Something New

Been writing this column off and on for years and I always try to bring something new now and then. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.

Here is my next try:

As you all know by now, I love a good cover. Doesn’t take away from the original but it may just be better than the original. Take Rush’s version of “Mr. Soul”. Sorry, I like their version better than the original Buffalo Springfield version. Sue me, I don’t care.

Or Disturbed’s version of “The Sound of Silence”. Both versions are great.

What I am going to attempt to do is come up with great songs that have never been covered, to my knowledge, and may be impossible to cover. As I go through this list, you will see a pattern emerging.

The first song is “For the Love of Money” by The O’jays. This is a great song with an incredibly powerful message and it’s never been duplicated anywhere. Who could redo that incredible opening bassline? No one. The original number is seven minutes long and a masterpiece.

The second song is also by the O’Jays, “Back Stabbers”. Come on, “What they do”. This song is powerful and the instrumentals are incredible. Could Metallica do this? Perhaps, but no one has tried it, yet.

Perhaps one of the smoothest voices in recorded history, Al Green, has soo many great songs but I have to think that no one can duplicate “Let’s Stay Together”. It’s like honey. Through a Bruno Mars in there and see what he can do with that song.

Here’s a twist, how about “Sister Morphine” by The Rolling Stones. Do you think anyone can do the phrasing that Jagger does in this song? Doubt it. Plus, Keith Richards haunting guitarwork can’t be duplicated. It’s an odd choce, I know but I am nothing if not eclectic.

Throwing another curve ball into this concept, what about any song from the Steely Dan catalog? Can any group redo “Aja”? No. Or how about “Show Biz Kids”? Not a chance. I do think that part of the reason you never hear any covers of Steely Dan songs is because they protect their songs like no other band. I may be wrong.

A song that could be redone and probably done very well is “Telegram Sam” by T-Rex. Simple guitar riffs and catchy lyrics. What gives, why has this song never been redone? To my recollection only one T-Rex song has been redone and it was horrible.Not even sure if it is “Bang A Gong, Get it on” but Power Station ruined whatever it was. My feeling is that no one wants to attempt to try and duplicate Marc Bolan. He was one of kind.

Another song no one wants to try is “The Tighten Up” by Archie Bell and The Drells from Houston Texas. Maybe because the song is too tied to the group but come on, would that be fun? “I am Tommy Munk and The Drunks from Bayonne New Jersey and We don't only sing but we dance Just as good as we walk”.

Or how about Arthur Brown’s “Fire”? Seriously? Disturbed or Social Distortion could do this in a heartbeat. Why haven’t they?

One of my favorite songs of alltime “OOh La La” has never been redone by anyone. Such a simple song, yet it’s beautiful. I am pretty sure it’s Ron Wood on vocals and he doesn’t have anything super special about his voice, yet, no one has ever attempted it.

Here is where I could be totally wrong. The temptations have had multiple songs covered by others. Some done exceptionally well, some not. However there are several great songs that I have never heard done by anyone else. First would be “Runaway Child, Running Wild”. A 9 minute masterpiece. How could any group ever duplicate this song? They couldn’t. The next song that I have never heard done by anyone else is “Pyschedelic Shack”. It’s not that the instrumentation can’t be duplicated, it probably can but their vocals are soo spot on, no group today could do what they could do. None.

“Bad Luck” by Harold Melvin and The Bluenotes is another song that I don’t think can be duplicated by anyone. This song is complicated and simple all at once. I could listen to this one over and over and I challenge anyone to try and redo it. The version with Teddy Pendergrass is just a touch better than the original.

Speaking of Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes, try and find a group or artist that is willing to redo “The Love I Lost”. Come on now, this group was soo good, never got the credit they deserved. The longer album version is so much better than the single.

In the something more recent vein, I know a few of their songs have been covered, poorly but covered just the same, INXS from Australian has a couple of songs I have never heard by anyone. “Mystify” and “This Time”. These guys were written off as too mainstream, too much a vehicle for Mischael Hutchence. I disagree, they were pretty tight and wrote a lot of catchy songs.

Duran Duran could be put in a similar box. They have had a lot of bands cover their music but there are a couple I have never heard and may be they just aren’t that popular. However “Save A Prayer” is a beautiful song and I could imagine their are several groups who could cover it well. Also, “Girl’s on Film” could be redone by someone really creative.

The last few songs are just great songs waiting on a redo.

“Jump Into The Fire” by Nilson. “Crystal River” by Mudcrunch. “Swear” by Tim Scott. “And It Stoned Me” by Van Morrison. and lastly, “Slipping Into Darkness” by War.

Note: Yes, I know there are probably thousands of great songs lost to time. This list is just a start.