"It's impossible to do a bad version of that song..."

[mac56]

Any songs you can name that fall into that category? I can think of two.

"All Of Me" (inspired by the earlier thread here)

and

"Suspicious Minds"

I have never ever heard a bad version of either of those songs. And there are damn few songs that fall into that category.

Any other nominations for this list?

[auntAgonist]

1. I have a favourite...

"You were always on my mind" done by Willie Nelson and also Elvis Presley.

Neither one could ruin it. Very emotionally charged song imho.

[skooooo]

2. Any song with a Bo-Diddley beat...

..never been a bad one written.

[mac56]

5. I agree with that.

That could be the subject of a whole new thread: "Songs with the Bo Diddley beat."

[skooooo]

11. Always fun to hear, aren't they??

bo diddley bo diddely, have you heard..???

[mac56]

12. And don't forget

"whooooo dooo you lovvvvve.............."

[skooooo]

21. Willie and Hand Jive!

[miss_kitty]

3. mmmmm i heard a stellar cover of 'Isn't She Lovely?' by an unknown

baritone very slowed down and thoughtful-while on hold with Gateway...

[bobthedrummer]

4. Speaking as a musician, you are wrong.

Some covers are so horrible I just don't want to think about them-it's who does them that is critical:scared:
:silly:
:bounce:
on edit: Didn't mean to go off-topic
:smoke:

[mac56]

7. Enlighten me, please.

A bad cover of "All Of Me"? Recorded? I've yet to hear it, and I've listened to many. Same for "Suspicious Minds".

[bobthedrummer]

14. I've worked in three independent studios, been in many bands

and heard some real dreck covers over the years-the songs are great and one would think that the foundation of the greatness would remain regardless of who and how produced-but that is the critical component.

I'm sure that All of Me has been abused as well as Suspicious Minds and the entire Beatles catalog for that matter, but that's just my .02.

[mac56]

16. I definitely respect your experience.

Can't argue with your P-O-V at all. It just seems like some songs are more resilient than others. Just my .02.

[MrScorpio]

6. "My Favorite Things"

I love that song in all of its incarnations

[mac56]

8. ohh yeahh

especially Coltrane

[Tom_Foolery]

9. My Maria by B.W. Stevenson...

Brooks and Dunn tried to screw it up, but the song is too foolproof.

[mac56]

10. B & D's version was pretty much a Xerox copy.

Didn't screw it up because they didn't change a thing.

[Tom_Foolery]

17. They just suck!! n/t

[mac56]

18. word

:thumbsup:

[tjdee]

22. Man, double that suck. B&D...ewww.nt

[blondeatlast]

13. Someone to Watch Over Me

America the Beautiful

Anything by Cole Porter

Normally, I would have included "Never Can Say Goodbye;" my absolute favorite, but just today I heard a Mariah Carey version and nearly retched right in the store.

[mac56]

15. I absolutely agree with "Someone To Watch Over Me"

Sinatra, Fred Astaire, and Willie Nelson have excellent versions.

I think it is possible to screw up Cole Porter, but you really have to be deliberately trying. Case in point: The Four Seasons' version of "I've Got You Under My Skin".

[NightTrain]

19. "Silent Night," "I Heard It Through The Grapvine," and "Everlasting Love."

An odd combination, perhaps, but I've never heard a bad version of any of those three songs!

[tjdee]

20. The way you look tonight....I can't help falling in love with you...

I think unscrewupable songs hinge on the lyrics.

[mac56]

23. "Let's Stay Together" "Stormy Monday"

two more for the list.

[Rabrrrrrr]

24. No. Any song can have a bad version done of it.

No matter how good the song initially, there is not a single one out there that isn't safe from a high school "swing" choir, a "symphonic" version, a "marching band" version, or the possibility that Billy "I Suck" Joel or some other no-talent will get hold of it.

No, believe me, there is no song that is not safe from a shit-ass arranger or a gung-ho eager choral/band director, or $$-focused industry record producer.

Remember the song "Fly Like An Eagle"? Not the world's greatest song, but a good one, and one that I could listen to over and over. That is, until I had to listen, over and over and over during rehearsals and in performance, to our high school senior honors dance choir sing it a capella while, you got it, trying to do Fred Astaire-style male-female partners dancing while singing it.

There are too many bozos out there. Nothing is safe.


Nothing.

[mac56]

26. I feel your pain.

ewwwww

(cringes)

On edit: I had a vivid flashback of our "groovy" high school choir director who led us through a painful version of "Eleanor Rigby". It was 1973, and the memory still sears.

We didn't record it, though (for obvious reasons). Maybe I should have been more specific in my OP.

[eyesroll]

25. Picture either of those songs being played by a sixth-grader learning

piano for the first time...

There is nothing publishers won't put in "Intro to Piano" books; therefore, there is nothing that can't be destroyed.