Ten Worst Country Covers

Covering a well-known song is dangerous. Inevitably the new version is going to be compared to the original, and the results aren't always going to be favorable.

Some acts have actually made their musical career out of doing predominantly covers of songs. Linda Ronstadt is probably the best-known. Her hits have included versions of Roy Orbison's "Blue Bayou," Buddy Holly's "That'll Be the Day and "It's So Easy," and the Everly Brothers' "When Will I Be Loved." Several of her covers have made the country charts. Superstar Ricky Skaggs also has a discography filled with covers, including "Crying My Heart Out Over You" (originally a Flatt & Scruggs song), "Uncle Pen" (a Bill Monroe classic), "I Wouldn't Change You If I Could" (first done by Reno & Smiley) and "I Don't Care" (first a hit for Webb Pierce).

Since the 1990s there seems to have been a glut of covers in country music Given that there are so many cover versions in music from which to choose here is my list of the worst covers that have been unleashed on country music.

(Originally by REO Speedwagon in 1978)

Country Music Hall of Fame member Dolly Parton is a great songwriter. Many of her songs have been covered by other singers. Even when she records versions of other people's songs (her rendition of John D. Loudermilk's "It's My Time" is a personal favorite) she usually does well. This is not one of those cases. Parton's version turns the REO Speedwagon ballad into a really bad uptempo semi-bluegrass song. It just doesn't work.

(Cover of Steve Earle's debut hit from 1986)

Emmylou Harris' biggest success came in her years as a cover artist. When she was good, she was great (see, for instance, her version of the Louvin Brothers' "If I Could Only Win Your Love," which Charlie Louvin once said blew his mind); and when she was bad, she was woeful. There could easily be a list of ten worst Emmylou covers (her version of Poco's "Rose of Cimarron" is particularly painful), but this one from her 1992 At the Ryman album makes the list because of her "gee, I can't say 'when my boots hit the boards I'm a brand new man' 'cause I'm a woman so I'll just mumble something that doesn't make sense" alteration of one of the lines in the song. I love Emmylou, but I sure wish she hadn't done this song.

(Cover of Warren Zevon's 1976 song, which was previously a hit for Linda Ronstadt in 1978)

If someone is going to do a song that Linda Ronstadt has covered the wisest thing to do is go find the original version and work from it instead of using her cover as the template. In this case Canadian singer Terri Clark tried to record Zevon's testosterone-filled tale of too much sex based on Ronstadt's highly successful but comparatively impotent (pardon the pun) rendition, and it comes out totally hapless. Hopefully Zevon complained all the way to the bank, although I don't think the monetary reward was worth what was done to the song here.

(Cover of Daryl Hall & John Oates' 1976 breakthrough hit)

There are two problems with this song. First, it's so much a note-for-note copy of the original that it almost makes no sense to have the new version. Second, and more importantly, as one critic put it, "this song has no business being played on a country radio station." As stated, it sounds exactly like the original (probably thanks to the fact that Hall and Oates sang backup on Wayne's version), and if you remember the original you know it was far more suited to the "R&B Ballad" chart than the country field.

(Originally the title song on the Whitstein Brothers' 1984 debut album)

Johnny Cash was going to get Charles Whitstein of the Whitstein Brothers to sing harmony with him when he recorded this song in the summer of 2003, as Cash learned the song from the Whitstein Brothers' album and loved it dearly. Cash's voice -- by this time sounding like he was perpetually trying to hack up a furball -- was just not suited to such a beautiful ballad. I'm not sure even Charles Whitstein's stunning tenor could have rescued this.

(Cover of Dave Mason's hit from 1977)

Billy Dean, the nephew of legendary Country Music Hall of Fame singer and sausage king Jimmy Dean, enjoyed considerable success in the early 1990s, beginning with his hit "Only Here for a Little While." The problem with Dean's version of Dave Mason's biggest hit is that he sounds as if he can't decide whether to do the cover as a rock song or a country song. The indecision is painfully obvious in the results.

(Cover of Richard Thompson's 1983 song, which was also a country hit in 1988 by Jo-El Sonnier)

If there were laws in country music one of the first laws that should be passed: if you're going to cover a song, either leave the lyrics intact or don't do it. Jo-El Sonnier's 1988 top ten version of this 1983 Richard Thompson song left the line "My head was beating like a song by the Clash" untouched. Loveless either didn't get the joke or didn't think a reference to a punk band would go over in a country song (never mind that Sonnier had already proved it would), so she changed it to a far less humorous "My head was beating just a little too fast." Furthermore, the accordion-playing Sonnier was perfectly suited to cover this song, as Thompson's original also featured an accordion. Loveless, who is now doing bluegrass albums, made a huge mistake in trying to make listeners believe her version.

(Originally by Charlie Rich, written by his wife Margaret Ann Rich, 1969)

There was a time when Ricky Van Shelton was, for lack of a better term, the Michael Bolton of country music. Seven of his biggest hits were covers, including this one, and all were as bland as a GERD diet. This was the worst, however: Margaret Ann Rich wrote this song about married life, for better or worse, for her husband, and Charlie poured his entire heart and soul into his 1969 rendition. Shelton sounded like he was singing from the depths of his wallet.

(Originally a minor hit and FM rock staple by Elton John, 1971)

Another one of those laws that should be passed in country music is one saying country singers cannot record rock songs. (Seven of the ten songs on this list originated by rock acts.) McGraw's lifeless rendition of an all-time Elton John favorite, which was written for lyricist Bernie Taupin's then-wife Maxine (who really was the "seamstress for the band" at the time), is more rock-oriented than Sir Elton's original (which had a subtle steel guitar on it) and far more impotent.

(Cover of Erma Franklin's song from 1967, best known by Big Brother & the Holding Company featuring Janis Joplin's lead vocals, 1968)

When you hear this you have to wonder what was anybody thinking to take a blues-rock masterpiece and turn it into a totally lifeless, lame, white-bread rendition. Supposedly Faith Hill had never heard Joplin's version before she recorded it. Someone should have played it for her (or the Erma Franklin original, or Dusty Springfield's superb cover, also from 1968) -- anything to get the notion that she could do justice to this song out of her head. This version rolls like a flat tire.