I was tagged for the cover meme by Mrs Comet Hunter. Naturally I had to give the matter some serious consideration, at the risk of various other bloggers stealing choosing my picks, which they went ahead and did. So no Britney Spears, Celine Dion, or Sheryl Crow* here.
(Those were my picks for worst cover, just in case there was any doubt).
I discussed my picks with Mr E Man over dinner the other night, and he wanted to play too, so I’ve included his choices as well as my own.
Best cover
My pick: Muse (responsible for my best ever live music experience) doing “Feeling Good”, originally recorded by Nina Simone.
Mr E Man’s pick: Eric Clapton’s version of JJ Cale’s “After Midnight” (we saw JJ Cale a couple of months ago and he was simply amazing).
My runners up: Alien Ant Farm’s version of “Smooth Criminal”, the Beatles’ “Twist and Shout”, Guns’n’Roses doing “Live and Let Die”, and of course “Gin and Juice” by the Gourds.
Worst cover
My pick: Candy Flip doing “Strawberry Fields”. I was 13 when this came out and I still knew it was just wrong.
Mr E Man’s pick: “Kiss” by Tom Jones. I protested this one strongly as I love Tom Jones (I’m still British after all, I think it’s compulsory) and much prefer this version to the original by Prince, who I find creepy.
I tag: anyone else who will admit to liking Tom Jones!
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*I usually like Sheryl, but that cover was not. cool.
thank god I don't like Tom Jones. I am sooo bad at remembering what I find the best and worst. Not to mention that I am useless at finding things on youtube since I am never there ;)i think it might be some covers that I like although I don't realise they are covers… and I second the GnR Live and let die. it is a good cover. THe best? doubtful.. have to think about which would be though the rest of the night 😉
I'm glad you were going to name Celine Dion's hatchet job as worst cover – you had me worried there for a sec! I do like the covers of Smooth Criminal and Twist and Shout though (the latter reminds me of Ferris Bueller and high school).As to Tom Jones – I loved the original Prince version and don't mind TJ's version but watching him run his hands down his body makes my skin crawl … it's probably got something to do with the fact that my mother told my sister and I several years ago that she "would be happy for Tom Jones to park his slippers under her bed anytime." Eeeeeewwww. We never told our dad about that conversation 🙂
Has any evil music promotor tried to get Celine Dion and Bitney Spears to cover a songs as a duet? Under pressure? Dancing in the USA? Please, something.
I like Tom Jones! Although, I do think that version of "Kiss" is pretty cheesy 😉
Chall, I did the opposite – there was a song ("In the cold, cold night" by the White Stripes) that I was going to nominate as the worst cover (Meg's bad drumming works, in a weird and wonderful way, but her bad singing doesn't), went Googling to find who did the original, and found that it wasn't a cover!!!PiT, don't worry, definitely worst cover!Prince is waaaaaay creepier than Tom Jones. See "Cream" for proof.Bob, please don't give them any ideas!Mrs CH, but cheesy in a good way!
I totally agree on Muse. I adore how they give that happy song a Muse-feeling of slight unease/panic.Nina
Mmm, yeah, they rock. This post inspired me to buy their live album on iTunes – I'll listen to it during Boring Task this afternoon!
Muse is freaking awesome!! Love them. Candy Flip should have been barred from ever playing music again for producing that atrocity. Blech. I also prefer the Prince version of Kiss, but I agree that he is a little creepy. The ass-less pants just push me right over the edge.
Well, 2.5 out of 3 isn't bad 😉