Cover Versions of Songs: The Good, the Weird, and the Rotten

Throughout the years, hit popular songs have been re-recorded (or "covered") by other artists who have put their own spins on the originals. Some have been covered many times by many artists. Some have even surpassed the original in greatness like Jimi Hendrix's "cover" of Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower." There are, however, other song covers that are so completely and exquisitely off-the-wall that they can't be compared to the original, such as The Sex Pistols' version of Frank Sinatra's "My Way" (written by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen). And there are those covers weird enough to make it to cult status, such as William Shatner's dramatic reading of The Beatles' "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds." And, for me, the biggest treats are the totally rotten covers that become hits despite themselves, such as Pat Boone's white bread version of Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti."

Pat Boone and Little Richard

In the fifties and early sixties, Pat Boone covered many black rhythm and blues hits. This was a subtle racism practiced by the recording industry; "smoothing out the rough edges" of the original for the sake of crossing-over to a larger whiter audience. This tactic worked for "Tutti Frutti." While Little Richard's original version peaked at #17 on the charts, the homogenized Pat Boone cover peaked at #12. At the time, this was taken as a humiliation by Little Richard, but then he got his revenge with "Long Tall Sally." Boone's version of the song peaked at #8 while Little Richard's original went to #6.

Of course, there are some who defend the Boone covers as a key influence on the broader popularization of rock and roll, serving as a bridge to audiences who had never experienced true rhythm and blues.

Note that, in 1997, Pat Boone almost redeemed himself for his limpid R&B covers when his album "In a Metal Mood" came out. The album achieved brief cult status with Boone putting his too-smooth spin on heavy metal classics like Ozzie Osbourne's "Crazy Train." He also appeared on the album cover clad in heavy metal black leather.

William Shatner

William Shatner's 1968 album, "The Transformed Man", was done with the serious intent of comparing contemporary pop songs to the works of William Shakespeare. The songs included dramatic interpretations of The Beatles' "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" and Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man." For almost thirty years, this album was deservedly forgotten - and then along came the Internet. In 1993, selections from Shatner's album began appearing all over the Web, achieving such a level of cult status that it launched a whole new campy persona for the actor.

Michael Bolton

While singer Michael Bolton makes a serious attempt at keeping the grit and passion in his covers of soul music classics like Otis Redding's "Dock of the Bay", he is most often targeted as today's version of Pat Boone, cynically homogenizing the original classics for a larger whiter audience.

John Coltrane

While this discussion has been centered on rock and roll, there are converse examples of popular music originally geared for a larger whiter audience that were covered and greatly enhanced by African-American artists. For me, the prime example is John Coltrane's infusion of pure avant garde jazz genius into Rodgers and Hammerstein's schmaltzy "My Favorite Things" from "The Sound of Music."

SOURCES:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cover_version

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2004/11/20/bmcovercont20.xml

"Classics put through the mincer", Rod Liddle, London Times, URL: (http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article2141286.ece)