Sep 112023
 

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

best covers of 2000s

Following the 1990s last week — and, before that, the 1950s, the 1960s, the 1970s, and the 1980s — our series on covers of great One Hit Wonders concludes today with a look at the 2000s. Meaning, the first decade of the 2000s. At this point, it’d be premature to conclude that an artist who had their first hit in 2022 will be a one hit wonder! (And, again, it’s not us concluding it anyway — it’s Wikipedia). Continue reading »

Jan 182017
 
Justin Vernon

Last year, in preparing to release his experimental new album 22, A Million, Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon held a one-time-only festival/art performance in Berlin. He brought a number of his favorite musicians to hang out and collaborate, performing new music in the round. The festival just posted videos of many of the performances, including a wonderful “Folk Circle” session that features Vernon trading folk songs with Damien Rice, Sam Amidon, Erlend Øye, O, and Ragnar Kjartansson.

Norwegian composer (and half of Kings of Convenience, who released our favorite cover of 2009) Erlend Øye covers The Moore Brothers’ 2004 song “New For You,” followed by our buddy Sam Amidon leading the crowd in a singalong of Appalachian folk song “Johanna The Row​-​di.” A French singer who goes simply by O sings a traditional French song, Damien Rice breaks the covers theme by playing his own “The Professor & La Fille Danse,” and then we get to the piece de resistance. Vernon plays a song from the man he calls “my favorite songwriter,” John Prine. Continue reading »

Aug 172011
 

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

Once in a generation there comes a song so good, so perfectly written and arranged, that it transcends pure aural pleasure and becomes an anthem. The Band’s “The Weight” is one of those songs, without question – Easy Rider, anyone? If that doesn’t make you want to take a Harley across state lines, what would? Continue reading »

May 302011
 

They Say It’s Your Birthday celebrates an artist’s special day with other people singing his or her songs. Let others do the work for a while. Happy birthday!

Cee-Lo Green turns 37 today, and he has every reason to celebrate. The Atlanta-born singer, rapper, and producer has been everywhere the past year: taking over the radio with his ridiculously catchy single “Fuck You,” performing at the Grammys with a psychedelic peacock costume and backup from Gwyneth Paltrow, and, most recently, judging the hit NBC show The Voice. His birthday may fall on Memorial Day this year, but we’re not sure this guy ever takes a day off.

Countless artists, from Sara Bareilles to Pixie Lott to William Shatner have jumped aboard the Cee-Lo bandwagon with their own takes on “Fuck You” – just like what happened five years ago when Green’s Gnarls Barkley hit “Crazy” climbed the charts. In honor of his birthday, Cover Me presents alternate renditions of Cee-Lo’s two biggest hits, along with three others from his solo career and his work in Gnarls Barkley. Continue reading »

Dec 212010
 

YouTube is filled with amateur cover “artists.” Most stink. On the ‘Tube extracts the exceptions.

Our series continues today with college student Kiersten Holine, who has an addictive set of covers on her YouTube channel. You come for her impressive repertoire of songs, but you stay for her poignant and impassioned vocals. Holine decided to post her first video in 2007 and was overwhelmed by the great feedback she received from her online fans. 600,000 viewers can’t be wrong, can they? [Editor’s note: Ke$ha’s newest video has 1,500,000 views. ‘Nuff said.] Holine will let you in to the privacy of her room to get caught up in the emotion of her covers.

Holine bares her heart and soul on covers of folks like The Beatles, Bon Iver, and Wilco. “If a song hits me hard emotionally and melodically, I have to try to play it,” she tells Cover Me. “Every song I’ve chosen has meant quite a bit to me.” Her favorite cover to play is Feist’s “The Park,” and while watching her play it you can’t help but notice her connection to it. Continue reading »

Nov 032010
 

Over the course of his 50 year career, Bob Dylan has written many a classic tune and has been covered by William Shatner, Jimi Hendrix and everyone in between. Needless to say Cover Me has posted a Dylan cover or two in the past, including a bunch in our very first post more than three years ago.

Ray LaMontagne throws his hat in the ring with his cover of “The Man in Me,” originally an obscure track from the New Morning LP that gained a good deal of exposure after being featured in The Big Lebowski. LaMontagne, who sounds like he’s been smoking and drinking bourbon all night, delivers a sensitive and laid-back take on the original that shows why he’s earned fans in folks like Elvis Costello. Continue reading »