A Song For the Weekend
Best covers edition—next in a semi regular series
Tonight I’d like to share with you a song by my favorite singer of all time, Tori Amos. Here she is covering “Famous Blue Raincoat” by Canadian legend, the late Leonard Cohen. Memory eternal.
What are some covers that you absolutely love? What makes a good cover song?
What makes a great cover (could be an entire Substack of its own, LOL) . . for me it's a version that's unique but still recognizable. Same melody, different arrangement or rhythm. Perhaps faster or slower than the original. The great Motown songs that the Rolling Stones recorded (Ain't Too Proud to Beg, Just My Imagination, Going to a Go-Go). The great blues songs that the Allman Brothers did (One Way Out, Trouble No More, Done Somebody Wrong, Statesboro Blues). Not to mention the entire careers of Linda Ronstadt, Joe Cocker and George Thorogood.
Covers that I love . . three come immediately to mind:
Leon Russell's version of Jumpin' Jack Flash (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fO7gLLqOF8)
Ray Charles's version of America the Beautiful (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZYH8v42a2w)
Jimi Hendrix's version of Like a Rolling Stone (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAsSN8Qi82M)
Bee-yoo-tee-ful :) and melancholy.
Here’s a sweet song I found by a younger artist
https://youtu.be/4lTdklFdRRs?si=DQcTx5Gl1zFzVL2l