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Cover Me Impressed
With a focus on the 60's-90's music scene, CMI is a Paradiso for Lovers Cover Songs! Each post focuses on a particular song and provides its original and most popular recordings as well as covers versions. Patrons of CMI vote on the most deserving cover version, which will then live to compete again, battling other cover songs in a future post.
Bands, musicians, troubadours, and their ilk, submit your cover songs for future CMI competitions.
CMI welcomes the opportunity to introduce new artists.
Contact RDubbs at covermeimpressed@yahoo.com
Music Genres?
We've Got 'em Covered ...
Rock / Alt-Rock / Rock 'n Roll / Rockabilly / Indie Pop / New Wave / Old Wave / Surf / Reggae / Ska / Punk Rock / Psychobilly / Cowpunk / Alt-Country / Bluegrass / Folk / Croon-Tunes / A Cappella / Motown / Gospel / Blues / Rhythm & Blues / Jazz / Big Band / Lounge / Classical / Celtic / Bossa Nova / Worldbeat / Show Tunes / Cartoons / Bizarro / Musical Calamities
Did I Ask for Too Much? More Than a Lot … You Gave Me a Carrot Guitar Now That’s All I’ve Got
The Original
U2:
R.E.M. with Adam Clayton & Larry Mullen Jr.:
A damn shame. This one could have been a contender. But you just can’t slip the original band’s bass player and drummer into the mix and call it your own. Well … at least not on CMI you can’t!!! (Yeah, we’re a bunch of badasses around here, deal with it!)
Johnny Cash:
I know, technically, this is a cover and should be down below battling among other contenders. The problem is this cover is perfect. The song absolutely cannot be performed any better. As such, I feel to include it in the competition would be disrespectful to the memory of the Man in Black, as well as unfair to the poor bastards below who so desperately covet the industry accolades that come with a CMI victory.
THE CLASH of Cover Tunes
Cowboy Junkies vs. Dami Im vs. Joe Cocker
Cowboy Junkies:
Dami Im:
Joe Cocker:
SPACE
Oh the disharmony! Much like Harlan County there are no neutrals here. It is your solemn responsibility to decide which cover song prevails. In other words … Which Side Are You On?!!?
Disclaimer: Votes cast from Florida may or may not be counted.
Did I Ask for Too Much? More Than a Lot … You Gave Me a Carrot Guitar Now That’s All I’ve Got
The Original
U2:
R.E.M. with Adam Clayton & Larry Mullen Jr.:
A damn shame. This one could have been a contender. But you just can’t slip the original band’s bass player and drummer into the mix and call it your own. Well … at least not on CMI you can’t!!! (Yeah, we’re a bunch of badasses around here, deal with it!)
Johnny Cash:
I know, technically, this is a cover and should be down below battling among other contenders. The problem is this cover is perfect. The song absolutely cannot be performed any better. As such, I feel to include it in the competition would be disrespectful to the memory of the Man in Black, as well as unfair to the poor bastards below who so desperately covet the industry accolades that come with a CMI victory.
THE CLASH of Cover Tunes
Elisa vs. Christian Kane & Mary Blige vs. Mike Masse with Jeff Hall
Elisa:
Christian Kane & Mary Blige:
Mike Masse with Jeff Hall:
SPACE
Oh the disharmony! Much like Harlan County there are no neutrals here. It is your solemn responsibility to decide which cover song prevails. In other words … Which Side Are You On?!!?
Disclaimer: Votes cast from Florida may or may not be counted.
Tune du Jour: “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)” – R.E.M.
THE CLASH of Cover Tunes: Discount vs. Sugarland vs. The Suicide Machines
Everybody’s Dressin’ Funny … Cover Me Impressed!
“We urge Americans to be mindful of their leading role and international responsibilities as a great country and a great democracy when they go into the voting booths. Your mistake might spell a global disaster. There is no substitute for America as a pillar of world stability, and no one to contain an American Duce. Suddenly, browsing the world map, I recognize possible contours of the scenario described by George Orwell in the prophetic book he called simply 1984: three autocratic powers dominating the international landscape, each seized by fear, bigotry, and nationalism and controlled by the one and only strong leader or a politburo. Did Orwell simply make a 32-year mistake in timing?”
Former Russian Minister Andrei Kozyrev
The Original
R.E.M.:
40 Watt Revival
Considering Stipe, Buck and Mills are somewhere on the crowded stage, this version of “It’s the End of the World …” is precluded from CMI competition. However, since I’ve enjoyed 5-8 many, many times over the past couple of decades and love the spectacle of so many Athens/Atlanta musicians on stage yucking it up with Athens Royalty, well, this gem from the past well deserves a seat at the table.
Michael Stipe, Peter Buck, Mike Mills, 5-8, Patterson Hood, Clay Leverett, Bain Mattox, Amanda Kapousouz, Vanessa Hay and a veritable basket of other adorables:
THE CLASH of Cover Tunes
Discount vs. Sugarland with Matt Nathanson & Little Big Town vs. The Suicide Machines
Discount:
Sugarland with Matt Nathanson & Little Big Town:
The Suicide Machines:
SPACE
Oh the disharmony! Much like Harlan County there are no neutrals here. It is your solemn responsibility to decide which cover song prevails. In other words … Which Side Are You On?!!?
And In My Hour of Need, I Truly Am Indeed, Alone Again, Broccoli …
For every music-lover there are a few inherently bad songs that they inexplicably enjoy. For many these guilty pleasures are kept well-hidden, never to be disclosed, lest the humiliation would be too much to bear. But I have no guilty pleasures, only pleasures. Or, as others who know me might put it, I simply know no shame. For example, I will now proclaim to the world (or at least the multitudes of CMI patrons) that I really like this song. I’ve liked it from the first time I heard it and it still brings me a smile hearing it today. Gloria throws it down as if she’s in the midst of a real-time heated encounter. But who can blame her when some no-good cad returns from outer space to taunt her anew. You tell ’em Gloria!
The Original
Gloria Gaynor:
THE CLASH of Cover Tunes
R.E.M. vs. John Otway vs. Snuff
R.E.M.:
John Otway:
Sadly, the audio is poor on this particular clip. Yet it is well worth a viewing just to sample some of Otway’s maniacal genius at its best.
Snuff:
SPACE
Oh the disharmony! Much like Harlan County there are no neutrals here. It is your solemn responsibility to decide which cover song prevails. In other words … Which Side Are You On?!!?
Disclaimer: Votes cast from Florida may or may not be counted.
Oh the disharmony! Much like Harlan County there are no neutrals here. It is your solemn responsibility to decide which cover song prevails. In other words … Which Side Are You On?!!?
Disclaimer: Votes cast from Florida may or may not be counted.
Gardening at Night Gardening at Night Gardening at Night
The Original
R.E.M.:
THE CLASH of Cover Tunes
Dashboard Confessional vs. Ingrid Michaelson vs. Pickin’ On Players
Dashboard Confessional:
Ingrid Michaelson:
Pickin’ On Players:
SPACE
Oh the disharmony! Much like Harlan County there are no neutrals here. It is your solemn responsibility to decide which cover song prevails. In other words … Which Side Are You On?!!?
Disclaimer: Votes cast from Florida may or may not be counted.
Gardening at Night Gardening at Night Gardening at Night
The Original
R.E.M.:
Favorite R.E.M. version of the song (April 28, 1991, Mountain Stage):
THE CLASH of Cover Tunes
Anouk vs. The Benzedrine Monks of Santo Domonica vs. Dolapdere Big Gang
Anouk:
The Benzedrine Monks of Santo Domonica:
Dolapdere Big Gang:
SPACE
Oh the disharmony! Much like Harlan County there are no neutrals here. It is your solemn responsibility to decide which cover song prevails. In other words … Which Side Are You On?!!?
Disclaimer: Votes cast from Florida may or may not be counted.
Amazing just how well this song lends itself to the classic traditional Finnish oompah sound!
R.E.M.:
October 31, 1983, R.E.M. performs at the Peppermint Lounge in New York City under the pseudonym It Crawled From The South. The footage is lacking a bit in quality yet still a treat to behold!
SPACE
Oh the disharmony! Much like Harlan County there are no neutrals here. It is your solemn responsibility to decide which cover song prevails. In other words … Which Side Are You On?!!?
SPACE
HHH
Disclaimer: Votes cast from Florida may or may not be counted.
It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)appeared on R.E.M.’s 1987 album Document. It was released as a single in November 1987, reaching No. 69 on the US Billboard Hot 199 and later reaching No. 39 in the UK singles chart on its re-release in December 1991. In an interview with Guitar World magazine published in November 1996, R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck agreed that End of the World was in the tradition of Bob Dylan’s Subterranean Homesick Blues (a song notable in that RDubbs does not particularly care for it).
The Original
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R.E.M.:
SPACE
THE CLASH of Cover Tunes
SPACE
Discount vs. Pickin’ On Series
SPACE
Discount:
Pickin’ On Series:
SPACE
Oh the disharmony! Much like Harlan County there are no neutrals here. It is your solemn responsibility to decide which cover song prevails. In other words … Which Side Are You On?!!?
SPACE
Disclaimer: Votes cast from Florida may or may not be counted.
And In My Hour of Need, I Truly Am Indeed, Alone Again, Broccoli …
Singles are cover songs without a mate (or, for CMI’s purposes, an opponent). My dedicated team and I have diligently searched through our impeccable resources and have come to the conclusion that these particular songs were covered only once. Oh, in some instances, we may have found a cover by a pseudo-musician (think Billy Joel or, gulp, an unfortunate equivalent). But we’ll have none of that here at CMI! You may ask, why would a band cover a song so obscure that no other legitimate group is interested in also doing so? Well let me put it this way: How the hell should I know? But I do have a few of these rarities in my database and they too warrant an audience. As such, it is your solemn responsibility to receive them with discerning ears, bright eyes, bated breath and palpable zeal. There’ll be no competition on this day. Rather unabashed reverence, reflection and repose.
Relax…Indulge…Enjoy…Send me $173…
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Exhuming McCarthy – The Original
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R.E.M.’s fifth album, Document, was released in 1987. It included Exhuming McCarthy, a stinging rebuke of Ronald Reagan’s militaristic agenda, unbridled blind nationalism and economic policies that favored corporations and the super wealthy. The song parallels the Reagan Administration’s aggressive and heavy-handed rhetoric with the red-baiting of Joseph McCarthy. An excerpt from the McCarthy hearings can be heard midway through the song.
R.E.M.:
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Exhuming McCarthy – The Cover
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From the R.E.M. tribute album, Reconstructing The Fables, released in 1999 on Throwing Stones Records.
Hubbards Cupboard:
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World On A String – The Original
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World On A String appears on Neil Young’s ragged, yet superlative sixth album, Tonight’s The Night. Coming on the heals of losing a close friend (Bruce Berry) and a beloved band mate (Danny Whitten), both from heroin overdoses within a six month period of each other, Tonight’s The Night was Neil’s dark, emotional expression of grief and loss as well as his disillusionment with fame and commercial success. The album was recorded in 1973, most of which in a single day. Consisting primarily of first-takes, Tonight’s The Night includes mistakes, raw vocals and shifting tempos, all of which work brilliantly with the mournful, sullen tone of the material. Stories conflict as to why, but for whatever reason, Tonight’s The Night was not released until 1975, almost two years after it was recorded.
Neil Young:
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World On A String – The Cover
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Nils Lofgren did his first real acoustic guitar and piano session work in 1970 on Neil Young’s After The Gold Rush album. Neil lent Lofgren his Martin D-18 guitar to use on After The Gold Rush (the same guitar appears on the inside photo of the album leaning against the wall next to Neil). When After The Gold Rush was completed, Neil gave Lofgren the Martin guitar as a gift. Not surprisingly, Lofgren used that Martin guitar on his Neil Young tribute album, The Loner – Nils Sings Neil, which included Lofgren’s cover of World On A String. Lofgren was also a part of Neil’s ensemble of musicians that played on Tonight’s The Night.
cover me impressed 