Five Good Covers: “I Wanna Be Your Dog” (The Stooges)

 Posted by at 12:00 pm  3 Responses »
Nov 102023
 

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

I Wanna Be Your Dog covers

For a song so often described as primal, raw, and primitive, the Stooges’ “I Wanna Be Your Dog” is surprisingly adaptable and open to interpretation. That’s apparent in the incredible 86+ cover versions it’s spawned since the band originally released it as their debut single in the unsuspecting Summer of ’69.

The guitar riff is widely regarded as the crux of it. That dirty, menacing, and God-forsaken thing that emerges like a badass out of a storm of feedback, with its three Ron Asheton chords dramatically and relentlessly progressing the good work of the Kinks, the Sonics, and the Jimi Hendrix Experience in terms of sheer distortion. It’s at #37 in NME‘s 50 Greatest Riffs Of All Time. It’s one of Dig!‘s 20 Licks That Changed The Course Of Rock Music. And it’s one of the Top 10 Best Punk Rock Guitar Riffs Of All Time, according to WatchMojo: “a one-eyed monster that basically serves as the song’s entire framework.” Yet, for all that, there are many artists out there who’ve made the song work without it.
Continue reading »

John Velghe Begins Tiny-Instrument Series with Alejandro Escovedo’s “Always a Friend”

 Posted by at 9:00 am  1 Response »
May 062011
 

We’ve heard plenty of covers by Alejandro Escovedo before. Here’s him covering Peter Case, Mott the Hoople, and Doug Sahm. Here’s him playing Bob Dylan’s “Dark Eyes.” Here’s him performing “Beast of Burden” with Bruce Springsteen. This, though, is the first cover of Alejandro Escovedo we’ve posted. It was worth the wait. Continue reading »

Song of the Day: John Velghe, “I Wanna Be Your Dog” (The Stooges cover)

 Posted by at 9:00 am  4 Responses »
Oct 262010
 

Song of the Day posts one cool cover every morning. Catch up on past installments here.

Songs don’t get much dirtier than the Stooges‘ “I Wanna Be Your Dog.” Not dirty lyrically – no curse words here – but dirty sonically. The slimy three-chord riff crawls through the mud, ignoring any pretense of real melody. The low-down crunch of Ron Asheton’s guitar fits the self-loathing lyrics perfectly. A five year old could play the riff, but recreating the feeling would be a challenge indeed.

John Velghe doesn’t try. Instead, he strips away any hint of electricity, blending acoustic picking and chugging cello for a romantic duet. “I’d been performing this song live for almost a decade as the raucous rock anthem that it was originally,” he tells us. “Then one day I played it on my acoustic and this cover was born. Some will be offended, some will be pissed, but honestly, I think it’s one of the most gorgeous songs in music history no matter how it’s performed.” Continue reading »