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| From | "Sager, Greg" <greg.sager@bankofamerica.com> |
| Subject | Re: Covers |
| Date | Fri, 27 Apr 2007 14:05:40 -0500 |
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Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2007 23:32:52 EDT
From: CCDatsMe@aol.com
To: audities@smoe.org
Subject: Re: Covers
Message-ID: <c4d.135f0f5f.3362c8e4@aol.com>
In a message dated 4/26/07 9:19:19 PM, mrudnick@marturo.com writes:
> Is this the "best cover version of all time" contest? I submit "All
> Along The Watchtower" by Jimi Hendrix. I think I win.
>
"Do You Wanna Dance" by The Ramones. Honorable mention to "Sugar Sugar" by
Wilson Pickett.
<<
This thread actually commenced as a discussion of the "best cover version of all time to reach the American Top 40", which is why the first three suggestions were "The Loco-Motion" by Grand Funk, "You Really Got Me" by Van Halen, and "All Along The Watchtower" by Jimi Hendrix. The Ramones and Wilson Pickett obviously didn't qualify with their covers.
Really, if we wanted to nominate candidates for "best cover of all time", chart placement or even singles status be damned, it's a thread that could go on forever. There's just too many of them out there, and each of us would probably be remembering others weeks after we'd thought of what we considered the definitive answer.
I've always maintained that the true test of a great cover version lies in: a) whether it achieves equal or better artistic (as opposed to commercial) success than the original; and b) whether it breaks new ground in terms of style, approach, and arrangement rather than simply being a slavish imitation of the original.
Greg Sager
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