“Far Away Blues” was written by Fletcher Henderson and first recorded in 1923 by Bessie Smith and Clara Smith with Henderson on piano.
Category: Music covers
Covers: Got a Man in the ‘Bama Mines
Covers: Bouncin’ Back
“Bouncin’ Back” is a Robert Cray song from his 1990 album Midnight Stroll. I saw him in concert soon after that with the Memphis Horns.
Ann Peebles did an excellent cover on her 1992 album Full Time Love. I don’t know when or where the live video is from.
Covers: Read Me My Rights
“Read Me My Rights” was written by Delbert McClinton and Johnny Neel and recorded by McClinton. There were multiple covers in 1992 including a great one by Ann Peebles on her fine album Full Time Love.
Covers: The Railroad Boomer/Boomer’s Story
I know”Boomer’s Story” as the title track to Ry Cooder’s second 1972 album. Read the Wikipedia article on Boomer’s Story I linked to for more on the song which was originally “The Railroad Boomer”. It was recorded in 1929 by Frank Luther and Carson Robison.
Covers: Jealous Guy
“Jealous Guy’ is a 1971 John Lennon record. The Wikipedia article says there are at least 92 cover versions. Roxy Music had a popular cover in 1981.
Covers: Shakedown Street
Covers: Instant Karma!
“Instant Karma!” was a John Lennon single from 1970. It was credited to Lennon/Ono with the Plastic Ono Band. U2 covered it in 2007.
Covers: The Ballad of Casey Jones/Casey Jones
Casey Jones was a real person. He was a railroad engineer who was killed when his train collided with another train. Several songs are based on his life and death.
“The Ballad of Casey Jones” is the best-known song inspired by him. It was written about 1909
“Casey Jones” by the Grateful Dead was released in 1970. It’s not faithful to the actual events. This is my favorite Grateful Dead song. It’s concise (which many of their songs weren’t). It looks to the past (old country blues songs which influential on the band.) It looks to the present with the cocaine references. It’s old and modern at the same time.
Warren Zevon and David Lindley covered the Grateful Dead version.
Covers: Soothe Me
“Soothe Me” was written and recorded by Sam Cooke and released in 1962. The first version was by the Simms Twins on Cooke’s record label, SAR. Sam and Dave did a great cover version in 1966. I heard the Jimmy Barnes and Sam Moore version today on Bruce Cunningham’s sports radio show in Baltimore. He does a great job of playing old music
Sad! 