Worst Mac-related cover version
 

A comment on one of the other threads inspired this one. Now, I do love unearthing random cover versions and so I was wondering... what covers of Mac/Stevie/Lindsey solo songs do you think are the worst?

I'd have to go for Lindsay Lohan's Edge of Seventeen, Elton John's Don't Stop and whoever does the version of Songbird on the Rumours tribute album (his name has gone right out of my head)...Abominations, all of them.

Any others folks?

Oh, and is this gonna spawn a sister "best covers" thread? :nod:

The "studio 99" (whoever they are) version of Little Lies is quite possibly the worst thing I've ever heard. Ever.

Let's include the Cyndi Lauper version of You Make Lovin' Fun...since I think it had a hand in inspiring this thread ;)

Nothing beats Elton John's Don't Stop. Unlistenable.

Duncan Sheik covered "Songbird" on the Rumours tribute. I agree, it's horrible.

Pretty much anything on the Patron Saints of Pop album...

Not a fan of Wilson Phillips' GYOW.

Michele

Honestly, I don't like anyone doing that song. Anyone but FM, that is. LOL

I actually think their take on it is quite interesting. The best covers are when they aren't carbon copies IMHO. Not crazy about the Cranberries version...

Yes, I like Matchbox Twenty's NGBA for that reason. As for Wilson Phillips, I don't dislike their GYOW because it's unlike the original. I just don't think it's any good.

Michele

I surprised myself by liking the Cranberries version. I was nervous about it because I really like the Cranberries but I don't think it's too bad at all. The Cranberries' No Need To Argue was such a huge album for me when I was a teenager!

Nothing short of a prison sentence is appropriate for lindsey lohan, as punishment for that.

Not heard many covers,

the Corrs doing Dreams I feel is just plain pointless,

how about Rod stewarts "Stand back"? .. sigh, at least that ones mildly amuzing.

If I had an axe I would chop my own head off if I ever had to listen to Lohan doing a sexual exhale in place of Stevie's awesome ooooooooooh/snarl/growl in the middle of Edge of Seventeen.

LOL! Same here!!!

The group Camper Van Beethoven, a band from Athens, GA, fascinated by Tusk, covered the entire album on a whim in 1987. They finally released it in 2002. It's alternately bizarre (sic?) rough and strangely compelling. The Stevie tracks faired the worst. According to the band, no one wanted to approach her songs!

I actually enjoyed that CD

I agree. Though I love Elton, this was a big mistake

dixie chicks covering "landslide"~

I agree with Gerald & the others: Elton John's Don't Stop. Not only is it a stain on Fleetwood Mac's legacy, it's a stain on Elton John's.

you have me interested...where can I hear it?

I second that. I tried youtube, but surprise, surprise...no luck

It's on the Rumours tribute album: Legacy: A Tribute to Rumours. It's commercially available but probably easiest to find (and cheapest) on amazon marketplace. That's where I got it.

This surprises me! This is one of my favourite Mac covers. Then again, I love the Dixie Chicks. Do others dislike this one?

For country artists I think the "misjudged" covers are probably Waylon and Willie's Gold Dust Woman and also Waylon's solo version of Rhiannon. Those 2 guys are great, I just wasn't keen on their versions of the songs.

That's really the only FMac (or FMac related) cover (that I've HEARD, that is) that makes me violently ill (especially since Eva Cassidy's version was around at the time; why Mick didn't use hers is just mind boggling).

Oh...wait....there's also Kenny Wayne Shepard's version of "Oh Well"...somebody should've amputated his fingers afterwards. (The only version of "Oh Well" I've heard that I didn't like...not just "didn't like", not just "hate", but LOATHE!!!!

I thought those were great!!! Along with Rusty Weir's versions of Lindsey's "Lola (My Love)" & "Don't Let Me Down Again" and Stevie's "Think About It" (Rusty's version pre-dates Stevie's own by about 5 years)

Well, compared to Duncan Sheik's "Songbird", I'll take Elton's "Don't Stop" every time...but, yeah, it isn't the best cover I've heard. Even KC & The Sunshine Band's version of "Don't Stop" is a billion times better than Elton's.

I love that album! Sure, some tracks are pretty rough (sound like somebody put the sheet music in front of the band and recorded their first take!), but most are extremely inventive...I just think the BUDGET for the album was just too low...had they had more financial backing, the quality of the recordings probably would've been much better.

i have to go with Kids Incorporated version of Go Insane. Well in a more broad sense, their cover of most anything is god awful. But given what the song is supposed to mean, they really bastardized it.

I still stick by Hole's cover of Gold Dust Woman. D: That video on Youtube has more views than all but one (the one w/ Stevie solo and Sheryl Crow) of FM/Stevie's GDWs!

I even love it. It rejuveniled my love for Camper van Beethoven and it's spin off Cracker. I still follow their careers closely.

That's actually a better tribute to FM than Micks's tribute to Rumours thing. At least it has imo BEST FM-cover ever: The Gourds' I Know I'm Not Wrong.

that was my fav off that album :thumbsup:
really cool

Agreed - hands down it it the worst FM cover ever but having said that they do a much worse job on the Beach Boys, Mamas & Papas & Eagles tracks. Got to be the worst album ever.

At the risk of being controversial (as she's dead) - I hate the Eva Cassidy version of Songbird. Sorry I don't like it at all.

I agree. I think Eva's version is terrible ... sappy and overproduced.

On the other hand, I LOVE Willie Nelson's version of "Songbird."

The song itself is "sappy"...that's a given right from the start.

I think Eva's is even better than Christine's...so it just goes to show that everybody's tastes are different.:shrug:

I disagree. I think "Songbird" is heartfelt and sincere, not sappy. But as you say, it just shows how tastes (and interpretations) differ.

I like Eva Cassidy's version of 'Songbird'....I was excited that she'd recorded a song called 'Nightbird' too but its not Stevie's NB...not really sure who's it is.....just some thoughts.....:shrug:

Someone mentioned Wilson Phillip's "Go Your Own Way". What makes their version so cruddy is they took the heart of the song out of it. GYOW is a major F-You song. It supposed to be dripping with venom. That's what makes it so great. You're standing there telling your ex that she was a mistake and I can't help it if I don't love you anymore, just get away and leave me alone. The WP girls took it and turned it around so now it's basically become a "poor pitiful me, go, leave I'm heartbroken" whinefest. It's fine to cover hit songs, but at least understand where the song is coming from and get the feel right!

If Lindsey had sung the song this way, Stevie probably would have liked it a whole lot better.

I think it's fine to change the meaning of the song, if the new meaning comports with the lyrics. The sing-songy way Wilson Phillips perform the song does not match the lyrics to me.

I always say that what I like about Matchbox Twenty's NGBA is that they sound numb and alienated from love and like they really are never going back. Lindsey's doesn't sound that way. They brought out a meaning in the song that Lindsey's version doesn't fully approach.

Michele

Eva Cassidy's Songbird.

Wilson Phillips' GYOW. I heard it in a store awhile ago and my jaw actually dropped. :laugh:

Bob Welch's take on Rhiannon. It's not *bad*, just different. I'm kind of on the fence about it. His Black Magic Woman is cool.

Now see I love almost everything on that one!

OMG, I didn't know he covered that. What a trainwreck it has to be!

I LOVE Elton! I LOVE Fleetwood Mac! (and Elton loves Fleetwood Mac), but never should the two have musically met. It's just wrong!