Friday, November 17, 2017

Weekend Listomania: Special Hey, a Boy Can Dream, Can't He?

[I first posted a version of this in 2007, back when this blog and the world were young. I've rewritten parts of it, and made some substitutions, just to prove I'm not a complete slacker; please enjoy. -- S.S.]

Okay, fellow kids -- here's a fun project to contemplate:

THE GREATEST COVERS THAT NEVER WERE!!!!!!

You know -- some really fabulous song you'd really like to hear some favorite artiste -- solo or group -- perform or record, but so far they haven't gotten around to it (the bastards!!!).

And my totally off the top of my head Top Nine is/are:

9. The Hold Steady -- The Boys Are Back in Town[Thin Lizzy]



They've probably jammed on it a thousand times -- it's about time they go public for gosh sakes.

8. The Posies -- Carrie Anne [The Hollies]



They already proved they were genetically bred to do Hollies songs with their version of "King Midas in Reverse" -- just think what they would bring to the sunniest of the Clarke-Hicks-Nash classics.

7. The Pretenders -- Every Little Bit Hurts [Brenda Holloway]



My fave 60s soul ballad/torch song would be a natural for Chrissie Hynde, I suspect. Fun fact: This was written by the same guy who wrote "Dirty Water."

6. Neko Case == The First Cut is the Deepest[Cat Stevens]



Because she'd do it better than Sheryl Crow, duh.

5. Steve Earle -- Street Fighting Man [The Rolling Stones]



C'mon -- this is the job he was born for.

4. Bob Mould -- Calvary Cross [Richard and Linda Thompson]

On the 1994 Thompson tribute album Beat the Retreat, Mould turned the rockabilly tinged "Turning of the Tide" into a killer piece of buzz-saw punk. I swoon to imagine what he could do with Thompson's most intensely doom-haunted song.



3. Emmylou Harris -- Withered and Died [Richard and Linda Thompson]



Actually, now that I think of it, this song is so intensely heartbreaking, if Emmy sang it we might not survive the hearing.

2. The MonaLisa Twins -- Excuses, Excuses [The Floor Models/Gerry Devine and the Hi-Beams]



Because I've always wanted to hear gals covering this one. And my new favorite group seems like just the ones to do it.

And the number one cover I'd love to hear is....

1. Wilco -- Get Out of My Way [Paul McCartney]



This is one of my favorite sort of obscure McCartney tracks. And if you've ever heard Wilco blowtorching its way through "Monday" you'll understand why I think they're the right band band for the job.

Alrighty, then -- what would YOUR choices be?

And have a great weekend, everybody!!!

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Terry Reid - Rainy Night in Georgia (Brook Benton)
Flamin' Grooves - Stranger Blues (Elmore James)
New York Dolls - High School Confidential (Jerry Lee)
Sonic's Rendezvous Band - Shot Down (The Sonics)
The Real Kids - Shakin' All Over (The Guess Who)
John Martyn - Sunlight (The Youngbloods)

J. Lewellen

steve simels said...

The Dolls doing High School Confidential....that’s genius, my friend.

edward said...

Tom Waits - The entire soundtrack to Sound of Music. The only way I can get through that godawful movie is by imagining Waits doing for those songs what he did for Somewhere (from West Side Story).

Anonymous said...

Thanks, Steve. I've never wanted a cover more than that one.

Something also tells me that Richard Thompson would take West End Girls to a different stratosphere on the acoustic.

J. Lewellen

Anonymous said...

Hello all...no, please remain seated,

This topic is fun. I'll contribute two:

Here's one I stole from a commenter on a youtube video: "...Pink Floyd should do a pleasingly slow and turgid cover version of Elton John's 1972 hit "Rocket Man".

I totally agree.

Here's one of my own: a John Prine cover of Tom Petty's Room At the Top. Done acoustically, this song sounds like it could have been on Bruised Orange. And TP&HB's were all over a couple of Prine's early 90's albums.

Regards,
RichD

Anonymous said...

GUIDED BY VOICES does MAX WEINBERG's jukebox, sort of. The classic line-up of GBV - with Tobin Sprout and Mitch Mitchell on guitars, and, of course, Robert Pollard on lead vocals - reunites, gets a bunch of beer and plays sloppy, spirited in-concert versions of songs by the Beatles, the Who, early Genesis, the Cars, R.E.M., Moby Grape, Wire, King Crimson, early Pink Floyd and a hundred other bands who've influenced them. All the songs are listed on a big-screen monitor by the side of the stage a la Max Weinberg's recent Jukebox tour. A drunken, soul-cleansing high is had by performers and audience alike. A drunken, soul-cleansing "live" album of said covers is eventually released.

Chris Edwards.

buzzbabyjesus said...

St Vincent covering Jackie DeShannon's "Put A Little Love In Your Heart".

Anonymous said...

Richard Thompson doing Nick Drake's Which Will.

I requested it at one of his all-request shows last year, but he didn't do it.

Marc

Anonymous said...

Godfrey Daniels - "Smells Like Teen Spirit".

Captain Al

zombie rotten mcdonald said...

The Mekons doing Guns of Brixton.

Sal Nunziato said...

Jules Shear- You're A Big Girl, Now

XTC- I Can't Let Maggie Go (Andy said he wished he had written it, now I can only hear it by them.)

The Posies- Reflection Of My Life