TDOS Tropical Island IPOD Cover Draft - Round 20

[Chubbs]

With this pick I am taking Heart doing Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven at the Kennedy Center Honors in front of the president and the band itself. The choir is great, Ann Wilson is great, fantastic all-around, enjoy. And when that choir kicks in, and then the choir really kicks in, wow. Robert Plant is in tears by the end.

Nice little story about plants tears. http://www.onstagemagazine.com/the-real-reason-for-robert-plants-tears-during-stairway-to-heaven/

Stairway to Heaven, Heart, 2012

Led Zeppelin, 1971

 

[Jespher]

I'm going to dip back into the Nirvana pond with this next selection. I have gradually gained much more appreciation for the MTV Unplugged series over the years, and this was the best album put together from the series IMHO (along with a close second to Eric Clapton's offering). This song has variance of tone, passionate vocals, and a full bass line that feeds the painful delivery.

With my 13th selection, I choose:

Lake of Fire - Nirvana (1993) MTV Unplugged

Original: Lake of Fire - The Meat Puppets (1984) Meat Puppets II

More: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_of_Fire_(song)

 

[VF21]

With this pick I am taking Heart doing Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven at the Kennedy Center Honors in front of the president and the band itself. The choir is great, Ann Wilson is great, fantastic all-around, enjoy. And when that choir kicks in, and then the choir really kicks in, wow. Robert Plant is in tears by the end.

Nice little story about plants tears. http://www.onstagemagazine.com/the-real-reason-for-robert-plants-tears-during-stairway-to-heaven/

Stairway to Heaven, Heart, 2012

Led Zeppelin, 1971

I was wondering if this had simply slipped through the cracks. When the song is as great as Stairway to Heaven, you have to wonder if anyone will be able to cover it and do it (and themselves) justice. I think Heart met both challenges admirably. Nice selection.

 

[Chubbs]

I was wondering if this had simply slipped through the cracks. When the song is as great as Stairway to Heaven, you have to wonder if anyone will be able to cover it and do it (and themselves) justice. I think Heart met both challenges admirably. Nice selection.

This is probably my favorite pick and I kept waiting thinking it'd be safe. Thankfully I was right. Chills. And you can see the zeppelin guys are all extremely moved. They looked bored during Kid Rock. Not so with Heart. Just extremely well done.

It's available on Itunes.

 

[Capt. Factorial]

This is probably my favorite pick and I kept waiting thinking it'd be safe. Thankfully I was right. Chills. And you can see the zeppelin guys are all extremely moved. They looked bored during Kid Rock. Not so with Heart. Just extremely well done.

It's available on Itunes.

Yeah, it's a bit off the radar. I did manage to catch this (once, probably on a rerun of the concert) and was quite impressed. But it never even occurred to me as an eligible song when putting together a list.

 

[Chubbs]

Yeah, it's a bit off the radar. I did manage to catch this (once, probably on a rerun of the concert) and was quite impressed. But it never even occurred to me as an eligible song when putting together a list.

The only reason I had it off my radar was it technically wasn't in my collection. Then i saw it on Itunes and fixed that.

I love the celebrity cameos during the song. Obama rocking out. Yo Yo Ma. Great stuff.

I'm getting a lot of mileage out of my songs. LONG songs. I like it...

 

[Jespher]

Larry89 has timed out again...Where's the bat?

El Pajasso is on the clock and has a PM sent

 

[El Paljasso]

"The King of Blues"

The Thrill Is Gone - B.B. King (1970)

Live in Cook County Jail is a 1971 live album by B.B. King recorded in Cook County Jail, Chicago, Illinois.


-- is a slow minor-key blues song written by West coast blues musician Roy Hawkins and Rick Darnell in 1951
(Wikipedia)

 

[Capt. Factorial]

I'm finally getting around to selecting a cover from this millennium...and you wouldn't know it to hear it.

Jump by Paul Anka, from Rock Swings, 2005

Originally written and performed by Van Halen, on the album 1984 (1984).

This is a really fun cover that I assume David Lee Roth would be totally behind. "Jump" as a big-band swing song? Totally works. And the backing vocals are just spot on and make me chuckle every time.

 

[Dime Dropper]

Frank Sinatra - That's Life (Frank Sinatra - 1966)
Marion Montgomery - That's Life (1964)

Another very well known song that I'm surprised is still around. Not top of my list but most of my remaining songs would probably go undrafted if I didn't take them, so I should be safe.

 

[Entity]

Korn - One original by Metallica. I am at work so no video at this time

 

[NoBonus]

For my next pick, I select:

We Will Become Silhouettes - The Shins (originally by the Postal Service)

One of my favorite groups doing a song by another awesome group... and I think the Shins improved it.

 

[Chubbs]

Korn - One original by Metallica. I am at work so no video at this time

 

[63royals]

Ripple -- Jane's Addiction (1991)

This is from an album of Grateful Dead covers called Deadicated, which was done as a rain forest benefit. It's one of those covers where you wouldn't think it would work, because the musical styles are too different, like a bluegrass cover of Jay-Z, or Mastadon and Feist covering each other. Jane's Addiction is nothing if not edgy, and this is probably the Dead's mellowest song. I think they do an excellent job with it. There's a nice touch near the end (around 3:45) where they quote from another Dead song, The Other One, and they base the instrumental passage at the end on that riff. There's a funny quote from bassist Eric A in the album's booklet: "Before the glory of punk rock, I was a Grateful Dead fanatic but don't tell anyone ... it might be detrimental to my image."

The Dead released this song in 1970 (on American Beauty); this video is from 1980:

 

[Larry89]

Here is my make up

Lucy in the sky with diamonds - Elton John

"Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"

Single by Elton John
B-side "One Day (At a Time)"
Released 18 November 1974
Genre Psychedelic rock
Length 6:16
5:54 (7" version)
Label MCA (US/Canada) DJM Records
Writer(s) Lennon–McCartney
Producer(s) Gus Dudgeon



Original

Lucy in the sky with diamonds - Beatles (1967)

"Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"

The 1996 US jukebox single release of the song, backed with "When I'm 64"
Song by the Beatles from the album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Released 1 June 1967
Recorded 1 March 1967 EMI Studios, London
Genre Psychedelic rock
Length 3:28
Label Parlophone R6022
Writer Lennon–McCartney
Producer George Martin

 

[Bricklayer]

you took the wrong cover of that song:

 

[Capt. Factorial]

you took the wrong cover of that song:

I could see that coming.

 

[dukeswh]

My island would not be complete without punk, so for my next pick I select:

My Way - Sid Vicious

And the original by Frank Sinatra

Album: The Great Rock 'N' Roll Swindle
Released: 1978
Original Artist: Frank Sinatra
Original Released Date: 1969

 

[Bricklayer]

Stairway to Heaven, Heart, 2012

No pressure, just perform Jimmy Page's signature solo onstage in front of the President and Jimmy Page himself.

 

[William Blake]

The Mountain Goats - FM [1995]

Original version: Steely Dan [1978]

 

[macadocious]

Black Starr - Children's Story - 1998

Sick Rick - Children's Story - 1988

It's amazing how different time is when you were a kid. To me these songs were done over 20 years apart. No way did I feel when Mos Def and Talib Kwali did this cover that it was only 10 years after the original.

 

[Padrino]

Converge - "Disintegration" (the Cure cover) [1999]:

let's get this outta the way right now: there is simply no chance of "improving" any of the songs from the Cure's 1989 masterpiece, Disintegration. the title track is certainly no exception. however, i think hardcore godfathers Converge successfully manage a careful balancing act between the beautiful and the brutal with their cover. it's startlingly harsh in some moments, and unexpectedly lovely in others, while never once seeming like a gimmick or a bad joke...

1989 was a watershed year for the Cure. they cemented their legacy as perhaps the most influential post-punk act of the 80's with the release of their finest album. ten years later, in 1999, Converge found themselves at a similar crossroads; the coming of the new millennium would mark the arrival of their own masterpiece, 2000's Jane Doe. their cover of "Disintegration" is then wonderfully representative of their transition from being a competent hardcore band to being a truly dynamic force in heavy music...

The Cure - "Disintegration" (1989):

 

[funkykingston]

This is one of those songs that I really loved as a kid and didn't realize was a cover until many years later. Santa Cruz's Camper Van Beethoven really kind of defied categorization. There were some punk elements, a definite ska influence, definitely a bit of pop, some country twang and some eastern Europe folk tinges, often courtesy of the violin lines. Their distinct elements gave them a signature sound, but it was too left of center for any real radio success, something singer David Lowery would find much more of with his subsequent (and more straightforward) band Cracker. Still, I was a huge fan of CVB just because they were so different.

Status Quo is one of those bands that just keeps chugging along. And not in the "playing our hits from a few decades back at county fairs" type way as they've had songs on the charts in the UK over 60 times starting in 1962 and most recently in 2010 though they haven't had as much success on this side of the Atlantic.

One of their early hits was "Pictures of Matchstick Men" in 1968.
Camper Van Beethoven covered it in 1989

Status Quo
"Pictures of Matchstick Men"
From 1968's "Picturesque Matchstickable Messages from the Status Quo"

Camper Van Beethoven
"Pictures of Matchstick Men"
From 1989's "Key Lime Pie"

 

[funkykingston]

Jeff Beck confounds me in several ways. He's a legendary guitar player to the extent that in the Yardbirds Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton both deferred to his skills on the six string and yet between albums/tours he'll go a year or more without picking up the instrument. He also continues to forge new ground and go in different directions despite being 70 years old and having earned the right to rest on his laurels. But most importantly he absolutely confuses me in how he gets the sounds he does out of a Stratocaster using his fingers (and occasionally a pick or slide), a volume knob and a whammy bar. His lines have a vocal quality that I've never heard anyone else approach. There are certain musicians that are so distinct on their instruments that you can recognize them after just a few notes - Miles on his trumpet, Stevie Wonder on the harmonica, JoJo Mayer on drums and most definitely Jeff Beck on Guitar.

Here he's covering one of my favorite songs during his absolutely amazing set at Ronnie Scott's a few years ago and nailing it IMO. This is the Beatles at the top of their game so I can't say the cover tops the original, but I love them both for what they are.

Here's the original:
The Beatles
"A Day in the Life"
From 1967's "Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band"

Jeff Beck
"A Day in the Life"
From 2008's "Live at Ronnie Scott's"

By the way, Jeff's entire set is amazing. It doesn't hurt that Vinnie Colaiuta is on drums and young Tal Wilkenfeld is grooving on bass at a level that belies her age. Joss Stone and Eric Clapton guest on songs and Beck chose great songs from his catalog but IMO the absolute highlight is Imogen Heap (who I love) joining the band on stage for a rendition of her song "Blanket". It's fantastic.

 

[Padrino]

things are gettin' a bit folksy on my island:

mewithoutYou - "In Bloom" (Nirvana cover) [2011]:

mewithoutYou covered "In Bloom" for a Nirvana tribute album titled Come As You Are. and "come as you are" is exactly what mwY does best in this cover; they capture the essence of Nirvana and then re-imagine "In Bloom" in their own creative spirit, rather than putting on a bad Nirvana impression. mwY distills the angst of the original down to something much more elegiac. where Kurt Cobain's vocal delivery dripped with bile, Aaron Weiss soaks those words in a mournful regret. this cover is as much a "tribute" to Nirvana as it is aggrieved for the loss of Kurt Cobain, a loss that guitar-driven music is still trying to shake to this day...

Nirvana - "In Bloom" (1992):

 

[macadocious]

Def Squad - Rappers Delight - 1997

Eric Sermon, Keith Murray and Redman

Sugarhill Gang - Rappers Delight - 1979

It was not the first single to feature rapping, it is generally considered to be the song that first popularized hip hop in the United States and around the world.

Also, sugarhill gang did the song Apache, which was featured in the greatest dance in the history of network television.

 

[William Blake]

The Flying Lizards - Money [1979]

Original version: Barrett Strong [1960]

 

[63royals]

It's been over 24 hours, so I'm going to go ahead and select:

Cassidy -- Suzanne Vega (1991)

This is another Grateful Dead cover from the Deadicated album. It's a beautiful song about friendship, and the warmth in SV's voice suits the song perfectly. She actually had two cover songs on the album, and they're both in this video. Cassidy starts at 3:25.

The song was written by Bob Weir and his writing partner John Barlow, and was first released on Bob's side project Ace in 1972. It soon became a regular part of the Dead's repertoire. The song title refers to Cassidy Law, daughter of one of the band's road crew, and also references Neal Cassady, one of Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters, whose relationship with the Dead was detailed in the book The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. This video is from 1987.

 

[NoBonus]

For my next pick, I am going with:

Ninety-Nine and a Half (Won't Do) by Creedence Clearwater Revival (Originally by Wilson Pickett)
Love this version of this song... one of my CCR favorites.

 

[dukeswh]

For my 14th pick I select:

Children of the Grave - White Zombie

The original:

Album: Nativity In Black: A Tribute To Black Sabbath
Release Date: 1994
Original Artist: Black Sabbath
Original Release Date: 1971