There’s nothing at all wrong with doing a cover, except when someone makes a career out of it. Up until the Beatles and Buddy Holly, everyone did covers, it’s what Tin Pan Alley and the Brill Building were all about; Goffin and King, Holland Dozier Holland, etc. Dusty Springfield, Tom Jones, Shirley Bassey, all did cover versions. Anyone like to call them second rate Karaoke singers? A good songwriter will think nothing of doing covers of another good songwriter’s work. Shawn Colvin, a multi-Grammy winning singer/songwriter, released an album, her second, called Cover Girl, with songs by the likes of Talking Heads and Mary Chapin Carpenter. She also regularly does live covers, like Gnarls Berkeley’s Crazy, when I saw her in London a couple of years or so ago, before anyone else covered it. Breathtaking version, it showed how good that song actually is. Tori Amos made a habit of releasing limited edition versions of her singles with three extra cover versions, and everyone was excellent:
A Case Of You (Joni Mitchell)
Strange Fruit (Billy Holiday)
If 6 Was 9 (Jimi Hendrix)
Angie (Rolling Stones)
Smells Like Teen Spirit (Nirvana)
Thank You (Led Zeppelin)
That’s What I Like Mick (Chas and Dave)
And no, I didn’t make the last one up.
I absolutely love it when someone puts their spin on a great song by another good songwriter, it’s showing appreciation for another artists work. And it earns them some money, something the karaoke crowd forget.
The guy who wrote Somethin’ Stupid never had to work again. Gerry Rafferty earns £80k/year just from Baker Street!
