From “Sweet Home Chicago” to “Yesterday,” the most-covered songs in history
Okay, "Happy Birthday" might be the most over-covered tune ever. But these songs are in the running, too VIDEO
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What’s the most covered song of all time? You only have to think about it for a minute to realize that’s not an easy question to answer. In some sense, the most covered song ever (at least in the English speaking world) is probably “Happy Birthday to You” — sung by me, you, Marilyn Monroe and everybody else. No doubt “The Star-Spangled Banner” would be up there as well. Below are some other tunes that could maybe be in the running for most-covered song ever, depending on who you ask, what criteria you’re using and how many times you hum through the tune yourself before you get to the end of the list.
“Goldberg Variations”
Can a performance of a classical composition count as a cover? It seems like technically it should; Glenn Gould here is playing someone else’s song after all. If it does count, you’d have to figure that the big-gun canonical repertoire would have to be more covered than just about any popular composition; people have been playing the “Goldberg Variations” for well over 250 years at this point. Gould’s performance is probably the most famous, but there are innumerable others, including this lovely harpsichord take from 1985 by Gustav Leonhardt.
“Amazing Grace”
This is just a scarce 40 years or so more recent than the “Goldberg Variations.” Published by English poet and clergyman John Newton in 1779 to commemorate his decision to abandon the slave trade, the poem “Amazing Grace” eventually became paired with a tune called “New Britain.” It was sung extensively during the 19th century, and it’s remained a favorite in both black and white gospel traditions. The a cappella Sacred Harp version here from 1922 is thought to be the first recorded performance. Since then there have been more than 7,000, by everyone from Mahalia Jackson to Paul Robeson to Destiny’s Child to Rod Stewart.
“St. Louis Blues”
W.C. Handy’s 1914 song remains a standard in the jazz repertoire, and has been covered by numerous blues and country performers as well. The most famous version is the spectacular collaboration between Bessie Smith and Louis Armstrong from 1925, though the nonchalantly dazzling performance by Django Reinhardt here seems every bit as good. You should also check out the jovially unhinged Western swing performance by Bob Wills, the boogie woogie rendition by Earl Hines, the smooth quasi-classical highfalutin take by the John Kirby Orchestra, and the down-home blues by Big Bill Broonzy.
“Summertime”
George Gershwin’s famous aria from the 1935 opera “Porgy and Bess” is one of the all-time great examples of cross-cultural American music. Inspired by African-American spirituals and based on a Ukrainian Yiddish lullaby, it’s been covered by more than 33,000 performers in a range of genres and idioms. Janis Joplin’s version is probably the best known — though to my ears it sounds strained and clumsy. Not horrible maybe, but certainly no match for Sarah Vaughan’s 1953 recording, nor for performances by Sidney Bechet, Billie Holiday and the wonderful country guitar version by Doc Watson.
“Sweet Home Chicago”
“Sweet Home Chicago” is generally attributed to Robert Johnson, who recorded it in 1936, though it seems to have been based on earlier songs by Kokomo Arnold and others. Over time it picked up more Chicago-specific lyrics and became a kind of anthem for the city. These days it mostly serves to tell tourists they’re in the right place and make longtime residents wish they weren’t, but in its time it’s been covered by just about every major blues and/or rock artist who ever picked up an ax: Freddie King, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Buddy Guy and of course the Blues Brothers version, which I won’t link to because come on. Honeyboy Edwards’ acoustic slide version is a particularly lovely take, harking back nicely to Johnson’s original.