Cover Freak

As we honor the brave men and women who have given their lives in service to their country we must remember that war itself is not a good thing.

Joan Osborne “War” (Edwin Starr)
Edwin Starr sounded incredibly pissed off. Joan Osborne does more of a slow burn.

Betty Dylan “Masters of War” (Bob Dylan)
Yes, it’s more Betty Dylan. I really like them. Dr. Dan sent me this and it just fit so well.

Fresh Air “For What It’s Worth” (Buffalo Springfield)
I found this record when I was a college DJ. There’s very little information on the jacket. About all I can tell you is that they’re a bunch of long-haired white guys. But you already knew that.

Devo “Ohio” (Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young)
One of the very first songs I downloaded from iTunes. Weird and abrasive, like every good Devo song.

Warrior King “What’s Going On” (Marvin Gaye)
Any song can be a reggae song!

I’ve been so busy working on my next two posts that I never came up with a theme for this week. So here’s some random stuff for your dining and dancing pleasure.

REM “First We Take Manhattan” (Leonard Cohen)
Way creepier than when Jennifer Warnes did it. From the I’m Your Fan tribute compilation.

Red Star Belgrade “Highway To Hell” (AC/DC)
I went to see Red Star Belgrade based entirely on how much I liked this song. I was disappointed, but the cover charge was cheap.

Enormous Richard “Music Box Dancer” (Frank Mills)
Update: Alert Reader Shawn points out that this song was originally an instrumental recorded by Frank Mills. I don’t know why I thought ABBA did this one. Maybe I need more sleep.

I gotta admit, it’s a well-crafted little tune. And lots of fun to listen to.

Matthew Sweet “Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?”
I don’t know who recorded the original cartoon theme song. If somebody does know, please enlighten me.

I think that Mr. Sweet’s Girlfriend album is one of the most perfect pop albums of all time. Every song is catchy and timeless. And he infuses this cover with the same perfect pop sensibility.

Vince Clarke “What A Wonderful World” (Louis Armstrong)
This song used to be on the Erasure web site but it seems to have vanished now. That’s his Macintosh singing. That alone makes me love it.

As promised, this week we have various artists covering Johnny Cash songs.

Betty Dylan “Folsom Prison Blues”
I’m really digging Betty Dylan lately. I just love the part where he tells us what it was like to shoot a man in Reno.

Jawbone “Get Rhythm”
Johnny must have sounded like this when he was wired on that trucker speed. Guaranteed to get your blood flowing.

Beat Farmers “Big River”
The sound quality isn’t the best, but what the heck. This is from Live At The Spring Valley Inn. The CD is drawn from live recordings intended for a demo to get a record deal.

I still miss Country Dick Montana. The man was fierce, fearless, and stinking drunk. I want to be like him when I grow up.

Pine Valley Cosmonauts “Sunday Morning Coming Down”
I recently gifted my audience with the Telly Savalas version of this song. This is what it sounds like when it’s played well.

Neko Case “Wayfaring Stranger”
Update: Alert Reader John informs me that this recording is taken from Irene Trudel’s WMFU show.

I don’t like Neko Case. Not personally, of course. I’m sure she’s a very nice person. But her music does absolutely nothing for me. People tell me I’m supposed to like her. I’ve tried to like her. I want to like her. I’ve bought her music and paid to hear her perform live. But her music leaves me completely cold.

This is the only thing she’s ever done that I’ve enjoyed. I think it’s because of Jon Rauhouse’s banjo playing. The arrangement is very spare and lovely. It sounds like it was recorded for a radio show, but I have no information on where it came from.

Any fans of My Name Is Earl out there? Karma recently dropped something good in my lap. Specifically Karma gave me the deluxe edition of the Johnny Cash Unearthed box set.

For those unfamiliar with this opus, it’s a five-CD set. One CD is a best-of drawn from the American Recordings albums. The other four CDs are previously unreleased recordings from those sessions. The deluxe edition also includes a 100-page hardcover book with extensive notes from Johnny about every song.

It was inevitable that I’d do a Johnny Cash post so I might as well wallow in it. This week we’ll have Johnny covering other people’s songs. Next week we’ll have other people covering Johnny’s songs.

Devil’s Right Hand (Steve Earle)
Since Steve Earle was so clearly influenced by Johnny Cash it’s only appropriate that JC would record one of his songs. It’s quite the rollicking tune.

Redemption Song (Bob Marley)
I never thought I’d hear Johnny Cash doing a reggae song. Once again he makes it his own and reveals what a talented songwriter Bob Marley was. And that’s quite a statement coming from somebody who doesn’t particularly like reggae. The other guy on this song is Joe Strummer from the Clash.

The Mercy Seat (Nick Cave)
This song has always scared me. I’ve always wondered what somebody thinks about as they’re electrocuted.

Solitary Man (Neil Diamond)
Strip away Neil Diamond’s bombast and you get a song of yearning, hope, and disappointment.

You’ll Never Walk Alone (Rodgers and Hammerstein)
I was introduced to this song by Jerry Lewis singing it at the end of his Labor Day telethon. I always just thought it was a mawkish song sung by strung-out, sleep-deprived, percodan-addicted showbiz hacks. But Johnny showed me that was not necessarily the case.