Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

It's not the difference that diminishes the covers, haha! I've heard many great covers but the ones that were mentioned above wouldn't make many people's list of great covers that's for sure.

If I had to pick one all-time greatest cover, I would probably go for Twist and Shout by The Beatles. They elevated an already fantastic song by the Isley Bros. and made it their own. This is a hard task considering how good the original was. For the Beatles, It was the perfect song to wrap up a debut album. It was the first take that was used for the record, and it was played totally live with no overdubs. A flawless recording, in all aspects.

One that I always loved and one you never really hear much is the Beach Boys' cover of Rock and Roll Music. It is not a powerful recording like all other covers of this song, but it has a ton of rhythm, and serious groove.

Elvis was another who did a lot of covers, especially in his later years, and he always made them his own. He was a great cover artist, and could make almost any song an Elvis song. Off the top of my head, songs such as My Way, If You Love Me (Let Me Know), Kentucky Rain, Welcome To My World, etc.

A couple that pop into my mind are (somebody speaking of Ritchie Havens?) - Here Comes the Sun and CSN doing Woodstock. Incidentally I love the originals of these tunes too!

I like almost all the covers both of you guys mentioned except The Beach Boys cover of "Rock n Roll Music" and I'm a huge Beach Boy fan too. I think I expected too much when it came out.

The BB's cover of this song was another one of Mike Love's sellouts so he could continue to make the payments on his Santa Barbara ranch.

It came during the "15 Big Ones" debacle of 1975, when "Brian was Back" (he wasn't) and Belushi and Ackroyd took him surfing on SNL, dressed like LAPD traffic officers. A sad time for a great talent (Brian, that is...)

Brian is touring these days and getting stronger by the week. His voice is back and if you listen to "Imagination" (the song and some of the album, which is already a few years old!) you'll see genius at work once again.

Mike Love, however, will never change from the money-grubbing, self-aggrandizing, always-macho gas station attendant he was in '61.

Mike Love, however, will never change from the money-grubbing, self-aggrandizing, always-macho gas station attendant he was in '61.

Paul: There is no need to sugar coat your comments.

Kidding aside, whenever one sees a signficant drop in the quality of material often times there is some sort of interesting behind the scene story. Thanks for this one.

I must admit I'm truly amazed that no one mentioned All Along the Watchtower as done by Jimi. That, to me, is the ultimate example of taking another artist's work to another plane.

You are right Bob. We were just waiting for you. Jimi's version of "All Along the Watchtower" is a fantastic number and as you say it certainly turned the original up a notch, if you'll forgive the analog expression, or two. To borrow from your theme, it went from turbo-prop to Concorde.

How about "Wild thing" the live cover by Hendrix? I like that even better and it is wild. While I love Hendrix's studio stuff, especially Electric Ladyland and Axis: Bold as Love, I always though he was one of those musicians that couldn't really be captured fully in a studio. I love both versions of that song, The Troggs and Hendrix and don't have a favorite as The Troggs were also a great primal rock n roll band. The Troggs version is overplayed so much it's kind of hard to appreciate it for what it really is, but if you can disassociate yourself from 40 years of radio play and hear it with new ears it is still a great song.

Or was it Wright Bros. to Concorde?

(No offense, Mr. Dylan...) Also, some of my favorite re-interpretations from this time period came from the late-60's UK scene, it seemed as though they all covered each other! On an obscure comp I heard Jimi's take on Sunshine Of Your Love, everyone's first guitar lesson (haha...). It was a loose, but very emotional interpretation.

Another on I thought of, although not covered in the '60s but a 60's song, was the Aerosmith version of Come Together. Paul and John or Steven and Joe? Discuss!

Jimi did great cover versions. How about "Like a rollin' stone" which he did at Monterey.

In my neck of the woods "Dirty Water" was everyone's first tune on guitar.

Bob... I'm personally not crazy about Aerosmith's version of "Come Together," but to each his own.

Smoke on the Water is the first guitar bit that many here learned when I was starting to play. Still is too-I have a nephew that's 12 and is just learning the guitar-his first song was the same. Of course, it's only the one-string simplification of the progression.

Einar: Hendrix did indeed do great covers. In addition, his album "Are You Experienced" revolutionized guitar playing and a number of songs on that album became classics for one reason or another. We were swept away on a wave of the kind we had never seen before and have not seen since. And the wind cries Mary ...