Music Cover songs versus the original track, which ones are better?

[robphy]

Stevie Ray Vaughan's Scuttle Buttin' (start at 1m10s):

covers by kids

(2020) Jasmine Star- Scuttle Buttin' (Stevie Ray Vaughan) (about 17 years old).



(2019) Scuttle Buttin - Stevie Ray Vaughan - Guitar Cover - Federica Golisano 15 Years OLD. (Italy.)
(solo &t=56s )



(2023) Scuttle Buttin' (Extended) by Melis Ogut (15 years old. Turkey.)
(solo &t=35s ) 6m48s





(2023) Scuttle buttin - Stevie ray Vaughan - Guitar by Evlee (Evlee is 15 years old. China.)
(solo &t=40s shreds with pitch harmonics )



earlier posts of covers of Scuttle Buttin

• #553 (posted by @Hornbein) Scuttle Buttin' (Stevie Ray Vaughan) - IREE from Rolling Quartz @ 2nd Solo Concert 2022 DEC 10
• #556 (posted by me) ASTERISM 『Scuttle Buttin』（Stevie Ray Vaughan cover）2019/03/30
  (Hal-Ca is 16 years old.)

 

[jack action]

Doesn't she seem like the nicest person in the world?

Have you noticed that some lyrics are in English?

At 1:01 and 3:31, she really says:

Looking!
The blitz loop this planet to search way
Only my RAILGUN can shoot it

At 2:02, she really says:

Sparkling!
The shiny light true desire
Only my RAILGUN can shoot it

I could have never noticed without the lyrics.

 

[Hornbein]

Have you noticed that some lyrics are in English?

At 1:01 and 3:31, she really says:

Looking!
The blitz loop this planet to search way
Only my RAILGUN can shoot it

At 2:02, she really says:

Sparkling!
The shiny light true desire
Only my RAILGUN can shoot it

I could have never noticed without the lyrics.

Mixing in some English is common in J music. It is also common that I don't recognize it as English without the subtitles. Some bands even have their names in English, such as Bandmaid. Japanese words all end with either an s or a vowel so it's pronounced Banda-maido. One hears of "jazzu", at the supermarket you get a "receipto" and so forth. Oh and that pun is deliberate. Japanese is so ambiguous that punning is a national pastime. It's possible to speak a sentence that has hundreds of meanings.

In east Asia book titles are often in English even though the text is in the native language. That baffles me. The most extreme example might be Thailand. That's really the name of the country. Though it isn't English. It's German. The name changed from Siam when their model was Nazi Germany.

 

[robphy]

(1981) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don't_Stop_Believin'
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journey_(band)

(2010) Journey - Don't Stop Believin' (Live 1981: Escape Tour - 2022 HD Remaster) (with Steve Perry)

(2016) Journey - Don't Stop Believin' (Live 2009) [Official Video] (with Arnel Pineda)

• Journey's Steve Perry at Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 2017
  - Journey's Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Acceptance Speeches | 2017 Induction
• Journey - "Don't Stop Believin'" | 2017 Induction
• ( fan-made video : Battle of the Journey Lead Singers
  - "Steve Perry, Steve Augeri, Jeff Scott Soto and Arnel Pineda perform Don't Stop Believin'" )
• What Makes This Song Great? "Don't Stop Believin'" JOURNEY - Rick Beato

---

(2024) Don't Stop Believin' by JOURNEY | Missioned Souls family band (studio) cover


(2018) Don't Stop Believin' - Journey; By The Iron Cross and friends


(2024) Don't Stop Believin' - Live Recording, Gold Coast, Australia - Elevation Live Band - nice vocals


(2017) Don't Stop Believin' - Journey (ONE TAKE Vintage Postmodern Jukebox Cover) - my favorite cover of this song

- PMJ Pop-Up: Don't Stop Believin' - Journey (Cover) ft. Rayvon Owen, Thia Megia & More (annotated with info)

Honorable mentions

• Don't Stop Believin' (Journey) — Trad Jazz Cover by Robyn Adele Anderson
• Don't Stop Believin' - Simply Three & Brooklyn Duo (Journey cover)- instrumental with strings
• Don't Stop Believin' Journey (Piano Shopping Mall) - Glaucio Cristelo (Piano Rock)
• The Grand Jam - Don't stop believin' - Journey- performed by hundreds of musicians at The Grand Jam on July 29th, 2023 in Frankfurt, Germany.
• Peter and His Heckler - "Don't Stop Believin'" (with Will Ferrell) - The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon - comedy

 

[robphy]

(from #1,601)
Stevie Ray Vaughan's Scuttle Buttin' (start at 1m10s):

covers by kids

one more cover ... this one not-by-a-kid

(2016) Igor Paspalj - Scuttle Buttin - Steve Ray Vaughan cover


I think Evlee in #1,601 (and in #30 and #34 from the Talent Worthy of Wider Recognition thread) is heavily influenced by this guitarist.

 

[jack action]

(1981) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don't_Stop_Believin'
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journey_(band)

I don't know if it counts as a cover, but when I listen to this song, all I can think about is the Journey Escape game from ATARI 2600 that I used to have! Here is a review (with the song at the beginning).

 

[morrobay]

What A Voice

 

[morrobay]

 

[Arjan82]

French, ok, but it hits me like a bomb...

 

[pinball1970]

I have always liked Satsuma3042's videos showing how to play songs by Van Halen, Yngwie Malmsteen, etc...
usually filmed in his restaurant.

Here's a recent video:
(2024) VAN HALEN TRIBUTE BAND from Japan / PON HALEN feat SATSUMA3042
Panama, Running With The Devil, ...


(2011) Mean Street/VAN HALEN ( SATSUMA3042 )


and my current favorite song
(2021) Ozzy Osbourne - Over the mountain / YOYOKA's 12th Birthday Session (with SATSUMA3042 )


(older references to SATSUMA3042 in this thread)

We do "over the Mountain" in our tribute. That is a good version. How can the drummer hold the sticks like that but play so well?

And it's a kid!

 

[robphy]

(These links don’t seem to work on my phone…. On a phone, choose the desktop version…. For the first URL, it should point to the 9th entry on the playlist.)

(2016) Igor Paspalj - Legato Etude from Hell
https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1h5411N7qx/?p=9

- https://forum.fractalaudio.com/threads/legato-etude-from-hell.115107/ (link to now-private video)

Igor Paspalj - Legato Etude from Hell (Slow Version)
https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Ku4y1X7xa/

• for more, see #35 in Talent Worthy of Wider Recognition

---

(2022) Legato Etude from Hell - Igor Paspalj - Cover by Evlee ( https://www.youtube.com/@Evlee. - trailing period in this URL is important)

• for more, see #30 in Talent Worthy of Wider Recognition

 

[pinball1970]

They did not change the gender?

 

[jack action]

French, ok, but it hits me like a bomb...

Lara's voice is hard to beat:

​

Speaking of Lara Fabian, she did a cover of Je suis malade de Serge Lama, also sung by Dalida.

THIS is the cover of covers. You can close this thread afterward. Fair warning: Every reaction video concerning this interpretation leaves most professional analysts speechless, with goosebumps, or even in tears. You've been warned if you don't get your tissue before listening.

​

OK, one more for the lovers of "Je t'aime" songs.

This is a cover of Que je t'aime, first sung by Johnny Hallyday, by a local artist, Sylvain Cossette:

​

 

[Arjan82]

THIS is the cover of covers. You can close this thread afterward. Fair warning: Every reaction video concerning this interpretation leaves most professional analysts speechless, with goosebumps, or even in tears. You've been warned if you don't get your tissue before listening.

​

Actually I agree with this. I know this cover well, the first (and second and possibly third) time I heard this I was blown away...

 

[Hornbein]

 

[Hornbein]

 

[Hornbein]

 

[robphy]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cult_of_Personality_(song) (1988)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Living_Colour

(2009) Living Colour - Cult Of Personality (Official Video)

- acoustic Corey Glover Cult of personality "(2022) Corey Glover at Mattingly’s Tavern in Florida NY 1/14/22" (great vocals and great acoustic guitar)
- (1989) Living Colour performing "Cult Of Personality" on Arsenio

---

(2023) School of Rock students perform "Cult Of Personality" by Living Colour



(2014) Cult Of Personality - Living Colour Acoustic Live Dustin Prinz



(2017) Cult of Personality | ‪@LivingColour‬ cover | ft. Mazz Swift - (Brass Against) - with electric violin



(2018) Cult Of Personality-Jesse Kinch(Living Colour Cover)-Live In Nashville 2018

 

[Hornbein]

Orig by Edie Brickell. With a cameo by Barry White.





This is in Jakarta. Three of them have Balinese names. Dang that sax player is good.

 

[Hornbein]

Sammy Hagar covering Good Times Bad Times

 

[Hornbein]

Orig. I think that drumming is terrific. I don't know why Alex doesn't get on those lists of best rock drummers. He's #51 on the Rolling Stone list. Too late to the party I guess. He wasn't special in his early days and first impressions are lasting.



Cover. Much lower in pitch.

 

[Hornbein]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashmir_(song)

Kevin Gilbert would have made it to stardom but he died young.



This song was rejected for a Led Zeppelin tribute album (!). He released it to a local radio station. Listeners called in and said I gotta hear that again. The good old days.

 

[Hornbein]

 

[robphy]

Sammy Hagar covering Good Times Bad Times

Here's the video that got Yoyoka ( https://www.youtube.com/@yoyoka_soma , https://vimeo.com/yoyoka ) noticed—-it was for a drumming contest.

https://www.moderndrummer.com/2021/...-contestant-2021-jr-global-ambassador-4-4-21/

In 2018, at the age of 8, she became the youngest weekly champion in the under-18 category of the Hit Like A Girl Contest.

(2018) Good Times Bad Times - LED ZEPPELIN / Cover by Yoyoka , 8 year old drummer

- Robert Plant reacts to 8-year-old girl playing Led Zeppelin on drums

 

[robphy]

"Desert Song" (Schenker & Bonnet) from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assault_Attack (1982)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Schenker_Group
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham_Bonnet

Although recorded in 1982 ( Desert Song - studio version, 2009 remaster ) ,
Schenker and Bonnet didn't perform it on stage until 2015 (according to this video from Osaka 2015 posted by Bonnet). The next video has the best quality on stage

(2018) "Desert Song" Michael Schenker Fest@TLA Philadelphia 3/11/18 - (Schenker is 63 and Graham is 70)


Here is the earliest version I could find for
"Desert Song" on stage with Bonnet (1984, with 20-year-old Yngwie in Alcatrazz)

---

(2022) Desert Song / Michael Schenker Group / M.S.G. /マイケルシェンカー / Graham Bonnet / グラハムボネット 【歌ってみた】【叩いてみた】 - 木村"HIRO"洋幸 HIRO KIMURA


(2022) Desert Song - MSG Cover by Taz Taylor Band


Here is Graham at 75.
GRAHAM BONNET - "Desert Song" Token Lounge Westland Michigan June 16, 2023


Honorable mention:
- (2017) 직장인밴드 Michael Schenker Group - Desert Song [cover by Renegade Band]

 

[Hornbein]

Emmylou Harris. From a great album, At The Ryman. It may have saved that venue.



"We'll make the dream a reality. Because our hearts tell us so." -- Stevie Wonder

 

[Hornbein]

I saw Yuki in a Nagoya club that was so small it held only about 25 people standing. No tables or chairs. This isn't unusual. Also in Tokyo in a club with 100 standing people tightly packed together. I can attest that Yuki can play like that in real life.

Here's the orig.

 

[Hornbein]

Sebonzakura. This is a song that everyone in Japan knows. I think of it as the unofficial national anthem of Japan. The real anthem is dirgelike and gloomy.

Cover by a string quartet.



Here's the original.

 

[Hornbein]

Orig by Little Richard. Wow! How can music like this be forgotten?



Cover of Frank Zappa/Sugarcane Harris's cover

 

[Hornbein]

Original by Steely Dan.



Donald Fagen was first employed on Tin Pan Alley, the center of commercial music in New York City. Does such a center still exist?

Cover by two guitars.



Mononeon brings da funk.

 

[Hornbein]

Has the world ever been gifted with a greater work of genius than the Nutcracker Suite? I think not. In general the turn of the century Russian composers dominated. Maybe if it weren't for politics they would be even more famous than they are.

 

[Hornbein]

Orig of Time Is On My Side



Cover. When bands were still wearing suit and tie.

 

[pinball1970]

Original by Steely Dan.



Donald Fagen was first employed on Tin Pan Alley, the center of commercial music in New York City. Does such a center still exist?

Cover by two guitars.



Mononeon brings da funk.

The bass guy?? He is playing a right handed 5 string upside down? EDIT: With a sock on his neck. That rings a bell.

 

[pinball1970]

Original by Steely Dan.



Donald Fagen was first employed on Tin Pan Alley, the center of commercial music in New York City. Does such a center still exist?

Cover by two guitars.



Mononeon brings da funk.

The kid on the acoustic doesn't need that bass, it's good enough on its own.

 

[jack action]

Orig of Time Is On My Side

Apparently, this is the original version:

​

It comes with a nice little story:

Dionne Warwick, Dee Dee Warwick & Cissy Houston combined for the vocal on this original (largely wordless) version of the song, top-credited to jazz-pop trombonist Winding, former player in the Benny Goodman and Stan Kenton bands who had released the hit instrumental “More” earlier in 1963 and was best-remembered in some jazz circles for his trombone duet recordings with J. J. Johnson. Jimmy Norman later wrote the additional lyrics that were included on the subsequent releases by Irma Thomas and The Rolling Stones.

 

[Hornbein]

The kid on the acoustic doesn't need that bass, it's good enough on its own.

It's possible that it's automated to double the guitar part. I saw Steve Morse do that on stage 40 years ago.

I'd guess not though.

 

[pinball1970]

It's possible that it's automated to double the guitar part. I saw Steve Morse do that on stage 40 years ago.

I'd guess not though.

Think I saw him with Garth Rocket and the Moonshiners. 89ish

 

[Hornbein]

Dang that guy can sing. Japanese men have an advantage in rock singing because their voices tend to be high.



Not a cover but I like this guy too. Even higher. And the guitarists are great. Too bad they couldn't make it far enough.



Nothing else quite like a pink Marshall stack.

 

[Hornbein]

They did not change the gender?

They did. Changed boy to girl, him to her. She won't accept her inamorato messing around with other women.

Did you know Diana Ross dated Gene Simmons?

 

[Hornbein]

Orig [Detroit]



Cover [LA]



Diana gets me vote.

 

[pinball1970]

They did. Changed boy to girl, him to her. She won't accept her inamorato messing around with other women.

Did you know Diana Ross dated Gene Simmons?

Whoops got my genders/relationships mixed up, easy to do.

Gene Simons? I would not have put them two together.

 

[pinball1970]

Orig [Detroit]



Cover [LA]



Diana gets me vote.

Beatles

 

[pinball1970]

Beatles

It always throws me when Paul is doing the low harmony as he tends to sound like John, a little droney and nasal. In fact they all have that which is why they were so unique as a unit, they sounded like one voice at times.
Low harmony from Paul, this, Get back and dirty Maggie and parts of dont let me down (I think) Not many.

 

[jack action]

Gene Simons? I would not have put them two together.

Is it that hard to imagine?

​

Maybe it is easier to imagine him with Cher:

 

[Hornbein]

Boney M -- Rasputin



Cover by Aurora

 

[robphy]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Diver (1983)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dio_(band)

(1984) Dio • “Holy Diver” • 1984 [Reelin' In The Years Archive]

- Dio-Holy Diver(Jazzy Version) [Andy Rehfeldt's Variety Show] - top comment: "Smooth Diver"

---

(2019) Liliac - Holy Diver

- Holy Diver - Liliac (Official Cover Music Video)

(2009) Killswitch Engage - Holy Diver [OFFICIAL VIDEO] - 46M views


(2021) Holy Diver (acoustic cover by Sandra Szabo and Sonia Anubis) -- really good vocals


(2014) Holy Diver by Steve'n'Seagulls (LIVE) -- unique interpretation


(2024) Primus - Holy Diver live with Puddles Pity Party (Dio cover) 8-10-24 Big Flats, NY

- Puddles Pity Party - Holy Diver - Dio - Mellow Metal Style

---

Honorable mention

• (2023) Paul Gilbert — “Holy Diver” | Live at Sweetwater
• (2010) Jack Black sings | Holy Diver | Late Night With Jimmy Fallon
• (2021) Holy Diver (Dio); By The Iron Cross
• (2019) BURNING WITCHES - "Holy Diver"

 

[Hornbein]

Wanda Jackson, Fujiyama Mama



To my surprise there are dozens of covers of this, including by The Clash(!). I'm not willing to listen to those but this one by the Yellow Magic Band in 1978 must be hard to beat. It's a little known fact that along with Kraftwerk they invented techno.



Hmmm, I recognize that artist's style. He did the cover for the J version of Miles Davis' Agharta. It's Tadanori Yokoo.

 

[Hornbein]

Skip ahead to 0:29.



Did Simon add that new verse? It's great. And it's nice to see Mark Zuckerberg has chosen to make an honest living for a change.

Same for Jay Bhattacharya.

​

 

[robphy]

( continuing with covers of Michael Schenker )
Captain Nemo (1983)
from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Built_to_Destroy_(Michael_Schenker_Group_album)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Schenker_Group

MSG - 01 - Captain Nemo [Hammersmith '83]

---

Captain Nemo-Michael Schenker by Minerva Pla
- has other covers of Michael Schenker


Haruka Kageyama - Captain Nemo [MSG]


どえらいうまいCAPTAIN NEMO☆稲ちゃん♪ (a friend of SATSUMA3042)

- SATSUMA304's CAPTAIN NEMO☆マイケルシェンカーグループ

Captain Nemo - Michael Schenker cover by Xavier ( Xavi Martinez ) - backing track and lead
- has other covers of Michael Schenker



Captain Nemo Megumi♡Kei - very nice duet with an Electric Violin and a wind synthesizer EWI

---

Honorable mention:

• Captain Nemo / Michael Schenker Group【guitar cover】by 美弦-まだ見たことのないセカイ【MADASEKA】 - has other covers of Michael Schenker
• Captain Nemo / Michael Schenker　ギター　タブ譜　弾いてみた　大隈秀徳　Hide Okuma　Guitar　tab　くまT　レインボーミュージック
• Michael Schenker - Captain Nemo by Kelly SIMONZ

 

[sbrothy]

Nevermore - Sound of Silence

I think we all know the original.