Riley is a digital marketing trainer and strategist in Toronto. He obsessively writes and talks about music and once had a classic rock radio show in university. His favourite cover of all time is Uncle Tupelo's version of the Stooges' "I Wanna Be Your Dog." He's also a movie fan, having seen approximately 4,400 films. You can follow him on Twitter @riley_haas.
Elton John and his lyricist Bernie Taupin were honored with the Gershwin Prize from the Library of Congress at the beginning of April. As part of the award ceremony, a number of big names performed covers of some of their most classic songs. Metallica might not be the most obvious band to perform at a tribute to Elton, but the progressive nature of his most epic songs, such as the 11 minute “Funeral for a Friend/Loves Lies Bleeding” which opens Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, makes some sense for metal bands.Continue reading »
Though not released as a single, “Nutshell” has probably become the best known song from Alice in Chains‘ second acoustic EP, Jar of Flies. (The first EP ever to debut on Billboard at #1, apparently.) Lead singer Layne Staley was writing more and more of his own lyrics and “Nutshell,” like many of his songs, concerns his struggles with addiction.
Carlie Hanson is a singer-songwriter from Wisconsin, who has put out a couple of albums and EPs over the last five years. She released her new cover of “Nutshell” on the 22nd anniversary of Staley’s death.
The song is famous for its extended acoustic guitar intro, just featuring guitarist Jerry Cantrell playing chords, with some bass accompaniment for nearly a minute before the drums and Staley’s vocals come in. Hanson begins her version with a loop and some prominent drums. But she wastes little in starting her vocal and once she starts singing the song much closer resembles the original. Though her pace is faster, her acoustic guitar moves forward in the mix and the loop fades.
For the wordless refrain, she piles on group vocals and drops the guitar fill, giving the vocals much more focus. These vocals feel a bit like a lament and the repeat as this version’s coda until they drop away and all we’re left with is a guitar repeating the main lick.
Though it starts out sounding very different, it’s actually a quite faithful rendition that manages to both recall the original but sound different enough. Check it out:
Fred Eaglesmith is an acclaimed and prolific Canadian alternative country singer-songwriter who is basically unknown in the United States. In Canada, his fans have their own name: Fredheads. But he has only 18 songs is covers database SecondHandSongs – despite releasing 17 studio albums over the last 40 years – and we’ve noted exactly one cover of a song of his, all the way back in 2010, by fellow alt country Canadians Cowboy Junkies. For whatever reason, he just hasn’t been discovered by Americans despite the heavy Americana of his lyrics.
Pistol Annies member Ashley Monroe wants to change that. She recently covered Eaglesmith’s “I like Trains” from his 7th album, 1996’s Drive-In Movie, a song which explicitly references the American South. (As well as, um, trains.)Continue reading »
“Hand in My Pocket” is the second single from Alanis Morissette‘s breakout album, Jagged Little Pill, as well as her first ever Canadian #1 song. As much as this album was big in the US, it was even bigger in her native Canada where it went double Diamond and produced four #1 songs as well as a #2. For some reason “Hand in My Pocket” wasn’t released as a single in the US so it had less of an impact, though it still received enough airplay to chart well.
Still, it makes sense that it would be a little less popular of a cover than the biggest songs in the US from Jagged Little Pill and that a Canadian band like July Talk would be a little more likely to perform it. July Talk have been around for a little over a decade with a fair amount of success, due to their famous live performances.They were invited by CBC to cover the song in honour (with a u) of the upcoming Juno Awards (Canada’s Grammys.) They were a little nervous of doing it because of how big Alanis and this album were in Canada at the time.Continue reading »
“Working Man” is far and away Rush‘s most famous song from their brief pre-Neil Peart era (i.e. their first album), before they went fully prog rock. Never a single, it was often a part of their live shows. It’s primarily known for its open riff and its extended guitar solo.
The famous opening riff could almost qualify as proto-sludge metal so it’s no surprise that it appeals to thrash and thrash-influenced metal bands. American thrash/groove metal legends Prong recorded a cover of this song for their 13th studio album last year, and they’ve released a longer version of it just in time for the song’s 50th anniversary.Continue reading »
