Final thoughts on cover songs

WXPN finished its countdown of “The 885 Greatest Cover Songs” last Thursday. The web site, as long as they keep it up, is lots of fun – it includes a complete list of the songs that made it (with a handy search function), as well as quite a few statistics.

 

I was quite pleased that the top 7 songs that I voted for made the list, topped by the Bangles’ “Hazy Shade Of Winter” at #23.

 

Although Jimi Hendrix topped the list with “All Along The Watchtower,” the Beatles have to be considered the overall winner, with 30 of their songs that someone covered (second only to Bob Dylan’s 39) and 11 cover versions that they recorded (tied with the Grateful Dead, just behind Linda Ronstadt at the top).

 

Bruce Springsteen recordings also came up frequently (with the odd exception of “War”, which actually reached #10 on the Hot 100), so I figured that “Jersey Girls” was a cinch for the top 10, and might wind up at the top. Somewhat sadly, it only made it to #26 – just behind a somewhat obscure cover of his own “Atlantic City” by the Band.

 

There were a few songs going in that I expected to finish near the top. Two of them made it: Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” (#6) and Whitney Houston’s cover of “I Will Always Love You” (#9). On the other hand, Elvis Presley’s earth-shaking version of “Hound Dog” didn’t come close (#89), while Chubby Checker’s take on “The Twist” missed the list entirely.