Cover Songs - Entry #1

This is my first entry in a series related to cover songs, with the theme of comparing versions of songs by multiple artists.  The concept can be original vs. cover. cover vs. cover, etc.

This initial debate pits Louisiana Bluesman Robert Pete Williams against avant garde outfit Captain Beefhart and the Black Keys from Akron, Ohio.

Robert Pete Williams

Captain Beefhart

The Black Keys

The song is "Grown So Ugly" or "I've Grown So Ugly" per the original.  The song was written and recorded by Robert Pete Williams, who was born in 1914 in Zachary, Louisiana and was discovered while in jail for a murder he committed in 1956.  The following version of the song is a recording from 1960:

Williams died in 1980 and is a fairly well-known Baton Rouge-area musician.

The song was covered by Captain Beefhart on their 1967 debut record Safe As Milk.

Captain Beefhart "Grown So Ugly"

The Black Keys then covered the song on their third album Rubber Factory in 2004.

The Black Keys "Grown So Ugly"

I love each of these versions in their own way and love listening to them in chronological order. It is a perfect example of a respectful passing of the torch from generation to generation and keeping the song and American music in general alive and burning.

I came to this song via the Black Keys, so that was my first love.  I then starting researching the song and quickly downloaded the Captain Beefhart version and couldn't stop spinning that one and then I was on to the Williams original.  Each recorded version is a barn burner.

This is a tough challenge.  Which one is the strongest?  Well it's going to boil down to experience on this one.  And with that the Black Keys take the cake at the dance.

I am one who loves rock before blues.  I am one who likes distortion and loudness over acoustic music.  I love the simplicity and originality and focus on individual personality and style of blues musicians; but man, plugging in and turning it up to eleven is what excites me...and that's why rock arrangements nearly always rule when compared to blues.

Williams version is amazing playing and his vocals are as real as the blues can get...he apparently wrote this in prison.  But it's the fact that this is a solo performance and that it is classic blues vs. sped up rock that keeps it a bit on the boring side for me.  Still a magnificent piece of delta blues.

The Captain Beefhart version was arranged by a young Ry Cooder on guitar, This thing burns in a blast of energy. The guitar and drums weaving together, slightly off beat...letting the weirdo vocals run.  Captain Beefhart obviously got even stranger over the years, but this is the best of it all for me when it comes to this band. I love what rock musicians did with the blues.  Rolling Stones, Beatles, Led Zeppelin, they all studied the blues and took it to new levels and audiences.  Captain Beefhart elevated this song and made it strange and fresh.

Then you have the Black Keys... dirty, powerful...drums pounding and gritty tubes ablaze.  The quiet/loud dynamic is the thing that draws me to this band and the buildup from 1:40 to 1:55 of the song is a wall punching, factory chugging blast of fun. This is simply a fierce performance.  Midwestern and mean, dirty and gritty, beaten and beautiful.  This is what St. Louis sounds like to me.

Get close to the fire and burn the Black Keys "Grown So Ugly" at volume eleven.  Nothing is more powerful.

This one goes to the Black Keys.  Congrats Akron, Ohio.

(this is Robert Pete Williams best selling song on iTunes...guess why)