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The Uncoverable

The other day, a friend maintained he'd never heard a decent Ramones cover. I couldn't think of any off the top of my head, either. We're not talking acceptable facsimiles, we're talking better-than-the-original material. I told him I couldn't think of too many decent Stones covers, either -- although I've heard a lot, few do more than merely ape the original. Perhaps it's Keef's tunings and five-string guitar, perhaps it's the fact that most of us are not Mick Jagger... who knows, but it's a tough order to fill.

The subject, therefore, is:

Bands that have not been or cannot be covered effectively.

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Permalink Reply by Julie Jurrjens on September 3, 2012 at 5:31am

After the fact I remembered Devo's and Otis Redding's versions of "Satisfaction", both of which are exceptional, so I kinda proved myself wrong on that one, but anyway...

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Permalink Reply by Stan Schwieger on September 3, 2012 at 7:02am

The Who (original band with Moon, Entwistle, Townshend, Daltrey). No one can top their playing or singing as a group. And without Moon driving the bus, it comes off as a cover. I give you exhibit 1, and rest my case--Oasis does a nice cover of My Generation, but it is merely "nice." It does not snarl like Daltrey's stutter and Townshend's surgical riffs:

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Permalink Reply by maximum jack on September 3, 2012 at 11:50am

The Jam and the Breeders have done excellent versions of "So Sad About Us".

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Permalink Reply by Hannes A. Jonsson on December 27, 2012 at 5:44pm

So has Shaun Cassidy, my friend. Seriously. Produced by Todd Rundgren, backed by Utopia.

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Permalink Reply by Stan Schwieger on December 30, 2012 at 7:02pm

Kudos(?) for the first mention of Shaun Cassidy, and his "groundbreaking" album, Wasp on the Tribe.

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Permalink Reply by Julie Jurrjens on September 4, 2012 at 7:39am

Quasi also routinely trot out Who covers as encores in their sets, to very nice effect, and as a two-or-three-piece. I've seen them do a bunch. Janet Weiss is one of the few drummers I can think of that can bring the Moon thunder required to pull it off.

Apparently, they did a whole set on New Years Eve in their Portland hometown a few years back:

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Permalink Reply by maximum jack on September 3, 2012 at 11:53am

The Ramones is a good one. You would think given their vast catalog and penchant for catchy songs, more bands would try to cover them. Not so.

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Permalink Reply by Gail Manchester on September 3, 2012 at 2:34pm

A highly unsatisfying attempt at LZ. Interesting note in my search it appears Led Zep have covered quite an array of artists. Lots of blues, Howling Wolf, Bo Diddley, Muddy Waters and Joni Mitchell it does not appear that too many "known " artists attempted to cover them.

another non satisfying attempt Joan Baez, covering Babe I'm gonna Leave you..leaves me annoyed.

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Permalink Reply by Stan Schwieger on September 3, 2012 at 3:54pm

I was thinking that the Thunder of the Gods, aka Zep, could not be "effectively covered." However, I think that Dread Zeppelin does the impossible--combining a concept band and doing really great covers of Plant/Page: