY). Again, a total reimagining of the original. Here she is performing it live on James Corden:
Nice collection, Mark, of "owned" covers! I think the Santana one, for me, spent the longest time on my "what a great original song they've got" list! I was even playing it for a couple years in my mid-'70s FM radio stint, and had no idea it was Mac's! Reading rock mags and scouring liner notes at my record store, late '70s is probably what--finally--schooled me!
You betcha, Michael! Thanks for the inspiration! And, what amazed me to the point of digging deeper was that Sylvia's original only "drew breath" for a short amount of months before a whole new blueprint was whelped!
Instant worldwide hit: Nothing Compares 2 U - 1990 Sinéad O’Connor (written by Prince 1984, released on The Family album 1985, never a single for Prince).
Another great example of creative cover! What strikes me about Sylvia's song (and the first Ian & Sylvia recording in '64) is that the original folk treatment barely had time to breathe (just several months) before Stewart/We Five forever altered it, with the original arrangement virtually gasping for air over the many decades!
Nothing wrong with the radical covers presented here (Sinead, Whitney, Bangles), but years, not months, elapsed for most, if not all, and in some/many cases, the arrangement didn't undergo such whole-cloth alterations. I think one of the stark differences/advantages of O'Connor's Prince cover was her blindingly unique vocal performance which, I'm guessing, even got Prince's attention!
Trying to think about well-known covers that followed the original fairly quickly, one that comes to mind is Jimmi Hendrix doing "Sunshine Of My Love" but that wasn't as much of a reinvention.
It may be tough to find not only quick cover turn-arounds, but such radical "gutting" of the arrangement (like the Sylvia/We Five one here). One of the things that usually triggers a quick cover is that (like the Cream/Hendrix example), it's the cover artist saying, "Dang, this sounds just like my style!" of "This is right up my alley!" Good luck, though, Nick......holler if you find anything!
The stories behind cover songs are often very interesting. Sure, sometimes its just a straightforward rerecording of a song a band or artist liked, but most of the time there's a lot more to it, provided the covering artist does it right. And by "right" I don't necessarily even mean good, because that's a subjective question. A lot of people look down their noses at cover songs, but being a longtime fan of the Delta blues (and blues in general), there's a great tradition of cover songs. A good cover song doesn't denote a lack of originality. Yes, the original kernel of the song might come from someone else, but if the cover artist is talented, they can branch out in entirely new directions and make what is virtually a brand new song their own. You see this a lot in the blues, where multiple artists might have started from the same song and all ended up with trademark tunes that showcase their unique talents, and by the time they're through with them, they may only share a riff or a line of two of lyrics. Or look at a popular example like Johnny Cash's remake of NIN's "Hurt." All in all, it's a pretty faithful cover, but because of Cash's delivery and the many other talents he brought to the table, it becomes his own song. I'm not a very talented musician myself- my writing talents lean towards words instead of notes- but I've always enjoyed playing around with other artists' songs and adding little tweaks here and there. Again, I'm limited on the guitar, but even so, it's fun to do and I've occasionally come up with some decent stuff, which goes to show you what a talented musician can do with a cover they feel passionate about. And then there's also the challenge of identifying a song you don't even particularly care for, but you see a sliver of something promising in it, so you build off of it to make something better than the original, sort of like when a director remakes a B movie and turns it into something special.
Of course, you already know all this, so hopefully I haven't wasted the time it takes you to read through this. Your article got me thinking, which is some of the highest praise I think any writer can get, and I'm just sort of thinking out loud in your comments section. Hope you don't mind. Great work as always, my friend.
Mind? Heck no, Patrick! I know it's the ultimate compliment if I inspired you to write! In fact, save this comment, and we should collab on a general cover-song piece. You could write about that which I know very little....the blues stuff, and I could pick a few totally-changed covers myself!
As for Cash and "Hurt," I never let a chance go (on that subject) without giving absolute mad props to Rick Rubin, who, of course, knew the NIN song, and felt it would make a chilling song for Cash (who had no idea the song existed) to cover, not to mention the heart-wrenching video (I believe Rubin's creation, also). Done so well, even Reznor has pretty much acknowledged that the song is "now, Johnny's song," or words to that effect.
That kind of vision (that Rubin displayed in matching song with artist) is the stuff that makes my jaw drop, and what motivates me to dig deeper into how these magic moments came to exist in the first place.
Think about my suggestion....you already have the intro!
I would love to do that, Brad. I just completed the first draft of a novel that features the Delta Blues. Obviously, it won't be ready to submit to agents/publishers for a little while, but the closer we get to that (or, fingers crossed, actual publication), I would love to support it by collaborating with you on a piece. So yes, please make a mental note of the idea- and if you forget, don't worry, I'll remind you! Even if you'd prefer to leave any mention of the book out of it, I don't need much of a push to write about the Delta Blues, and I'd be honored to share the stage, so to speak, with a talented music writer like yourself.
Well, thanks, Patrick...you're too kind! I'll make a 'Stack post page with a title to remind me! As for your book, you know me well enough to know I'm enough of a show biz ho to sell anything by anybody(!), and I'd be happy to mention/push/sell your book til the cows come home!
I'm already negotiating with a couple other music writers (with whom to collab) who also have books pending, and they are in various stages of "nah-can't-collab-til-publication" to "sure-your-FR&B-can-help-promote-it," and I'm all over the latter! Don't be shy! Besides, our collab could do double-duty as your book intro or the meat of your publisher's press kit para su libro!
This is very interesting. Reminds me a bit of what happened with Dolly Parton’s (and then Whitney’s) I Will Always Love You. While there are some differences (Dolly’s original song was not a completely obscure track, it had had some success in the country charts), it’s the first example that comes to mind of a song that got re-arranged and went on to become a smashing worldwide success.
Thanks, Andy! A topic that's always fascinated me....Dolly's song is a great example, too. Somebody, somewhere had to disassemble the original skeleton to create the mood, tempo, modulations, etc to create the resulting hit! Plus, the original "Huh....that sounds like I could do something with it to change it into a bangin' hit!" always fascinates me, too!
That's next-level music recognition to be able to do that!
Like Whitney's "Star-Spangled Banner" turn....yes, her voice is what carries it, but who....WHO implemented that modulation at the end that absolutely sends it into the stratosphere?!?
Thanks, Brad! Another great example. I agree: yes, it’s Whitney’s voice that does the heavy lifting, but someone, somewhere had to think of the arrangement. It is fascinating indeed! Goes to show how important team work is (in life, but not least, in music!).
My guess is Whitney had a musical director on her team who charted out the arrangement to give to whatever ork played behind her in the stadium. I don't know how "musical" Whitney, herself, was (or even if she read music!)--do you know?, but an "ear" musician (like me) could/would just listen to a "demo" of any song/arrangement (sung by anyone on her team who could read), and memorize it that way. That's how I imagine the "SSBanner" arrangement worked itself onto the field!
I don’t know whether she could read music (or to what an extent) but I do know she had an exceptional ear (most probably perfect pitch) and that she got quite involved in some of her vocal arrangements (e.g. the famous and unforgettable I Loves You Porgy/And I Am Telling You/I Have Nothing medley). Apart from her enormous talent, one thing I really like about Whitney is that she just got on with it. Her confidence on stage was something else. The attitude and bravery with which she tackled impossibly difficult vocal passages. That, to me, was as impressive as her talent.
Yes to all! Again, just going off observations, my guess would also be A) exceptional ear, and B) perfect pitch. Plus, it would not surprise me that she'd get down'n'dirty into the arrangements, but it would make so much sense, as her career was a corporation, as it were, that not only could afford the best, but was a gem worth protecting and aiming at the best that kinda money could buy!
Bangles were good at making covers their own. I think they might have one of the best 2 or 3 cover songs of all time: Hazy Shade of Winter! So good.
Bangles were brilliant, and Hoffs' cover album with Matthew Sweet (two gifted pop aficionados brought together...who made THAT phone call?!), 2006's "Under the Covers, Vol. 1," gives us a clue as to just who the cover mastermind of the group might be!
As for "Hazy Shade," yep, a great update of an already good song, but dredging it out of the cobwebbed '60s malaise, and juicing it up wonderfully for a new generation.....a record produced by Rick Rubin (see my Rubin props elsewhere in this comment section)! Seriously, if he's not in the Rock Hall yet, maybe, what, in 5 minutes, please?😁Great song suggestion, Andrew!
That's awesome about the cover album w/Sweet!
And, it's probably almost time for another Tune-Tag. I'm hoping to get a little quiet time next week - hit me up if you'd like!
You need to dig up that Sweet/Hoffs album. We could split up the tracks and do a collab on it, or just cover the whole album sharing our thoughts on each track! As for TT Pt. 2, you only have to ask! Just e-mail a song, and you'll be in the Q. We're doing weekly, as you know, and there's already 3 or 4 in the Q, but one or two are stuck, and I haven't heard back with the next song. It's first come, first serve....so, I'm happy to start another TT with you!
Seconding the recommendation for the Sweet/Hoffs album (and potentially useful for TT).
Sounds good, dude. Should I start the game? Might take a few days, but we'll get something done!
Sure, anytime you're ready. I'm retired, you're not! I get the time crunch....I never want to hurry our guests/collabers!😉👍
What did you do before retirement? I've had a pretty unorthodox career path myself, some of which you probably already know.
In addition to Whitney’s version of I Will Always Love You, a few cover versions that (to me) always felt like the definitive versions of the song:
Santana’s Black Magic Woman (Fleetwood Mac)
Hendrix’s All Along The Watchtower (Dylan)
Paul Young’s Every Time You Go Away (Hall & Oates)
Soft Cell’s Tainted Love (Gloria Jones)
Cat Power (Chan Marshall) has had some amazing cover songs, whole albums of them in fact. She quite often completely reimagines the songs she’s covering
One of my favorites is “I Found A Reason” which is very different from the Velvet Underground original:
https://youtu.be/iIOPdOjVqy8?si=r2N5TPbC0S7HoO6H
And I absolutely adored her cover of Frank Ocean’s “Bad Religion” from last year’s Covers album (my 13th ranked AOTY). Again, a total reimagining of the original. Here she is performing it live on James Corden:
https://youtu.be/90qsTpEqjHA?si=dlsPCOaJQ-p5mYH8
Nice collection, Mark, of "owned" covers! I think the Santana one, for me, spent the longest time on my "what a great original song they've got" list! I was even playing it for a couple years in my mid-'70s FM radio stint, and had no idea it was Mac's! Reading rock mags and scouring liner notes at my record store, late '70s is probably what--finally--schooled me!
Thanks for the shout, Brad! - holy smokes, that's a lot of covers!!
You betcha, Michael! Thanks for the inspiration! And, what amazed me to the point of digging deeper was that Sylvia's original only "drew breath" for a short amount of months before a whole new blueprint was whelped!
Instant worldwide hit: Nothing Compares 2 U - 1990 Sinéad O’Connor (written by Prince 1984, released on The Family album 1985, never a single for Prince).
Another great example of creative cover! What strikes me about Sylvia's song (and the first Ian & Sylvia recording in '64) is that the original folk treatment barely had time to breathe (just several months) before Stewart/We Five forever altered it, with the original arrangement virtually gasping for air over the many decades!
Nothing wrong with the radical covers presented here (Sinead, Whitney, Bangles), but years, not months, elapsed for most, if not all, and in some/many cases, the arrangement didn't undergo such whole-cloth alterations. I think one of the stark differences/advantages of O'Connor's Prince cover was her blindingly unique vocal performance which, I'm guessing, even got Prince's attention!
Trying to think about well-known covers that followed the original fairly quickly, one that comes to mind is Jimmi Hendrix doing "Sunshine Of My Love" but that wasn't as much of a reinvention.
"By The Time I Get To Phoenix"?
It may be tough to find not only quick cover turn-arounds, but such radical "gutting" of the arrangement (like the Sylvia/We Five one here). One of the things that usually triggers a quick cover is that (like the Cream/Hendrix example), it's the cover artist saying, "Dang, this sounds just like my style!" of "This is right up my alley!" Good luck, though, Nick......holler if you find anything!
Some interesting examples here: https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/cover-versions-that-were-recorded-released-not-long-after-the-original.759889/
The stories behind cover songs are often very interesting. Sure, sometimes its just a straightforward rerecording of a song a band or artist liked, but most of the time there's a lot more to it, provided the covering artist does it right. And by "right" I don't necessarily even mean good, because that's a subjective question. A lot of people look down their noses at cover songs, but being a longtime fan of the Delta blues (and blues in general), there's a great tradition of cover songs. A good cover song doesn't denote a lack of originality. Yes, the original kernel of the song might come from someone else, but if the cover artist is talented, they can branch out in entirely new directions and make what is virtually a brand new song their own. You see this a lot in the blues, where multiple artists might have started from the same song and all ended up with trademark tunes that showcase their unique talents, and by the time they're through with them, they may only share a riff or a line of two of lyrics. Or look at a popular example like Johnny Cash's remake of NIN's "Hurt." All in all, it's a pretty faithful cover, but because of Cash's delivery and the many other talents he brought to the table, it becomes his own song. I'm not a very talented musician myself- my writing talents lean towards words instead of notes- but I've always enjoyed playing around with other artists' songs and adding little tweaks here and there. Again, I'm limited on the guitar, but even so, it's fun to do and I've occasionally come up with some decent stuff, which goes to show you what a talented musician can do with a cover they feel passionate about. And then there's also the challenge of identifying a song you don't even particularly care for, but you see a sliver of something promising in it, so you build off of it to make something better than the original, sort of like when a director remakes a B movie and turns it into something special.
Of course, you already know all this, so hopefully I haven't wasted the time it takes you to read through this. Your article got me thinking, which is some of the highest praise I think any writer can get, and I'm just sort of thinking out loud in your comments section. Hope you don't mind. Great work as always, my friend.
Mind? Heck no, Patrick! I know it's the ultimate compliment if I inspired you to write! In fact, save this comment, and we should collab on a general cover-song piece. You could write about that which I know very little....the blues stuff, and I could pick a few totally-changed covers myself!
As for Cash and "Hurt," I never let a chance go (on that subject) without giving absolute mad props to Rick Rubin, who, of course, knew the NIN song, and felt it would make a chilling song for Cash (who had no idea the song existed) to cover, not to mention the heart-wrenching video (I believe Rubin's creation, also). Done so well, even Reznor has pretty much acknowledged that the song is "now, Johnny's song," or words to that effect.
That kind of vision (that Rubin displayed in matching song with artist) is the stuff that makes my jaw drop, and what motivates me to dig deeper into how these magic moments came to exist in the first place.
Think about my suggestion....you already have the intro!
I would love to do that, Brad. I just completed the first draft of a novel that features the Delta Blues. Obviously, it won't be ready to submit to agents/publishers for a little while, but the closer we get to that (or, fingers crossed, actual publication), I would love to support it by collaborating with you on a piece. So yes, please make a mental note of the idea- and if you forget, don't worry, I'll remind you! Even if you'd prefer to leave any mention of the book out of it, I don't need much of a push to write about the Delta Blues, and I'd be honored to share the stage, so to speak, with a talented music writer like yourself.
Well, thanks, Patrick...you're too kind! I'll make a 'Stack post page with a title to remind me! As for your book, you know me well enough to know I'm enough of a show biz ho to sell anything by anybody(!), and I'd be happy to mention/push/sell your book til the cows come home!
I'm already negotiating with a couple other music writers (with whom to collab) who also have books pending, and they are in various stages of "nah-can't-collab-til-publication" to "sure-your-FR&B-can-help-promote-it," and I'm all over the latter! Don't be shy! Besides, our collab could do double-duty as your book intro or the meat of your publisher's press kit para su libro!
Yeah, I didn't think you'd have any issue with me tryin' to get my hustle on a bit. But book or no, I'm excited about this idea!
This is very interesting. Reminds me a bit of what happened with Dolly Parton’s (and then Whitney’s) I Will Always Love You. While there are some differences (Dolly’s original song was not a completely obscure track, it had had some success in the country charts), it’s the first example that comes to mind of a song that got re-arranged and went on to become a smashing worldwide success.
Thanks, Andy! A topic that's always fascinated me....Dolly's song is a great example, too. Somebody, somewhere had to disassemble the original skeleton to create the mood, tempo, modulations, etc to create the resulting hit! Plus, the original "Huh....that sounds like I could do something with it to change it into a bangin' hit!" always fascinates me, too!
That's next-level music recognition to be able to do that!
Like Whitney's "Star-Spangled Banner" turn....yes, her voice is what carries it, but who....WHO implemented that modulation at the end that absolutely sends it into the stratosphere?!?
Thanks, Brad! Another great example. I agree: yes, it’s Whitney’s voice that does the heavy lifting, but someone, somewhere had to think of the arrangement. It is fascinating indeed! Goes to show how important team work is (in life, but not least, in music!).
My guess is Whitney had a musical director on her team who charted out the arrangement to give to whatever ork played behind her in the stadium. I don't know how "musical" Whitney, herself, was (or even if she read music!)--do you know?, but an "ear" musician (like me) could/would just listen to a "demo" of any song/arrangement (sung by anyone on her team who could read), and memorize it that way. That's how I imagine the "SSBanner" arrangement worked itself onto the field!
I don’t know whether she could read music (or to what an extent) but I do know she had an exceptional ear (most probably perfect pitch) and that she got quite involved in some of her vocal arrangements (e.g. the famous and unforgettable I Loves You Porgy/And I Am Telling You/I Have Nothing medley). Apart from her enormous talent, one thing I really like about Whitney is that she just got on with it. Her confidence on stage was something else. The attitude and bravery with which she tackled impossibly difficult vocal passages. That, to me, was as impressive as her talent.
Yes to all! Again, just going off observations, my guess would also be A) exceptional ear, and B) perfect pitch. Plus, it would not surprise me that she'd get down'n'dirty into the arrangements, but it would make so much sense, as her career was a corporation, as it were, that not only could afford the best, but was a gem worth protecting and aiming at the best that kinda money could buy!
Absolutely. Did you watch the biopic? I finally got round to watching it over the summer and loved it.