My family and I are taking a short vacation and won’t be back until Tuesday. Rather than keep my rabid fan base waiting for the chewy goodness that is Cover Freak I’ve decided to post early this week. Since I’ve had less time than usual to lovingly craft a theme it’s just random stuff this time around.

Concrete Blond “Ghost Riders In The Sky” (Burl Ives)
I’m no fan of Concrete Blond. I particularly hate that “Joey I’m Not Angry” song they did. A local disk jockey played that song every morning at the same time for months on end. It gave me road rage on my way to work. Even so, I think this is a really soulful version of the song that has been called “the best country/western song ever,” according to Wikipedia.

Ksine “My Way” (Frank Sinatra)
This song features some great distorted guitar and electric piano. More atmospheric than the Sid Vicious version but I really dig it anyway. It’s from a very cool project that compiles tribute albums to love singers. So far they’ve done a Lionel Richie tribute and a Frank Sinatra tribute. I can’t wait to hear what they’ll do next.

Charlie Musselwhite “Everybody Loves Me” (Alejandro Escovedo)
I’ve been a huge Alejandro Escovedo fan for years. Seems that he’s finally getting the recognition he deserves as a great songwriter and incendiary live performer. Mr. Musselwhite delivers a greasy blues version of this song from a tribute album put out a few years ago to help defray Mr. Escovedo’s medical expenses.

The Polka Floyd Show “Have A Cigar” (Pink Floyd)
Yes Virginia, there’s a whole album of polka covers of Pink Floyd songs out there. The songs themselves are quite well done, funny and sincere at the same time. It’s hard to listen to the whole album at one sitting though.

Glass Eye “Cecilia” (Simon And Garfunkle)
After I posted Glass Eye‘s version of “Minnie The Moocher” a few months back the bassist’s brother sent me this song. They dispense completely with the Caribbean rhythms turn it into a straight ahead rocker.