What’s the most covered song of all time? You
only have to think about it for a minute to realize that’s not an easy question
to answer. In some sense, the most covered song ever (at least in the English
speaking world) is probably “Happy Birthday to You” — sung by me, you, Marilyn
Monroe and everybody else. No doubt “The Star-Spangled Banner” would be up there
as well. Below are some other tunes that could maybe be in the running for
most-covered song ever, depending on who you ask, what criteria you’re using and
how many times you hum through the tune yourself before you get to the end of
the list.
“Goldberg
Variations”
Can a performance of a classical composition
count as a cover? It seems like technically it should; Glenn Gould here is
playing someone else’s song after all. If it does count, you’d have to figure
that the big-gun canonical repertoire would have to be more covered than just
about any popular composition; people have been playing the “Goldberg
Variations” for well over 250 years at this point. Gould’s performance is
probably the most famous, but there are innumerable others, including this
lovely harpsichord take from 1985 by Gustav Leonhardt.
“Amazing Grace”
This is just a scarce 40 years or so more
recent than the “Goldberg Variations.” Published by English poet and clergyman
John Newton in 1779 to commemorate his decision to abandon the slave trade, the
poem “Amazing Grace” eventually became paired with a tune called “New Britain.”
It was sung extensively during the 19th century, and it’s remained a favorite in
both black and white gospel traditions. The a cappella Sacred Harp version here
from 1922 is thought to be the first recorded performance. Since then there have
been more than 7,000, by everyone from Mahalia Jackson to Paul Robeson to
Destiny’s Child to Rod Stewart.
“St. Louis Blues”
W.C. Handy’s 1914 song remains
a standard in the jazz repertoire, and has been covered by numerous blues and
country performers as well. The most famous version is the spectacular
collaboration between Bessie Smith and Louis Armstrong from 1925, though the
nonchalantly dazzling performance by Django Reinhardt here seems every bit as
good. You should also check out the jovially unhinged Western swing performance
by Bob Wills, the boogie woogie rendition by Earl Hines, the smooth
quasi-classical highfalutin take by the John Kirby Orchestra, and the down-home
blues by Big Bill Broonzy.
“Summertime”
George Gershwin’s famous aria from the 1935
opera “Porgy and Bess” is one of the all-time great examples of cross-cultural
American music. Inspired by African-American spirituals and based on a Ukrainian
Yiddish lullaby, it’s been covered by more than 33,000 performers in a range of
genres and idioms. Janis Joplin’s version is probably the best known — though to
my ears it sounds strained and clumsy. Not horrible maybe, but certainly no
match for Sarah Vaughan’s 1953 recording, nor for performances by Sidney Bechet,
Billie Holiday and the wonderful country guitar version by Doc
Watson.
“Sweet Home
Chicago”
“Sweet Home Chicago” is generally attributed to
Robert Johnson, who recorded it in 1936, though it seems to have been based on
earlier songs by Kokomo Arnold and others. Over time it picked up more
Chicago-specific lyrics and became a kind of anthem for the city. These days it
mostly serves to tell tourists they’re in the right place and make longtime
residents wish they weren’t, but in its time it’s been covered by just about
every major blues and/or rock artist who ever picked up an ax: Freddie King,
Stevie Ray Vaughan, Buddy Guy and of course the Blues Brothers version, which I
won’t link to because come on. Honeyboy Edwards’ acoustic slide version is a
particularly lovely take, harking back nicely to Johnson’s original.
“White Christmas”
Irving Berlin wrote this in 1941 and supposedly
told his secretary, “Grab your pen and take down this song. I just wrote the
best song I’ve ever written — heck, I just wrote the best song that anybody’s
ever written!” Bing Crosby’s version may well be the best-selling single of all
time (more than 50 million copies sold), but lots and lots of other acts have
performed it as well, from Elvis to Frank Sinatra, to Doris Day to Taylor Swift
to innumerable high school Christmas pageants. My favorite may be this famous
1954 effort with Bill Pinkney on bass vocals and Clyde McPhatter singing tenor.
The Beach Boys also did a lovely version… and I’d be remiss if I left out that
notable crooner Iggy Pop.
“Unchained Melody”
Originally the theme for the little known 1955
prison film “Unchained,” Hy Zaret and Alex North’s soaring emota-thon went on to
be a massive hit, with more than 500 cover versions. The best-known version is
the 1965 #4 smash by the Righteous Brothers, and there are great versions by Sam
Cooke and Willie Nelson. Nobody does towering pop melodrama better than Roy
Orbison, though.
“Louie Louie”
Originally written in 1955 by rock and roll
doo-wop performer Richard Berry, the song allegedly has more than 1,600 cover
versions. The most famous is the garbled primitive frat rock performance by the
Kingsmen from 1963. I also love the startlingly effective torch song performance
by Julie London, the great goof by the Fat Boys, Toots and the Maytalls’ reggae
version, and of course Motorhead. But Berry’s much-neglected 1957 version may
still be the best. “Yesterday”
Paul McCartney’s nostalgic pop smash has had
between 2 and 3,000 cover versions — none of which are very good. No, not even
the ones by Marvin Gaye and En Vogue. Best to just embrace the schlock, then,
and go with Neil Diamond.
“Change the Beat”
Fab 5 Freddy’s 1982 experimental electropop
single is often cited as the most sampled song ever. Hundreds of other songs
sample the track, especially the phrase “Ahhh, this stuff is real fresh,” spoken
through a vocoder. Herbie Hancock used it in 1983 for his song “Rockit,” and
from there it featured in a dizzying array of hip-hop landmarks, including
Eazy-E’s “Boyz in the Hood,” Slick Rick’s “The Show,” Eric B. & Rakim’s
“Paid in Full,” and Schoolly D’s “PSK, What Does It Mean?” It still shows up in
tracks like Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ “Thrift Shop” (also: Justin
Bieber).
