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Jul 112025
 

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

St. James Infirmary

Many folk and blues songs derive from other songs, since so often they were originally transmitted by oral tradition and not sheet music or recordings. Performers would hear a song, and change it for artistic purposes, or because they misremembered what they heard, creating a big version of the game “Telephone.” So, when a song’s origins are unclear, how do you determine what is the “original” version, and what are “covers?” That’s the issue that we get when discussing “St. James Infirmary,” a song whose origin is shrouded in mystery. There’s even a book about its roots, a blog, and a number of essays, but there doesn’t appear to be any universally accepted conclusion.

Some believe that the song derives from a tune called “The Unfortunate Lad” or “The Unfortunate Rake,” about a man dying of a venereal disease. Although that theory appears to be losing favor, and that song may actually be more closely related to “Streets of Laredo,” a cowboy song. Another song, “Those Gambler’s Blues,” (or just “Gambler’s Blues”), may be the source material, because, like the more modern versions of “St. James Infirmary,” it initially focuses not on the narrator, but on his sweetheart, who is dead in the hospital. (And some posit other source material.) The first sheet music for “Gambler’s Blues” was published in 1925 by Carl Moore and Phil Baxter, and the poet Carl Sandburg published a book, The American Songbag, in 1927 with two different versions of “Gambler’s Blues.” The same year, Fess Williams and his Royal Flush Orchestra released the first recording of the song. Continue reading »

Apr 162025
 
weezer covers metallica

Weezer played Coachella this past weekend and, on top of playing a bevy of their hits, they also threw in one of their more popular covers, Metallica’s “Enter Sandman.”

The group has performed this live in the past and, recorded a version of the song on the 2021 tribute album, Blacklist, which featured covers of every song on Metallica’s “Black Album.” Their version hews pretty closely to the original, with most of the joy of the performance coming from seeing lead singer Rivers Cuomo try to ape James Hetfield’s vocals. Though they did toss in a “Buddy Holly” reference into the song, ending the song’s solo with the popular nine-note ending riff. (They then closed their set with the song.)

Cuomo has said Metallica was his favorite band when he was in high school.

Dec 172021
 

Follow all our Best of 2021 coverage (along with previous year-end lists) here.

best cover songs of 2021

To come up with our year-end list, we listened to thousands of covers.

That’s not an exaggeration, or loosely throwing around “thousands” for effect. My iTunes tells me I personally listened to and rated 1,120 new covers in 2021. And I’m just one of a dozen people here. Many of those thousands of covers were very good! But “very good” isn’t good enough for our annual year-end Best Cover Songs list. So when we say these 50 are the cream of the crop, we mean it.

They, as usual, have little in common with each other. A few tie into current events: Artists we lost, social justice concerns, live music’s fitful return. Most don’t. But does a doom metal cover of Donna Summer really need a reason to exist? How about African blues Bob Dylan, New Orleans bounce Lady Gaga, or organ ballad Fleetwood Mac? Nah. We’re just glad they’re here.

So dive into our countdown below – and, if you want us to send you a couple hundred Honorable Mentions culled from those thousands, join the Cover Me Patreon.

– Ray Padgett, Editor in Chief

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Oct 282021
 

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

metallica covers

It all started forty years ago today. On October 28, 1981, in Los Angeles, a Danish tennis player turned drummer by the name of Lars Ulrich met with guitarist James Hetfield for the first time. The two formed the basis for the band that would become Metallica.

In the ‘80s, the thrash metal quartet released four of arguably the greatest metal albums of all time: Kill ‘Em All, Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets, and …And Justice for All. That was just a warmup.

In 1991, the band released a self-titled album that would change their entire destiny, not to mention the history of metal. Dubbed simply Metallica, but otherwise known as The Black Album, the record became one of the best-selling hard rock albums in history. The record earned the band legions of new fans. It also triggered countless old ones, who were perturbed that the ultimate purveyors of thrash had gone “soft.” The record transformed Metallica into one of the biggest rock bands in the world. It’s a moniker they’ve carried ever since, even if their pace of album releases has slowed considerably.

Over the years, the band’s music has inspired numerous cover songs across multiple genres. Jazz, pop, rock, country, bluegrass, and numerous classical artists (not to mention countless metal bands) have taken on Metallica’s tracks. Adding more fuel to the proverbial cover fire, this year, to mark the 30th anniversary of The Black Album, the band commissioned an extensive tribute record dubbed The Metallica Blacklist. The album features cover songs by the likes of Elton John, Yo-Yo Ma, Darius Rucker, Miley Cyrus, My Morning Jacket, and Kamasi Washington.

So why has Metallica’s music inspired so many covers? Underneath the layers of distortion, hard-pounding double bass drums, and barbaric yowls, the band’s music and songwriting are strikingly complex. Listening to their original recordings, one can hear classical-style melodies, virtuosic guitar solos, and extended jams, as well as elements of classic, punk, and prog rock.

With the lyrics, one finds the band tapping into a deeper universe as well, exploring the lines between life, death, and spirituality. Their songs are filled with numerous biblical and religious references. Perhaps most famously, on “Enter Sandman,” the band quotes the prayer “Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep,” turning a child’s plea for salvation into a rumination on the horrors of the night.

Since their inception, Metallica has always been striving for something more profound. Many artists have heard the bells of inspiration toll. Here’s a list of 40 of the best Metallica covers from the last 40 years. – Curtis Zimmermann

The list begins on Page 2.

Sep 072021
 
idles god that failed metallica cover

The Blacklist, the epic, 53-artist tribute to Metallica’s self-titled “Black Album” coming out September 10, is producing a lot of Metallica covers. But most of those we’ve featured were of the hits. IDLES, the British punk band, decided to take on a less famous track, “The God That Failed.” Continue reading »

Aug 312021
 
best cover songs august
Brandi Carlile – We Belong (Pat Benatar cover)

Cheating a little as we missed this one in July, but if you too haven’t heard the acoustic “We Belong” Brandi’s been playing on tour with The Twins, it will be worth the wait. “We belong together” takes on a whole new meaning as we (try to) come out of quarantine. Continue reading »