Between the Covers - Part 1

This is the first installment of Between the Covers, something I'll publish now and then, to discuss an original song and its remake (one of them, if there are several). The whole idea of this sort of series came to me recently when I was thinking about one of the weirdest cover versions of all time, Devo's take on the Rolling Stones' (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction. That would be worth examining, I thought to myself. 

And of course, there are the myriad other covers out there, some faithful to the original, some not, some by the books, some taking risky artistic freedom. Occasionally, you hear a cover that actually improves upon the original, or at least rivals it by showing us a fascinating new way of interpreting the song. 

I wanna rock'n'roll.... er, honky tonk all night.

Party on, Garth!

First up, the Stones' Satisfaction, as deconstructed and reconstructed by 80's new wavers Devo. Barely recognizable outside of the lyrics, this new reading bears the herky-jerky style so typical of Devo, and it actually works! What was originally a gritty rock'n'roll anthem of the 60's became a modernized, industrial machine-like tune. Almost alien its performance. Here, Satisfaction is fun in its quirky inventiveness, for which Devo is famous. Gone is that legendary Stone's riff, replaced by expertly wonky rhythms on guitar, synthesizer, and madcap percussion. Less melodic and more beat-driven, the song becomes more textural and busy after it's run through the Devo filter. 

Back in the 90's, I was impressed by country star Garth Brooks' version of Hard Luck Woman, written by Kiss. Now technically, Brooks didn't cover the song so much as sing lead while the actual band Kiss backed him up. But still, that good ol' boy showed respect by doing an honest job on the tune. He and the face-painted fellows pretty much did a note-for-note rendition. It sure helped that Hard Luck Woman was written with a country feel, so this wasn't exactly a stretch for Brooks. Plus Brooks admitted to being a Kiss fan when he was a boy - he probably played air guitar to it like all the other kids on the block. So... I guess he's not entirely bad. 

A mellow evening with Slayer... the stage and audience slick with

(fake) blood, which rained down during the song Raining Blood (duh!)

Raining Blood is among the heaviest slabs of metal ever produced by Slayer. That intensity and ferociousness was key to this masterpiece of horror and mayhem. Totally in yer face! Now take such a tuneless and violent song and put it in the hands of Tori Amos, who massages it into a quietly haunting piece. Slayer is about the visceral - loud, fast, and aggressive. Amos' simple arrangement placing her hypnotic vocals over piano accompaniment weaves an evocative spell, about as far from Slayer as one can get. Interestingly, I get more chills listening to Tori softly crooning the dark cryptic lyrics written by team Slayer. Rather than headbanging, I'd instead be filled with dread, cowering in the corner. 

Let's dig back into the swinging sixties again: Gimme Gimme Good Lovin', by Crazy Elephant (hey, I'd never heard of them until now, either). But in the 80's, when Canadian hair-metal band Helix revamped this oldie, I knew I'd heard it somewhere before. So a quick search on Youtube, and Crazy Elephant comes up. A one-hit wonder, apparently. Anyway, their 1969 CCR-tinged pop ditty spelled radio success. Years later, clad in leather and spandex, Helix played the song fairly faithfully, just beefing up the guitars with a metal edge and substituting a 6-six solo for the plinky keyboard break of the original. Both versions are good-time party anthems, so I can enjoy each on its own merits.