Month: February 2024

Come on in and cover me

Posted on by brucehhackett

When I was in my teens and early 20s, I had a peculiar aversion to cover songs. If I loved a tune, I had no interest in hearing someone else record the same song, whether it was a note-for-note copy or a radically different arrangement. I thought it was lazy of the artist to rip off a song already made famous when there were so many unknown songs waiting to be recorded and popularized.

Eventually, I saw how shortsighted this attitude was. I felt sheepish when I discovered that a song I loved — James Taylor’s “How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You,” for instance — was in fact a cover version of Marvin Gaye’s original from a decade earlier.

A great song is a great song, and it will almost certainly stand up to multiple re-imaginings. This truth has been driven home to me hundreds of times in recent years as newer artists have been returning time and time again to songs from the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s. Some of these cover versions, of course, have been failed experiments, to my ears, but so many more have been resoundingly successful as valid art, regardless of whether they made any impact on the charts.

I have enjoyed combing through the releases of the past two decades, searching for the best cover renditions of classic rock tracks by current singers. Some I knew already but others were brand new to me, and I felt compelled to select 15 and present them here to my readers. As always, I have included a Spotify playlist so you can listen to these new versions of old favorites as you read along. If you have your own favorite cover songs, I’d be very interested to hear about them for a future blog post.

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“Someday We’ll Be Together,” Bruce Springsteen, 2022

Since his earliest days as a performer, Springsteen has often covered classic R&B and roots rock tunes in his concerts, most notably “Devil With the Blue Dress,” “Raise Your Hand,” “War,” “Quarter to Three,” “In the Midnight Hour” and “Twist and Shout.” In 2022, he finally got around to recording “Only the Strong Survive,” an entire studio album of soul covers like “Turn Back the Hands of Time,” “What Becomes of the Broken Hearted” and “Do I Love You (Indeed I Do).” My favorite from that collection is his version of The Supremes #1 hit from 1969, “Someday We’ll Be Together.” One critic praised the LP as “an ideal opportunity for a new audience to discover glorious classics as interpreted by a rock ‘n’ roll stalwart.”

“Back Stabbers,” Seal, 2011

“In my years in the music industry, two things have remained constants — the voice and the song,” noted Seal upon the release of “Soul 2,” his second collection of R&B covers. “I continue to make music because of the chance that today could be the day I write a memorable song or have the opportunity to sing an all-time classic.” The songs he chose — “What’s Going On,” “Let’s Stay Together,” “I’ll Be Around,” among others — are some of the finest soul tunes ever. His magnificent treatment of The O’Jays’ 1972 hit “Back Stabbers” is the cream of the crop.

“Happy Together,” Weezer, 2019

Since their debut in the mid-1990s, Weezer has been one of the most critically praised and commercially successful alt-rock bands in the country, churning out more than a dozen albums and 15 Top Ten singles on the alt-rock charts. Their fans wanted them to record a cover of Toto’s mid-’80s hit “Africa,” so instead, they released another Toto hit, “Rosanna,” which led to “The Teal Album,” an LP of covers that included not only “Africa” but other iconic tunes like “Billie Jean,” “Everybody Wants to Rule the World,” a-ha’s “Take On Me” and The Turtles’ 1967 hit “Happy Together.” They chose to remain faithful to the originals — “straight-ahead paint-by-numbers covers,” as one critic put it, “like something a wedding band might play.”

“Lean On Me,” Keb’ Mo’, 2022

Kevin Moore has been going by the Ebonic “Keb’ Mo'” version of his name since his debut in 1995, writing, recording and performing award-winning contemporary blues music. He has also dabbled in many convincing covers along the way, re-imagining traditional pieces like “America the Beautiful” and pop songs such as The Youngblood’s “Get Together,” Stevie Wonder’s “Isn’t She Lovely” and The Eagles’ “One Of These Nights.” In 2022, his 18th LP “Good To Be…” featured a compelling cover of the Bill Withers #1 hit “Lean On Me.”

“After the Gold Rush,” k.d. lang, 2004

Inspired by poet e.e. cummings and his use of lower-case letters, Kathryn Dawn Lang became k.d. lang upon her debut as a Canadian country singer in the late 1980s. She has won Grammy and Juno awards for her country, pop and folk music in the years since, especially for her 1992 LP “Ingenue” and its hits “Constant Craving” and “Miss Chatelaine.” She paid tribute to fellow Canadian musicians Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell and Neil Young on her 2004 LP “Hymns of the 49th Parallel” (the latitudinal line that comprises much of the border between Canada and the US). Feast your ears on her gorgeous cover of Young’s “After the Gold Rush.”

“Tougher Than the Rest,” Shawn Colvin, 2015

Colvin is best known for the 1997 Grammy Song of the Year “Sunny Came Home,” but there’s so much more in her rich catalog that’s well worth exploring. She typically records her own songs but has twice released albums of other composers’ work — 1994’s “Cover Girl,” on which she sang unknown songs, and 2015’s “Uncovered,” where she attempted familiar tracks like “Baker Street,” “American Tune,” Graham Nash’s “I Used to Be a King” and Creedence’s “Lodi.” From that LP, check out her credible arrangement of Bruce Springsteen’s “Tougher Than the Rest” from his 1987 album “Tunnel of Love.”

“Alone Again Naturally,” Diana Krall, 2014

Krall is an accomplished jazz singer and pianist, winning countless awards for her impressive albums on which she has favored time-honored standards by the likes of Hoagy Carmichael, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter and Sammy Cahn. In 2014, she chose to wrap her voice around some of the better pop ballads of the 1970s by artists as varied as Jim Croce, The Carpenters, 10cc and The Eagles for her album “Wallflower,” produced by David Foster. I was knocked out how she took an eye-roller like Gilbert O’Sullivan’s melancholy 1972 hit “Alone Again (Naturally)” and made it something rather extraordinary.

“Bluebird,” Corrine Bailey Rae, 2014

Since the mid-1990s, several albums have been released that gathered a range of popular artists to each record covers of songs by celebrated songwriters like Elton John and Bernie Taupin, Jackson Browne, Bob Dylan, Don Henley and Glenn Frey. On 2014’s “The Art of McCartney,” 42 different singers (Brian Wilson, Billy Joel, Smokey Robinson, Chrissie Hynde, B.B. King, Roger Daltrey, to name a few) paid tribute to the songs written by Sir Paul as a Beatle and a solo artist. Several of these tracks stood out to me, one being Corrine Bailey Rae’s version of “Bluebird,” the tender ballad from Wings’ 1973 LP “Band On the Run.”

“Can’t Find My Way Home,” Haley Reinhart, 2017

Reinhart came to the nation’s attention through the “American Idol” TV program, where contestants sing their versions of hit songs to show off their vocal chops. In Season 10 in 2012, Reinhart was a finalist, earning standing ovations for her renditions of songs by The Animals, Led Zeppelin and Adele. She won a record contract and has done well with superb covers of songs like Radiohead’s “Creep,” Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” Janis Joplin’s “Piece of My Heart” and Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth.” From her “What’s That Sound?” LP in 2017, I’ve been impressed by the way she nailed Steve Winwood’s classic “Can’t Find My Way Home” from the 1969 “Blind Faith” album.

“For Free,” David Crosby with Sarah Jarosz, 2021

Crosby played a pivotal role in getting Joni Mitchell discovered back in 1968, bringing her to L.A. and producing her debut LP. In the mid-’70s, he and Graham Nash sometimes performed Mitchell’s song “For Free” (from her 1970 “Ladies of the Canyon” LP), and a recording of one of their performances ended up on the Crosby, Stills and Nash live album “Allies” in 1983. In 2021, Crosby decided to collaborate with singer Sarah Jarosz for a proper studio recording of “For Free” and made it the title track of what turned out to be his final album before his death in 2023. What a song. What a voice.

“Ode to Billie Joe,” Tom Scott with Patty Smyth, 1999

Saxophone great Tom Scott has appeared on more than 200 albums during his storied career, sometimes just contributing sax solos, sometimes as bandleader on his own albums. His work spans multiple genres — jazz fusion, rock, blues, country and pop — and in 1999, a new lineup of the L.A. Express accompanied him on his “Smokin’ Section” LP. It’s an all-instrumental album, with one exception: He invited the great Patty Smyth (formerly with ’80s band Scandal and a solo artist in the ’90s) to offer a potent vocal on a new arrangement of the 1967 hit by Bobbie Gentry, “Ode to Billie Joe.”

“Bell Bottom Blues,” Larkin Poe, 2020

Sisters Rebecca and Megan Lovell, based in Nashville, have built a following under the moniker Larkin Poe, the name of one of their ancestors. They have specialized in blues and Southern rock since their 2010 debut, releasing LPs and EPs and collaborations with other like-minded players. In 2020, they came up with “Kindred Spirits,” an album of covers of songs by Neil Young, The Allman Brothers, The Moody Blues, Elton John and Phil Collins. Not surprisingly, their most effective entry here is the Eric Clapton heartbreaker, “Bell Bottom Blues,” from the Derek and The Dominos’ “Layla” double album.

“Immigrant Song,” Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross with Karen O, 2011

In 2010, filmmaker David Fincher tapped Atticus Ross and Ten Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor to provide the electro-industrial soundtrack for his movie “The Social Network,” and their work earned an Oscar for Best Soundtrack. They were an obvious choice the following year when Fincher needed an edgy soundtrack for his film version of “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.” The highlight of the soundtrack LP, featured in the popular trailer as well, was a spectacular take on Led Zeppelin’s chaotic “Immigrant Song” from “Led Zeppelin III,” with Karen O of Yeah Yeah Yeahs shredding the lead vocals.

“Space Oddity,” Brandi Carlile, 2022

Carlile has been everywhere lately, notably as cheerleader and collaborator for the return to the stage of Joni Mitchell, but her albums have been generating lavish praise since her 2005 debut. Each LP has performed better than the one before, and her two most recent works — “By the Way, I Forgive You” (2018) and “In These Silent Days” (2021) — have won awards, notably the anthemic ballad “The Joke” from 2017. She chose to re-release “In These Silent Days” in 2022 with acoustic treatments of the songs, and then added a startling cover version of David Bowie’s landmark “Space Oddity” as the closer.

“The Sound of Silence,” Disturbed, 2015

Surely one of the most unlikely covers recorded in recent years was this heavy metal band’s reinterpretation of Simon and Garfunkel’s 1965 classic. “I was surprised,” said Paul Simon in response to Disturbed’s performance of his song on “Late Night With Conan O’Brien” in 2016. “It was pretty moving.” Disturbed has released four #1 LPs since 2002, mostly original material, and had covered a few tunes from the ’80s like Tears for Fears’ “Shout” and U2’s “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” but this was a much bigger departure for them. “We’re aggressive, but also intensely melodic,” claimed lead singer David Draiman, “and the song is about isolation and darkness, so maybe it wasn’t all that strange for us to give it a shot.”

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Going deep, deep in the psychedelic vault

Posted on by brucehhackett

When rock and roll was barely ten years old, some of the more adventurous musicians in England and the U.S. were eager to explore newer sounds and newer techniques that were decidedly not in the popular mainstream. These bands were all about expanding the horizons of what rock music could be, and while much of it was admittedly not very good, some of it was compelling, even catchy, and certainly influential.

There’s no denying that psychedelic drugs played a big part in motivating many bands to test the waters with musical forms that were completely unfamiliar to even the most forward-thinking listeners. Blues-based British groups like The Yardbirds, Fleetwood Mac and Cream enhanced their repertoire with innovative musical experiments, while American bands like Moby Grape, Love and Spirit took folk and rock roots and branched off into uncharted territories.

The “psychedelic rock” era didn’t last too long, roughly 1966 through 1972, but it produced some lasting music that, while not everyone’s cup of tea by a long shot, still captured the “anything goes” freedom that permeated the recording studios, especially in London, San Francisco and Los Angeles. In concert, most psychedelic music was expanded into jams with multiple solos, accompanied by mind-blowing light shows, but many of the studio recordings were held to more conventional lengths.

Instead of trotting out the same handful of spacey songs that are familiar because they made the Top 40 — “I Had Too Much to Dream Last Night” by The Electric Prunes, “Pictures of Matchstick Men” by The Status Quo, “Magic Carpet Ride” by Steppenwolf — I’ve selected a dozen very deep tracks from the late ’60s that are probably too obscure to qualify as “lost classics.” But I’m guessing there’s a segment of this blog’s audience that will get off on hearing them.

Rock on!

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“Fresh Garbage,” Spirit, 1968

Influenced by jazz, rock and folk, L.A-based Spirit emerged in late 1967 under the tutelage of famed producer Lou Adler, who encouraged their psychedelic leanings even as he found ways to make their music more accessible to the masses (at least in California). Their albums fared reasonably well, but their singles fell flat, largely because Spirit’s audience always preferred albums. Still, songs like “I Got a Line on You,” “Mr. Skin” and “Nature’s Way” found their way onto radio eventually. From their eponymous debut LP came the inaccurately titled “Fresh Garbage,” a marvelous, jazz-inflected tune that set the stage for Spirit’s reputation as a premier underground band.

“Happenings Ten Years Time Ago,” The Yardbirds, 1966

The Yardbirds, a trailblazing blues group and proving ground for several of England’s most iconic electric guitarists, bridged the gap between blues and pop enough to land in the Top 20 of the US pop charts five times in 1965-1966: ”For Your Love,” “Heart Full of Soul,” “I’m a Man,” “Shapes of Things” and “Over Under Sideways Down.” In late 1966, their experimental (yet influential) track “Happenings Ten Years Time Ago” failed to chart here, perhaps because of its unorthodox psychedelic arrangement, lyrics about reincarnation and deja vu, and innovative guitar work by Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page, who overlapped as Yardbirds for three months. 

“8:05,” Moby Grape, 1967

According to pop culture writer Jeff Tamarkin, “Moby Grape’s saga is one of squandered potential, absurdly misguided decisions, bad luck, blunders and excruciating heartbreak, all set to the tune of some of the greatest rock and roll ever to emerge from San Francisco.” Their first two albums somehow reached the Top 20 in the US in 1967 and 1968, but you’d be hard pressed to find a copy these days. The group’s three-guitarist lineup featured three singer-songwriters who merged rock, blues, folk and country in a tempting psychedelic stew. One of the better tracks is the brief, folky “8:05” by guitarist Jerry Miller.

“Stop Messin’ Round,” Fleetwood Mac, 1968

In its original incarnation (1967-1970), the band was known as Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac, emphasizing the leadership roll of virtuoso blues guitarist Green, who also handled harmonica and most vocals. On their second LP (titled “Mr. Wonderful” in England but reconfigured as “English Rose” in the US), they added saxophones to several tracks, as well as piano provided by future member Christine Perfect McVie. A highlight is the original Green blues track “Stop Messin’ Round,” which opens the album. These early blues-oriented Fleetwood Mac LPs were all Top Ten successes in England but wallowed in the lower rungs of the US charts.

“Baby’s Calling Me Home,” Steve Miller Band, 1968

Before he settled into a lucrative gig as a mainstream pop/rock star of the late ’70s and early ’80s, Miller was the leader of one of San Francisco’s most promising psychedelic blues bands, cranking out five albums in less than three years, including lost classic tracks like “Space Cowboy” and “Living in the U.S.A.” One of the Steve Miller Band’s founding members was guitarist/singer Boz Scaggs, who split in 1969 for a solo career specializing in R&B and “blue-eyed soul.” On the group’s 1968 debut LP “Children of the Future,” Scaggs wrote and sang lead vocals on the bluesy “Baby’s Calling Me Home,” probably the best track on the record.

“Tin Soldier,” Small Faces, 1967

Emerging as one of the premiere psychedelic bands of London’s mod subculture in the mid-’60s, The Small Faces enjoyed eight hit singles on UK charts but only one in the US, “Itchycoo Park,” which peaked at #16 in 1967. The follow-up, “Tin Soldier,” stalled at #73 in the US but prompted the release of “There Are But Four Small Faces,” their first US album which reconfigured the UK version by dropping some tracks and adding the two singles, both written by guitarist Steve Marriott. When Marriott left in 1969 to form Humble Pie, the others (including Ronnie Lane and Kenney Jones) continued as The Faces with Ron Wood on guitar and Rod Stewart on vocals.

“A House is Not a Motel,” Love, 1967

Arthur Lee, the frontman of the L.A. band Love, wrote unusual songs that deftly amalgamated garage rock, folk rock and psychedelia. He and guitarist Bryan MacLean steered the group from L.A. clubs to a national record contract, even scoring one minor hit, “7 and 7 Is,” which peaked at #33 in 1966. But Love was without question an album band, and their 1967 LP “Forever Changes” is considered a defining work of underground California rock, even as it investigated darker themes and questioned the sunny optimism of the so-called “Summer of Love” that year. In particular, “A House is Not a Motel” uses a folky foundation and then soars off into psychedelic realms.

“Hear Me Calling,” Ten Years After, 1969

British blues-rock band Ten Years After formed in 1966, named because they were born “ten years after” the explosive success of Elvis Presley, guitarist Alvin Lee’s idol. The group had four Top Ten LPs in the UK in 1969 and 1970, and generated a decent following in the US as well, thanks to a game-changing performance of Lee’s “I’m Going Home” at Woodstock, which was featured in the film and soundtrack album. From their third LP “Stonedhenge” comes the driving blues-boogie “Hear Me Calling,” written and sung by Lee, who wrote most of the band’s catalog, including their one US Top 40 entry, “I’d Love to Change the World” in 1971.

“Help Me,” Canned Heat, 1967

Bob “The Bear” Hite was a blues aficionado living in the Topanga Canyon area of L.A. when he formed Canned Heat as a makeshift jug band playing folk blues music, immortalized in the “Woodstock” soundtrack with its single “Going Up the Country.” Their self-titled debut LP consisted mostly of covers of tunes by the people Hite considered the best of the Delta bluesmen — Robert Johnson, Elmore James, Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon. Although Hite was Canned Heat’s gruff lead singer, the track “Help Me” by Sonny Boy Williamson II features guitarist Alan Wilson on vocals. The group was lauded as “one of America’s best boogie bands who also delve into psychedelic funk.”

“N.S.U.,” Cream, 1967

Eric Clapton had already made his mark with The Yardbirds and John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers when he joined forces with bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce and drummer Ginger Baker to form the blues power trio Cream, known for unparalleled live improvisational forays and creative original songs featuring the virtuoso trio in the studio. BBC writer Sid Smith said Cream’s music “is when blues, pop and rock magically starts to coalesce to create something brand new.” Their debut LP “Fresh Cream,” released in late 1966 in England, included the hit “I Feel Free” and the cryptically titled “N.S.U.,” which Bruce later revealed meant “non-specific urethritis,” a joking reference to Clapton’s bout with VD at the time. 

“Waiting,” Santana, 1969

Carlos Santana had emigrated from Mexico to California in his early 20s, bringing his Latin music influences to the psychedelic milieu of the San Francisco counterculture. His first project, The Santana Blues Band, fell by the wayside when some members didn’t take their gigs seriously, but once Fillmore West impresario Bill Graham got involved, along with keyboardist/vocalist Gregg Rolie, the new lineup called themselves simply Santana and finagled their way onto the bill at Woodstock, almost stealing the show with a breakout performance. “Waiting,” a percussion-driven instrumental track, opens their debut LP, released two months after the festival.  

“Glow Girl,” The Who, 1968

Pete Townshend was a prolific songwriter, especially in the group’s early Mod days when The Who released multiple hit singles and B-sides and left numerous outtakes from their album sessions in the studio vault. By the mid-’70s, they decided they had enough worthwhile archival tracks to compile “Odds & Sods,” a collection of a dozen great unreleased Who tunes like “Pure and Easy,” “Postcard,” “Little Billy” and the anthem-like “Long Live Rock.” Another fine track, “Glow Girl,” was written and recorded during the 1968 sessions for “Tommy.” The lyric “It’s a girl, Mrs. Walker, it’s a girl” makes it a sort of companion piece to the brief introductory song “It’s a Boy” from the 1969 rock opera.

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