Mike tagged me with the “Cover Meme,” in which we choose our vote for the best and worst covers of a song.  My song choice is Jimi Hendrix’s Little Wing.  The original is a classic- one of Hendrix’s best, in my opinion. It’s a slow, bluesy number with a very smooth, melodic guitar solo (by Hendrix standards).  The only complaint I would make is that the chorus repeats the verse’s melody line:

The worst cover of this that I have heard is by none other than Derek and the Dominoes (aka Eric Clapton and friends).  I really can’t figure out why they came up with this arrangement; they took a fairly perfect song and turned it into a plodding train-wreck.  The intro alone is enough to make you turn it off:

The best cover of this song is by Sting who, in my opinion, captured the true inner beauty of this song.  By reworking the chorus a bit, he avoided Hendrix’s repetitious melody line. And, the guitarist (Hiram Bullock) and sax player (Branford Marsalis) took the basic elements of Hendrix’s guitar solo and made it something amazing.  I think this is a rare occasion when the cover is an improvement over the original:

Interesting note: Eric Clapton appears on the CD “Nothing Like the Sun” where “Little Wing” appears. However, he did not play on this track.  I wonder why.

So, now my turn to tag… let’s see, how about Ken?

Tags: best, cover, meme, worst