Sooty's Dissecting a Cover Song Thread

[Soot and Stars]

As for cover versions I think these artists do a great job.Marilyn Manson beefs it up from the original giving it his own personal heavier style. Johnny Cashs version...amazing, a very good take and even Lisa Hannigan sounds well with her cover. I think they all inspiring
........Who would ever think it Johnny Cash covering Depeche Mode ?? in the 1st place

Definitely LOU and how does Johnny always make these songs practically his own! He may be one of the masters of the cover song in general!

 

[Soot and Stars]

Feel free to take part in thoughts for any of the prior rounds as well if you are new to this thread and missed them. There's no closing date for these and they are meant to produce intelligent discussion!

Now to:
Round 3

The Original


The Contenders
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[ILoveJimmyPage]

Here I am, at your request Soot! I have to say I really enjoyed those renditions of one of Zep's many masterpieces. This song was also "lifted" from Muddy Waters/Willie Dixon, and I believe Steve Marriott sang a version of it as well before Zep made it their own. It's probably most well known for its monster riff as well as the "Robert Plant orgasm" section in the middle.

Beth Hart- WHOA! Who is this chick? I've never seen or heard her stuff before, I'll admit. She brings a real "grittiness" to the song which is a great distinction from Robert Plant's well-known wailing in Zep's early days (it's rumored he underwent throat surgery in '73 or '74 and that's why you never heard much of that after, especially noticeable on Physical Graffiti). She's very sexy! It's very fitting for the song. The song has LOADS of sexual innuendos and her stage presence exudes sexy! I love seeing a female do a cover of the song! She did an amazing job. Plant was a showman in every sense of the word and I think she did him proud. All in all, I like her "gritty" voice and how she kept the sexiness of the song. Also LOVE the band. They kept the music similar to Zep's music, which is always a plus for a Zep aficionado. I give this one a 10!

Santana and Chris Cornell- What's the hurry? I don't like the "upbeat" tempo of this version. Way too short. I don't have much to say about it besides it goes too fast. Not much to say about Santana on this one either, as I have never really been a fan of his. Stick to hanging out with Rob Thomas and making mediocre pseudo-rock songs. As for Chris Cornell, he ranks up there in terms of his incredible Pipes alongside Robert Plant, so I think he did a good job vocally but this song is an "epic" song and doesn't need to be rushed, IMO.

Leona Lewis- My Pagey. Still rockin' it out even with a mess like her. All I can say after seeing that is, she doesn't even deserve to be within a ten foot radius of him, let alone butchering one of his most well known pieces in front of a stadium of thousands. What was up with the sound quality of the video? Perhaps I would have thought a little better of it if I could hear. All I could notice was the "ooooh" and "ahhhh" R&B jibberish. That was painful to watch for me. I bet Page was disappointed with her. Why were they even performing together? Sheeeesh. *facepalm*

I'd definitely love to see some more Zeppelin covers! As for this round, I'm going with Beth Hart! She's like sex on a stick which is what Robert Plant embodied in the late 60s/70s. I truly enjoyed watching her version as opposed to cringing and grating my teeth a little on the other two.

 

[Soot and Stars]

Page, I think someone was bluffing when they said they weren't good discussing these things! That was a great breakdown!

You nailed the one I thought you'd like and honestly the purpose of the other two was too find a matchup or comparisons. Honestly, I'm not a Santana fan myself and I laughed/loved the Rob Thomas dig. I do think he's talented but not my style. I also think Leona Lewis is very talented but I agree that her cover of this is underwhelming and I do agree that it also suffers from the song quality. Still not a great cover which is disappointing because one of her covers of another artist, Snow Patrol, had blown me away previously! She has a great set of pipes and she's better than most pop stars (won't say Divas because she doesn't come off as one) but it was a lame cover this time.

Great job ILJP, and I have a Beth Hart thread if you are further interested! I think you'd love her in general!

 

[ILoveJimmyPage]

Page, I think someone was bluffing when they said they weren't good discussing these things! That was a great breakdown!

You nailed the one I thought you'd like and honestly the purpose of the other two was too find a matchup or comparisons. Honestly, I'm not a Santana fan myself and I laughed/loved the Rob Thomas dig. I do think he's talented but not my style. I also think Leona Lewis is very talented but I agree that her cover of this is underwhelming and I do agree that it also suffers from the song quality. Still not a great cover which is disappointing because one of her covers of another artist, Snow Patrol, had blown me away previously! She has a great set of pipes and she's better than most pop stars (won't say Divas because she doesn't come off as one) but it was a lame cover this time.

Great job ILJP, and I have a Beth Hart thread if you are further interested! I think you'd love her in general!

Hope you noticed my little mini Zep history lesson in there. I love reading about them and like to incorporate what I've learned into the discussion to further my part of the discussion. This thread is genius! I can't believe I have never seen it.

I just don't enjoy when pop or R&B artists do a cover of a rock song. I don't know why. But Zep was a self-described blues rock band, which I guess can closely relate to R&B, but I don't know... Leona just didn't do it for me. Props to Pagey for branching out and trying something new, though. I almost disowned him when I saw that P. Diddy "Come With Me" crap (has Kashmir riff in it and Page plays on it and is in the video). I also wept a little when Mary J. Blige butchered Stairway on American Idol.

But that aside, I don't find it insulting at all if someone covers a song by my favorite band. I think it's an honor, actually. Only the biggest and best songs are covered. Isn't imitation the best form of flattery? I always kinda liked Aerosmith's version of Come Together better than The Beatles' version.

STP did a stellar job covering Dancing Days in true STP fashion.



Thanks for asking for my input. Makes me feel good.

 

[Soot and Stars]

Not a problem! I saw your area of expertise and it served well, as like you noted, you had plenty of knowledge to add. I kind off feel like a knucklehead because while I knew Zeppelin did a lot of Blues covers/interpretations I didn't know this, one of their biggest songs, wasn't an original. Still a great song though!

Honestly, I do like (not love) the Mary J. version but I just love hearing songs in another element. Imitation is absolutely the sincerest form of flattery! It's great even though I can understand the genre bouncing affecting people's likes of covers that other artist in other genres grew up and idolized artist in a genre completely separate from them!

That STP cover has always been great BTW!

 

[ILoveJimmyPage]

Not a problem! I saw your area of expertise and it served well, as like you noted, you had plenty of knowledge to add. I kind off feel like a knucklehead because while I knew Zeppelin did a lot of Blues covers/interpretations I didn't know this, one of their biggest songs, wasn't an original. Still a great song though!

Honestly, I do like (not love) the Mary J. version but I just love hearing songs in another element. Imitation is absolutely the sincerest form of flattery! It's great even though I can understand the genre bouncing affecting people's likes of covers that other artist in other genres grew up and idolized artist in a genre completely separate from them!

That STP cover has always been great BTW!

Zep's version is original in terms of the music and riff, just not some of the lyrics. They were highly criticized for "lifting", but almost all bands of that time did it including the likes of Jeff Beck and the Beatles. I will have to dig up my When Giants Walked the Earth book sometime and cite the examples of all the bands that did the same thing Zep was chastized for.

 

[Soot and Stars]

Zep's version is original in terms of the music and riff, just not some of the lyrics. They were highly criticized for "lifting", but almost all bands of that time did it including the likes of Jeff Beck and the Beatles. I will have to dig up my When Giants Walked the Earth book sometime and cite the examples of all the bands that did the same thing Zep was chastized for.

I never understood the point of trying to knock a band off of a pedestal period anyway. I believe in judging music by the experience period and if it was Zep that brought something amazing with the material to someone's ears their shouldn't be any question as to their legitimacy!

 

[ILoveJimmyPage]

Since you said you would probably review LZ IV, I highly recommend Four Sticks, When the Levee Breaks and Going to California. Lesser knowns on the album but you will not be disappointed.

 

[Soot and Stars]

Since you said you would probably review LZ IV, I highly recommend Four Sticks, When the Levee Breaks and Going to California. Lesser knowns on the album but you will not be disappointed.

I own the album actually and Going To California is my all time favorite Zeppelin track!!!