5 Acoustic Guitar Covers That Reinvent Classic Songs
July 10, 2008These covers prove that you can make anything sound beautiful if you play it on an acoustic guitar ; ) – from a hip hop party stomper to a 70s rock classic and everything in between.
∞ Random Interest Snippet: besides hiding gates to alien worlds under the sand, archaeological evidence shows that the ancient egyptians also had necked instruments with fret markings – early precursors to the modern guitar. Instruments with a passing resemblance to the modern guitar are visible as far back as Babylonia, circa 1850 BC. If it’s lasted that long, it must be good ; ).
1. Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven”
by Rodrigo y Gabriela
The mexican thrash acoustic duo strike again with this beautiful rendition of the 70s classic. Most guitar stores will break something over your head if you dare to pluck even the first few notes from the Led Zep original but somehow I think they’d have a different reaction on hearing Rodrigo y Gabriela’s version…
2. Massive Attack’s “Teardrop”
by Newton Faulkner
I’ve already posted a live version of this song done as a duet with Stevie Ann but english muso Newton Faulkner’s cover should be on this list anyway. Here, he takes Massive Attack’s ethereal pop epic and creates a raw, earthy rendering that strips the song back to the essentials without robbing it of its power.
If you don’t like the live version embedded here you may prefer the Director’s Cut of the released video.
3. Toto’s “Africa”
by Andy McKee
The prodigiously talented Andy McKee busts out his usual virtuosic combination of rhythm, tapping, strumming and picking to create a surprisingly layered rendition of the synthy pop original.
4. Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin’”
by John Mayer
This live version features on Mayer’s Live album/DVD “Where the Light is” – released at the beginning of this month. John turns the song into a subtle introspective number and makes you fall in love with it in a fresh new way…
If the embedded video is broken, click here to go to the official video on Youtube.
Download Guitar Pro file (.gp5) from here – intro (including chords). The rest of the song is made up of picking variations of the same chords so should be easy enough to jam on from here.
5. Outkast’s “Hey Ya”
by Matt Weddle of Obadiah Parker
I know this version has done the viral rounds for a year or two now but it’s one of the classics and it spawned a whole lot of emotive acoustic cover imitators thanks to its surprisingly touching rendition of a stonking, uptempo Outkast original.
This is a clearer audio recording than the original that made the rounds but it’s out of sync with the video somewhat.
Honourable Mention
In memoriam – a “heartfelt” cover of a Tupac classic. The scrilla even makes a poignant appearance in the time honoured tradition of rappers the world over.
Note: Parental Advisory.
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Previous Posts:
“The 5 best covers of Britney Spears’ “Toxic”.
“The 5 best covers of Rihanna’s “Umbrella”.
“5 eighties songs that still kick ass today”.
Definitely like the Stairway to Heaven and Massive Attack cover, probably cos I like the artists other vids that you’ve posted. Not so keen on the Free Fallin cover, doesn’t help that John Mayer’s dating exploits are plastered all over junky girl magazines, his celebrity overshadows his music a bit for me unfortunately… I found this interesting in a stupid kinda way..” “77″ (his year of birth) on the left side of his chest”.. why would someone have the year they were born tattooed on their chest? Is that just in case they forget what year they were born?
re: the 77 – true? What a laff xD He is a little… shall we say, “self confident” – at least, according to my reading of his performance in live concert videos… Perhaps he regards his year of birth as a significant historic event? xD (I mean – sure, we all feel that way but most of us don’t tattoo it on our bodies… x_x)
Nevertheless that song was my favourite of this post and a song that I am greatly enamoured of at present xD. It’s frustrating every time he hits the chorus and doesn’t go up for Tom’s soaring “freeeeee!” but when he finally does hit it at the end it’s something special
.
I liked it anyway
And yes, the Stairway and Teardrop covers are great too!
I think honourable mention should have been number 11
That’s awesome!!! I look for acoustic guitars for my boyfriend.And how to choose it.Which brands is the best ?I saw many web about this but your web is the best for me.Thank you.
Thanks! : ) I wish I could answer definitively but, as they say, it’s a matter of personal choice in the end.
However, I personally like the Ovation roundbacks – they have a beautiful tone (I’m a big fan of the nylon string gats).
I also liked the Washburn back in the day, and for steel string the Ibanez is at least a safe choice in my book : ).
Good luck with your guitar hunting : ).