Favorite Cover Version of a Song Thread

[AZ Native]

This whole thread could be dedicated to Linda Ronstadt. Almost all of her songs were covers and almost all were better than the originals. A voice gone too soon. Plus she was kind of cute.

 

[SECTION 11]

Tainted Love. The original is awesome.

 

[puckhead]

Tainted Love. The original is awesome.

You really can't go wrong!

xc_hide_links_from_guests_guests_error_hide_media

xc_hide_links_from_guests_guests_error_hide_media

xc_hide_links_from_guests_guests_error_hide_media

 

[AzStevenCal]

Here's another cover he does. I love Bonnie Raitt's version but I also love this one.

xc_hide_links_from_guests_guests_error_hide_media

Yeah, that's a nice cover of a great cover by Bonnie Raitt. The original version was on John Prine's first album which, as I recall, was the last album I bought before joining the army in 72. Bonnie did it a few years later and then she and Prine did a nice live version together - maybe (?) during the classic tribute double album to Steve Goodman.

 

[AzStevenCal]

This whole thread could be dedicated to Linda Ronstadt. Almost all of her song were covers and almost all were better than the originals. A voice gone too soon. Plus she was kind of cute.

My wife is a huge Ronstadt fan but for my money, I'd go with Johnny Rivers as my favorite cover artist. The Michael Nesmith penned Different Drum is an all time great song but most everything else she did just fell in the "quite pleasant" category for me, like a female Tom Jones. And I'd have to say you're underselling when you say she was "kind of cute", I always thought she was incredibly beautiful.

 

[cardncubfan]

xc_hide_links_from_guests_guests_error_hide_media

 

[AZ Native]

My wife is a huge Ronstadt fan but for my money, I'd go with Johnny Rivers as my favorite cover artist. The Michael Nesmith penned Different Drum is an all time great song but most everything else she did just fell in the "quite pleasant" category for me, like a female Tom Jones. And I'd have to say you're underselling when you say she was "kind of cute", I always thought she was incredibly beautiful.

Have you seen "The Sound of My Voice"? I thought it was incredible.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Have you seen "The Sound of My Voice"? I thought it was incredible.

No, I wasn't at all familiar with it until I just read about it after your post. It sounds very interesting, I'm sure my wife will want to see it too. So, after reading about the documentary and a few write-ups on her, I'm confused - does she have Parkinson's AND a form of Palsy or was she originally mis-diagnosed?

 

[AZ Native]

No, I wasn't at all familiar with it until I just read about it after your post. It sounds very interesting, I'm sure my wife will want to see it too. So, after reading about the documentary and a few write-ups on her, I'm confused - does she have Parkinson's AND a form of Palsy or was she originally mis-diagnosed?

I found this on multiple sites:

"Ronstadt, now 73, prematurely retired from her decades-long singing career due to a rare condition called progressive supranuclear palsy, which is similar to Parkinson's disease and has no known cure. "I was expecting [the doctor] was going to say I had a pinched nerve and they could fix it. And he said, 'Well, I think you might have Parkinson's disease,' and I was totally shocked. It took him about a year after that to come to the diagnosis and then took a little bit longer to come to supranuclear palsy," Ronstadt said."

So it appears to be Palsy. Let me know what you think about the documentary.

 

[puckhead]

Have you seen "The Sound of My Voice"? I thought it was incredible.

This looks great. Thanks for the tip!

 

[devilalum]

xc_hide_links_from_guests_guests_error_hide_media

Listen to the Jack White version.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[cardncubfan]

Listen to the Jack White version.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have. I love the White Stripes.

 

[AZ Native]

My wife is a huge Ronstadt fan but for my money, I'd go with Johnny Rivers as my favorite cover artist. The Michael Nesmith penned Different Drum is an all time great song but most everything else she did just fell in the "quite pleasant" category for me, like a female Tom Jones. And I'd have to say you're underselling when you say she was "kind of cute", I always thought she was incredibly beautiful.

OK, I have kept quiet on your female Tom Jones quote. Really? Linda makes Jones look like an America's Got Talent contestant or a lounge singer. She sang rock, pop, opera, mexican, county, western, 1940's,1950's like no one before her or after her. TJ was FS without the talent. Just watch the doc on her an hopefully you will see. And yes, I adore her.

 

[AzStevenCal]

OK, I have kept quiet on your female Tom Jones quote. Really? Linda makes Jones look like an America's Got Talent contestant or a lounge singer. She sang rock, pop, opera, mexican, county, western, 1940's,1950's like no one before her or after her. TJ was FS without the talent. Just watch the doc on her an hopefully you will see. And yes, I adore her.

I wasn't trying to say she was just a female Tom Jones but I'd also suggest that I think much higher of Tom than you must if you'd consider that comparison an insult. I don't even know what to say about your "talentless Frank Sinatra jab", it would never cross my mind to call Jones or Ronstadt anything but supremely talented. I chose Tom because like Linda, he excelled with various styles. From his Wiki page; he had success in Pop, R&B, Show Tunes, Country, Dance, Soul and Gospel.

Anyway, my point was that her music isn't really my type and no matter what kind of music she was doing, I always heard Ronstadt. I enjoy a lot of what she does, I just don't love a lot of it. I feel the same way about Tom. They each have a few songs I love but neither of them would make my top 100 artists list (not even close) although if someone asked my opinion for 20 greatest female vocalists, she'd easily be there. I love a lot of female artists from Jo Stafford to Billie Eilish and a lot of singers in between; Linda's music just doesn't make my short list. Different tastes is all, it's not a critique of her talent.

 

[AZ Native]

I wasn't trying to say she was just a female Tom Jones but I'd also suggest that I think much higher of Tom than you must if you'd consider that comparison an insult. I don't even know what to say about your "talentless Frank Sinatra jab", it would never cross my mind to call Jones or Ronstadt anything but supremely talented. I chose Tom because like Linda, he excelled with various styles. From his Wiki page; he had success in Pop, R&B, Show Tunes, Country, Dance, Soul and Gospel.

Anyway, my point was that her music isn't really my type and no matter what kind of music she was doing, I always heard Ronstadt. I enjoy a lot of what she does, I just don't love a lot of it. I feel the same way about Tom. They each have a few songs I love but neither of them would make my top 100 artists list (not even close) although if someone asked my opinion for 20 greatest female vocalists, she'd easily be there. I love a lot of female artists from Jo Stafford to Billie Eilish and a lot of singers in between; Linda's music just doesn't make my short list. Different tastes is all, it's not a critique of her talent.

Linda not in the top 100? WOW. My jab was at TJ, not FS, I said TJ was FS without the talent. Linda is my favorite female artist of all time due to her vast range and work (I do not consider Wiki, just what I hear). I really value your opinions, especially on movies, but for music, which I have always loved listening, playing and singing, it looks like we have to agree to disagree. Linda is one of a kind. And she is kind of cute, but that is not why I like her.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Linda not in the top 100? WOW. My jab was at TJ, not FS, I said TJ was FS without the talent. Linda is my favorite female artist of all time due to her vast range and work (I do not consider Wiki, just what I hear). I really value your opinions, especially on movies, but for music, which I have always loved listening, playing and singing, it looks like we have to agree to disagree. Linda is one of a kind. And she is kind of cute, but that is not why I like her.

Like I said earlier, she was more than "kind of cute" IMO, she was absolutely gorgeous. And I knew what you were saying about Tom Jones, that was me defending him. I just think you're selling him awfully short if you think he's a talentless version of Frank Sinatra.

I have no musical ability at all and I know nothing about the technical side, the academic side. But I've been a huge fan of popular music since before I started kindergarten. I listen to music several hours a day and my favorite playlist has more than 6,000 songs in it. And I do like Linda Ronstadt. But yeah, I can think of at least a hundred artists I like more than her.

I haven't made a list but I suspect there are more than a hundred female singers alone whose music I'd rather listen to. So, you're right, we'll have to agree to disagree. Except, not really, because neither of us is wrong. It's all personal taste. And it's not like I don't love her voice, I think it's incredible. It's more her style that fails to capture my interest. My wife feels the same way about Linda's music as you do and I love my wife even more today than I did when we first met and married almost 47 years ago. So I'm sure the two of us can survive the difference of opinion here.

 

[MrYeahBut]

xc_hide_links_from_guests_guests_error_hide_media

 

[AzStevenCal]

xc_hide_links_from_guests_guests_error_hide_media

I've heard it covered by many other artists but this is a great version, thanks for posting it. I always think that Jesse Colin Young is one of the more under-appreciated artists of that period.

 

[MrYeahBut]

Regardless of the Ronstadt debate, I grew up on this and it's my favorite.

xc_hide_links_from_guests_guests_error_hide_media

 

[AzStevenCal]

Regardless of the Ronstadt debate, I grew up on this and it's my favorite.

Sure but I can't fault Linda's cover of this song, it was also excellent. But my favorite cover of an Orbison hit would be Don McLean's version of Crying. Anyway, Roy left us far too young, just at the beginning of what promised to be a very successful comeback. I doubt there is a Roy Orbison fan that hasn't seen or listened to his Black & White Night Live show but if there is, I would highly recommend it.

 

[MrYeahBut]

@AzStevenCal Not sure you'd be old enough to have heard the original on this one.

xc_hide_links_from_guests_guests_error_hide_media

 

[AzStevenCal]

@AzStevenCal Not sure you'd be old enough to have heard the original on this one.

xc_hide_links_from_guests_guests_error_hide_media

Well, my favorite era of music is mid-60's followed by Doo ***, so yeah, I'm old enough to know it. But I didn't realize it was a Joni Mitchell song and I don't believe I've ever heard it on the radio. My wife, though, had it on a Bette Midler 8 track in the early 70's so I heard that version often.

 

[MrYeahBut]

Well, my favorite era of music is mid-60's followed by Doo ***, so yeah, I'm old enough to know it. But I didn't realize it was a Joni Mitchell song and I don't believe I've ever heard it on the radio. My wife, though, had it on a Bette Midler 8 track in the early 70's so I heard that version often.

Pretty sure this is the original.. Recorded in penthouse of Playboy club in Chicago 1959. Count Basie tickling the ivories. Snap your fingers as the cool cats did back then.

xc_hide_links_from_guests_guests_error_hide_media

 

[AzStevenCal]

Pretty sure this is the original.. Recorded in penthouse of Playboy club in Chicago 1959. Count Basie tickling the ivories. Snap your fingers as the cool cats did back then.

xc_hide_links_from_guests_guests_error_hide_media

Interesting and it makes the "I might be too young to remember" comment make sense. I had googled the Joni Mitchell version and it showed her as the songwriter which surprised me because her version came out after the one we had by Bette Midler. I know the cover version occasionally comes out before the original artist but it's not common. Anyway, I wasn't really impressed by Joni's version, to me it's far inferior to Bette Midler's. But after hearing the actual original here, I'd say it's clear Bette paid homage to this one.

 

[MrYeahBut]

I've probably bored the younger members here to tears with this stuff