Foo - Song Remakes

What do you think about them? I don't mind them but my younger brother can't stand most of them and my youngest sister some of them she likes and others she doesn't. Here is one that I can think of off the top of my head.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2OZiDevsKE

There must be a ton of others but I am failing to remember them now. Again I just like to know what you think about more recent bands like sir ivan making re-makes of past songs? Are they trying to be better than the originals or are they show admiration to them? I personally feel(or hope) that they are re-making these songs because they admire this past musician and really enjoy their music. That is how I see it. But brother and sister can't stand most of them and probably see it more as the band/singer was trying to be better than the original artist of that song. I guess in the end you never really know unless you have talked with that musician or if they have had something written on their thoughts of re-making past songs.

"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery." Really, most music is just based off of other music.

That being said, the video you linked doesn't do it for me. I've been watching this guy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFBuWtcfDiM) a lot. He does some amazing stuff.

The music doesn't do much for me, but at least it's not as horrible as Lenny Kravitz' abortive remake of The Guess Who's American Woman (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0rQ-5JnnbI).
The liberal use of scantily clad women and Caligula scenes definitely help Sir Ivan suck less.

The best song remake I've heard was the U2's remake of the old Mission Impossible theme.

You should try this podcast:

http://coverville.com/

I listened to it regularly a couple of years ago and it was great. Looks like he's still going strong.

You should try this podcast:

http://coverville.com/

I listened to it regularly a couple of years ago and it was great. Looks like he's still going strong.
DUde ! Great pod.

If a remake is the first version I hear then that's the one I identify with and like the most. E.g. - I heard Red Red Wine by UB40 before Neil Diamond's original. ND deserves the most credit but I still definitely like UB40's version best.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrwFkByhlJo

I've always liked Elvis' It's Now or Never (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkMVscR5YOo) which is a masterful cannibalization of Capurro's O Solo Mio (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XT2kHxSFMS0&feature=fvst).

Billy Joel's This Night (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnQAoG4GZjU), which is a redoing of Beethoven's Piano Sonata in C Minor, Opus 13 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9bk0sza4i0&feature=related).

Then there's the ABC Song, which is a version of Twinkle-Twinkle Little Star.

I remade last night's chili this morning. It wasn't as good.

The remake of DM's "Enjoy the Silence" by Lacuna Coil isn't bad. I might actually say, I like it better than the original.

Also, NO's "Blue Monday" remade by Orgy is really good.

I can't stand Bob Dylan when he performs--he's one of the most overrated musicians I know. Saying that, he's a great songwriter, and I much prefer Hendrix performing All Along the Watchtower.

I listened to an interview of Souixsie and the Banshees where Sioux defended them doing covers, stating that it was to prove their versatility as a band. Performing only your own music allows no comparisons to the original.

That said:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8dbAeRMHEQ

and:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHkr4pb8Hcc

Zappa's version of Whippin' Post (http://youtu.be/-TItmXT8DkM?t=34s) is awesome.

And it's hard to top Hayseed Dixie's version of the AC/DC classic Big Balls (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioCClIkemW0).

But have a listen to Kevin Gilbert's version of Kashmir (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9R9rfIOsx2k) with the volume on eleven.

...but most remakes I hear these days are utter BS, slavishly imitating the arrangement of the original. Not that I'm naming any names (http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xkhch0_rainbow-connection-weezer-ft-hayley-williams-of-paramore-preview_animals).

The best cover versions twist and pervert the original into something different. A lot of my favorite covers are done by live bands, and will likely never be recorded.

Buckle up... Dana Fuchs covering Etta James and channeling Janis Joplin.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WA1nw-CF_x0

Mind blowing... few have ever covered this song as well.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahog_NFlQvA

Ms Lauper has always done covers and made them her own... Gene Pitney would have been proud.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSmJsYK_Sqc

Mostly, no.

There are rare exceptions.

http://www.amazon.com/Stardust-Willie-Nelson/dp/B0000296J3/ref=sr_1_4?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1314501318&sr=1-4

There's something about Otis Redding songs that defy remakes. They are simply and elegantly arranged and performed, but no one can match them. The best of the lot is probably Black Crowes' Hard to Handle,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtLbE3IUY2U
because it gives another version to love, more powerpop drive rather than cool, bouncy soul.

Oh, almost forgot. Santana's latest is an album of cover songs. Mostly unremarkable in their arrangements, but Santana's guitar makes them all worth listening to, some extraordinary.

http://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Heaven-Greatest-Classics-Time/dp/B00433QE3M/ref=sr_shvl_album_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1314502010&sr=301-2

I like most of the album, these two are quite excellent:

Sunshine Of Your Love (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DeOSLNbhfg&feature=relmfu) with Rob Thomas on vocals

While My Guitar Gently Weeps (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DeOSLNbhfg), India.Arie singing and Yo-Yo Ma on cello

The Beatles' I Will is a wonderful song. Alison Krauss did a fantastic job on it as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3989jHX3sMQ

I have to admit, certain artists covering a classic original can suck the entire soul out of the music. Example:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1spMaW_SCg


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1ZXl5tgMi0


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hy1YF54rZZM

The Beatles' I Will is a wonderful song. Alison Krauss did a fantastic job on it as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3989jHX3sMQ

Allison Krause could cover the phonebook and make it sound beautiful.

Apparently... this copy will be released on a new CD.

One of the few videos of Eva Cassidy... such a sad loss for the world when she passed away at such a young age.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RDmXsGeiF8&feature=related

Apparently... this copy will be released on a new CD.

One of the few videos of Eva Cassidy... such a sad loss for the world when she passed away at such a young age.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RDmXsGeiF8&feature=related

Agreed, that is beautiful.

I just heard this version earlier tonight and it's a fave too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_DKWlrA24k

WB - Brothers from different mothers methinks... Israel's version is beautiful and one might think that the song is cursed in that both of these talented people passed away at far too young an age.

Eva Cassidy was almost unknown in her lifetime... can only imagine what might have come if she had not been struck down so early.

I'm not the biggest Moby fan, but I do respect him for doing a pretty decent cover of Joy Division's New Dawn Fades:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCYPTgWE7wQ

And then there's The Beautiful South's cover of You're The One That I Want (from Grease):


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXKwBvhd-ww

Covering Leonard Cohen...

Jeff Buckley... good.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIF4_Sm-rgQ&feature=related

K.D. Lang... unfreakingbelievable.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_NpxTWbovE

Another KD Lang... she performed this with Orbison as well.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J65n9OO-3d0&feature=related

P.S. Consider KD Lang an apology for Celine Dion and Justin Bieber.

P.S. Consider KD Lang an apology for Celine Dion and Justin Bieber.

We'd need at least 5000 KD's.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULmC8JTTVy0

We'd need at least 5000 KD's.

holy crap that's some unholy crap. How about parody, does that count as cover?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FklUAoZ6KxY

We'd need at least 5000 KD's.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULmC8JTTVy0

Celine does at least have a good bluesy growl oin her voice. I'll give her that.

Celine does at least have a good bluesy growl oin her voice. I'll give her that.

(Un)fortunately, she lost her title. (http://idolator.com/5985602/miley-cyrus-smells-like-teen-spirit-worst-cover-rolling-stone)

Check out these guys- Me First & the Gimme Gimmes. A collection of artists from other bands that join together to bring you the hits. They have covered 50's-80's rock, R&B, country and even showtunes.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBGGYrFePCk&feature=related

Straight-up gangsta:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeL9gagV_VA

Celine does at least have a good bluesy growl oin her voice. I'll give her that.

You are kidding me right ?

Please scroll back to Dana Fuchs to see what the blues are supposed to sound like.

Interesting to see Meredith Brooks playing with Celine... this lady rocks just a little harder.

Would agree with one of the commentors that not only does she she cover this... she owns it.

The guy in the funny glasses playing the Jazzmaster seems pretty talented too... :)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiOmhOumh-w

Occasionally the remake is so brilliant it makes you glad the mediocre original was ever conceived in the first place, example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_ujAXxNxU0

Weird Al's "boB"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nej4xJe4Tdg

The music doesn't do much for me, but at least it's not as horrible as Lenny Kravitz' abortive remake of The Guess Who's American Woman (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0rQ-5JnnbI).
The liberal use of scantily clad women and Caligula scenes definitely help Sir Ivan suck less.

Check out the Butthole Surfer's version of American Woman and Donovan's Hurdy-Gurdy Man. Favorite covers of all times.

Covering a classic song is a risk. Most die quick deaths.

I find I like a fair amount of covers....

As long as it is someone just trying to do the song well. A generally hate ones where the 'artist' puts in usless flourishes and thinks it somehow improves the song.

Of course time can make a difference also, if the song is old enough the original recordings may be subpar by today's standards or even the standards of 20 years ago. And sometimes updating the song just a little bit can go over well.

For example Johnny Horton recorded 'The Battle of New Orleans' in 1959. When The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band covered it they made 2 changes.

Horton's version has two lines that go '... And give them ..Well we fired our guns....". A mechanism pretty common back then to avoid a 'naughty' word while making it clear. The Dirt BAnd changed it to 'And give tehm hell'. The really great part was the singers inflection, it just echoed tones on 'I just said a naughty word'.

The other was trivial and fun. 'The gator lost his mind' became 'The gator blew his mind'.

I also like the cover of Woodstock by Matthews Southern Comfort. No bells and whistles, just a song sung well.

Covers shouldn't be of peoples signature songs, the comparisons are just too hard to bear. However, if you can do it so differently as to really make it your own, that's different.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AYEgwwCYWw

Alternatively, do a song that wasn't a huge hit for the original artist.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-cF40OWeak

Or do a hit, but substantially better than the original.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w22v6wkTeSM

Definitely make it your own.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iRYafmMcfs&feature=related

http://forums.youthrights.org/images/smilies/rockon.gif This guy nailed it just as well as DLR IMO:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vkg2I7y2S_I


And the 2Cellos dudes were awesome with their carbon fiber cellos! Too bad materials technology hasn't done anything about the horse-hair in their bows!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KZjnFZvCNc

Hmm a tough call:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPnZZTVp_2A



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWvwP72FuVg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KZjnFZvCNc

Silly Brits. Guess it's punishment for dissing their king. If they aren't parodying our music by making it overly coherent, they're parodying it by take it in the other direction...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIXg9KUiy00

Originally written in 1949 by K.C. Douglas... Ry Cooder and David Lindley.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPpJYvLsBco

There's something about Otis Redding songs that defy remakes. They are simply and elegantly arranged and performed, but no one can match them. The best of the lot is probably Black Crowes' Hard to Handle,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtLbE3IUY2U
because it gives another version to love, more powerpop drive rather than cool, bouncy soul.

And yet, the most famous version of an Otis song is Aretha Franklin's cover of Respect. Plus, one of my favorite covers is Otis doing the Rolling Stones' Satisfaction. He tears it up.