Just when you thought Sunday couldn’t get weird.
THEY WERE A LIFETIME TOGETHER
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So, um, what exactly were you looking for when you “stumbled upon” this little gem? :)
Wha? Whaaaa? That is kind of bluegrass mixed with R&B if it was put in a meh-tal food processor and deep-fried in awesome.
Great Mothering Thor!
I liked it, especially the part where he pulled out the piece of paper and read the lyrics. You really have to give them props for doing it. Wonder if they’ll do a Beyonce-style music video? -)
Um… Um… Um…
:wanders off in a daze:
It’s almost rodeo time in Beyonce’s hometown, so this seems like a particularly appropriate way to kick off the festivities.
I would want to see it followed up with some more good ol’ pop:
These guys are great. They do a version of “Owner of a Lonely Heart” with some great mandolin work, but I think their best piece is “Walk Like an Egyptian.”
OK, what does it say about me that I like this version BETTER?
This is a very clever group. After watching several clips I could become a follower. I do think Beyonce has more sex appeal, but these guys are truly good and funny. They are an American original. I like Bluegrass but not Country and these guys fit the bill. They aren’t just good they are great.
I’ve always thought that the mark of well-written music was that it could be adapted to any genre – as with the Balanescu Quartet’s Kraftwerk covers. I mean, kickass, right?
I can see I’m going to have to revisit that hypothesis with a vengeance. Particularly in the light of Hayseed Dixie’s I don’t feel like dancing.
I feel a sudden need to share this with you all: The Palast Orchester does Tainted Love.
John’s 10 years in rural Ohio is starting to show.
Oh, Carrie V @12. That is the gateway drug to paradise! I also like his Oops, I did it again. But his proper Weimar Republic (’20s and’30s) stuff is just lovely as well.
The man’s in serious danger if he ever comes to Melbourne. Just saying.
There are also Richard Cheese and Brett Domino, if you like these sort of irreverent reinterpretations.
Must…have…CD…NOW!!!
Richard Thompson also does an excellent version of Oops, I did it again — that song takes on a whole new meaning when sung by an angry, bitter old man.
Wow, where DO you find these things?
I’m with critter42 – this is actually a bit better than the original. I guess a catchy tune is a catchy tune no mater what it’s played on. I have to say I giggled through the bridge when he read from the piece of paper. This took courage and talent to pull off. They have it in spades.
See, America? You don’t have to be skinny and female to pull this off!
Don’t forget about Nickel Creek’s acoustic cover of Britney’s Toxic:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBoRc3yLV9w
Ack, sorry, didn’t mean to embed that!
I have no point here: http://foundintranslation.tumblr.com/
Pomplamoose does another nice version of this tune. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIr8-f2OWhs
My favorite part is Nataly singing “Don’t make me sing this part of the song…”
Ricky Skaggs and Bruce Hornsby do a great cover of Superfreak, which is on YouTube in an amateur concert video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFfbtaMFcW8
This Cleverlys cover is great as well: Like a Fox/Superstition. Fun stuff.
Molly, it appears to imbed automatically now. Same happened to me.
Reminds me of The Gourds’ cover of Snoop Dogg’s “Gin and Juice”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2y4imEPbhPI
What made you think I couldn’t think that Sunday couldn’t get weird? Granted, this is a little out of the ordinary, but it barely triggers my Weirdness Meter.
I’m a Unitarian-Universalist. Sunday is often the weirdest day of the week anyway.
Craig @22: It’s too bad Hyundai had to run Pomplamoose into the ground during the holidays…
This is utter brilliance. I am so in love.
@ 12 Carrie V and 14 Vian:
Thank you. I cannot thank you enough for introducing me to Max Raabe.
I love the Cleverlys. Seconding the recommendation for “Walk Like an Egyptian”, and also props to their medley of “In the Pines” and “Ain’t No Sunshine When She’s Gone.”
I assume everyone’s heard this one already, right?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ltjbnyvq_SI&feature=related
Dave H@8: love the “Egyptian” cover, but for sheer weirdness I think the winner is probably their version of “Enter the Sandman”… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4oacry88CE
Adam from Comment #13 FTW. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
I think they played at the Ohio county fair last summer. Just after the bullriding, and just before the tractor pull. i.e. they were background music while the clowns were running around picking up bullshit.
Marcos @33: From what I can tell, the cover for “Enter Sandman” is by Iron Horse…
and before the rednecks started to really throw their weight around
My Sunday was already weird, that’s normal around here. But yes, it did just get weirder . . .
At first, I thought they were just covering The Pigs version – sounds very similar. I found it amusing, a few weeks ago, that I searched for Single Ladies on iTunes and The Pig’s version came up before the Beyonce one.
There used to be a similar bluegrass band in Australia, called Sensitive New Age Cowpersons. Their motto was “there’s no song that can’t be improved by playing it Bluegrass style”.
I can so see that on Stage 5 in Winfield.
This video inspired me to search for a 1990s-era bluegrass cover of Nine Inch Nail’s “Closer.” Unfortunately, I found this lounge version instead. So, so, so wrong.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5m_CdCzKYY
Muppet Bohemian Rhapsody:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgbNymZ7vqY
Red Army Choir and Leningrad Cowboys doing Sweet Home Alabama:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lNFRLrP014
I love the internets
I see your wacky covers and raise you the Lost Fingers
Careless Whisper (give it 30 seconds) – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T38noLzxMAI
Pump Up the Jam – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0k99RBzE04Q
This is so *not* the weirdest thing I’ve seen today. It barely gets a rise out of my *meh* meter.
John, with being president of SFWA, when did you get time to learn to play the fiddle?
Okay, the lounge lizard version of “Closer” was funny, but The Muppets stole the show – especially Animal. When you get to the end of “Bohemian Rhapsody”, it offers up about four more Muppet covers that are also fun.
I see I’m too late to recommend JoCo’s cover of Baby Got Back; I don’t think anyone has mentioned his cover of Bills, Bills, Bills:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGvA8yj0tvo
I think my favourite cover though is Elbow’s version of Independent Woman:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_PgO4moTlM
It’s far from modern, but I’ve laways loved Aztec Camera’s cover of Jump:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bzKzbucdnE
I now have 1, *one*, reason to go to Branson.
I love, love, love Iron Horse’s “Fade to Bluegrass”. Metallica + bluegrass = win!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQMbXvn2RNI This is the cow revolution! “Cows With Guns!” hehheh
Heh. I see your bluegrass covers and raise you the Nine Inch Richards – Closer to Hogs.
It’s been called a “happy country parody”. We do some good stuff here in Oz.
I used to play this quite a bit in my DJing days in the 90s. Yes it was a popular night club. Why do you ask?
Uncensored version of Closer to Hogs here but the original video but censored version I just posted is more entertaining.
Will #40: And likely have! Sadly though, Spontaneous Combustion has disbanded. I do miss my fix of MoTown bluegrass.
After watching this video yesterday, I finally went to YouTube and watched the original version. The Cleverlys did a much better version of the song than Beyonce. And Kanye West thought that was the best video of all time? What the bloody hell was he smoking?
BEST THREAD EVER … Of all time.
May I introduce you to the fabulous Handsome Hank and his Lonesome Boys? Swiss band, doing bluegrass version of pretty much everything.
Black Hole Sun: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0-cMdewJpQ
Paradise City: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCEbvUDD0js
Saw them live here in Munich a few years back. They rocked the house.
Try Slaughter of the Bluegrass for bluegrass versions of death metal songs. My particular favourite is Twilight of the Thunder God. Compare it with the original…
No, I’m sorry. THIS is the best cover ever:
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=03e_1201105234
Awesome.
This sounds like it should be the original version and Beyonce’s the cover.
This clip makes me happy
Not really a cover, but an interesting exercise in censorship:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-Wd-Q3F8KM
I’ll see your Cleverlys and raise you Thom Yorke:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Eo7ttIKdfQ&feature=autofb
[It's his film clip to Lotus Flowers remixed, but...bwahahaha...]
A friend reminded me today of Psycho Chicken a parody of Talking Heads.
http://youtu.be/UnBlst3T7bY
evil, evil, evil. I listened to the whole darn thing on Sunday and all of the sudden the darn song has popped into my head for no reason this morning and I can’t seem to get rid of it.
This thread is officially bad for productivity!
Scalzi, stop trying to ruin the economy!
From a lurker and first time commenter. Thank you for all the shares of music; I now adore Max Raabe and the Palast Orchestra and had so much fun listening to things I never would have heard of in my daily life.
I love the internets, whee!
I was going to bemoan the fact that my favorite Texas Lightning cover wasn’t on YouTube, but I see that’s no longer the case! So… allow me to present the best cover of a Michael Jackson song by a German country band with an Australian female lead singer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2IoUL0T49c