Baba O’Riley is the first track on the 1971 album Who’s Next by legendary British rockers The Who. Did you know that the song’s title is a reference to both Meher Baba and Terry Riley? I did not until today.

Cover Wars

I don’t know about you, but when writing this I kept having memories of a scene in Freaks and Geeks when Seth Rogan’s character scolds Lindsay Weir for referring to this song as Teenage Wasteland. I would wager a number of our readers have had a similar experience.

The Contestants:

Acoustic Syndicate: Leading off this week is this great band formed in 1992 from North Carolina. They disappeared for a little while, but Acoustic Syndicate is back and have two shows scheduled in NC the weekend of Thanksgiving. Source: 5-29-2005

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.

Video from Asheville 2007:

READ ON for the scoop on the rest of this week’s contestants…

Blue Man Group: Keeping things good and diverse this week, we’ve got the Blue Man Group who performed Baba O’Riley in one of their touring productions. As one comes to expect, there is some pretty cool tubular-drum-work going on here.

Grateful Dead: The Dead played this cover 12 times and every single time it segued into Tomorrow Never Knows. Vince Welnick handled the duties of lead vocals. Source: 3-21-1993

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.

Pearl Jam: Pearl Jam has played Baba O’Riley over 100 times dating back to January of 1992. This is the second time they appear in a Cover Wars for a song by The Who, Pearl Jam was featured in The Seeker Cover Wars. Source: 10-09-2000

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.

Chile 2005, faster tempo:

Seth Yacovone Band: This track comes off an action-packed show from the Seth Yac Band from the old Higher Ground in Winooski. An inspired performance all around. Source: 5-3-2002

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.

Umphrey’s McGee: After debuting the song in full at their infamous Halloween 2004 show, UM kept this cover in heavy rotation playing it ten times in 2005. In the following years it became more sparse and was not played once in 2008. It has been played twice this year, most recently at Summercamp with Alie Kral of Cornmeal on fiddle (see videos below). Lead singer Brendan Bayliss is particularly fond of shouting, “You’re all fucked up” instead of the original “They’re all wasted” lyric. Source: 2-25-2005

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.

Checking in on last week’s Oh! Sweet Nuthin’ Cover Wars, The Phish From Vermont have emerged victorious once again.