30 December 2022 - Johnny Cash - Rusty Cage

You really don't hear Chris Cornell's lyrics in the original version.   Not so much, anyway, as when Johnny Cash took the song and made it his own.  In fact, Cash so much made his song his own that Chris Cornell used Cash's mix of the song when performing the song as a solo artist.  Essentially, he was covering the cover. 

19 December 2022 - Natalie Merchant - Children Go Where I Send Thee

In 1997, A Very Special Christmas, the third album in a series supporting the Special Olympics, was released. For her entry, former 10,000 Maniacs leader Natalie Merchant chose a traditional song with a LOT of Bible references.  See if you can catch them all.  

23 August 2022 - Hole - Bittersweet

Why, yes, that IS Courtney Love singing today's Wicked Guilty Pleasure.  

Yes, that is Brad Shepherd, guitarist from the Hoodoo Gurus who performed second vocals on the original and this version.

Yes, Courtney does screw up the words in parts.   

And yes, I do like this cover even with the blown lyrics.

21 April 2022 - Tracy Bonham - 50ft. Queenie

This song, the B-side to "Mother Mother", is a really faithful PJ Harvey cover.  For those not family, PJ Harvey was something of a contemporary (and labelmate) of Tracy Bonham in the 1990s, and in that context, this cover makes sense.  

The frenzied violin in the middle is a great addition.  

This version is from the 1997 PinkPop festival in the Netherlands.

15 April 2022 - Poi Dog Pondering - I Had To Tell You

I frequently get asked what my favorite cover might be.  

It's tough to pick just one, but this cover of the 13th Floor Elevators classic by Poi Dog Pondering is high on that list.  It's a rare band that can take a song so iconic like this one and make it completely their own, making you forget exactly who originally performed the song.  And this rendition is hauntingly beautiful.

11 April 2022 - Maisy Stella - Secret | Billie Eilish - Secret

I want to start with the original recording, which was a cover of a Missy Higgins song sung by 7-year-old Maisy Stella of Whitby, Ontario.

Well, a young Billie Eilish saw that recording.... and yeah......

So, she said she did the song at a talent show herself.......  She very much did.

4 April 2022 - This Mortal Coil - Song To The Siren

This was the real song being covered on Friday.  Let's be honest.  

Elizabeth Fraser sings this Tim Buckley classic exquisitely.  

Lest you think there are studio tricks here..... nope.  Liz Fraser just OWNS this song.  It's her song now.