covers in general

[Ian Derby <csc2imd@cabell.vcu.edu>]

> 
> One of my initial and strongest impressions of both the Who and the Beatles, and indeed Zeppelin
> was that they were able to outdo the original song by covering it. Of course there will be tons
> of disagreement here, but The Who so handily smeared everyone on this one..  If there were any
> doubt, Live at Leeds permanently muted such thoughts.
> 

No argument here.  As much as I like the early Beatles' covers I
still long for some of the originals.  "You Really Got a Hold on Me" just
isn't the same without Smokey singing lead.  When I think of their early
years, songs like "Money" "Kansas City", and "Honey Don't" are probably 
their best covers.  

>From a Who standpoint, I can't imagine "Man With Money" sounding any
better.  This song still brings me chills when I hear it.  Certainly
"Leaving Here" outclasses Eddie Holland, and "Please Please Please"
I'd put against James Brown anyday.  They do have some clunkers
though, "Barbara Ann" and the original "I'm A Man" don't cut it, but
they are in the minority.  BA is just a joke song to begin with
(Keith singing lead gives that way) and Roger just can't replace
Muddy Waters.  But on R+B, Roger had the best voice of any british
band to make a cover very believable.



The beauty of the Who was that when they covered a song, they
injected their full tilt style which made it original by itself.
I still can't hear Cochran's "Summertime Blues" and feel the same
power from songs of his contemporaries (though at the time it was a
definate rocker).  The Who ruined it beautifully. 


Zeppelin to a degree were semi successful in this dept.  However
they just added a "heavy blues" approach while the Who turned a
cover upside down.  



BTW for all of those who question Kit Lambert's production
techniques on Tommy:  Joe Grimes and I were listening to the Kinks'
"Arthur (or the rise and fall of the british empire)" Saturday and
really were baffled by the poor production.  Arthur has the sad
distinction of being released just after Tommy, which of course had
to take a back seat.  Probably the Kinks best album (well second to
Village Green Preservation society, a true masterpiece) which has a more
consise storyline than Tommy, it lacks the musical aspect.
Ray Davies had learned all of his production techniques from Shel Talmy, 
who finally left after their album "Something Else" (1968).  Anyway, 
just be fortunate that Tommy didn't sound dry and lifeless as any Shel 
Talmy production would indicate.


When Jon Astley finishes with the Who, the Kinks 60's recordings on
Reprise would be a great project for him.