http://cptv.vo.llnwd.net/o2/ypmwebcontent/Commodore%20Skahill/CMS%2001-28-13.mp3
I've heard They Mght Be Giants interpret Chumbawumba. I've heard Frank Sinatra do the Beatles. I've heard R.E.M. do Three Dog Night doing Paul Williams. I've heard Nancy Sinatra do the Beatles. I've heard Kurt Elling and Cassandra Wilson, both jazz singers, cover the Monkees. I've heard the Hold Steady perform Huey Lewis. And as regular listeners to the show know, my mind was blown last year by an evening of the New York free jazz arkestra Burnt Sugar playing, as they put it, the Steely Dan Songbook.
One question is: do all these reinterpretation and tributes have pretty much the same status?
What's the relationship between the original artist and the person doing the cover, and how does that changes from project to project?
If you want to hear that question embodied in one performance, get on YouTube and listen to Paul Anka do "Smells Like Teen Spirit."
You can join the conversation. E-mail colin@wnpr.org or Tweet us@wnprcolin.
