Cover songs come with built-in advantages and disadvantages.
On the plus side, playing someone else’s song offers an opportunity for a band to plug into an audience’s pre-existing familiarity with that song, no composition or particular inspiration required.
On the other hand, hearing an artist do their cover of a song you already love is distinctly likely to be an underwhelming experience.
But there’s a short list of cover songs that are generally recognized to be superior to the originals:
Jimi Hendrix’s version of All Along the Watchtower is definitely one of them:
Jimi’s vocal certainly isn’t the only reason his version excels, but it does help that he sings in key.
Similarly, the Cowboy Junkies’ version of Sweet Jane benefits from Margo Timmins’ lushly understated vocal, especially compared with Lou Reed’s, umm, idiosyncratic delivery.
I’m rarely critical of Paul McCartney in any capacity, but in the case of We Can Work It Out, Stevie Wonder’s version takes the crown. Stevie’s overhauled arrangement crackles with electricity in a way that the Beatles’ version just doesn’t. The same could be said about Earth Wind & Fire’s version of Got to Get You Into My Life.
In many ways, this is exactly parallel with Aretha Franklin’s version of Respect.
Aretha switched the code on Otis Redding’s song, re-jiggered the arrangement…
and ended up with a red-hot crucible of Southern soul:
Obviously: Aretha was able to sing circles around Otis Redding. But in my estimation, it’s not Aretha’s vocals that carry the day. Rather, what makes her version of “Respect” such a widely-loved classic, a cover which has completely eclipsed the original, is…
The backing vocals.
Consider the verses. You can hear the importance of the backing vocals in that, not only are the backup singers the first voices heard on the recording (“Oooh!”), but they anchor the first beat of each measure throughout. Ms Franklin’s lines swing through the second half of the measures, but never take the front seat. For example, here are the first two measures of the first verse:
And then consider this: The song is almost entirely verses.
There are a couple of instrumental breaks, but there’s no real chorus! It’s a bit ambiguous because the verses are of an unusual length – 10 measures. This is true of Otis Redding’s original as well. But whereas in the original version the last part of the verses was given over to the horn section, Ms. Franklin’s arrangement replaces the horns with the background voices.
And WOW – does she make the most of it.
I love a good horn section, but Aretha’s arrangement for the background vocals is sharper and more impactful than the horns in Redding’s version. Even better, the background vocals are never static. They shift and morph each time through, especially during the last four measures of the verses, which is when the backing vocals do the heavy lifting:
- The first verse ends with the four “Just a little bit”’s;
- The third verse shifts to two “Just-a just-a just-a just-a”’s and then two “Just a little bit”’s;
- The fourth verse switches it up yet again:
a “Re, re, re, re, re, re, re, re, spect!” followed by the two “Just a little bit”’s…
There’s nothing lazy or pedestrian about this level of craftsmanship. This is top-of-the-line, expert-level work that gleams like flecks of gold in a creek bed and purrs like a pink Cadillac.
It culminates at 01:49 with one of the most iconic breakdowns in all of US music:
… followed by what may be the single greatest moment in the history of background vocals:
The fact that the “sock it to me” hook is only used once in the song puts the whole thing completely over the top. Everything after that is gravy.
There’s plenty more to love about “Respect” by Aretha Franklin, not least the way it flipped the script on Redding’s original and became a banner song for the women’s movement. (And I’d be remiss if I didn’t at least mention the hotshit sax bridge by King Curtis at 01:13.)
For all these reasons – and especially in the context of today’s politics – I think it’s a superb example of what makes for a perfect song.
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Great analysis! I found Aretha to be particularly adept as these sorts of recastings, from “Bridge Over Troubled Water” to “Spanish Harlem” to “Jumpin’ Jack Flash.” Indeed, the remake of hers that I was least impressed by — “Rolling in the Deep” — was mainly because it hewed so closely to Adele’s original that it felt like Aretha doing karaoke.
I always get the biggest kick out of seeing somebody vociferously champion a particular favorite record.
So, it was a lot of fun formatting the layout for this article, because it brought a ton of smiles throughout the process.
Terrific piece, BG. Many thanks for your contribution, and remember everybody, we’d love to hear about your choice as well.
Great post! The perfect cover is indeed a rare bird.
I think the most we should hope for is that the cover takes something familiar and makes something new; gives us a new perspective or spin on what had been established canon. In the event of such dramatic differences, we’d mostly expect a quality cover to essentially match the excellence of an original, albeit from a different angle.
And yet, I cannot deny that there are a few cover songs that overshadow their source material, with Jimi Hendrix’s take on All Along the Watchtower being the pretty much unanimously agreed upon example. Johnny Cash’s cover of Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt” may not enjoy unanimity with respect to its status as a superior version, but I think a majority of listeners think so.
I would also argue that John Cale’s plaintive cover of “Hallelujah” improves on Leonard Cohen’s song (and grew to be iconic in its own right, at least via the movie Shrek).
I recently argued that I like Bowie’s cover of the Stones’ “Let’s Spend the Night Together” more than the original, but I can agree that it’s probably just a different take that I happen to prefer. Much like (I contend) the Cowboy Junkies with “Sweet Jane,” it’s more of a niche thing than an artistic eclipse.
What about Soft Cell’s version of Gloria Jones’ “Tainted Love?” There’s no doubt that it was more popular, though that could have been the luck of circumstance. Still, there are enough new touches to make Soft Cell’s version stand out, turning an energetic soul song into something sleazier. I prefer Soft Cell’s version, but I imagine that opinion will be split, and age will no doubt be a factor in the split.
Another powerful rendition of that song is Coil’s take from 1985. This was done at the height of the AIDS scare. Coil’s second album was inspired by the band members (themselves a couple) watching their friends die from this virus that traditionalists were saying was an act of God to wipe out the gay lifestyle. Before that album came out, they released “Tainted Love,” (with Marc Almond featured in their video). Fittingly, this version was ominous and funereal, making the lyrics cuts all the deeper. I won’t say it’s the best version, but it is a brilliant and substantive reimagination of the classic work.
Some other covers I love:
I prefer the Johnny Cash version of Hurt but its one where they’re so different they don’t seem comparable. As successful as they were NIN aren’t exactly easy mass consumption listening. And when its combined with the video with the frailty of Johnny, the support of June and the juxtaposition of his younger seemingly indestructible self its powerful stuff. And then it comes with the knowledge that within a few months they’d both be dead. I’d heard the song but I only saw the video for the first time in the wake of Johnny’s death and it was a spine tingling watch. Even know I’m still moved by it.
If the topic is “covers better than the originals” I would nominate Pentatonix. They have two superpowers – their ability to arrange in a capella and slay any harmony a song requires. As examples, check out their covers of Clean Bandit’s “Rather Be” and Omi’s “Cheerleader”. The limitations of a capella required them to make slight arrangement modifications and IMO made those songs better.
Perhaps their best work though is their cover of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”. Who in their right mind would take on this classic? It’s not a song you fool with. There is a lot to deal with considering the lead vocal, multiple key changes and harmonies. It’s a beast. I’m not saying Pentatonix’s version is better. It’s not. Nothing could be but for a group to do what they did with this song – wow, just genius level stuff.
What I love about the Stevie Wonder and Aretha Franklin tracks above is they’re studiously arranged but don’t sound it. They’re loose and funky and sound spontaneous. That takes talent.
Check out Elton John’s live cover of “Honky Tonk Woman.” I can’t argue that it’s better than the Stones’ original, but Elton made it his own.
With perhaps a lesser degree of success, Leon Russell’s double-header medley of Youngblood and Jumpin’ Jack Flash, at the Concert For Bangladesh:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kBpppw1v_I
I like what EJ does with that song, and I think EJ is enjoyable to listen to (as a vocalist). I don’t feel the same about Jagger/Stones. I think you could, in fact, argue that it’s better.
Great stuff and breaks it down in a way that I’d not really considered before as to just why it works so perfectly. It takes a special talent to outdo Otis, at first when I read the assertion that she sings circles round him i thought that’s surely doing a disservice to Otis but you might just be right. Its the mark of a great cover version when the artist takes the source material and adapts it and does something different rather than doing a faithful copy which may be a case of paying your respects to the original but can also seem a cheap and easy cash in.
When the Academy Award nominations were announced, I half-expected to see Mark Romanek’s “Hurt” on the 2002 Documentary Short Subject list. It was released on DVD. I know that, because I bought it. Music video doesn’t describe “Hurt”. It’s a short film. June Carter Cash looks like a ghost. “Wildwood Flower” is great.
Cowboy Junkies’ “Sweet Jane” and the interpolation of “Blue Moon” in “Blue Moon Revisted(Song for Elvis)” are timeless. “The Trinity Sessions” is an all-time-great album title. “Misguided Angel” sounds like a standard. Margo Timmins started the trend of slowcoring rock songs. Can’t prove it. Just a suspicion. Sometimes it works: Arto Lindsay’s “Erotic City”(this is just me, I suspect most people hate this), sometimes it doesn’t: Red House Painters’ “Silly Love Songs”.
Earth Wind and Fire, in my opinion, owns “Got to Get You Into Your Life”.
“In the Junction” is all verses.
Both, this is a fantastic breakdown of an iconic cover!
I love reading all the choice covers shared below (and I have to agree with Jimi’s “All Along the Watchtower” setting the standard, but I shared over at The Number Ones my favorite cover…and Bix agreed, so I’ll have to share it here.
After I take some time, I think I might make a Top 10 list to share below as well.
https://youtu.be/vZAajrxvDs4
Cool song! I guess that’s the first time I’ve listened to St Etienne, despite seeing the name around for years. Is that representative of their sound? Trip-hoppy! I’ll post the Neil Young version, it’ll be my first time hearing that as well (I’m shockingly ambivalent about him).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=364qY0Oz-xs
Preach:
https://youtu.be/WayJNcQstXM
Great post,Both. Aretha and Stevie take the cake in remakes. But your post got me thinking about another song that’s been revised and hit the charts.
One of my favorite instrumentals during the Golden Age of instrumentals(the ’60’s) was “Soulful Strut” by the Young-Holt Trio in ’69.
Turns out it was an original song by Barbara Acklin in ’68 that hit #79 on the Billboard Top 100 and #33 on the R&B charts.
A producer removed the lyrics and had it recorded by a jazz group called the Young-Holt Trio, except Young nor Holt recorded the song (it was done by a sessions group) and it hit #3 on both the Billboard Top 100 and the R&B lists.
In ’92, Swing Out Sister released their version and it hit #1on the Billboard Contemporary Artists chart.
Then in ’96, Grover Washington released an album called “Soulful Strut” with his inimitable saxophone style and while it did chart as a solo, you can find it imitated all over Youtube by many an artist. My favorite is by an Asian group
of three young ladies who take turns whaling the heck out of the song.
Such a fun song. All the versions are pretty good but I would give the nod to Swing Out Sister. Her vocal is great and breaks up some of the repetition of the song.
Totally agree. Aretha’s “Respect” is THE Cover Song Model. Where the listener forgets its not an original song and become immersed it the power being conveyed. To have the double whammy of a Perfect Cover being a Perfect Song is quite the unicorn but man oh man is it glorious when it sticks the landing.