Ten Favorite Covers of Bruce Springsteen's Songs

I'm not just a Bruce Springsteen fan, I'm one of those freaks who has every official release, a bookful of bootlegs, and a few thousand dollars less in the bank account thanks to all the shows I've been to. But you can only listen to so much Boss. Then you have to listen to people that covered the Boss.

So I decided to put together a list. In the end it was a little difficult, but I narrowed it down to ten favorite covers of Springsteen songs that I think everyone should hear. It also serves as a nice mix for an Itunes playlist.

If you like a particular artist's cover here, please investigate their own stuff further. Here's my top ten.

The Mendoza Line - "Tougher Than the Rest"

Laura Cantrell - "Used Cars"

Emmylou Harris - Racing in the Streets (remastered)

Patty Griffin - "Stolen Car"

Steve Wynn - "State Trooper"

John Wesley Harding - "Jackson Cage"

Cowboy Junkies - "You're Missing"

Pete Yorn - "New York City Serenade"

Johnny Cash - "Further On Up the Road"

Bettye Lavette - "Streets of Philadelphia"

P.S. A few really cool readers brought another one to my attention that I never knew was officially released, but it deserves to be in the good company of this list.

Maria McKee - "Backstreets"

The Incomparable Bettye Lavette

Bettye Lavette's career can be summed up as the comeback story that never should have been. She had some hits in the 60's, including the classic "Let Me Down Easy."



She was never supported by Atlantic Records, a label that twice picked her up and only released singles, but never full albums she recorded in the 60s and 70s. Bettye recorded sporadically over the years, but never gave up on performing until finally, much of this material appeared on Souvenirs, in 2000 release on a French label. Since you can only get a used import from amazon.com for $60, you might as well download that album right here:

Souvenirs by Bettye Lavette (Rapidshare link)

The release of this compilation led to a career resurgence for Bettye where she recorded three albums this decade. This culminated in the critically acclaimed album The Scene of the Crime in 2007, which she made with the Drive-By Truckers and Spooner Oldham backing her up.

Here is Bettye on Austin City Limits singing a track from The Scene of the Crime, a cover of Elton John and Bernie Taupin's "Talking Old Soldiers," followed by an mp3 of the album track.




Bettye Lavette - "Talking Old Soldiers"

A couple more excellent recent covers:

Bettye Lavette - "Streets of Philadelphia" (from the compilation Song of America)

Bettye Lavette - "Heart of Gold" (Neil Young cover - Live at Joe's Pub)

In recent months, Bettye has been all over the television, performing at the Kennedy Center Honors, Barack Obama's Inaugural Concert, and The Tonight Show. Sadly though, these performances involved singing for Barbara Streisand, singing with Jon Bon Jovi, and singing on a show hosted by Jay Leno. You can't have it all folks.

Although there is one more amazing performance from that Kennedy Center Honors show that I have to include here as Bettye sang The Who's "Love Reign O'er Me" for Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey.




Buy Bettye Lavette's The Scene of the Crime at amazon.com

Download tracks from Song of America on emusic.com