Three Tune Tuesday: Under Cover
I almost changed the direction of my post today given the sudden (sort of) passing of Gordon Lightfoot last night. Gordon has been looking pretty rough lately, but he still continued to perform and do shows. It is a bit sad that he was only 84. Based on the way he looked, I might have guessed he was in his nineties.
I am sure there are some who will disagree with me, but I do believe that Gordon is one of the best things to come from Canada in recent history.
Instead of Gordon, my #threetunetuesday post today sponsored by @ablaze is instead focused on three of my favorite cover songs.
I am sure we have all been to some local bar and seen a cover band before. Most of them are mid talent and they do their best, but it's just kind of mediocre. Then you have those bands who either absolutely nail a song, or even better, a artist/band that is already famous and they cover a song so well they actually make it their own.
That's the kind of covers I am talking about.
Let's dig in!
I know Miley Cyrus gets a lot of disdain for some of her weird antics. The fact is though, she can sing quite well. I will admit her voice can be a bit nasal at times, but I really think when you take away all the flash and flair she is a pretty down to earth lady.
This song is from her early days before she took the deep dive into weirdness. It's a cover of a Bob Dylan tune and in my opinion it is absolutely exquisite.
I will admit, it helps when you have an amazing song to start with. Bob Dylan is certainly good at giving us those isn't he? The lyrics and tenderness in this song are just pretty amazing. I also like the fact that they stripped it down to an unplugged style.
I challenge you, if you have misconceptions about Miley, check this song out and then see if it changes your mind. Also, she has some other great covers on her YouTube channel. You should check those out sometime. The Crowded House duet she does with Ariana Grande is pretty amazing.
About a week ago I made a reference in one of my sports posts about Cleveland being cold. I offered a full upvote from my main account to anyone who caught the reference. Unfortunately, no one did. Either that or no one actually reads my sports posts. Maybe both.
In any event, the reference was to this song. Originally written and performed by Townes Van Zandt, I think this version by Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard is one of the best.
It's one of those story songs that really gets in your head and takes you to a far away place. It's just a really great country song in my opinion.
I will admit the backing choir can be a bit cheesy, but there are countless versions of this song out there, so if you don't like this one, go ahead and look for another one.
Or, if you are looking for some more Bob Dylan awesomeness, Willie and Merle also did a cover of a Dylan song called "Don't Think Twice It's Alright". I highly recommend listening to that tune. It's pretty awesome.
Finally, if you joined me last week, you know that I am a fan of the Grateful Dead. I'm not one of those dead heads who would follow them all over the country, but I appreciate their music and what they did for the jam band genre.
You might also know, that one of my all time favorite bands is Counting Crows. It only felt right if I was going to talk about covers that I include this version of "Friend of the Devil" that Adam Duritz and the Crows did.
I don't have a ton to say about this one. It's just a great song. I think Adams voice really lends well to it and it's an awesome song to hear live. They added it to one of their compilation CD's. You should check it out if you get a chance.
They also do a killer cover of "Amy" of Pure Prairie League fame. While Big Yellow Taxi is the cover they did that got the most play time on popular radio, I think this song is a far better cover and never got the credit that it deserves.
I really like how this version is slower and kind of floats a lot more than the Grateful Dead version. I always kind of felt like the Dead version was rushed and over too soon, which is kind of funny to say when you are talking about a jam band...
Finally, as a bonus track, I felt it was only right that I share what I believe is quite possibly one of the greatest covers of all time. As much as I love the version of Tennessee Whiskey by David Allen Coe, Chris Stapleton took that version out behind the woodshed and killed it just about six ways to Sunday.
That's a good thing!
He totally made this song his own and I honestly don't think most people born after it was released will ever listen to the original versions again. He did it so well that I think it has become synonymous with him.
So there you go, my #threetunetuesday covers edition. I hope you enjoyed!
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Some great choices Bozz. I agree Myley Cyrus does have talent. I guess hanging around with the MTV crowd is not good for an artist.
Good points about covers, for my next week's selection I am hard pressed to select a cover by Eric Clapton or the original artist as they also do a great version.
I'm looking forward to hearing it. When you take all of her antics out of the picture, she is quite good. I guess that is why Disney or whoever it was gave her a shot.
if the tunes have good messages, then the soul joys
I didn't see that Gordon died. So it goes. That's too bad... but he lived a good life.
I don't know any of these covers. Not able to listen to anything right now, so will make another comment after I do so later. But... Miley? Really? Ok, I'll keep an open mind and will listen later.
I share your love of Counting Crows.
Trust me, you are going to dig the Miley song. I mean written by Bob Dylan, so can you really go wrong? You're going to like Friend of the Devil for sure too!
Well, I am not familiar with any of these bands apart from counting crows. My dad got me familiar with it because he loves them
They are amazing. Awesome musicians and songwriters.
I hadn't listened to Gordon in a long time until I heard about his passing. I forgot how soothing his voice could be.
Ole' Merle and Willie. Now that was a couple there. Classic song too.
Yes, Gordon had a great voice like that!
Ok, that was good. The style of video helped. I still don't really like her singing voice. But that was better than I expected.
Quite liking the counting crows tune - that guy has one heck of a voice - its got such a great tone to it !
Yeah, that is part of why I like them so much. His voice is quite unique!
Ya man, I can't disagree, that was a mighty fine cover and quite unexpected, as I don't really know Myley other that Wrecking Ball song from a few years ago..
Pancho and Lefty is a great song and this was a very good cover, I don't often like covers, but this one was really good I must say, and cool to see Counting Crows featuring this week. That one really suits Adam Duritz and almost sounds like it could be a Crows song.
Yeah, I totally agree about the Counting Crows cover. I'm glad you liked the Miley song!