Episode 16 Cover
King Salami & the Cumberland Three doing “Tainted Love” at a Quebec radio station.
Episode 15 Cover
The Rooftop Singers – Walk Right In
Episode 14 Related Covers
Frank Sinatra – You’ve Brought A New Kind of Love
A cover of Peckin’ by Cab Calloway.
Episode 13 Covers
Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys covering Sitting on Top of the World.
A Cover related to Episode 12
Rex Orange County and Randy Newman performing the Toy Story classic, You Got A Friend in Me. Their voices work well together. Beautiful! Audio only.
A Cover related to Episode 11.
Bob Wills was the first to record Andy Razaf’s That’s What I Like About the South. Cab Calloway was the first to perform it, but never recorded it.
Some Covers related to Episode 9.
Here’s an early cover of “Mr. Ghost Goes to Town”. I believe that this is the first version with lyrics.
Dr. Dog covered Heart It Races in 2008. Pretty nice!
Janet Jackson covered Johnny Daye’s “What I’ll Do for Satisfaction”.
Philly Indie band, Dr. Dog, covered “Heart It Races”. Audio only.
A cover and an original from Episode 8
Lucky Millinder did the cover. The original was a Country tune by Billy Briggs.
Bill Haley & the Comets covered Forty Cups of Coffee. No video.
Cover songs related to Episode 7
Tim Timebomb – In the Dew & the Rain. This is Tim Armstrong of Rancid and his latest musical project, covering Growler’s Calypso classic.
Hell – Squirrel Nut Zippers. Not technically a cover of In the Dew & the Rain, but you can hear that they borrowed from it. Great song that made a nice splash in the 90’s.
Cover Songs Related to Episode 6
The Treme Brass Band covering, “It Ain’t My Fault”, live. I think every brass band in New Orleans probably does a version of this Mardi Gras Classic!
Illinois Jacquet covering “Flying Home” with his own Big band. This was 51 years after he made history with that solo, with Lionel Hampton’s Orchestra.
My favorite cover of “The Varsity Drag” is Tito Puente’s Mambo version. Magnificent! What I would give to see this band in their heyday! No video to this.
The Olympics brought “I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate” into the Rock era. Audio only.
Two years after The Olympics record came out, The Beatles played this in the clubs of Hamburg, Germany, prior to their world dominance. Just some crude audio, but I’m glad somebody recorded it.
Cover Songs Related to Episode 5
Harry Reser with the first recorded version of “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFSVT8PFyI8
The Moody Blues covering Bessie Banks’, “Go Now”.
Dizzy Gillespie with a cover of Oop-Pop-A-Da. No video.
Cover Songs Related to Episode 4
Nat King Cole covering “Button Up Your Overcoat” on his 1950’s TV show.
Sinead O’Conner covered “I Wanna Be Loved By You” in 1992.
Jimmy Rogers covered “The Last Meal” in 1959.
Cover Songs Related to Episode 3
The Fall had their biggest hit in The UK, with their cover of The Kinks’ “Victoria”.
Cookin’ on 3 Burners cover Gary Numan’s “Cars”.
and they also covered The Gorillaz’ “Feel Good Inc”.
Cover Songs related to Episode 2
My Soul Is A Witness – Alvin Youngblood & Sharon Jones. From the film “The Great Debaters”.
The Dickies do a Punk version of The Moody Blues’ classic “Nights In White Satin”. Nicely done, too!
I don’t think Black Sabbath fans would be let down with The Dickies cover of “Paranoid”.
Select cover versions of some Episode 1 tracks!
This obscure 1939 Country version of “Tonight You Belong to Me”, with Fiddle & Accordion, really stands out! Done by Johnny Fenton and his Swamp Stompers!
The most famous version of “Tonight” for those that might be too young to remember. 1956.
In 1965, Patience & Prudence re-recorded their famous hit in a British Invasion style. It didn’t sell but it’s interesting to hear. I would love to know the names of the studio musicians on the backing track. Likely, some legends!
Women didn’t like cheating partners either. Here’s Merline Johnson, also known as “The Yas Yas Girl”, with her 1937 cover of “I’d Rather Drink Muddy Water”.
The great Lou Rawls covered “I’d Rather Drink Muddy Water” several times. This version is from his 2nd album in 1963. That’s Jazz Crusader, Joe Sample, playing the Hammond B3.
Willie Nelson did a wonderful cover of The Cats and The Fiddle’s “I Miss You So” in 2009, 70 years after the original.