Country singers pull up the covers (sometimes better than originals)

This week we are going to pull up the covers and pretend there’s a feel of fall in the air instead of the stifling July-like heat that refuses to release us from its stranglehold.

And by “covers” I really don’t mean cold or hot, but instead country music’s greatest covers of big hits that first gained popularly with another artist at the helm (often in another genre of music) and then went on to even greater popularity with their treatment from a newer artist.

I have 10 such songs for your consideration this week starting with Mickey Gilley’s cover of the old Ben E. King classic, “Stand By Me”. I thought it was the best song in the “Urban Cowboy” soundtrack.

Next I chose Sawyer Brown’s full throttle version of the George Jones standard “The Race Is On”. George is George of course, and that means great, but Sawyer floorboarded the tempo, and the result was a very satisfying fasten your seatbelts and hold on classic.

I think the best overall cover on my list may have been Terri Clark on the old Linda Ronstadt classic, “Poor Poor Pitiful Me”. Both versions are flawless, and sometimes I have trouble figuring just whom I am listening to. I always liked Ronstadt’s sassiness on her version, so it was a pleasant surprise to discover Ms. Clark is every bit as sassy.

Let’s look now at a cover of one of the many classics from the discography of the legendary Lefty Frizzell. While I wouldn’t call John Anderson’s rendition of “I Love You A Thousand Ways” BETTER than Lefty, I would call it very respectable and in a dead heat in fact, but then what else would you expect from the “Swingin’” man?

“Summertime Blues” a big hit from Eddie Cochran in the 60s was perfectly covered by Alan Jackson, and I’ve been a fan of Alan’s ever since.

“Hello Mary Lou” was one of the great Rick Nelson’s huge hits, and the Statler Brothers enjoyed similar results with that little lady on the country charts years later.

I had always thought “Third Rate Romance”, the classic from the Amazing Rhythm Aces, would never be covered, because it seemed so darned near perfect, that is until the great Sammy Kershaw took it and actually improved on it.

Likewise, Otis Redding’s “Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay” seemed to ward off any and all potential covers...until the great T. Graham Brown, one of the best friends a song ever had, came around and knocked it out of the park. I liked T’s version very much. I believe Otis would have too.

Eddie Rabbitt took another rock classic from its sacred perch and absolutely nailed Dion’s “The Wanderer.”

Finally The Oak Ridge Boys’ cover of “Elvira” probably shot to the top of the charts quicker than any other. It remains the most popular song in the Oaks’ immensely popular road show even today.

So there you have it except for one last thing. I also looked for a song that I felt would NEVER be covered, and once I came across “May The Bird Of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose”, I thought, “this is it!” Nobody will ever touch this one! So far I’m still right on that one.