Pull up a pew and relish this rip-roaring hit parade of classic songs revamped, reinvigorated and revolutionized by the unique talents of other artists.
A classic song attains its legendary status because for two, three, four, five, six, or in some cases, ten plus minutes, it invokes a state of pure perfection which the listener is allowed to enter from the first note until the last.
To try and improve on perfection itself is pure folly, and many musicians who tackle cover versions of classic songs are, at worst, committing crimes of musical sacrilege or, at best, guilty of the crime of adding yet another watered down and puerile copy of the original to the dross of cover versions already in existence.
Perfectionists argue that if there is no conceivable way that something can be improved in any shape, or form, it’s best left alone. Yet throughout musical history there have been a select band of geniuses who have taken an already great song and added a new element to it, to make it, dare we say, greater!
Let’s take a peep at some of these rare musical beasts that the cannon of popular music has shot like unexpected time bombs through the decades.
Jimi Hendrix – All Along The Watchtower
Such is the power of Hendrix’s sonic version of this Bob Dylan song, that casual listeners remain blissfully unaware it was not one of Jimi’s own compositions. To be fair, when “All Along the Watchtower” first appeared on Dylan’s 1967 John Wesley Harding album, the acoustic and harmonica driven number hardly took the world by storm.
Akin to many of Dylan’s songs, “All Along the Watchtower” was less about the musical arrangements and more about the lyrics. As usual with Dylan, it’s not entirely clear what the lyrics mean, but a song which opens with an anonymous “joker” pleading to an anonymous “thief” about there being “some kind of way out of here,” is certainly an ominous beginning to say the least.
“Confusion,” a “lack of relief,” and a feeling that “life is but a joke” are all thrown into the mix by a Dylan who is firmly wearing his old testament prophet’s hat. Dylan signs off with the stark warning that “two riders” are approaching and the wind is beginning to howl.
Obviously, all this touched a chord with Jimi Hendrix, who covered the song in grandiose style. The epic lyrics called for an epic arrangement and, as usual, Jimi didn’t disappoint.
On Hendrix’s sonic boom version you get the feeling you’re actually standing on the “Watchtower” with the “joker,” the “thief,” and “Hendrix” himself, who is preparing for the coming apocalypse by getting his rocks off with some untouchable guitar solos that soar like dark angels.
No-one before or since has covered Dylan with such style and flair.
Nirvana – Where Did You Sleep Last Night
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcXYz0gtJeM
Introduced to the sorrow and lament of legendary bluesman Leadbelly by the writer William Burroughs, troubled Nirvana frontman Kurt Kobain went on to cover the “king of the 12 string’s” version of “Where Did You Sleep Last Night.”
Also known as In the Pines, the original writer of this 1870’s American folk song remains unknown. During Nirvana’s 1993 MTV Unplugged performance, Cobain introduced a new generation to the song with his harrowing and stark rendition about a girl doing something she shouldn’t.
You can hear the anguish and torment in Cobain’s vocals when he screams, “In the pines, in the pines, where the sun don’t ever shine, I would shiver the whole night through.” The very next year Cobain stuck a shotgun in his mouth and blew his brains out. He was just 27. If Cobain’s classic cover of “Where Did You Sleep Last Night” proves anything, it proves white boys can sing the blues and mean it.
The Clash – I Fought The Law
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdgqUxclgK0
Originally written by Sonny Curtis of The Crickets in 1959, “I Fought the Law” didn’t become a national hit until 1964, when the Bobby Fuller Four released a version of it that Rolling Stone magazine would later include in their 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list.
Six months after the song first charted, a 23-year-old Fuller was found dead in his mother’s car. The cause of death was ruled as suicide by asphyxiation, but many believed Fuller was a victim of foul play.
The song’s popularity pretty much died alongside Fuller, until years later in 1978 the Clash’s Joe Strummer and Mick Jones heard it for the first time. Punk rock’s Lennon and McCartney were instantly hooked by the infectious and rollicking number about an individual going head to head with the system and failing.
Taking your best shot and failing in such high style, appealed to the punk mindset. The Clash took the primal dynamics of the songs and made it even more primitive. Topper Headon’s drums on the track like a man possessed, which perfectly compliments Stummer’s impassioned snarl, Jones’s signature guitar, and Paul Simmon’s lazy yet frantic bass. A classic cover version that fitted the Clash’s image and attitude to perfection.
Johnny Cash – I See A Darkness
Although many would point at Cash’s version of “Hurt” by the Nine Inch Nails as his finest hour when it comes to covering other artist’s songs, his cover version of the title track off Bonnie Prince Billy’s classic I See a Darkness album touches a nerve that few artists are capable of touching.
Cash’s version is not a whole lot different to the original in terms of atmospherics and dynamics. It’s true punch lies in the lyrics and the way old Johnny boy delivers them. In the twilight years off his life with death inching ever closer, Cash adds an extra gravitas to lines such as “Oh, no, I see a darkness.”
After a life of-hard living and hell-raising Cash is the perfect man to sing this touching ode to an old drinking buddy.
The Who – Young Man’s Blues
When jazz artist Mose Allison first released Young Man Blues in 1957, he probably would have never imagined that a decade later a British rock band calling themselves The Who would use it as an opening track for one of the best live albums ever recorded.
The album was of course Live at Leeds , which showcased four young men playing their guts out and setting the standard for rock gigs everywhere.
The Who quite literally take the laid back feel of the original and transform it into a monstrous brute. The Who never cared much for delicacy and nuance, but even by their own heavy handed standards, they storm through this song like a Sherman Tank on a bloody rampage.
Keith Moon, as usual, takes no prisoners and beats the drums like thunder, with John Entwistle nonchalantly carving out his big fat bass lines. Pete Townsend holds the whole thing together as he wields his guitar like a chainsaw, penetrating right to the heart of the matter, and Roger Daltrey is in prime mod yob mode as he snarls about a young man having nothing in the world these days.
The Who’s version of this song laid down the intent of a generation, and showed how a good song, in the right hands, could be made great.
[Feature Image by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images]