Cover Me Mondays: God Only Knows

It's my favorite Beach Boys song. It's about time I did this one.

The Beach Boys, God Only Knows, Original, 1966:

Neil Diamond, (with bonus psychedelic video), 1977:

David Bowie, 1984:

Elton John, live, 2001:

Julia Nunes (YouTube sensation), 2007:

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., 2010:

Rivers Cuomo (of Weezer), 2011:

And the verdict? Original is best. The Beach Boys will always win in this fight.
Happy Monday, Happy New Year.
xoxo

Cover Me Mondays: Pink Moon

What a lovely, lovely song. I could listen to Nick Drake's voice forever.

Nick Drake, 1972:

Beck, 2005:

xoxo

Cover Me Mondays: True Love Will Find You In The End

I used this one on this month's mixtape (see previous post), so I thought I'd use it for 'Cover Me Monday' too.
Just a warning, there are a million covers of this song out there. Really, really a lot. These are just a few....

Original, Daniel Johnston, 1984

Wilco, 1999

Beck, 2004

Matthew Good, 2007

Richard Walters, 2009

Mates of State, 2010

Mates of State: True Love Will Find You In The End from Amplified on Vimeo.

xoxo

Cover Me Mondays: Statesboro Blues

If you're a fan of Blues music or the Allman Brothers, you know this song. Well, I happen to live in Statesboro, GA. I can see the William McTell walking trail from my back door. I live in the birthplace of Statesboro Blues. Some days, I have the Statesboro Blues. So as a tribute to our fair town, here's the original version, plus the Allman Brothers version you're bound to know, along with a few others. Enjoy.


Blind Willie McTell, 1928

Taj Mahal, 1968

The Allman Brothers Band, 1971

Bonus Bluegrass Version!

xoxo

Cover Me Mondays: You Can Call Me Al

I must confess: I heart Paul Simon. I heart You Can Call Me Al even harder. It's in my top 10 favorite songs of all time. (Maybe that's a list I should put to paper sometime...)

Original, Paul Simon, 1986
The video also features a highly amusing Chevy Chase.

Jens Lekman, live, 2007

Noah and the Whale, 2008

Which is your favorite?
xoxo

Cover Me Mondays: Almost Grown

I'm still having trouble blogging regularly. Please be patient.

Here's another Cover Me Monday... on Tuesday. It would seem that I'm all about the 50's music lately.....

Original, Chuck Berry, 1959:

Chuck Berry with Keith Richards, 1986:

Cover, David Bowie, 1979:

xoxo
PS... Do you know how many people have covered Johnny B. Goode? Wow.

Cover Me Monday: Earth Angel

The Hubs and I got back late last night from St. Simons for our first anniversary, so I'm still trying to get myself together from being out of town. I have a few pictures of stuff from the weekend that I'll share tonight or tomorrow.... including the best ever anniversary gift from Chris' parents.

For now, I'm just going to jump right back into blogging, starting with what I missed yesterday....

Cover Me Monday....on Tuesday!

I've been obsessed with Death Cab For Cutie's version of Earth Angel since I heard it a few weeks ago. It just makes me happy. It also makes me think of Back to the Future, but that's neither here nor there....

Original, The Penguins, 1954:

Death Cab for Cutie, 2005

BONUS COVER: From Back to the Future, featuring Marty McFly, 1985/1955

Happy Tuesday.
xoxo

Cover Me Mondays: Addicted to Love

Original, Robert Palmer, 1986:

Cover: Florence + The Machine, 2009:

**Note: Just so you know, this was not the song I originally picked for today's cover. But after careful consideration, I decided that MGMT's cover of NIN's Closer wasn't exactly rated PG. Oh well.

Cover Me Mondays: Dancing In The Dark

No apologies for being gone, I needed the time. Now, if you don't mind, I'll jump right in with one of my all-time favorite covers.
Now, I've never really been a huge fan of The Boss, but this song has always been one that I love.

The original:
Bruce Springsteen, 1984

Pete Yorn, 2001 (Bonus track on his album, Musicforthemorningafter)

In other news, I am very very close to being done with September's mixtape. Today or tomorrow. Better late than never.
xoxo

PS... I'm not making any promises, but I think I'll be back to a regular blogging schedule soon. Thanks for stickin' around.

Cover Me Mondays: Hey Ya!

It isn't Monday, but "Cover Me Tuesdays" just doesn't sound as catchy.

If I had posted yesterday, here's what I would have posted:

Original, OutKast, 2003:


Cover, Obediah Parker, 2008:


You may have seen this one before. It's pretty popular, but I think it still deserves a nod.
xoxo

Cover Me Mondays: Respect

Everybody knows this song. Everybody. Really, your grandma knows this song. Everybody. People sing it in the shower, while cooking, alone in their cars, and of course, doing karaoke.

Aretha Franklin, recorded 1967 (Not sure the date of this video):

But what you may not know, is that Aretha's oh-so-famous version of this song is NOT the original. Whaaaaaaattt????

Yep, it's true. Aretha recorded the anthem in 1967. Otis Redding wrote and recorded the song in 1965, two years before Aretha's version. Now, I don't know about you, but that fact pretty much blew my mind. I had no idea! Did you?

Otis Redding,



So there you go, a little education with this week's edition of "Cover Me Mondays."

And truth be told, I think I like Mr. Redding's version just a little bit better.
(no offense, Aretha...)

xoxo

Cover Me Mondays: Handle With Care

Oh goodness! Chris and I got back less than an hour ago from North Carolina! We left at 2, but got a call around 3 that my grandmother's in the hospital with pneumonia or bronchitis (we'll know more tomorrow), so we made a detour and went through to see her on the way back. She's getting much better now, though. We're pretty tired, hot (we turned the A/C waaay up before we left), and missing our kitty- she's still at the boarder's until tomorrow. So this will be short. I'll try to get pictures from the weekend up tomorrow. But for now....

In the late 80's George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty, and Bob Dylan formed the supergroup Traveling Wilburys.

Here's their original version of Handle With Care, from 1988 (see it on YT here, with better quality):

Traveling Wilburys - Handle With Care
Uploaded by manon42. - Watch more music videos, in HD!

Here's the version I heard first, by Jenny Lewis, with the Watson Twins, Connor Oberst, M. Ward, and Ben Gibbard, from Jenny's album with the Watson Twins, Rabbit Fur Coat (my faaaaaavorite album ever!):

And here's a video of Jenny with Connor Oberst and Johnathan Rice doing the song live (the sound quality isn't great):

Now, I'm going to go watch this week's True Blood and try to relax.
xoxo

Cover Me Mondays: Love Vigilantes

I decided to give you a double dose of Cover Me Mondays today. To make up for the lack of communication this weekend. Enjoy your present. :)

Love Vigilantes

Original, New Order

Iron & Wine (I posted the live version so you'd have something to look at):

looooove.
xoxo

Cover Me Mondays: Wonderwall

I've loved this song since the first time I heard it.

Original, Oasis, 1995

Ryan Adams

Cat Power

Sorry there wasn't more thought put into this one. I'm pretty tired today. Maybe next time.
xoxo

Cover Me Mondays: With a Little Help from My Friends

From the first time I saw an episode of The Wonder Years, I've loved this song. And you know what? I bet you love at least one version of it, too.

With a Little Help from My Friends was written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and released on The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967. People started covering it immediately.

The original version, The Beatles, 1967:

The Beach Boys, 1967

Joe Cocker, 1968

Barbara Streisand, 1969

Ike & Tina Turner, 1973

Easy Star All-Stars, 2009 (because there's always a Reggae version)

So, what's the verdict this week? Which version is your favorite?
xoxo

Cover Me Mondays: Crimson and Clover

Hello again! I have decided to add a new weekly feature to my dear ol' blog: Cover Me Mondays! Lots of people do Music Mondays, but I couldn't really limit myself like that with music. I'd feel weird posting music on any other day. So, I've decided that every Monday, I'll post the original version of a song and one or more cover versions. And who doesn't love a good cover? I do. Sometimes more than the original song.

Today's cover: Crimson and Clover (because I was watched Joan Jett videos on YT for over an hour after watching The Runaways.)

Originally recorded in 1968 by Tommy James and the Shondells, Crimson and Clover has to be one of the most covered songs ever. It seems like everybody does it!

The Original, Tommy James and the Shondells, 1968:

Reggae version, The Uniques, 1969:

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, 1981:

Dolly Parton, 2005:
(Please excuse the god-awful video)

Prince, 2009:

Broken Bells, 2010

Apparently Cher, Kelly Clarkson, and several foreign bands cover the song as well. And tons of bands sample from it.

So, what do you think? Which is your favorite? Least favorite? For me, even though I love Dolly with my whole heart, she just didn't quite get this one. Not my cup of tea. And of course Joan Jett's version is my favorite. The Hubs and I even put it on our wedding CD.

Suggestions for future Cover Me Mondays? Leave it in the comments!
xoxo