Battle of the Covers: Black Betty

"Dusty Ventures" (dustyventures)
08/15/2014 at 11:29 • Filed to: Battle of the Covers, BOTC, musiclopnik

Welcome to the inaugural "Battle of the Covers," a random idea I've been contemplating for months and finally decided to do because it's been forever since we've had a decent Musiclopnik series around here. The concept is simple: to take oft-covered songs, decide which cover version is best, and which covers are a disgrace to the song's creator and a crime against ears.

To start us off we've got the song that won !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and was crowned "Greatest Driving Song In The World:" Black Betty. Black Betty is a good song to start with, because odds are every version you've ever heard is a cover. The song started out as an African-American work song in the early 20th century, and recordings go back as far as 1933, though the song may have already been at least a decade old at that point. Since then it's been covered by prog rock bands, metal bands, acapella groups, and even made into a dance mix. In the case of Black Betty choosing which of the covers to cut out of the competition was far tougher than finding enough covers to hold the competition (though there was no question I had to include the Tom Jones cover, because there's nothing like a Welshman singing an old African-American work song).

So, which cover would you be happiest to hear coming through your speakers? Which cover(s) would you rather launch into a black hole? Cast your votes! And feel free to suggest other covered songs for future rounds.

Ram Jam - (1977)

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - (1986)

Stag - (1987)

Tom Jones - (2002)

Spiderbait - (2004)

Meatloaf - (2006)

Mobb Remix - (2008?)

John Spencer Blues Explosion - (2011) <-Included because it was originally recorded as a contest to be included in this !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and is therefore Jalop

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DISCUSSION (36)

Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection > Dusty Ventures
08/15/2014 at 11:30

You forgot to include The Roots. but it's hard to find online, because they often do it as an encore.

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > Dusty Ventures
08/15/2014 at 11:34

Only Ram Jam makes you want to blast it while demolishing a back road in a tuned up late 60's Mopar.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Dusty Ventures
08/15/2014 at 11:35

Ram Jam were arguably poorly served by Black Betty becoming the hit it was, because (stop me if you've heard this one before) their normal style didn't really match their hit, despite being an excellent band.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b…

Their second album is good, and its art is hilarious.

CalzoneGolem > Dusty Ventures
08/15/2014 at 11:36

Spiderbait had the best video for sure and Meatloaf ruins everything.

Nibbles > Dusty Ventures
08/15/2014 at 11:40

I'm partial to this one

CalzoneGolem > Dusty Ventures
08/15/2014 at 11:47

I'm getting lost down the rabbit hole of Black Betty covers. Minstry? Lol

This is my favorite so far.

OPPOsaurus WRX > Dusty Ventures
08/15/2014 at 11:47

Black Betty is a great song, it always gets my turbo spooling and its on my Mountain Biking playlist. Spiderbait definitely bumped it up a notch. Nick & the Bad Seeds holy crap suck ass.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > Dusty Ventures
08/15/2014 at 11:49

Ram Jam and Spiderbait have always been the two iconic Black Betty covers to me.

Dukie - Jalopnik Emergency Management Asshole > Dusty Ventures
08/15/2014 at 11:53

I've preferred this one for a while.

mcseanerson > Nibbles
08/15/2014 at 13:31

This one actually made me laugh quite a bit.

Nibbles > mcseanerson
08/15/2014 at 13:33

This game and its predecessor are quite possibly two of the most entertaining games I've played this decade.

mcseanerson > Nibbles
08/15/2014 at 13:36

Really? I haven't played a Rayman game in forever.

Nibbles > mcseanerson
08/15/2014 at 13:44

These two are good too

Nibbles > mcseanerson
08/15/2014 at 13:49

So much fun! Rayman Origins is a great game by itself - the wife and I have never laughed so hard from beating each other senseless! Excellent platforming, solid and smooth graphics and physics, and complete slapstick asshattery.

Legends is still quite good, and has neat things like the musical levels and daily / weekly randomized challenges, but it does feel slightly lacking somewhere; never been able to quite figure out where though.

mcseanerson > Nibbles
08/15/2014 at 13:51

I've always felt platformers make the best games for husband and wife to play together. My wife and I have nearly murdered each other playing the new mario bros game, wii not wii u.

Nibbles > mcseanerson
08/15/2014 at 13:52

lol us too. Highly recommend picking up Origins and/or Legends. They're like five bucks now probably.

mcseanerson > Nibbles
08/15/2014 at 13:54

Are they on Steam? Nevermind, that was a quick google search away.

Nibbles > mcseanerson
08/15/2014 at 13:55

Just checked and yes they are! 10 bucks for Origins, 40 for Legends. Which is funny because I bought it new for XBone months ago for $30.

mcseanerson > Nibbles
08/15/2014 at 13:56

I'll just set up a steam alert. I am trying to avoid buying console games when possible.

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > Dusty Ventures
08/15/2014 at 15:33

Go for "The House of The Rising Sun," next

Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif > Dusty Ventures
08/15/2014 at 15:34

I am the bold one. Meatloaf always wins!

mcseanerson > Dusty Ventures
08/15/2014 at 15:48

The whole reason I didn't vote Nick Cave as the worst is I assumed it was the most like the original.

Dusty Ventures > Nibbles
08/15/2014 at 17:37

Ok, that's pretty fantastic

Dusty Ventures > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire
08/15/2014 at 17:49

I'll have to make that round 3, I'm planning Search and Destroy for round 2. Also: Enjoy the Silence for round 4

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > Dusty Ventures
08/15/2014 at 17:57

good call

Tuned-Port-Injected-Rage > Dusty Ventures
08/15/2014 at 18:10

Ram Jam did it best, but the Spiderbait cover is always a close second for me.

Dusty Ventures > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire
08/15/2014 at 19:09

Looking forward to the Enjoy the Silence round. There are some very controversial (as in "good" vs "travesty") covers

mcseanerson > Nibbles
08/15/2014 at 21:43

I think I need this game in my life.

mcseanerson > Nibbles
08/15/2014 at 21:46

Crap. I didn't realize I posted the US trailer for the same song.

Nibbles > mcseanerson
08/16/2014 at 00:24

Yes, yes you do ;)

Dusty Ventures > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire
08/16/2014 at 04:53

Just pulled up the list of covers for House Of The Rising Sun. Dolly Parton, Five Finger Death Punch, and reggae artist Gregory Isaacs? Yeah, that one's gonna be fun

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > Dusty Ventures
08/16/2014 at 11:10

muse

vdub_nut: scooter snob > Dusty Ventures
08/17/2014 at 19:21

Search and destroy (Iggy pop) or Seek and destroy ( Agent Orange (EDIT: derp Mettallica))?

Dusty Ventures > vdub_nut: scooter snob
08/17/2014 at 19:31

Iggy Pop

Dusty Ventures > CalzoneGolem
08/25/2014 at 01:16

Going back through the old rounds, I really wish I'd included the Ministry cover.

CalzoneGolem > Dusty Ventures
08/25/2014 at 08:10

I'm not entirely sure how I'd vote on it.