Wikipedia defines a musical cover as "a new performance or recording of a previously recorded, commercially released song by someone other than the original artist or composer." The Rock-tober alums who've graced these pages with their covers took the original, imparted their own stylistic interpretation, and made it uniquely their own. The Eagles harmonized their voices in an acapella rendition of "Seven Bridges Road." Disturbed gave a hard metallic edge to "Sounds of Silence" as did Metallica with "Whiskey in the Jar." Sometimes the covered version is striking for its similarity to the original source recorded decades earlier as in P!nk's homage to Janis Joplin's "Me and Bobby McGee."
Done well, covers can be amazing and impart new life to an old standard. Such was the case when Michael Bolton repackaged Percy Sledge's "When a Man Loves a Woman." It earned him a Grammy. However, some covers are just ill conceived. Back in college I was studying in my apartment with a buddy of mine. The radio was on and the intro for "Natural Woman" started. We abruptly looked up and at each other when the vocals kicked in. It wasn't the deep, velvety tones of Aretha Franklin. Rather, we got the pinched, nasally voice of Rod Stewart's 1974 release. He changed the lyrics, of course, but it was still just all kinds of wrong.
In 2011, Rolling Stone polled readers for the worst covers ever. Britney Spears had the dubious distinction of two listings for her attempts at "I Love Rock and Roll" and "I Can't Get No Satisfaction." There was also William Shatner doing "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds." OMG. The one entry I disagreed with was Sheryl Crow's "Sweet Child of Mine."
I know, right? Put the pitchforks away. I found it to be an interesting acoustic take of Guns-n-Roses's classic ballad. Besides, it's hard to knock it when it earned her a Grammy. Interestingly, the daughter of some friends of ours used an even slower instrumental version in her wedding as the bridal march and her father-daughter dance. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't misty eyed.
Every now and then I'll find a cover particularly intriguing because I wouldn't normally be within earshot of the original. Vanilla Ice released "Ice Ice Baby" in 1989 and it went all the way to #1 on the US Hot 100, the first hip hop song to do so. With all due respect to the success and legacy of the song, it's just not my style. Moreover, there's my annoyance with the uncredited sampling of the baseline from Queen's "Under Pressure."
This is where Marty Ray enters the picture. Internet sensation, Marty Ray, hails from Memphis and his music is steeped heavily with the influence of his home town. His soulful, stripped down version of "Ice Ice Baby" consists of just him, his 6-string, and that epic beard, and in my honest opinion he completely overshadows the original.
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