Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) was first recorded by Darlene Love for the 1963 compilation A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector. Love also sang White Christmas, Marshmallow World and Winter Wonderland on that album. It has become an annual tradition at the Late Show with David Letterman for Love to perform this song around Christmas time. She has done it every year since 1986 except one year where a writer’s strike prevented it. Her 2011 appearance will be on Friday, so be sure to set the DVR. We’ll showcase a number of these performances at the conclusion of this piece.
The Contestants:
Bruce Springsteen: This performance is of Bruce Springsteen and the Max Weinberg 7 on December 7, 2003 at the Convention Hall in Asbury Park.
A song that shows up pretty high on a number of greatest songs of all time lists, I Can’t Make You Love Me was recorded in 1991 by Bonnie Raitt for the album Luck Of The Draw. HT fave Bruce Hornsby contributed piano work to the original and has covered the tune in concert. Many artists have added their own spin to I Can’t Make You Love Me over the years. I meant to cap this at ten, but somehow an eleventh snuck in. Enjoy.
The Contestants:
Artist: Adele Album: Live At The Royal Albert Hall The Skinny: 2011 has been quite the year for Adele. Her second album, 21, is enjoying major crossover success (I like it, my sister likes it, my Dad likes it), and this has drawn attention to her first album, 19, which also frequently appears in the Top 10 charts despite being released two years ago. In addition to her studio efforts, her CD/DVD release Live at the Royal Albert Hall is also a major hit. Be sure to check out her cover of Make You Feel My Love by Bob Dylan as well which is available on both 19 and the live release.
As far as this performance, it’s sung over just piano accompaniment and it is stellar.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Life During Wartime by The Talking Heads (not to be confused with the Pinhead Gunpowder punk song, or the 2009 movie from Todd Solondz) provides a view of NYC living in the late 1970′s as a metaphor for those who were living in the Big Apple during the Second World War. Lines such as “The sound of gunfire, off in the distance, I’m getting used to it now” and “I got three passports, couple of visas, don’t even know my real name” are near apocalyptic in their emotional provocations.
The refrain is catchy and memorable, sung with enthusiasm by crowds, “This ain’t no party, this ain’t no disco, this ain’t no fooling around … I ain’t got time for that now.” Seen in Stop Making Sense, the song has joggers in ’80s era wardrobe dancing behind the rubber-legged David Byrne. Life During Wartime is a powerful song and seems to bring out a strong performance from the groups that play it in concert.
The Contestants:
Artist: Widespread Panic Live Video: 7-28-2008 The Skinny: One of the more well-known covers of Life During Wartime comes from Widespread Panic, a band heavily influenced by Talking Heads. John Bell’s gritty voice, as well as the band’s rocking throughout the song, create a dance frenzy and increases the energy of the crowd when placed in the second set.
Originally published in July of 2009, we revisit the You Can’t Always Get What You Want Cover Wars with recent renditions from Umphrey’s McGee and the cast of Glee.
You Can’t Always Get What You Want is the closing track on the 1969 Rolling Stones album Let It Bleed. There are some very interesting quotes regarding the drumming on this track included in the book According to the Rolling Stones, you can see the page in question over at Google Books.
This cover comes off a 1981 Aretha Franklin album that universally gets bad to lukewarm reviews. The arrangement is very 80′s. Still, it’s worth a couple minutes to hear the Queen Of Soul sing lead on this tune.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Neil Young’s Ohio, made famous by Crosby Stills Nash & Young, is a protest song referencing the horrible events at Kent State University on May 4th, 1970 that left four dead and nine injured. Recorded just three weeks after the fact, it was pressed to single and rushed to radio stations with the B-Side Find The Cost of Freedom.
The Contestants:
Artist: Anders Osborne & Big Chief Monk Boudreaux Album: Bury the Hatchet The Skinny: HT favorite Anders Osborne leads off this week’s Cover Wars with this studio acoustic rendition and a little help form Big Chief Monk Boudreaux.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
A live electric version from Osborne and his band:
This opening track from Nirvana’s 1991 album Nevermind has spawned a whole lot of covers – many of which are instrumental, the vocal melody seems to speak to jazz piano players especially. Female vocalists also like taking a shot at this grunge classic – we round out with a few male-vox covers, a guest appearance from The Muppets and you’ve got – 10 covers of Smells Like Teen Spirit.
The Contestants:
Artist: Tori Amos Album: Crucify The Skinny: Tori Amos was one of the first major artists to record this cover back in 1992 for an EP where she also covered Led Zeppelin and The Rolling Stones. Cobain once said that this cover was, “a great breakfast cereal version”.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Though Cover Wars generally publishes on a Tuesday, it occurred to me this week that by tomorrow Halloween will be in our rearview mirror and that I really wanted to write the Spooky Cover Wars this year. As you may know, Spooky was actually written by saxophonist Mike Sharpe but it was an instrumental. It was Classics IV that penned the lyrics and as such, for the purpose of this piece, will be referenced as the original.
The Contestants:
Artist: Atlanta Rhythm Section The Skinny: Atlanta Rhythm Section features some of the original members of Classics IV, including guitarist James Cobb who is credited with co-writing the original version of Spooky with lyrics.
The premise of the song I Gotta Get Drunk by Willie Nelson has always cracked me up. The narrator laments the fact that he has to get drunk – knowing full well he is going to act like a jackass and spend a lot of money, but has to do it anyway for the amusement of others. Our protagonist also dismisses the advice of doctors telling him to cool it on his drinking citing that are more old drunks than there are old doctors. Hard to argue with that logic.
The Contestants:
Artist: Gas Huffer Live Show: Twisted Willie: A Tribute To Willie Nelson The Skinny: First up is this odd arrangement by Gas Huffer from a compilation of Willie Nelson covers that includes contributions from such artists as Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
As we celebrate five years of Hidden Track, I could think of no better selection for this week’s Cover Wars than Five Years by David Bowie from his 1972 album Ziggy Stardust. What I’ve always liked about this tune is that the listener always feels like the “Five Years” refrain should come at the end of the first verse, but it doesn’t. In case you missed it, late Sunday night we launched the redesigned Hidden Track – newer, better, wider, more social and guaranteed to make you want to listened to these five (ehh? 5?) covers or your money back.
We’ve got five years, stuck on my eyes
Five years, what a surprise
We’ve got five years, my brain hurts a lot
Five years, that’s all we’ve got
The Contestants:
Artist: Arcade Fire Live Show: .2 Contamination: a Tribute to David Bowie The Skinny: Arcade Fire contributed this cover to a 2008 David Bowie tribute album which features covers from The Dresden Dolls and many other artists. A great cover that Arcade Fire has also had the pleasure of playing with Bowie.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Whenever I tackle a song by The Beatles for Cover Wars, I like to head on over to see what Alan Pollack has to say on the song’s topic and the in-depth musical analysis he provides on his website, a must-bookmark site for any Beatles fan or musician. The absolute basics: Released on The White Album, written by George Harrison and Eric Clapton guests on lead guitar.
This Cover Wars has been a long-time coming as I have started compiling it at least once in the past but did not complete it as there is such a large number of exceptional covers of the tune. But today, I present to you these 14 covers of While My Guitar Gently Weeps.
The Contestants:
Artist: Jake Shimabukuro Album: Gently Weeps The Skinny: Leading off this week is ukelele extraordinaire Jake Shimabukuro who consistently wows audiences everywhere he plays. Shimabukuro’s cover is well known and is the inspiration for his 2006 album Gently Weeps.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
There are no shortages of live performances from Shimabukuro of this song on YouTube with multiple clips having 1,000,000+ YouTube views. This one is the most popular, shot in New York City’s Central Park:
I’ll admit it, until about two weeks ago, I thought this was a Elvis Costello original. Often times a cover can be so well known that people often mistake if for the original, but in the case of Nick Lowe’s (What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding, there is an extra wrinkle in the mix – Elvis Costello actually recorded his cover under the name of Nick Lowe & His Sound. Talk about confusing. Anyways, it’s a frequently covered song and we’ve narrowed it down to six must-hear covers this week. Have a listen and place your vote for the best at the bottom of the piece.
The Contestants:
Artist: A Perfect Circle Album: Emotive The Skinny: If you’re familiar with the band A Perfect Cirlce then this cover is going to sound exactly how you think it would – which is really quite a unique reading of the song.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
READ ON for more covers of (What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding by Nick Lowe.
That’s right, we’re going there. Today’s Cover Wars is Your Love by The Outfield. According to this manifesto there are more than 1,000 cover versions of this song, but I find that pretty hard to believe. Regardless of the amount of times it has been professionally covered, we have a great smattering of renditions for you to listen to this week. Have a listen.
The Contestants:
Artist: Bon Iver Live Show: Unknown Date The Skinny: I’ve been a fan of this cover since Bon Iver first debuted it on the road, I even tried to sneak it into Cover Wars March Madness in the play-in game, but it didn’t make the cut. What Justin Vernon has done to this song is nothing short of genius and it is criminal he hasn’t laid down this arrangement in the studio.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
A live performance that has seen 80,000+ views on YouTube:
READ ON for more covers of The Outfield’s Your Love…
This song might never have happened but for Bernie’s sighting in the quiet English countryside of either a shooting star or an airplane. He started thinking about astronauts, who were no longer heroes but incumbents in what was rapidly becoming (to him) an “everyday occupation.” These thoughts filled his mind as he drove along a dark road and the first lines of the song song came to him as if planted by some extraterrestrial force: “She packed my bags last night/pre-flight,/zero hour, nine A.M./and I’m gonna be high as a kite by then.” He rushed home to transcribe the words and, the next day, finished the lyrics, borrowing the song title from obscure number by Tom Rapp, who had, in turn, been inspired by the writings of Ray Bradbury.
We’ve got seven covers of this classic, have a listen and place your vote.
The Contestants:
Artist: David Fonesca Album: Dreams in Colour The Skinny: This uptempo version by Portuguese singer David Fonesca is sung in English with an almost comical drumbeat that switches to hand clips at the chorus. Released in 2007, Its got over the top vocal dubs and is definitely a bit cheesy, but I gotta say – I like it.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Pretty epic music video for this cover too:
READ ON for more covers of Rocket Man by Elton John…
[Originally Published: May 4, 2010] The Wicked Messenger is a track from Bob Dylan’s 1967 release John Wesley Harding. The bassline defines the music and the words are steeped in bible verse. Let’s dive right into this week’s covers because there are some really good ones.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
READ ON for the scoop on the rest of this week’s contestants…
Though often thought of a war protest song, For What It’s Worth was written by Stephen Stills in reference to the riots over curfew laws in Los Angeles. It was released on the 1967 self-titled Buffalo Springfield album. There were no shortage of covers this week and the best ones tended to lean towards the soul side of the equation – have a listen below.
The Contestants:
Artist: Cher Album: 3614 Jackson Highway The Skinny: Leading off this week, lots of layers of interesting instrumentation choices from this 1969 cover from Cher.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
READ ON for more covers of For What It’s Worth by Buffalo Springfield.
you can see the page in question over at 
