My birthday is coming up in a few days so I’m gonna post whatever the hell I want. Like that’s different from any other week.

Iron Butterfly “Get Out Of My Life, Woman” (Lee Dorsey)
I saw Allen Toussaint play a couple of weeks ago. He played many of his hits, often mentioning for whom he wrote the songs and also who else had recorded them. He talked about Devo recording “Working In A Coal Mine” and and about all the money he made from the Rolling Stones covering one of his songs.

When he played this song my first thought was “I’ve gotta post the Iron Butterfly version on Cover Freak.” Yes, I’m that much of a geek. Strangely enough, Mr. Toussaint never mentioned Iron Butterfly.

Terry Reid “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) (Cher)
Update: Alert Reader John pointed out to me that Cher released her version of “Bang Bang” earlier in 1966 than Nancy Sinatra did.

I’ve known about Terry Reid since I heard “Superlungs My Supergirl” on the original Nuggets compilation when I was in high school. More recently I was at a CD shop that was having a sale to clear out excess inventory, mainly promotional CDs. And there I saw a two-disc Terry Reid best-of collection for $5. I picked it up and was quite impressed with his stuff that’s not “Superlungs,” especially this smoldering guitar freakout.

Giant Sand “Wayfaring Stranger/Fly Me To The Moon” (Johnny Cash/Frank Sinatra)
Update: John also pointed out that “Fly Me To The Moon” was first recorded by Kay Ballard, although the Frank Sinatra version is certainly the most well-known.

Lately I’ve been digging Howe Gelb’s CD from last year ‘Sno Angel Like You. It’s a secular album recorded with a gospel choir and it’s a fantastic listening experience. So I figured I’d post a cover he did with his band Giant Sand.

The Cash Covered CD is a bit uneven as most tribute albums are but there are some true gems like this song on it. Why Mr. Gelb feels the need to combine Johnny Cash and Frank Sinatra I don’t know, but he’s the crazed genius of the desert so who am I to question him?

Occidental Brothers Dance Band International “Bizarre Love Triangle” (New Order)
The local NPR station has a morning show (which I think is nationally syndicated) called Eight Forty-Eight. They recently started doing a segment on Thursdays where a Chicago band comes into their studio and records a cover. They’ve only been doing it for a month or so, but so far it’s been pretty interesting.

Apparently only two members of the band even knew what song they were going to be playing before they went into the studio. It’s amazing how tight the band sounds given the lack of rehearsal time.

Juan Vicari and His Orchestra “Old Gray Mare Mambo” (Traditional)
Because sometimes I want to hear a cheesy mambo. So there.