On Rocks Lived Under, Covers That Rock, and Tributes

Got Howlin' Wolf's aptly title The Howlin' Wolf Album not too long ago, not knowing a damn thing about Howlin' Wolf (blues isn't my strongest genre). I thank the purchase in part to a sort of recognition of the album—which the Black Keys most obviously payed tribute to with their album Brothers—and in part because the girlfriend likes to push my tastes sometimes.

In listening to the record though, I had one of those long-delayed realizations as "Smokestack Lightning" came on. The riff was instantly familiar, but I couldn't quite place it. Then I started singing along, surprised because this only my second time listening to the record I certainly don't usually become familiar with a song until a few times through.

Then I realized I'd known this song for years because Soundgarden covered it on their 1988 album Ultramega OK. I, in my ignorance to awesome old-school blues and my apparent reticence to read the liner notes, I hadn't realized the song was a cover. I'm sure there are those who would get pissed at me for having this revelation so late in life, but hey, learning about music is a life-long endeavor.

Here is the original Wolf version:


And here is the Soundgarden cover:


Trust me when I say this isn't my first time not realizing something was a cover. My most embarrassing instance of this involved Local H's famed cover of Britney Spears' "Toxic." When it comes to dance pop, I pretty effectively have my head in the sand. It's not out of acrimony as much as time. There is a lot more music I'd rather listen to, and I'm not much of a dancer.

Anyway, here is the song. I found a pretty awesome fan video that splices in clips for the legendary Batman: The Animated Series. Batman being my second-favorite thing to music, this is clip I went for:



Awesome. Clearly. The thing is, I listened to this song for months thinking it was just an awesome Local H song before one of my sisters pointed out the shocking truth: I'd been unknowingly listening to a Britney tune.

The lesson here is that the presentation of a song, or it's styling in a certain genre, can really expose our musical prejudices. It taught me that a song I would usually just cast out in "Toxic" was actually a good chance for me to appreciate some pop songwriting. "Toxic" doesn't break any new ground as far as songwriting goes, but it's well-crafted and catchy.

With that said, I leave you with a cover of a cover. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the Bearded Shithead: