A good cover version can be a bouncy walk across a bowed wooden plank joining one musical island to another.
I owe a debt to 10,000 Maniacs for the B-sides on their single ‘These Are Days’. There were two songs I had never heard before from artists I barely knew.
Both originals were recorded in 1973. ‘I Hope I Don’t Fall in Love With You’, from Tom Waits’ debut Closing Time, and ‘These Days’ from Jackson Browne’s album For Everyman.
Jackson Browne tells a little story about hearing a cover version of These Days for the first time.
And this is that 10,000 Maniacs’ version of ‘I Hope That I Don’t Fall In Love With You’.
Cover versions can take you in both directions – a great, familiar songbook taking you across to an unfamiliar artist’s island. I made more of an effort with two great artists after I heard their covers of Randy Newman songs. I’ve been a fan of his for a while. Some people are John people, some are Paul, some George and a few Ringo. I’ve been a Randy person since 1986. Like Dylan, Randy Newman’s planks can carry the weight of a hefty interpretation and let a better singer bound across.
Aaron Neville is unique. Louisiana 1927 was originally on Randy Newman’s 1974 album Good Ol’ Boys.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Wjo91kWfqQ
Two things took me to Nina Simone more recently. BBC Radio 6 Music ran a series with musicians exploring their firsts (first single they bought, first concert, first artist they admired, etc). And pretty much everyone name-checked Nina Simone. And this version of Baltimore is the walkway from Randy Newman.