Cool Conicidence and Covers

So, I am listening to my iTunes on shuffle. I have 4936 songs (17.88 GB) in iTunes. I just heard Richard Thompson sing “1952 Vincent Black Lightning”. The cool thing? What do you think the next song was?

“1952 Vincent Black Lightning”. This time it is a cover of by The Del McCoury Band. Pretty cool, no? What are the odds of that? Let’s see: 1 in 4935 or .02%.

Which brings me to another topic, when you hear two versions of a song, do you think that–in general–folks prefer the version they heard first? Every instance of this I can think of, this is true for myself. It is true for the above song; I definitely prefer Del’s version, which I heard first. Let’s see, what are some other similar examples?

EXAMPLES OF PREFERRING FIRST VERSION OF A SONG HEARD

• “Love Vigilantes” – I much prefer Poi Dogs (heard first) version to the original by New Order.
• “The Way Young Lovers Do” – I prefer Maria McKee’s (heard first) cover to Van Morrison’s original.
• “Love Will Tear Us Apart” – I love, love, love the original Joy Division version but my first exposure to the song was on a U2 bootleg from the late ’80s and that is the version I prefer–only slightly. This song has been covered so many times; these two versions are at the top of my list.
• “Orphan Girl” – Prefer Gillian Welch (heard first) to Emmylou Harris on this one.
• “Hallelujah” – Though I heard Jeff Buckley’s version before I heard Leonard Cohen’s, this is one where I am almost certain even if the reverse were true, Buckley’s version would be my hands down favorite.

INCIDENTS WHERE THE REVERSE IS TRUE

• “Hurt” – The Johnny Cash version (heard second) is so far superior to the Nine Inch Nails original it is not even funny. This can pretty much be said about anything Cash has covered.
• “Love Hurts” – I first heard the Everly Brothers original on one of my dad’s records. I have heard live covers, Roy Orbison’s version, and Nazareth’s among others. My favorite, which I have only heard recently even if recorded in the ’70s is Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris’ version, which is much better than the version Emmylou has on Spyboy.
• “Wild Horses” – Not sure if I first heard the Stones original or the cover by The Sundays; I have always liked them both. However, the best version by far is The Flying Burrito Brothers’, which I only heard recently in my Gram Parsons-appreciation phase.

I am not even going to get into folk, bluegrass, or old time songs, where certain standards are played by numerous groups and musicians.

In closing, I will leave you with what I think is one of the best (most amusing) covers of late–even if I am no fan of the covered or coverer.

Have fun!!