I received a copy of the new 2 CD deluxe remaster of The Jam's "Sound Affects" CD. It's the usual tra-la-la, with a second disc of demos and outs. I'm happy. But I was also reminded that "Pretty Green" is Steve Miller's "Swingtown" and "Start" is The Beatles' "Taxman."
Come on, Mr Weller. Twice on one album?
Between now and tomorrow afternoon, can we come up with a dozen or so more of your fave rip-offs...uh...tributes that I'll put together for the "Weekend Mix?" Don't know if I'll have them all, but I'd love to hear something I haven't heard before.
George Harrison's My Sweet Lord (Chiffons' He's So Fine)
ReplyDeleteNirvana's Come As You Are (Killing Joke's Eighties)
Milky's Just The Way You Are (Go-Betweens' Streets Of Our Town)
Super Furry Animals' Rings Around The World (Hawkwind's Silver Machine)
Green Day's Christie Road (Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit)
New Pornographer's Loose Translation (Bowie's Suffragette City)
Wilco's Pot Kettle Black (The Cure's In Between Days)
The Fall's Shoulder Pads (Theme To Are You Being Served sitcom)
Cheers, JWW
The Barry's "Who Else" (Suite: Judy Blue Eyes)
ReplyDeleteSome more...
ReplyDeleteOasis's Whatever (Neil Innes' How Sweet To Be An Idiot)
Oasis's The Turning (Cliff Richard's Devil Woman)
Oasis's Part Of The Queue (Stranglers' Golden Brown)
Oasis's Put Yer Money Where Your Mouth Is (The Doors' Roadhouse Blues)
Oasis's Lyla (Rolling Stone's Street Fighting Man)
Oasis's Cigarettes & Alcohol (T. Rex's Get It On)
Led Zep's Whole Lotta Love (Willie Dixon's You Need Love)
Beach Boys' Surfin' USA (Chuck Berry's Sweet Little Sixteen)
Elastica's Connection (Wire's Three Girl Rhumba)
Green Day's Warning (The Kinks' Picture Book)
Pearl Jam's Given To Fly (Led Zep's Going To California)
Flaming Lips' Fight Test (Cat Stevens' Father & Son)
The Verve's Bittersweet Symphony (Andrew Loog Oldham's orchestral version of The Stones' The Last Time
Death In Vegas's Scorpio Rising (Status Quo's Pictures Of Matchstick Men)
The Beatles' I Feel Fine (Bobby Parker's Watch Your Step)
The Beatles' Come Together (Chuck Berry's You Can't Catch Me)
Two off the top of my head that are not so obvious:
ReplyDeleteSugarloaf's Don't Call Us, We'll Call You (The Beatles I Feel Fine)
A group called Sherbet doing Summer Love (also The Beatles Mean Mr. Mustard)
If you don't have either of these I'll send you them right quick.
Steve Miller's "Rock'n'Me" (Free's "All Right Now"). Of course, Steve acknowledged that his use of the riff was in tribute to Paul Rodgers, but there it is.
ReplyDeleteThe Smithereens "Only a Memory" is kind of the Fabs "I Want to Tell You."
ReplyDeleteTook me a while to figure it out, actually
Sal,
ReplyDeleteYesterday, I broke the Neil Young " fire " story to you at his house.
Do you any updates on this troubling story ?
You could actually make a special "Dylan" edition on this subject--and not even include his recent "borrowings" of Rollin' & Tumblin and Someday Baby.
ReplyDeleteIAC, two others instantly spring to mind:
--Joe Jackson's "Breaking Us in Two" (Badfinger's "Day After Day")
John Mayer's "Waiting for the World to Change" (U2's "Stuck in a Moment")
Please don't include it in your mix! but it always boggled my mind that Phil Collins put out Sussudio so soon after Prince's 1999. How short are our memories?
ReplyDeleteActually, looking at the other suggestions, it looks like there's not really that many years between original and "homage." Oh, and if Smells Like Teen Spirit is More Than a Feeling, then Boston is grandparents to Green Day.
Jet's 'Are you gonna be my girl', ripped off from Iggy Pop's 'Lust for life'.
ReplyDelete"Smells Like Teen Spirit" may descend from "More Than a Feeling" because both descend from "Louie Louie." You could do a whole "Sons and Grandsons of Louie Louie" mix. I also note the similarity between the "Teen Spirit" intro and Bread's "Mother Freedom."
ReplyDeleteMuddy's "Mannish Boy" via Bo Diddley's "I'm a Man" (unless I have it backwards or both have a common ancestor I don't know.)
"Der Kommissar" from "Super Freak"
More Than A Feeling is a waaay better song than Smells Like Teen Spirit. Much more melodic, better written, the guitar work is phenomenal and the vocals are unbelievable.
ReplyDeleteI don't see the comparison.
(That's just me, sorry Cobain fans)
Zeppelin's remake of You Need Love was one of their many covers they played. Many of them were blatantly stolen from the original artist. Here is a quick list:
ReplyDeleteDazed and Confused: Jake Holmes
You Shook Me: Wille Dixon
I Can't Quit You Babe: Willie Dixon
Babe I'm Gonna Leave You: Joan Baez
Black Mountain Side: Bert Jansch
Moby Dick: Bobby Parker
White Summer: Davey Graham
Lemon Song: Howling Wolf
Bring It On Home: Willie Dixon
Gallows Pole: Lead Belly (& Others)
Since I've Been Loving You: Moby Grape
Hats off to Harper: Bukka White
Traveling Riverside Blues: Robert Johnson
When The Levee Breaks: Memphis Min
Stairway to Heaven: Taurus
In My Time of Dying: J White
Boogie With Stu: Richie Valens
Nobody's Fault But Mine: Blind Will
If anyone has others, here would be a great place to list them.
Fairly obvious one, but Bruce Springsteen's 'Radio Nowhere' is Tommy TuTone's '867-5309'. There is even a sort of mashup video on YouTube showing it. Actually it's not so much a mashup as it is the poster switching back & forth between the two. But you can totally see it.
ReplyDeleteRoom for a couple more?
ReplyDeleteHuey Lewis & The News, Do You Believe in Love (Electric Light Orchestra's Sweet Talking Woman)
And my all-time favorite:
Bob Marley & The Wailers' Buffalo Soldiers (Banana Splits TV theme song)
-Mikesensei
@Jeff: More Than a Teen Spirit may have a similar rhythm to Louie Wild Thing, but the chord progression is pretty different (I IV III V+ vs. I IV V IV).
ReplyDeleteThat's a lot of "v"s.
Hi Sal,
ReplyDeleteI for one, don't consider this request for group-participation a "get some air" request in the least!
I think giving your blog followers an occasional invitation to step-up & participate is...why the internet is better than television! So, I say GRACIAS SENOR for the offer to throw-in, as a music head!
Many of the ones contributed are IMHO 'ballpark' similarities- I don't call it a real RIP if someone took the rhythm & 75% of the chords, but had their own melody, chorus & arrangement.
Your Weller examples were closer 'rips' than many given here.
(I never thought "Teen Spirit" was derivitave of Boston's "Feeling", myself...at all! They're just both anthems that chug at slightly similar tempo...but otherwise- apple vs kiwifruit)
Here's two BLATENT ones that I wonder if you know about, which I discovered over the years: Yanks swiping from Brits, big time!
1. Steve Miller Band (1st LP, Children of the Future) "Roll With It",
ripped completely from more-obscure
Brit freakbeat band The Fire, their song "Will I Find Love".
2. Tom Petty stole liberally from his Brit Invasion hero Eric Burden for his breakthrough hit "Break Down", on his band's debut LP.
Just Check out the Animals' minor-hit 45, "Cheating". Petty just switches the verse-chorus sequence, and adds his little 'Boris Badanov' accent to the verse!
Voila- his first hit!
OK, thanks Sal !
How about ZZ Top "Francine" & The Rolling Stones "Brown Sugar"
ReplyDeleteRob
J. Geils' "Love Stinks" and Aerosmith's "Angel"
ReplyDelete(I waited to send this so nobody would make fun of me!)