Mostly Music Covers

Rock Artists cover Country songs Part 2
There are so many great Rock covers of Country songs but certainly one of the most prominent is this one, the original by Roger Miller and the cover by Janis Joplin. “Me and Bobby McGee” by Roger Miller (1969) written by Fred Foster and Kris Kristofferson
“Me and Bobby McGee” by Janis Joplin (1971). The last song recorded by Janis during the “Pearl” album session only a few days before her death and it went on to become her only #1 Billboard hit song. Covered over 145 times but even Kris Kristofferson himself can’t hear the song without thinking of Janis.
“Oh Lonesome Me” written and performed by Don Gibson (1957). He has written and recorded numerous hit songs and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001. This song has been covered 163 times but very rarely out of the country music style.
“Oh Lonesome Me” by The Beau Brummels (1965) were formed in San Francisco, they had a hit song with “Laugh, Laugh” in 1964. This was a crucial…

Rock Artists cover Country songs

Rock artists covering country songs became quite the fashion in the early 60’s, often the domain of the groups of the British Invasion, but it was North American Rockers that started the trend.
“Your Cheatin' Heart” written and performed by the legend-Hank Williams (1952) Covered 173 times

Gene Vincent and The Blue Caps (1958). Vincent was a pioneer in Rockabilly music and has inspired many, still revered and rightly so.
“Act Naturally”, Buck Owens (1963) writtenby Voni Morrison and Johnny Russell
Brian Hyland (1964) an American singer was the first to cover this song in a ‘non’ country fashion.
The Beatles (1965) as I have blogged already the Beatles were not afraid to tackle songs from many different genres.

“Tulsa Time” by Don Williams (1978), written by Danny Flowers, covered by  Eric Clapton (1978)
“Jolene” written and performed by Dolly Parton in 1973. Much more to say about her ;) but this iconic song has not been given proper justice in the cover…

John Denver

Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. December 31, 1943-October 12, 1997. Most will know of the tragic passing of John Denver at the age of 53. Denver was an experienced pilot but according to the investigation a poorly designed fuel switch in his experimental plane caused him to turn around in the cockpit and he lost control. His plane crashed into Monterey Bay near Pacific Grove, California. Apart from being a gifted singer he played a very decent acoustic guitar and wrote some of the most memorable songs of the 1970’s. Known for is concern for ecology, his photography and his humanitarian works he also made inroads in international relations being one of the first U.S. artists to be welcome into post cold war U.S.S.R. as well as touring mainland China.

“Babe I Hate to Go” written and performed by John Denver. If you don’t recognize this song title that’s no surprise, he was the only one to call it that when he first released it in December of 1966. His then producer/manager Milt…

Beginnings of Rock and Roll (Part four) As you may gather from parts 1 to 3, one can seesaw on the debate of the beginning of R&R. What I am attempting to demonstrate is that R&R was perhaps a spontaneous eruption of interest but not of a type of music. There are other artists and songs I could identify as forming the roots of R&R, but as I’ve discovered, much was borrowed from the past. Chuck Berry responded when asked about his music and his ‘original’ sound and I am paraphrasing here; he mentions many influencers, that he used guitar riffs, lyrical hooks and performing tricks from other people. “If you can, call it my music, but there's nothing new under the sun.” Even his quote was borrowed from the Bible. By 1954 Rhythm and Blues music was on fire, and that little station in Memphis had increased its wattage to cover the entire mid-southern U.S. R&B listeners could tune in to nearly 600 hundred stations, almost nationwide in the USA.
Another ‘brand’ of music …