Aug 162022
 
The Chicks Olivia Newton-John Grease

Tributes of all kinds have been pouring in to mark the recent passing of pop icon Olivia Newton-John. One of the biggest full-on cover performances to arrive so far comes from The Chicks, who are currently on tour in the United States. At their stop at The Gorge this past Saturday night, the group performed a heartfelt version of “Hopelessly Devoted To You,” Newton-John’s classic ballad from Grease.

For an act of this scale, it’s refreshing to hear a performance that’s so earnest and off-the-cuff. In her on-stage introduction to the song, Natalie Maines describes how the Chicks’ version of “Hopelessly Devoted” was only just worked up that day at soundcheck, lovingly referring to Newton-John as a “worldwide sweetheart” and a lifelong idol. Keeping the original’s signature pedal steel and big choruses in tact, Maines and the Chicks have no trouble filling out the Grease classic as if it’s their own. Check out the cover below.

Jul 222022
 

‘The Best Covers Ever’ series counts down our favorite covers of great artists.

white stripes covers

The always prolific Jack White releases his second album of 2022 today. So it felt time to look back at his most iconic musical project: Goober & the Peas.

Okay, okay – we’re of course talking about The White Stripes. Though by this point Jack’s released more solo and side-project music than the Stripes’ entire six-album discography, his and Meg’s music still gets covered far more than the rest. Part of that is because that band had actual hits; I doubt there’s anything on his new album that’s gonna do “Seven Nation Army” numbers. But part of it also reflects the stripped-down nature of that band’s work. With just two pieces, combining rudimentary guitar riffs from Jack and cavewoman drumming from Meg, the band’s output leaves plenty of open space to welcome in other interpretations.

So no surprise our list below includes a wide variety of genres, from orchestral bowers to soul belters, bluegrass pickers to reggae toasters. By the band’s end, the Stripes were bringing in genres beyond their beloved blues and garage-rock (see the cabaret of “The Nurse” or mariachi of their Patti Page cover “Conquest”), but these artists take their songs even further afield. They dig deeper into the catalog than you might expect too. The most-common song on our list won’t surprise you (all together now: dunnn, dun-DUN-dun, dun, dunnn, dunnnnnn), but just how obscure some of the others are might, hits and deep cuts from their first album to their last. Fall in love with a cover, below.

NEXT PAGE →

Oct 042021
 
cover '90s country

According to Spotify, ‘90s-era country music has been enjoying a resurgence among fans young fans. Since 2018, streams of the platform’s ‘90s Country playlist have gone up 150%, with a 70% increase among Gen-Z listeners (i.e. people born between the late ‘90s and early 2010s). To them, the music of the ‘90s is a product of a by-gone era.

To celebrate (or capitalize) on this trend, the Spotify Singles series released covers of three of the biggest country hits from the decade, all recorded by artists who were born in the ‘90s. Separately, an American Idol alum released her own cover of a track from the era on Instagram. Here’s a breakdown of the four covers, boots and spurs not included: Continue reading »

May 242021
 

‘The Best Covers Ever’ series counts down our favorite covers of great artists.

best bob dylan covers

When we began our Best Covers Ever series a little over three years ago, Bob Dylan was about the first artist who came to mind. But we held off. We needed to work our way up to it. So we started with smaller artists to get our feet wet. You know, up-and-comers like The Rolling Stones and Nirvana, Beyoncé and Pink Floyd, Madonna and Queen.

We kid, obviously, but there’s a kernel of truth there. All those artists have been covered a million times, but in none of their stories do cover songs loom quote as large as they do in Bob Dylan’s. Every time one of his songs has topped the charts, it’s been via a cover. Most of his best-known songs, from “All Along the Watchtower” to “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door,” didn’t get that way because of his recordings. In some cases fans of the songs don’t even realize they are Bob Dylan songs. That’s been happening since Peter, Paul, and Mary sang “Blowin’ in the Wind,” and it’s still happening almost sixty years later – just look at the number of YouTube videos titled “Make You Feel My Love (cover of Adele)”.

So needless to say, there was a lot of competition for this list. We finally narrowed it down to 100 covers – our biggest list ever, but still only a drop in the bucket of rain. Many of the most famous Dylan covers are on here. Many of them aren’t. The only criteria for inclusion was, whether iconic or obscure, whether the cover reinvented, reimagined, and reinterpreted a Dylan song in a new voice.

With a list like this, and maybe especially with this list in particular, there’s an incentive to jump straight to number one. If you need to do that to assuage your curiosity, fine. But then come back to the start. Even the 100th best Dylan cover is superlative. Making it on this list at all marks a hell of a feat considering the competition. (In fact, Patreon supporters will get several hundred bonus covers, the honorable mentions it killed us to cut.)

In a 2006 interview with Jonathan Lethem, Dylan himself put it well: “My old songs, they’ve got something—I agree, they’ve got something! I think my songs have been covered—maybe not as much as ‘White Christmas’ or ‘Stardust,’ but there’s a list of over 5,000 recordings. That’s a lot of people covering your songs, they must have something. If I was me, I’d cover my songs too.”

The list begins on Page 2.

Feb 212020
 

In the Spotlight showcases a cross-section of an artist’s cover work. View past installments, then post suggestions for future picks in the comments!

Much has been written about the rise and fall of the Dixie Chicks. They were riding high with hit after hit in the late ’90s and very early ’00s, but after one on-stage comment in 2003, everything changed. We almost take for granted how music and politics intertwine now without rocking the boat too much. When Taylor Swift took a stance on a Senate race in her home state, President Trump remarked: “Let’s say that I like Taylor’s music about 25% less now, OK?” and life went on. But twenty-ish years ago, when Natalie Maines said they were ashamed that then President George W. Bush was from Texas, the backlash was swift and severe.

However, it looks like the Dixie Chicks are finally ready for a comeback. After a European tour in 2016, a collaboration with Beyoncé in the same year, and a song with Taylor Swift on her latest album, the Dixie Chicks are focusing on their own new album, due this year. The album is being produced by Jack Antonoff of Bleachers, whose list of writing and producing credits include Taylor Swift’s album Lover, Lorde’s Melodrama, and St. Vincent’s Masseduction. I’m ready for some “Don’t Take the Money” energy on this album, and with a title like Gaslighter (teased here), I’m hoping for an explosive, patriarchy smashing, good time. #sorrynotsorry to all of the Earls out there.

I’m all for covers of the Dixie Chicks, but we’ll save that for another post (ok, here is one to tide you over). For now, let’s take a listen to the Dixie Chicks’ interpretation of classics from country and soul standards to modern hits.

Continue reading »

Mar 272019
 

Five Good Covers presents five cross-genre reinterpretations of an oft-covered song.

landslide covers

It’s a powerhouse year of inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and as we witness the pinnacle of success for some of our favorite artists, it’s fascinating to look back at their humble beginnings. Stevie Nicks wasn’t always Fleetwood Mac or even her magical solo artist self. Before Fleetwood Mac, there was an everyday life as a waitress and…..the song “Landslide.” Read on for Nicks’ story of how the song came to be from an interview with Performing Songwriter in 2003. Continue reading »