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Pop Rock Nation

Tag: covers

  • YouTube talents…

    YouTube talents…

    November is upon us and I feel the need to focus on YouTube talents today…

    One of my favorite ways to kill time is to troll YouTube for cool videos. Sometimes, I like to see if I can find old songs I thought I had long forgotten. Sometimes I get curious about a certain user’s videos and start looking though their catalog. That’s how I found my old friend, Weird Wilbur, whom I have written about several times on Pop Rock Nation. Wilbur’s songs are funny and profane and probably offend people as much as they make some folks laugh.


    “Fuck You Texas” is probably Weird Wilbur’s biggest “hit”.

    But I have also found some other talented folks on YouTube who aren’t as inflammatory as Wilbur can be. One such user is my friend George, who goes by the name “shargram” on YouTube. I first encountered George when I was looking for a video of the song, “Mary Skeffington”. I knew it as an Olivia Newton-John number, but it was also a Gerry Rafferty song. And George covered it himself and posted the video on YouTube.


    I commented on George’s video and he answered back. Now he watches my videos.

    From George’s page, I ran into a few other YouTube talents. Here’s a video by my YouTube friend, Dave, whose YouTube handle is “A297MAN104”. Dave writes and performs a lot of his own songs.


    “To A Better Place” is a song by Dave, but is sung by Steve Jackson in this video.

    Sometimes I run into YouTube talents after they leave me a comment on my own page. Here’s a video by Jonas Sköld, a guy who plays a mean guitar and sings.


    Here Jonas sings his version of “The Lucky One”, a song originally made famous by Alison Krauss and Union Station.

    I found Frets Nirvana on one of George’s videos and was impressed by his guitar playing. He’s quite the YouTube talent!


    Here’s an original composition called “Jack Rabbit”, dedicated to a recently deceased rabbit named Jack.

    I found Ken Turetzky on a Red Peters compilation album that I reviewed on Epinions.com. He sought me out and sent me more music. We have since become friends and I do enjoy his YouTube videos…


    Here’s Ken performing his ever popular hit, “My Fat Ass Itches”. There are days when I really relate to this song too well.

    Here’s a video by my friend, Tim, whom I originally met on a message board for exMormons. He and his wife, Lisa, happen to be talented animators and Tim also plays a mean electric guitar.


    A Halloween cartoon.


    Here you can see Tim jam with his electric guitar as he sings his praises to G.I. Joe…

    I myself have made some videos. I like to find songs that aren’t particularly well known and put my own spin on them. Unfortunately, I have to use pre-recorded versions of music because I don’t have any talented guitar or piano players as friends who live close to me. I often wish I had stuck with the piano lessons my mom arranged for me when I was a small child. I also don’t do well on camera, so my videos are all photos from my travels.


    Yours truly singing “Angel From Montgomery”, one of my more successful covers.

    I mostly make YouTube videos for fun and because I like to experiment with music. It’s not something I do for money, nor do I have any delusions that I’ll ever be famous. It’s just a creative outlet, much like writing. I probably shouldn’t share my videos, but every once in awhile, they lead to meeting someone cool and talented on YouTube. Of course I like it for the more established artists, too. But every once in awhile, I like to give a shoutout to people who are just hiding in YouTube’s depths, waiting to be discovered.

  • Magnificent covers by women…

    Magnificent covers by women…

    A friend of mine introduced me to one of the most magnificent covers by women I have ever heard…

    And today’s post on PopRockNation is inspired by that discovery. The well-respected and long performing Seattle based band Heart is well-known for great original songs. But they’ve also done some great cover versions of classic songs. The other night, a Facebook friend posted a video from 2012, showing Ann and Nancy Wilson performing Led Zeppelin’s epic anthem, “Stairway to Heaven”. Listening to the Wilson sisters play Zeppelin made me think of all the women out there who have made magnificent cover versions of songs, turning them into something of their own.


    They were joined by John Bonham’s son, Jason, who played drums.

    This particular version of “Stairway to Heaven” brings tears to my eyes, just as it does the members of Led Zeppelin. And what a treat it is to watch the members of the audience react, too. I always knew Heart had a thing for Led Zeppelin’s music, having heard them cover “Rock and Roll” and “The Battle of Evermore”. They always do a wonderful job whenever they pay tribute to another band by covering a song. Heart has done some of the most magnificent covers I have ever heard.


    Heart performs “The Battle of Evermore” live.

    The other day, a YouTube friend in Scotland who makes musical videos sent me a video of him playing Sting’s “Fields of Gold” on acoustic guitar…


    YouTuber shargram plays “Fields of Gold”.

    That immediately made me think of the late Eva Cassidy, who performed her own magnificent cover version of Sting’s lovely “Fields of Gold”. I remember when figure skater Michelle Kwan turned this song into something truly inspiring when she skated to it years ago.

    In 1991, Sinead O’ Connor covered Elton John’s hit, “Sacrifice”. The song appeared on the tribute album, “Two Rooms: Celebrating the Music of Elton John and Bernie Taupin”. I have owned that album since it first came out and Sinead’s version of “Sacrifice” is the most magnificent cover, in my opinion.


    Sinead O’ Connor takes a song that was bordering on late 80s cheese and turns into something very meaningful and beautiful.

    No offense to Sir Elton John, whose music has brought me much joy over the years, but I think Sinead O’Connor’s version of “Sacrifice” is superior to his.

    Aretha Franklin’s magnificent cover of Carole King’s, Gerry Goffin’s, and Jerry Wexler’s “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” is still after decades the defining version of that song.


    Aretha Franklin performs in concert.

    This song was originally released in 1967 and Carole King later included it on her classic 1971 album, Tapestry. But if you were to ask someone whose song it is, it’s likely they’d tell you it belongs to Aretha. Frankly, as much as I respect Aretha Franklin and think her version of “Natural Woman” is one of many magnificent covers, I personally prefer Carole King’s more stripped down, intimate version.

    Joan Jett is also a great rock star who has done some great covers. I can think of a few right off the top of my head, but the one that immediately comes to mind is her magnificent version of “Crimson and Clover”, a song that was originally made popular by Tommy James and the Shondells.


    Watch Joan Jett flirt with the camera here… talk about a natural!

    Alison Krauss has done her share of covers. One song that she and her band, Union Station, did that I really enjoy is her version of a song made famous by Dolly Parton, “But You Know I Love You”, a song that was originally a pop hit for The First Edition, a band that featured Kenny Rogers and the song’s author, Mike Settle.


    As much as I love Dolly, I love what Alison Krauss has done with her hit.

    Another artist who has paid tribute to Dolly Parton in a great way is Rhonda Vincent, who covered Parton’s monster hit, “Jolene”.


    Rhonda Vincent is a bluegrass artist, but I think she’s got serious chops.

    What about Dolly Parton herself? Well, like Heart, she’s also done a cover of “Stairway to Heaven”. The jury is out on whether or not this qualifies as a “magnificent cover”. In fact, months ago, I included this in my post about “horrible covers“. I actually like it, but then I like Dolly Parton and I like bluegrass. Led Zeppelin purists may not enjoy this song as much as I do…


    Dolly Parton sings at Dollywood.

    There are certainly other masterful, magnificent covers out there which I will eventually write about. For now, I just want to bask in the excellence that is Heart doing most any cover of Led Zeppelin. I think they get the prize today!

  • New Single! Bonnie Raitt “Right Down the Line”

    New Single! Bonnie Raitt “Right Down the Line”

    Bonnie Raitt's New SingleAs we saw on Sunday night at the Grammys, when she did a duet with Alicia Keys in tribute to the late Etta James, Bonnie Raitt‘s just got one of those ageless, unchanging voices – it’s comfort food for the ears: homey, understated, and warm. But it wasn’t just a wonderfully random thing that she showed up to perform on the industry’s biggest night. Bonnie’s got a new album coming out, set for release on April 10 – her first new studio album in seven years. It’s called Slipstream, and the first single from the album was released for downloads last week. The song is a cover of “Right Down the Line”, the 1978 hit by Gerry Rafferty, who passed away last year at the age of 63.

    The song’s a personal favorite of mine from Rafferty’s classic album City to City (which also featured his signature solo hit “Baker Street”) – a song expressing steadfast love and appreciation: “I just want to say: this is my way of telling you everything I could never say before. This is my way of telling you that every day I’m loving you so much more.” Raitt’s voice, with its matter-of-fact strength and earthy candor, is uniquely well-suited to such a sentiment, and she gives the song a light ska-flavored rhythm. Listen here:

    And here’s the Gerry Rafferty original: