Let’s do something fun in this thread. Top five cover songs of all time. Top five 70s movies of all time.
I’ll do
1. For The Good Times (Al Green)
2. Cracklin’ Rosie (Shane Macgowan and the Popes)
3. Got To Get A Message to You (Percy Sledge)
4. Love In Vain (Rolling Stones)
5. Top Of The World (Shonen Knife)
and
1. Chinatown
2. McCabe and Mrs. Miller
3. Annie Hall
4. The Converation
5. The Godfather
redshirt
1. I will survive (Cake)
1. Taxi Driver
Gin & Tonic
70’s movies? Badlands.
Love The Conversation, but I spell it with an “s”
burnspbesq
Cover songs:
5. Oops! I Did It Again (Richard Thompson)
4. Wild Horses (Rolling Stones)
3. Because the Night (Patti Smith)
2. Mr Tambourine Man (The Byrds)
1. Respect (Aretha Franklin)
Jim C
“Top 5 70s films of all time”?
Is that top five films made in the 70s, or top 5 films set in the 70s, made at any time?
Karen in GA
A couple of good covers:
1. Heart’s Lincoln Center Honors performance of Stairway to Heaven, and I’m not even a led Zeppelin fan
2. REM’s cover of Toys in the Attic
3. Wild Horses, The Sundays
And a couple of 70s movies I love:
1. Dog Day Afternoon
2. Network
burnspbesq
70s films:
5. Annie Hall
4. The Conversation
3. The Godfather
2. Chinatown
1. The Godfather, Part II
Suffern ACE
* Saturday Night Fever
* MASH
* Network
* Patton
* Up In Smoke
And why not Up in Smoke?
redshirt
3. Wild Horses (The Sundays)
Foggy F Follansbye
Beaches ain’t Sheet (Ben Folds) (yes i’m a dudebro)
A Fistful of Dynamite (but Chinatown is so awesome)
Lord Baldrick
Throw out your hands!!
Stick out your tush!!
Hands on your hips
Give them a push!!
You’ll be surprised
You’re doing the French Mistake!!
VOILA!!
LookingForACanadian
1. Red, Red Wine (UB40)
1. Ordinary People (yeah, it’s ’80… but I was only 6 at the time so I’m going with it)
Karen in GA
By the way, Joe Bonomassa and Beth Hart put out a couple of good cover albums.
Jim C
Top 5 Covers of All Time…
1. Rock and Roll All Nite – Toad The Wet Sprocket
2. Sugar, Sugar – Tom Jones
3. Bizarre Love Triangle – Poi Dog Pondering (narrowly over Frente)
4. Vida La Vida – Rivers Cuomo
5. Superman – R. E. M.
napoleon
Twist and Shout, The Beatles
Comrade Jake
Jeff Buckley, Hallelujah
Johannes
well, let’s see:
1. Hallelujah by John Cale;
2.. Anthem by Julie Christensen & Perla Battalia
3. A Little Help from my Friends, Joe Cocker
4. Hazy Shade of Winter, the Bangles II know, I know…)
5. Behind Blue Eyes, Sheryl Crow.
Movies:
Taking of Pelham 1, 2, 3 is the most archetypical 70s movie for my money. The best? Either Young Frankenstein or the Four Musketeers, depending on my mood…
Schlemazel
cover songs?
Lite My Fire – Jose Feliciano
A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall – Bryan Ferry
Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is A Season) – The Byrds (or any of the Byrds covers of any Dylan tune!)
Respect – Aretha Franklin
Heard It THrough the Grapevine – Creedence Clearwater Revival
All Along the Watchtower – Jimi Hendrix
But how about the top covers done by The Beatles?
Twist & Shout, Roll Over Beethoven, Long Tall Sally, The Hippy Hippy Shake, Please Mr. Postman – several others too
Manyakitty
Top covers: (in no particular order and without much consideration)
Superstition- Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble
Season of the Witch- Supersession
Stand By Your Man- Lyle Lovett
America- Yes
Stop Your Sobbing- Pretenders
Top 70s movies: (same disclaimer as above)
All That Jazz
The Godfather
Paper Moon
Star Wars
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
raven
@Johannes: And Charlie Varrick.
Manyakitty
@redshirt: Yes. Cake’s version rules.
Karen in GA
Young Frankenstein
Life of Brian
Okay, I’ll stop.
p.a.
All Along the Watchtower- ‘Drix
Bring It On Home to Me- Van Morrison live. Not that the Sam Cooke original is chopped liver.
Cruella DeVille- Replacements
Gumbo- Dr. John. Whole album
Star Wars
Manhattan
Ben
How can you mend a broken heart – Al Green
Lucy in the skies with diamonds – Elton John
Summer Breeze – Isley Brothers
On and On – Kenny Rankin
Spanish Harlem – Aretha Franklin
JPL
Actually this Lawrence Welk type of song was ahead of its times.
link A friend and I were talking about sixties lyrics and how wrong they were. Truth be known the repubs would love this song cuz you stay a year and take what you can.
Haydnseek
Tomorrow Never Knows – 801 Live
Summertime Blues – Flying Lizards
Brian R.
Mariachi El Bronx, “I Would Die 4 U” (Prince)
Cee-Lo Green, “No One’s Going to Love You” (Band of Horses)
Vampire Weekend, “I’m Going Down” (Springsteen)
Carolina Chocolate Drops, “Hit ‘Em Up Style” (Blu Cantrell)
Feist and Constantine, “Islands in the Stream” (Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers)
Superchunk, “100,000 Fireflies” (Magnetic Fields)
Slits, “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” (Marvin Gaye)
Florence + The Machine, “Halo” (Beyonce)
Chris Isaak, “Solitary Man” (Neil Diamond)
Jose Gonzalez, “Love Will Tear Us Apart” (Joy Division)
Willie Nelson, “Graceland” (Paul Simon)
Lennings, “You’re The One That I Want” (Grease soundtrack)
2CELLOS, “Smooth Criminal” (Michael Jackson)
Yuna, “Here Comes the Sun” (Beatles)
Haim, “Hold Me” (Fleetwood Mac)
Johnny Cash, “One” (U2)
Lorde, “Swinging Party” (Replacements)
Lemonheads, “Mrs. Robinson” (Simon and Garfunkel)
Chet Faker, “No Diggity” (Blackstreet)
Cleverlys, “Walk Like an Egyptian” (Bangles)
James Vincent McMorrow, “Higher Love” (Steve Winwood)
The Be Good Tanyas, “When Doves Cry” (Prince)
That might be more than 5….
Rob
These are the only ones I can think of right now and are not in order.
1. Helter Skelter — Siouxie and the Banshees
2. Respect — Aretha Franklin (I didn’t realize it was a cover)
3. Because the Night — Patti Smith
4. Red Red Wine — UB40
5. Police and Thieves — The Clash
MattF
Nobody mentions Raging lBull? Taxi Driver? Well, Wikipedia says Raging Bull is 1980, so I guess it just misses– but thematically it belongs with the others.
I agree about The Conversation, though..
Haydnseek
All Along The Watchtower – XTC
Black Hole Sun – Steve Lawrence
Suffern ACE
Cover Songs
Aretha Franklin – RESPECT
Etta James – St. Louis Blues
Jimi Hendrix – All Along the Watchtower
Ray Charles – Lucky Ol’ Sun
O.K. I’m spending way too much time thinking about this. I’ll stick with 4.
Schlemazel
Forgot the movies!
A Clockwork Orange
BLAZING SADDLES
The Godfather I & II
Network
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Apocalypse Now
The Goodbye Girl
Alien
M*A*S*H
Dog Day Afternoon
The Producers
Marathon Man
Yeah, I know that is more than 5 but I don’t have any favorite children
napoleon
pinball wizard – elton john
Sourmash
The Man who would be King
The Wind and the Lion
Let it Be
Star Wars (I know, in a category all its own, but in case people forget)
James Bond – pick ’em
Schlemazel
@Karen in GA:
YF was 70s but wasn’t Life of Brian in the 80’s?
I love the movie so I’ll allow it anyway :)
Brian R.
As for movies from the ’70s:
Wild Bunch
Network
Blazing Saddles
Young Frankenstein
Annie Hall
Haydnseek
Jumpin’ Jack Flash – Johnny Winter And Live
delk
Don’t Leave Me This Way — Communards
What’s Going On? — Los Lobos
Ain’t That a Shame — Cheap Trick
Take me to the River — Talking Heads
Satisfaction — DEVO
Young Frankenstein
Clockwork Orange
The Omen
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Kelly’s Heroes
Linnaeus
Looks like most of my choices have already been made, so I’ll continue on to finishing the Chardonnay left over from last night and then I might finish off the rosemary vodka.
Haydnseek
@delk: Great picks on your covers. Not familiar with the Communards, but I’ll check ’em out. Thanks for the tip!
Omnes Omnibus
@Haydnseek: Early 80s British synth pop. They do nail that song.
ralphdibny
covers:
Aretha’s Respect, Devo’s Satisfaction, Run DMC’s Walk This Way, Jimi’s Watchtower, Janis’s Bobby McGee
Mont D. Law
Covers
Give me Some Truth – Generation X
Fever – The Cramps
The Banana Splits Theme – The Dickies
Ballroom Blitz – The Damned
Children of the Revolution – Violent Femmes
Movies
Soldier Blue (1970)
Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977)
Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)
The Wicker Man (1973)
Electra Glide in Blue (1973)
Burnspbesq
@Haydnseek:
The definitive cover version of “Black Hole Sun” is by the Brad Mehldau Trio.
AkaDad
Jimi Hendrix – All Along the Watchtower
CCR – I Heard it Through the Grapevine
Alien Ant Farm – Smooth Criminal
Cake – I Will Survive
Janet Devlin – Your Song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rU8-LXSKpsc
Schlemazel
@Sourmash:
Oh man I want to change my list – I had forgotten Lion and The Man Who Would Be King – 2 great movies At least 4 award worthy performances between them & maybe even – Hopkins & Dalton deserve notice also. I thought it was older but like Life Of Brian if it isn’t from the 70’s the judges rule it can be included anyway!
Dolly Llama
Cover songs:
1. Sweet Jane (Cowboy Junkies)
2. Bad Time (The Jayhawks)
3. Wild Horses (Faultline w/ Joseph Arthur)
4. You Got Me Floatin’ (PM Dawn)
5. Pale Blue Eyes (REM)
Movies (no particular order)
Dog Day Afternoon
Little Big Man
Cool Hand Luke
The Exorcist
Network
Schlemazel
@Linnaeus:
I’m thinking the sterno is next
Thats a joke people
MattF
@Mont D. Law: I’d forgotten about Picnic at Hanging Rock. Très spooky.
mjj
Jump – Aztec Camera (Van Halen)
What’s so Funny About Peace Love and Understanding – Elvis Costello (Nick Lowe)
Poor Poor Pitiful Me – Linda Ronstadt (Warren Zevon)
Blazing Saddles
Silver Streak
The Godfather
Star Wars
Taking of Pelham 123
Haydnseek
@Burnspbesq: I do like them quite a lot. I’ll see your Mehldau and raise you a Smells Like Teen Spirit or Heart of Glass by The Bad Plus.
They also do a killer version of Iron Man
delk
@Haydnseek: Jimmy Somerville’s band. His other band was Bronski Beat.
RSA
I wouldn’t call these the best covers (some aren’t as good as the originals), but the other day I was thinking about cross-genre covers that I like. Just for curiosity value:
My Favorite Things, John Coltrane
Guns of Brixton, Nouvelle Vague
Word up, Willis
Satisfaction, Devo
FormerSwingVoter
“Common People” by William Shatner.
No, seriously. Check it out.
Heliopause
Um, Doug, Kubrick did in fact release a couple of films in the 70s of all time. You never talk to us anymore unless to troll.
maeve
70s movies (personal list which I remember as having impact in the 70s)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Star Wars
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
The French Connection
Dog Day Afternoon
Blazing Saddles
The Outlaw Josie Wells
Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore
Little Big Man
raven
@Mont D. Law: Two of my friends from high school were in Madura, the band in Electra Glide.
Southern Beale
For ’70s movies, you have to have The Sting in there! You just gotta!
srv
WTF is wrong with you people? How can Star Wars not be in the top 5?
French Connection? Jaws? Apocolypse Now? Anyone? Bueller?
Also, too, who the fuck did covers in the 70’s? Y’all bunch of Tubular Bells Manheim Steamroller freaks?
@maeve: Finally some sanity!
Also, also, too, The Long Goodbye – Noir before Chinatown was Noir.
Rob
How could I forget Manfred Mann’s cover of Bob Dylan’s “The Mighty Quinn”?! That is a long-time favorite of mine.
Johannes
@raven: Ooh, yeah, Raven. Nice one.
Burnspbesq
Five more great covers.
“First We Take Manhattan,” Jennifer Warnes
“April Joy,” Alex Hargreaves
“Soulful Shade of Blue,” Neko Case
“Cocaine,” Eric Clapton
“Louisiana 1927,” Aaron Neville
dedc79
Bill Callahan – The Breeze (Kath Bloom cover)
JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound – I‘m Trying to Break Your Heart (Wilco cover)
Trampled By Turtles – Rebellion (Lies) (Arcade Fire cover)
Chicken Shack – I’d Rather Go Blind (Etta James cover)
Cake – I Will Survive (Gloria Gaynor cover)
JCT
Soul Kitchen – X
I will Survive – Cake
The Man Who Sold the World – Cobain
Satisfaction – Devo
Take me to the River – Talking Heads
Haydnseek
@RSA: My Favorite Things…..how could I forget…..(forehead meets tabletop. Hard.)
hilts
Doug,
Many, many thanks to you for posting this thread.
My top 5 cover songs
1 Rock and Roll Music – The Beatles
2. It’s All Over Now – The Rolling Stones
3. Louie, Louie – The Kingsmen
4. Police on My Back – The Clash
5. All Along the Watchtower – Jimi Hendrix
My top 5 films from the 1970’s
1. The Godfather Part II
2. The Godfather
3. Nashville
4. Chinatown
5. Mean Streets
For anyone who loves films from the 1970’s, check out these 2 great documentaries
A Decade Under the Influence and Easy Riders Raging Bulls
Sourmash
@Schlemazel: I still watch both of those at least once a year. I remember seeing TMWWBK at a HUGE old theater in Chicago and reading a review that said “They just don’t make them like that anymore.” Truly the greatest “Buddy Movie” of all time. Shocking to think it was one of only a handful of movies Connery and Caine ever made together.
Linnaeus
@Schlemazel:
A joke, to be sure, but I almost understand if it was not.
Burnspbesq
Tonight’s cover theme song.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xWXe7HBD0YE
hilts
@RSA:
Thanks for mentioning My Favorite Things by John Coltrane. While the studio version is amazing, there’s also an incredible live version that runs for about 23 minutes.
Haydnseek
@Burnspbesq: Nice one, Mr. Burns. Quite a change from the “If I Had a Rocket Launcher” Bruce Cockburn.
Tehanu
Covers:
1. It’s My Life, Bruce Springsteen
2. Soul Kitchen, X
3. Stormy Monday, The Allman Bros.
4. All Along the Watchtower, Hendrix
5. Any Day Now, Joan Baez
Movies:
1. The Conformist (Bernardo Bertolucci)
2. The Producers
3. The Sting
4. The Godfather Part II
5. Get to Know Your Rabbit
mai naem
McCarthurs Park – Donna Summer(yeah, I know it’s disco but she just had a great set of pipes)
Tears of a Clown – The English Beat
Wuthering Heights – Pat Benatar
Movies – The Good, Bad and Ugly, Reds, The Godfather, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest. I don’t remember many movies from the 70s –
redshirt
No joke I love the end of the Batman trilogy. Bruce Wayne, suicidal…
Burnspbesq
And yet five more
“Ooh, Baby Baby,” Linda Ronstadt
“Tell Me Why,” Wynnona Judd (the Karla Bonoff song, not Lennon – McCartney)
“Black Crow,” Diana Krall
“Nowhere Man,” Bill Frisell
“Soul Kitchen,” X
ASV
Winterlong (Pixies)
Common People (William Shatner)
Dead Souls (Nine Inch Nails)
Crush (The Dismemberment Plan)
Cornflake Girl (Jawbox)
Rob
A couple more:
And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda — June Tabor
The Man Who Sold the World — Lulu
Schlemazel
@Sourmash: I don’t understand why that movie does not get more love. Seems like TLIW shows up on TV about this time every year & we often watch it even knowing it so well, its just a very good time. If TMWWBK was on I’d watch it too.
Schlemazel
@srv:
Forgot Star Wars, it should be on the list. Apocalypse now is a goodie also. I hated French Connection. I was working part-time as a projectionist & had to watch it twice a night for a 6 nights. Didn’t enjoy it the first time & it didn’t get better. I discovered I could skip on reel because the previous one ended during a car chase under the railroad & the following one started in the middle of a different one. Took 15 minutes out of the movie & nobody noticed because it didn’t affect the story.
A couple of movies from that job that stick with me are BuckAnd the Preacher, which was a pretty good cowboy yarn with Harry Belafonte and Sidney Poitier, not great but a good time. And Dirty Harry, saw that 12 times & counted the shots in the final chase – 7 – he fires 7 times before killing the bad guy with his 8th, that must be why the .44 magnum is the most powerful handgun on earth!
Burnspbesq
Taxi Driver, Blazing Saddles, and The Deer Hunter tie for sixth.
PurpleGirl
@JPL: Ear worm. Just seeing the name of the song and it’s going through my head.
jibeaux
Lots of good covers there. Just to mention ones I haven’t seen, U2 does a nice vresin of Unchained Melody, and Dwight Yoakum does a good Train in Vain.
Chickamin Slam
The Smashing Pumpkins – Landslide
Pearl Jam – You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away
Killdozer – Take the Money and run
Killdozer – Disco Inferno
and naturally Killdozer – Nasty, although some maintain Janet Jackson covered them instead.
Haydnseek
@jibeaux: ……and Dwight’s version of “Truckin'” by the Dead is very tasty, especially live.
Marcelo
My favorite 70’s movies:
All That Jazz
Taxi Driver
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Monty Python & The Holy Grail
Chinatown
Honorable mention goes to Rosemary’s Baby.
srv
@Schlemazel:
I suppose you cut out the Star Wars trench battle too! Heathen!
But I had forgotten the Frankenheimer did FC 2, not FC 1.
Also, also, also too, Catch-22.
hilts
OT
Great news for Bob Dylan fans – The complete Basement Tapes have finally been released
h/t http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/oct/30/bob-dylan-the-band-basement-tapes-complete-review
and
Great news for Orson Welles fans – The Other Side of the Wind will finally see the light of day in 2015
h/t http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/10/hollywood-finally-appreciates-orson-welles/382128/
angelfoot
Ooh..this is hard. How about albums of cover songs (no particular order)?
1, In A Metal Mood – Pat Boone
2. Kicking Against The Pricks – Nick Cave
3. Let It Be – LaiBach
4. Pin-Ups – Bowie
5. Self Portrait – Bob Dylan
Also, it’s a stretch to consider “Because The Night” a cover song, “cover song” suggests a version was previously in general circulation.
Steeplejack
@jibeaux:
Speaking of Dwight Yoakam, he does a great cover of “I Want You to Want Me.” Warning: only for the twang-curious.
NotMax
Hmm. Not necessarily ‘best,’ but ‘top.’
Star Wars
Alien
Young Frankenstein
Network
Dog Day Afternoon
Honorable mention:
The Three Musketeers
Slaughterhouse-Five
La Cage aux Folles
Annie Hall
The Sting
Papillon
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
Superman
Saturday Night Fever
Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Cabaret
Pink Flamingos
The Shootist
The China Syndrome
The Paper Chase
1900
Aguirre, the Wrath of God
Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?
Breaking Away
A Clockwork Orange
Little Big Man
The Boys From Brazil
Harry and Tonto
Silent Running
Thunderbolt and Lightfoot
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Already gone on too long, so shall cut it off there.
angelfoot
@napoleon:
Yeah, the Beatles owned “Twist & Shout.” “Money” too.
Hendrix’ “Watchtower” is definitive. Cale’s “Hallelujah” too.
hilts
My honorable mentions for 70’s films
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Patton
MASH
The French Connection
Annie Hall
Manhattan
Network
The Last Detail
Day for Night
Five Easy Pieces
Mikey and Nicky
Next Stop Greenwich Village
Slaughterhouse-Five
Ridnik Chrome
Cover Songs:
I Fought the Law (the Clash)
It’s All Over Now Baby Blue (Van Morrison)
Mr. Tambourine Man (the Byrds)
Black Is Black (Los Bravos)
Needles and Pins (the Ramones)
70s Movies:
The Abominable Dr. Phibes
The Phantom of the Paradise
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
The Warriors
Car Wash
dan
American Graffiti.
dan
Animal House.
angelfoot
Five 70’s movies I have good memories of going to see, for whatever reason:
Star Wars
Jaws
King Kong (De Laurentiis version) !
Logan’s Run
High Anxiety
Cpl Cam
I Hung my Head – Johnny Cash
Superstar – Sonic Youth
Let Down – Easy Star All Stars
All of My Love – Ween
All Along the Watchtower – Jimi Hendrix
Hobbes
The Animals — The House of the Rising Sun
Claire Joseph — Wuthering Heights
The Communards — Don’t leave me this way
Ben Howard — Call Me Maybe
Too many bands to mention — Johnny B. Goode
angelfoot
Also, a shout out for the movie “Dark Star”.
Deecarda
Just want to list one of each and they are related. Cover song The Weight. 70’s movie The Last Waltz (best concert movie ever filmed). The Band
I’ve been browsing Levon Helm videos all night.
Haydnseek
@angelfoot: Nice call on the Laibach disc. Their version of “Across the Universe” is unimaginably beautiful.
Steeplejack
@angelfoot:
Albums of cover songs:
Fakebook, Yo La Tengo. “Here Comes My Baby” (Cat Stevens).
Deadicated, various artists covering the Grateful Dead. Suzanne Vega, “Cassidy.”
Eric
Covers:
All Along the Watchtower – Hendrix
To Love Somebody – Nina Simone
Hurt – Johnny Cash
Always on My Mind – Willie Nelson
Because the Night – Patti Smith
ranchandsyrup
When the levee breaks — A Perfect Circle
Gin and Juice — Oysterhead
Reckoner — Gnarles Barkley
Werewolves of London — grateful dead
Steeplejack
@Steeplejack:
Also Meet the Smithereens!, a remake of the Beatles album. “Don’t Bother Me.”
Steeplejack
“Straight Outta Compton,” Nina Gordon (Veruca Salt). NSFW.
Steeplejack
@Steeplejack:
Where’s Omnes? On their follow-up Beatles cover album the Smithereens cross into the Elvis Costello zone: “There’s a Place.”
Steeplejack
@Steeplejack:
Damn it, the Smithereens have sent me spiraling back to original Beatles songs for which I can find no covers. A middle-period gem: “No Reply.”
Steeplejack
@angelfoot:
Two other great cover albums, both by Willie Nelson:
Pretty Paper. Christmas songs.
Stardust. “American songbook” classics. “Moonlight in Vermont.”
Steeplejack
Booker T. and the MG’s, “Hang ’Em High.”
hilts
@Steeplejack:
Nice covers of Beatles songs
Sonic Youth – Within You Without You
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Hs7AHBZ9W0
Siouxsie and the Banshees – Dear Prudence
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25weBjXioB0
BGinCHI
Oh for fuck’s sake:
No one mentions The Friends of Eddie Coyle?
Really?
Get off your asses and watch it. Thank you.
Yes, I am in a shitty mood.
Bill Murray
Nushu “My Best Friend’s Girl”
Otis Redding “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction
Patsy Cline “Crazy”
The Reivers “Blue Eyes (Crying in the Rain”
Elvis Costello & the Attractions “I Stand Accused”
eta: Susanna and the Magical Orchestra “Love Will Tear Us Apart”
Steeplejack
@angelfoot:
Plastic Ono Band, “Money.”
angelfoot
@Deecarda:
I’ve been browsing Levon Helm videos all night.
Levon Helm, American treasure. Who makes me think of another American treasure, Harry Dean Stanton. In keeping with the thread, sort of.
hilts
@Steeplejack:
Some other interesting covers of the Beatles
Crack The Sky – I Am The Walrus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mSyFPJcCAA
Eric Burdon & War – A Day In The Life
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLjYynniIks
hilts
@BGinCHI:
Have you read the novel from which the film was adapted?
BGinCHI
@hilts: Yep. Also good.
Deecarda
@angelfoot:
I was lucky to consider Levon a friend, he would put me on his guest list, I took concert photos & partied backstage. Really sweet guy.
One night in Poughkeepsie he told me how lucky he considered himself to be able to make a living doing what he loved.
Omnes Omnibus
@Steeplejack: I am mourning and being pissed off at the same time. Nice tune, although Pat DiNizio is kind of a douchebag.
Omnes Omnibus
@BGinCHI: Well, fuck you, who the fuck isn’t?*
*Sorry.
angelfoot
@Steeplejack:
I remember distressing my mother and impressing my older brother by making it all the way through side two of “live Peace In Toronto”. In the 70’s, well after it was released. Yoko’s last few releases have been pretty enjoyable.
Omnes Omnibus
@Deecarda: Okay, you are officially cool.
RandomMonster
Redshirt hits it out of the park in the first comment with Cake’s ‘I Will Survive’. Although I’m going to add their version of ‘War Pigs’, too — it fucking rules.
Nick Cave’s version of ‘Something’s Gotten Hold of My Heart’.
The Stranglers version of ‘Walk On By’ is pretty righteous.
Johnny Cash’s versions of ‘I Won’t Back Down’ and ‘When the Man Comes Around’.
BGinCHI
@Omnes Omnibus: I held off calling everyone a motherfucker and challenging everyone to a fight, but I thought better of it.
I’m just so despondent about this country that has so much and asks so little of itself.
sigh
angelfoot
@Deecarda: He always came across as a really sweet guy who loved what he was doing, it really shone through his performances. So lucky you got to know him!
Omnes Omnibus
@BGinCHI:
My dream job from history: Being one of the New Dealers. One of the lawyers, economists, etc., trying to come up with solutions and just giving the fuckers a shot.
hilts
After a quick perusal of this thread, it looks like no one has mentioned these films (all worth checking out):
Three Days of the Condor
The Candidate
Husbands
Save the Tiger
The King of Marvin Gardens
Two-Lane Blacktop
The 70’s was a damn good decade for films
angelfoot
@hilts:
Worst cover of a Beatles tune, major artist category: Across the Universe – David Bowie.
Maybe Imagine by Madonna.
Sugababes did a nice job with Come Together.
Steeplejack
Well, I’m glad DougJ posted this, because if I had stayed with the election threads—or, Ceiling Cat forbid, the TV coverage—I might have slashed my wrists by now. So I have been music-trawling on YouTube and putting a dent in my hogshead of Mount Gay rum.
Top 5/Top 10/Top Whatever lists always paralyze me, because my tastes are so
sluttyeclectic that I can’t do that kind of fine-tuned ranking. On any given day I might have five favorite covers that are different from the five favorites last week.The last few days I’ve had an earworm of Urge Overkill’s remake of Neil Diamond’s “Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon.” Pre-sequins/Streisand/Vegas, Diamond was a bona fide heavy hitter in ’60s pop/rock, and “Girl” is an excellent ballad with a tough edge. Urge Overkill does it justice.
I think the all-time Hall of Fame cover artist/group is the Byrds doing Dylan. I think Dylan will be remembered more as a writer/composer than as a performer, and the Byrds consistently delivered benchmark versions of his songs. A personal favorite: “My Back Pages.”
Finally, I have to say that jazz almost has to be excluded from the “best cover” discussion, because so much of the genre consists specifically of artists doing their own take on the “standards.” Is there a “best” version of “Satin Doll”? The same might apply to the blues classics.
On the jazz/blues border: Lou Rawls, “Stormy Monday.”
Deecarda
@angelfoot:
An example of how sweet: I brought mounted 8 by 10’s of a previous performance & he signed them for me, then asked me to autograph the ones I have him. Blew me away!
Steeplejack
@RSA:
Cross-genre cover: Sugar Black does a reggae version of “Fly Like an Eagle.”
ETA: One of the funniest/best cross-genre covers I ever heard was a bluegrass version of “I Shot the Sheriff” at a festival in Atlanta.
hilts
@angelfoot:
I’ll give Bowie a pass because he’s produced a great body of work.
@Steeplejack:
Back when record stores still existed, I remember seeing an album containing about 8 different covers of Round Midnight.
Steeplejack
Okay, looking through my pile of YouTube stuff . . .
A towering cover: Big Brother and the Holding Company (Janis Joplin), “Summertime.”
Another personal favorite: the Animals, “Bring It on Home to Me.” Alan Price excellent on keyboards.
Steeplejack
@Omnes Omnibus:
I am so far from the white-hot center of things that I don’t have to worry about personalities.
Steeplejack
@Schlemazel:
Good to see some Feliciano love! I was thinking of “Light My Fire” or maybe “In My Life.”
His album Feliciano! could be considered a covers album. I think all but one or two songs are covers. (Dagnab it, sucky videos on YouTube.)
Steeplejack
@hilts:
Good ones.
The Beatles are almost unique in that it’s hard to do a cover that’s better than their original.
Steeplejack
@hilts:
Yeah, pick any great jazz song and it’s like that. My favorite jazz classic is Oliver Nelson’s “Stolen Moments,” and my favorite version is by the Ahmad Jamal Trio. And there are dozens of other versions.
Steeplejack
And I’m not even getting into movies. The ’70s were a golden age of American cinema.
Steeplejack
Semi-psychedelic cover of “Ninety-Nine and a Half” by Fever Tree.
And they did a good cover of Buffalo Springfield’s “Nowadays Clancy Can’t Even Sing.” Lead singer had some pipes.
Compare and contrast with the original.
Steeplejack
Sade, “Why Can’t We Live Together?”
Not a cover, but a nice coda: William De Vaughn, “Be Thankful for What You Got.”
Omnes Omnibus
@Steeplejack: Posting Sade at this time is irresponsible. I may never get to bed.
Steeplejack
Holy shnikeys, I just took a peek at the election posts upstairs. Eek! So it turned out even worse than we feared? Maybe I should leave it until the morning light. Yeah, that’s the ticket.
Steeplejack
@Omnes Omnibus:
Okay, I’m not alone! I’m not going to go full Little Boots on you, but Sade is in my thoughts tonight. “Cherish the Day.”
Omnes Omnibus
@Steeplejack: It is just a really bad day for me. I am wired and angry and I don’t want to go off on the wrong people.
Steeplejack
@Omnes Omnibus:
I hear you. I was spiraling downward in the negativity leading up to the election, got a brief boost from the act of going and voting, and now it appears that the worst has come to pass. Ugh. It’s going to take a while to assimilate it all. Music is a solace.
hilts
Music is a solace.
@Steeplejack:
Agreed, to which I’d add feature films, documentary films, some tv shows, fiction, and poetry.
My favorite jazz songs are
1. So What – Miles Davis
2. My Favorite Things – John Coltrane
3. All Blues – Miles Davis
4. In a Sentimental Mood – Duke Ellington and John Coltrane
5. Stolen Moments – Oliver Nelson
hilts
@Steeplejack:
“Music is a solace.”
Agreed, to which I’d add feature films, documentary films, some tv shows, fiction, and poetry.
My favorite jazz songs are
1. So What – Miles Davis
2. My Favorite Things – John Coltrane
3. All Blues – Miles Davis
4. In a Sentimental Mood – Duke Ellington and John Coltrane
5. Stolen Moments – Oliver Nelson
I’d like to see a thread of this type posted every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
It’s nice to get a great list of recommended songs, films, etc. and it does help a little bit to chase the blues away.
burnspbesq
@hilts:
“Kind of Blue” is still, after all these years, hard to top as an album. But I actually think my favorite Miles Davis tune (and a lot easier to cover) is “Seven Steps to Heaven.”
As far as Trane is concerned, there are so many, but I listen to “Giant Steps” and “Moment’s Notice” more often than “My Favorite Things.
There are so many great Monk tunes that it’s hard to pick only one or two favorites, but I think I love “In Walked Bud” above all the rest.
Almost everybody mentions “Stolen Moments,” but I think “Butch and Butch” is my favorite track from “Blues and the Abstract Truth.”
Chris
@Southern Beale:
Glad someone said it – favorite heist movie ever! (Well, Ocean’s Eleven remake gives it a run for its money).
So, yeah;
The Sting
Star Wars
Alien
Blazing Saddles
Star Trek: The Motion Picture (yes, I know most people hated it. I didn’t. It actually was my introduction to Star Trek).
Any other decade, I’d have put a Bond movie up there. But this decade started with DAF and ended with Moonraker, so… I actually manage to like LALD, but not that much. MWTGG had some good ideas, not necessarily the execution. TSWLM is usually considered the highlight of the decade, but it just doesn’t do that much for me. (Point of interest; the original plot had SPECTRE as the bad guys, but it involved Blofeld being overthrown by a younger generation of terrorists – the Baader-Meinhoff/Red Brigades type – and their plot wasn’t about some utopia under the seas, it was about smashing the existing world just so they could start anew. The studio decided they should lighten up and make it less political in order not to alienate younger viewers – and also, they couldn’t get the rights to SPECTRE. Which is still a thing today).
Manyakitty
@mjj: Yes. Good choices.
Spinoza Is My Co-pilot
Top 5 movies from the 70s? Not easy for me to do (too many from that decade that I love). But here goes:
1. Robin and Marian (maybe my favorite movie of all time. Wonderful performances by Sean Connery and Audrey Hepburn and Robert Shaw and the great Nicol Williamson, and based on the latter — and little known — part of the Robin Hood legend after they return from the Crusade)
2. The Godfather
3. Monty Python’s The Holy Grail
4. The Man Who Would Be King
5. Alien
Likely a different list (other than 1 and 2) if I did this another time.
What all of you said for cover songs, I guess. Not really into covers, myself, including the cover of Trent Reznor’s “Hurt” that Johnny Cash received so many accolades for (Trent Reznor himself said that “Hurt” now belonged to Cash). I still prefer NIN’s original version of “Hurt”.