Love the cover. I'll have to check out the original too. Really like that you've done the covers band thing - never realised! I've always done parties, weddings, etc, solo (it's been my "day job" since losing my "proper IT job" a few years ago!) and my biggest treks were up north to Chorley for a house party (I get to see some big posh houses!) and a party in Milford Haven in the middle of nowhere where I was convinced I was going to be murdered - at the end of the night I was waiting for them to pay up and ended up with £250 worth of notes and coins! Both were 7 hour round trips and I don't know how I ever did it!
I covered Porcupine Tree's Lazarus - it's on my Bandcamp - I did as you've said and made it my own - it's based around swirling violins, synths and picked guitars rather than the piano motif of the original.
I guess I have to say Joe Cocker's 'Get By With a Little Help...' - it is so brilliantly and exuberantly different to the original. Weirdly I was thinking about covers this morning - I've found (or the algorithm has found me!) those AI-generated re-imagining of classic rock bands if they were in the 50s or earlier etc. My latest joy was Led Zeppelin IV if it had been recorded by a 40s black (female) jazz singer and it's so wrong it's right. Because of that I had a similar one pop up - Bob Dylan's Highway 61 (sung by a black female singer as though from late 40s/early 50s). I naturally zoomed up to Desolation Row and it made such sense. I then went down a rabbit hole of trying to find other covers of the song by actual artists - unsurprisingly there aren't many and those that are there are trying to 'be' Dylan (Chris Smither, Robyn Hitchcock etc). The one exception is a short version by My Chemical Romance - faster and heavy. I'm planning an electronic music album of Spoken Word later in the year and I've started thinking 'What If'? (As in What If I commit the act of sacrilege and do an electro spoken word Desolation Row for that :)... I've sure I'll get death threats from Hardcore Dylanesques (I got an insight into this crowd when I went to see Dylan in November for the first time - literally like standing amongst nuns in St Peter's Square - or what I imagine that to be like) - and it would be WEIRD. But, isn't that the point?!
Was posting on another Substack prompt (about best songs with cities in the title) when I suggested 'Amsterdam' - Jacques Brel... I then remembered that I much prefer Scott Walker's incredible version. Why?
- it's in English (which I know sounds very Anglophile and I do know some French but it gives it more immediate relatability)
- it's tonal shape is stronger - it starts more gentle that Brel's and rises to an incredible crescendo - it gives it more drama and sensationalism (which is fine by me!)
- Walker is a better singer - Brel was the genius song-writer but Walker the superior voice (on purely aesthetic terms - as I do like individual voices like Brel's and my own voice ain't like Walker's, for sure!!)
- Raining Blood (Slayer... yes !) covered by Tori Amos (who managed to make the song incredibly beautiful but also scarier than the original, with just her piano & her voice.): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUOuJJdjFHc
Love the cover. I'll have to check out the original too. Really like that you've done the covers band thing - never realised! I've always done parties, weddings, etc, solo (it's been my "day job" since losing my "proper IT job" a few years ago!) and my biggest treks were up north to Chorley for a house party (I get to see some big posh houses!) and a party in Milford Haven in the middle of nowhere where I was convinced I was going to be murdered - at the end of the night I was waiting for them to pay up and ended up with £250 worth of notes and coins! Both were 7 hour round trips and I don't know how I ever did it!
I covered Porcupine Tree's Lazarus - it's on my Bandcamp - I did as you've said and made it my own - it's based around swirling violins, synths and picked guitars rather than the piano motif of the original.
I think we should both share more covers band stories, Sean!
Yes! I'm off to have a think ... 😁
I guess I have to say Joe Cocker's 'Get By With a Little Help...' - it is so brilliantly and exuberantly different to the original. Weirdly I was thinking about covers this morning - I've found (or the algorithm has found me!) those AI-generated re-imagining of classic rock bands if they were in the 50s or earlier etc. My latest joy was Led Zeppelin IV if it had been recorded by a 40s black (female) jazz singer and it's so wrong it's right. Because of that I had a similar one pop up - Bob Dylan's Highway 61 (sung by a black female singer as though from late 40s/early 50s). I naturally zoomed up to Desolation Row and it made such sense. I then went down a rabbit hole of trying to find other covers of the song by actual artists - unsurprisingly there aren't many and those that are there are trying to 'be' Dylan (Chris Smither, Robyn Hitchcock etc). The one exception is a short version by My Chemical Romance - faster and heavy. I'm planning an electronic music album of Spoken Word later in the year and I've started thinking 'What If'? (As in What If I commit the act of sacrilege and do an electro spoken word Desolation Row for that :)... I've sure I'll get death threats from Hardcore Dylanesques (I got an insight into this crowd when I went to see Dylan in November for the first time - literally like standing amongst nuns in St Peter's Square - or what I imagine that to be like) - and it would be WEIRD. But, isn't that the point?!
I think the point is following your creative urges and ignoring potential naysayers!
Indeed - though have you been to a Dylan concert?!? 🤪
No, because I can't stand his music or his voice!
Sacrilege 😱🤣
I’ve always felt this way about him, I’m cool with it 😎
Was posting on another Substack prompt (about best songs with cities in the title) when I suggested 'Amsterdam' - Jacques Brel... I then remembered that I much prefer Scott Walker's incredible version. Why?
- it's in English (which I know sounds very Anglophile and I do know some French but it gives it more immediate relatability)
- it's tonal shape is stronger - it starts more gentle that Brel's and rises to an incredible crescendo - it gives it more drama and sensationalism (which is fine by me!)
- Walker is a better singer - Brel was the genius song-writer but Walker the superior voice (on purely aesthetic terms - as I do like individual voices like Brel's and my own voice ain't like Walker's, for sure!!)
https://youtu.be/uF_eVJ7WYaY?si=waF7LckmedC2R43b
Steve Harley’s cover of The Longpigs ‘Lost Myself’.
Oh wow I’m off to find this immediately! I’m a HUGE Longpigs fan. Thanks for sharing!
Two of my favorite covers are probably:
- Perfect Day (Lou Reed), covered by Chris Whitley: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mznsTiVA8Lo
- Raining Blood (Slayer... yes !) covered by Tori Amos (who managed to make the song incredibly beautiful but also scarier than the original, with just her piano & her voice.): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUOuJJdjFHc
Oh thank you for these! x