All Covered Up

In my thirty-five years of life, I've been fortunate enough to have been introduced to a number of styles of music.  My father introduced me to great country artists like Marty Robbins, Merle Haggard, the Statler Brothers, Willie Nelson, and Charley Pride, as well as a number of gospel groups and swamp pop acts.  My mother always had more of a general interest in music, not setting her sights on any specific genre.  I was introduced to artists like Tony Orlando, Tom Jones, Elvis Presley, Conway Twitty, and Louis Armstrong by her.  My sister, always having a bead on what was currently cool, let me listen to her Survivor, Michael Jackson, and Lionel Ritchie albums and tapes.  She was also a huge Elvis fan.  My brother, like my mother, was all over the place, but his musical interests were even more spread out.  He listened to everything from blues greats like John Lee Hooker and Buddy Guy to legendary country artists like Hank Williams, Sr., Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys, and George Jones and southern rockers such as Lynyrd Skynyrd.  You could also catch him listening to Fleetwood Mac, George Strait, and more regional acts like Dash Rip Rock, Dr. John, Nathan Abshire, and Wayne Hancock.

As a child, I pretty much had to listen to whatever mom or dad had on the radio, or what my older siblings played in their rooms if I was around.  At about the age of nine, I started making my own mix-tapes off of my parents' and siblings' albums and pretended to be a DJ on the radio.  I played everything from Little Richard to REO Speedwagon on my "station" and as I grew older, I started adding music that influenced and shaped me.  Thanks to my upbringing, that musical influence was varied, and has included everyone from Guns n' Roses and Buddy Holly to Neil McCoy and KISS.

One thing that I always looked for was cover versions of tunes.  I loved hearing different artists' takes on tracks originally recorded by others.  This list is comprised of my favorite covers over the years.  No, there is no All Along The Watchtower covered by Jimi Hendrix, although I really do love that song, but it does include a few covers that some of you might not have heard of. 

Please feel free to comment and list your own favorite cover tracks.  Thanks for taking the time to read my list!