Cover Wars: Ain’t No Sunshine Edition

This instrumental cover from the 1987 Fareed Haque album Manresa will not be the last you see of Fareed in this Cover Wars.

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In her first of many sit-ins with Umphrey’s McGee over the years, Jennifer Hartswick performed this cover on 9-11-2005 at the Higher Ground in Vermont.

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I unearthed this video off of an old computer of mine last night as I was writing this:

Hate the hits of John Mayer all you want. That I’ll give you. But the man is talented and he delivers a great cover here. Source: 3-17-2010

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I’m not sure this performance by Kenny Rogers during A&E Live really requires any additional description.

Ladysmith Black Mambazo, most famous for their appearance on Paul Simon’s Graceland, performs not fully a capella here but with a little help from a backing band.

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Michael Jackson was 13 years old when his debut solo album Got To Be There was released. And it’s incredible.

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Papa Mali contributes a slightly dubbed out cover here that my friend Hedgehog aptly titled Ain’t No Dubshine. Source: 12-7-2004

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This cover by avant-garde jazz musician Rahsaan Roland Kirk on his album Blacknuss was recorded just shortly after Bill Withers originally recorded the song.

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And there is just so much going on in this Sting video. Yes that is Fareed Haque. Yes that is Bill Frisell. David Sanborn on Saxophone, and most importantly: Sting’s mustache.

Checking in on last week’s Buckets of Rain Cover Wars, M. Ward & Beth Orton have emerged victorious with Neko Case and Bette Midler currently sitting tied in second place.

A video from the original before we go:

And just in case you haven’t familiarized yourself with this gem: