Southerners Under Cover (Songs, that is)

September 6, 2017 9:28 PM

Celebrating the art of the cover song, which often surpass the original, such as what happened when Aretha Franklin got ahold of Otis Redding's R E S P E C T. And to accompany these twenty covers is an interview with Lyle Lovett, whose latest album is all covers, some of which he's been playing in his live concerts for many years The Long Road Home
posted by MovableBookLady (18 comments total)

Like Natalie Imbruglia covering Ednaswap's Torn.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 9:41 PM on September 6, 2017 [2 favorites]

God I love Dolly Parton so much, she's just the best. What a great cover of The Story.
posted by Sternmeyer at 10:01 PM on September 6, 2017

The Gourds covering Gin and Juice
posted by boilermonster at 11:06 PM on September 6, 2017 [3 favorites]

A lot of those covers are good, but motherfuck a fool who thinks that any cover of a George Jones song could ever come within a thousand miles of eqaulling the work of The Possum.
posted by Joseph Gurl at 11:47 PM on September 6, 2017 [2 favorites]

Of the songs I listened to most weren't bad, but either clung a bit too closely to the original to really register as anything other than a nice homage, or fell into pretty simple countrification, where predictability left it feeling more gimmick than good. The Billie Jean cover was an exception, being far enough away from the original to feel fresh and heartfelt enough to feel true to the band. Very nice.

As there was a Dion cover on the list, it's only fair to share Dion covering someone else for any that haven't heard it: Purple Haze

Now that's transformative!
posted by gusottertrout at 12:24 AM on September 7, 2017

I think it's funny that high school Youtube jazzers make sure to title their videos of practicing standards COVER, like they're afraid people will think they're trying to take credit for writing "Blue Bossa" or something
posted by thelonius at 12:49 AM on September 7, 2017 [2 favorites]

I *loved* these - totes saved us from a dreary cloudy thursday day morning!
posted by speakeasy at 2:34 AM on September 7, 2017

The only valid cover of "Angel from Montgomery" was the one by Bonnie Raitt.

I have spoken.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:42 AM on September 7, 2017 [11 favorites]

I *love* a good cover. I love covers that transform a song, and I love covers that are flat out homages to someone else's art. Postmodern Jukebox might be a bit played out, but I still enjoy the majority of the stuff they put up on youtubes.

Do a kickass version of a song I hated in the 80s, and I might buy your entire back catalog to give you money! I have a spotify playlist of several different covers of This Must Be The Place. And anyone who does a George Harrison song gets several stars in my book. (Even his lesser songs)

PS: That Dolly Parton one in the original article is amazing.
posted by DigDoug at 5:27 AM on September 7, 2017 [1 favorite]

That Gillian Welch "Black Star" cover has been one of my favorites for years.
posted by thivaia at 6:10 AM on September 7, 2017 [2 favorites]

Sturgill Simpson's on the list for "The Promise," but his cover of Nirvana's "In Bloom" is pretty damn good too.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 6:41 AM on September 7, 2017 [1 favorite]

For my money, Jason & The Scorchers do the best cover of Country Roads.
posted by bwvol at 6:46 AM on September 7, 2017 [2 favorites]

Oooh, lovely. I'm also partial to Dolly Parton doing The Story.
posted by Harald74 at 7:04 AM on September 7, 2017

Original: Sting's Fields of Gold
Owned by: Eva Cassidy
posted by Oh_Bobloblaw at 9:50 AM on September 7, 2017 [1 favorite]

If you like unusual Dolly covers, check out her interpretation of Time for Me to Fly.
posted by carmicha at 2:52 PM on September 7, 2017 [1 favorite]

The only valid cover of "Angel from Montgomery" was the one by Bonnie Raitt.

I have spoken.

To be fair, Raitt's is pretty great. But only valid cover? I can understand this view from someone who is unfamiliar with the Leslie Spit Treeo.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:29 PM on September 7, 2017 [1 favorite]

Speaking of John Prine, time could be less well spent than listening to "Killing the Blues" as covered by both Shawn Colvin and Alison Krauss/Robert Plant.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 11:56 AM on September 8, 2017

“Koi Division Is the Fish-Themed Joy Division Cover Band the World Needs Right Now,” Juliet Bennett Rylah, LA Weekly, 07 September 2017
posted by ob1quixote at 10:07 PM on September 8, 2017