Bonnie Raitt: Leading off this week is a kick-ass rendition from Bonnie Raitt. Bonnie is making her first Cover Wars appearance since the 4th ever edition back in March (Angel From Montgomery). Source: Road Tested
The Bridge: One of the guys from The Bridge just couldn’t resist shouting some of the Byrne-speak in the intro to this (as heard on Stop Making Sense). Source: 10-31-2005
Dave Matthews Band: DMB added a bunch of new covers to the rotation this year, including Sledgehammer previously featured on Cover Wars. This particular performance included in the playlist is from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, the same day that Leroi Moore passed away. It is surely a concert that goes down in the history books of modern Rock & Roll. Source: 8-19-2008
Some video from The Gorge about a week later:
Gary Backstrom Band: Former Jiggle The Handle frontman delivers a strong cover here with a new band he has put together. I saw this band a few days ago, Gary still rips it up and they delivered a nice cover of Little Wing. Source: 6-14-2008
Keller Williams: Keller incorporates acoustic guitar, bass, beat-boxing and vocals into his one-man performance. There is also a keyboard-sounding instrument but it’s hard to tell if it’s a real keyboard or some type of MIDI sound controlled buy a guitar. Source: 11-4-2006
Marcus Miller: I’m not sure who consults both Marcus Miller and Phish on cover songs they should play, but it’s someone because they always show up in the same editions. An instrumental cover. Source: M2
Phish: Vernon. Downs. The. House. I’ve left the banter that follows the song on the track because it’s nice. Only time played. Source: 8-12-1998
The Radiators: This is a staple in the Radiators repertoire. When I searched the Live Music Archive for this song, The Radiators had by far the most recordings (60). Source: 7-3-2005
String Cheese Incident: This is from SCI’s first two-night stand at Radio City Music Hall in 2002. Bassist Keith Moseley moves over to keyboards for the duration of the tune. It was their first performance of the cover and was played only one more time just a few shows later. Source: 7-20-2002
Tom Jones with The Cardigans: This 1999 release is a collection of Tom Jones collaborations. In addition to this track with The Cardigans, Jones also performs with Stereophonics, Barenaked Ladies, Van Morrison and many others. Source: Reload
Music Video:
And that’s all for this week. It’s a very popular cover for rock bands, so this list certainly isn’t every cover out there. If I didn’t include your favorite version, it’s probably because I thought it sucked.
And some videos before we go. . .
From the Stop Making Sense DVD
David Byrne at the Davies Symphony Hall with the Extra Action marching band
David Byrne, Halloween 2008, Wang Center – Boston
4 Responses
I know this is a Phish Phriendly website, so I’m willing to bet they’ll get a lot of votes, but personally, I think Tom Jones did a killer reinvention of the tune. And before you cast your votes, remember how much Tom Jones did to fight the good fight against the Martians in Mars Attacks… That’s what I thought
String cheese have the keyboards down perfectly.
radiators. totally under-appreciated band. HT is right, “BDtH” (as those on the inside call it) is a Radiators staple.