Tony Palmeri's Media Rants: Ten Bold Cover Tunes Part VII: The Kennedy Center Honors Edition

Annually since the late 1970s, a range of performance artists have been honored in Washington by the Kennedy Center. Even though the president of the United States has no direct role in selecting the honorees, the number of popular music artists recognized seemed to increase during the Obama years--perhaps a nod to #44's rock star image.

The most fun part of the annual ceremony is when popular artists serenade honorees with covers of the honorees' well known tunes. During these televised performances, the director always treats the audience watching at home to reactions shots of the honoree(s) and the POTUS and First Lady. The former can often be seen to be forcing back tears, while the latter reveal themselves to be human beings capable of appreciating the art of the masses.

What follows, in no particular order, are ten noteworthy Kennedy Center cover performances.

#10: Beyonce's Cover Of Tina Turner's "Proud Mary." "Proud Mary" was written by John Fogerty and recorded originally by his band Creedence Clearwater Revival. But Ike and Tina Turner's gritty and energetic version was so captivating that the song forever after became associated with them.

Beyonce's 2005 cover at the 2005 Kennedy Center Honors captures the energy of the Ike and Tina version. President George W. Bush's reaction suggests that the song transported him back to his pre-politics partying days, which were legendary.

Video: Tina Turner "Proud Mary"

#9: Lyle Lovett's Cover of the Beach Boys' "God Only Knows." Before the 1960s, rock lyrics about relationships existed on a spectrum from macho male posturing (inherited from Chicago blues) to tear-jerking sentimentalism. With the Beach Boys "Pet Sounds" (1966) and Beatles' offerings of the same time period, rock songs about relationships became outer expressions of internal grief; odes to codependency and control that have probably exerted more influence on youth over the years than the raunchy sex and violence recordings that the so-called "pro-family" groups have been obsessing over for many years.(Perhaps that's because the so-called pro-family groups are led by people for whom relational co-dependency and control are common states of being.). Brian's Wilson's "God Only Knows" from that Pet Sounds album is perhaps the archetype in the genre:

If you should ever leave me
Though life would still go on, believe me
The world could show nothing to me
So what good would living do me
God only knows what I'd be without you

Yep, if you leave that old singer he might actually kill himself! Really healthy message, eh?

I enjoy Lyle Lovett's cover from the 2008 Kennedy Center Honors because he looks and sounds like a wedding singer who can't figure out why the bride is marrying that obnoxious asshole.

But even better is Brian Wilson's reaction shot: I imagine him thinking, "If people knew the pain I was in when I wrote that song they would be crying instead of cheering."

Video: Lyle Lovett "God Only Knows"

#8: Eddie Vedder's Cover of Bruce Springsteen's "My City of Ruins." At the 2009 Kennedy Center celebration of Bruce Springsteen, with the country still reeling from the worst economic crisis since the 1930s, Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder performed a perfect song for the times. Springsteen's "My City of Ruins"--written in 2000--may experience a resurgence as our current recession/depression almost makes prior crises seem like cakewalks by comparison.

Video: Eddie Vedder, "My City Of Ruins"

#7: Mavis Staples and James Taylor's Cover of the Beatles' "Let It Be." At the 2010 celebration of Paul McCartney, the great Mavis Staples transformed "Let It Be" into a Sunday sermon. When she and James Taylor were joined by rocker Steven Tyler and a choir for an uplifting version of "Hey Jude," the capacity of the Beatles' music to unite genres was on glorious display for all to see and hear.

Video: Mavis Staples and James Taylor "Let it Be"

#6: Kings of Leon Cover of the Eatles' "Take It Easy." Kings of Leon are multiple Grammy Award recipients and big stars in their own right, but I have to think that it must have been super intimidating for lead guitarist Matthew Followill to perform the guitar solo on "Take It Easy" just a few feet away from Joe Walsh--arguably one of the greatest guitar players in the history of the universe. Followill acquitted himself quite well, as did the entire band in a cover that stays true to the country and western vibe of the original while maintaining the Kings' flair for energetic rock.

Video: Kings of Leon "Take It Easy"

#5: Bruce Springsteen's Cover of Sting's "I Hung My Head." No one will ever come close to Johnny Cash's version of "I Hung My Head," but in this 2014 celebration of Sting, Bruce Springsteen comes close.

Video: Bruce Springsteen "I Hung My Head"

#4: Snoop Dogg's Cover of Herbie Hancock's "Cantaloupe Island." What's priceless about this 2013 Snoop Dogg celebration of the great Herbie Hancock is how the brash rapper gets a crowd of uptight DC bureaucrats to discover their inner Break Boy and Break Girl.

Video: Snoop Dogg "Cantaloupe Island"

#3: Garth Brooks' Cover of Billy Joel's "Goodnight Saigon." Also in 2013, Garth Brooks delivered up a special rendition of Billy Joel's epitaph to the Vietnam War. Actual veterans join Brooks on stage, presenting the audience with literal enactments of the song's lyrics. I'm always wary of the showcasing of veterans at establishment entertainment and/or political events, mostly because such spectacles are typically the result of some producer willing to exploit the soldiers' service and pain for cheap patriotism points. In this case however, the soldiers exude a genuine love and expression of solidarity for each other that transcends whatever ill intent the producers might have had. It's quite amazing.

Video: Garth Brooks "Goodnight Saigon"

#2: Bettye LaVette's Cover of The Who's "Love, Reign O'er Me." This 2008 cover of the classic Who tune from the rock opera "Quadrophenia" is probably my favorite cover of the ten mentioned in this post. Bettye LaVette, one of the most underrated blues/soul singers of her generation, captures the song's emotional roller-coaster of grief and hope in a way that perhaps only someone schooled in (or has lived) the blues and soul can deliver. Watching Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey, and Barbara Streisand all mesmerized by the performance is an added treat.

Video: Bettye LaVette "Love Reign O'er Me"

#1: Heart's Cover of Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven." Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart, accompanied by Jason Bonham (the late Zep drummer John Bonham's son) on drums, a wicked horn section and other orchestral elements, a guitar player who has the solo down, and a gospel choir, deliver a ridiculously great version of one of the iconic tunes of the classic rock era. One wonders if the Wilson sisters, who grew up as Zep fans, ever dreamed they would someday perform the tune in front of their heroes. The reactions from surviving Zep members John Paul Jones, Robert Plant, and Jimmy Page is also endearing. Jones appears to be studying it as if he is a musicologist, Plant looks like he wants to burst out crying, and Page just seems overjoyed that for one night no one is thinking about whether or not he plagiarized the song.

Video: Heart "Stairway To Heaven"