Welcome to my weekly mixtape, a podcast that
takes the classic mixtape approach to building
a modern playlist. I'm your host, Brian Colburn.
And once again, I'm flying solo for another edition
of my cover song dive bonus episode. While the
first few have focused on multiple covers of
a single song, tonight's cover song dive will
feature a one -sided playlist curation featuring
10 of my favorite cover songs that were released
in 2024. So this is very similar to the regular
playlist curation episodes, except I don't have
a guest and probably to make things harder on
myself, whittled it down to only 10 songs instead
of the usual 20. With that being said, I'm not
doing a countdown order like a top 10 list. I'm
sticking with the usual playlist curation formula
and trying to put these songs in a quote -unquote
listenable order. Whether I achieve that or not,
that's for you to decide. Like all of my regular
episodes, you can take the conversation to the
next level by visiting the episode page at myweeklymixtape
.com where you can give my final mixtape a listen
via the embedded playlist. And if you like what
you're hearing on the show, you can help me out
by either telling a friend, leaving the show
a five -star review wherever you're tuning in,
or becoming a Patreon mixtaper at patreon .com
forward slash My Weekly Mixtape. There you can
enjoy ad -free episodes of the show, get early
access to future My Weekly Mixtape episodes,
chime in on upcoming topics, become a future
guest, and so much more. And before I get into
my choices, the Patreon mixtapers have chimed
in with some of their top cover song picks of
the year. But what I'm going to do is mix things
up for this episode. I am going to give a shout
out to a few that unfortunately didn't make my
top 10 list now, but save the other shout outs
for when a mixtaper and I synced up with our
cover song choices, because I'm happy to say
there are several awesome crossovers for tonight's
episode. First, I'd like to shout out Seeker,
who chimed in with The Who covering The Trooper,
originally by Iron Maiden, saying he's had a
fascination with The Who since their song was
featured in the Star Wars Fallen Order game.
Now they're covering one of his all -time favorite
bands and doing it well. Win -win for him, and
all of us for that matter, is I had the chance
to catch The Who as the opener for Iron Maiden
on the future past 2024 world tour, and I got
to see firsthand why this band is making such
a worldwide name for themselves. Also, Chris
Pizica chimed in with Meet Me at the Altars covering
You Got a Friend in Me, which was originally
by Randy Newman, along with another song that
I'll be talking about a little later on in the
episode. Now, like I said, there's plenty of
other Patreon chime -ins, but with this nice
synergy, there's a lot of crossover this time
around. So be sure to stay tuned for some more
Patreon shout -outs throughout the rest of the
episode. Once again, if you'd like to be included
in future My Weekly Mixtape episodes, come join
the fellow mixtapers at patreon .com forward
slash myweeklymixtape. And to kick off the top
cover songs of 2024, in my humble opinion at
least, is Slash featuring Chris Robinson's The
Pusher from his Orgy of the Damned album. I first
want to give a shout out to Patreon mixtaper
Mike Daly who chimed in with Slash's version
of Crossroads featuring Gary Clark Jr. from the
same album saying that his spin on the track
is fantastic. Now this chime in was actually
also included in the Songs of 2024 episode that
ran last week with DT Carroll from Space Castle.
that should put into perspective just how much
this cover song resonated with mike making his
top pick of the year one of the best covers albums
of the year as far as i'm concerned as well Besides
The Pusher, which is the cover I chose, the original
being by Steppenwolf, this album also had several
contenders for my list, including his cover of
Willie Dixon's Hoochie Coochie Man featuring
Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top, his cover of Fleetwood
Mac's Oh Well featuring Chris Stapleton, his
cover of The Temptations' Papa Was a Rolling
Stone featuring Demi Lovato, and his cover of
Howlin' Wolf's Killing Floor featuring Brian
Johnson of ACDC. you could see just what those
songs listed for me at least this was a tough
album to choose just one cover song from and
if you haven't given orgy the damned a listen
from front to back you're really missing out
on one of the best cover releases in a long long
time i really hope he follows it up with a sequel
because he hit the nail on the head with this
album And I should probably talk about Chris
Robinson because the Black Crows had a hell of
a 2024 with the release of Happiness Bastards,
their first album in a very long time and a well
-received return to form for them. And then his
vocals with Slash on the pusher are just phenomenal.
He absolutely slayed the vocals on this track.
He sounds like he did in the 90s. And the two
of them just work perfectly together. So to kick
things off tonight, Slash featuring Chris Robinson,
the pusher. Now, following up that blues rock
that Slash brought to the pusher, I'm actually
going to strip a little bit of the blues away,
but I'm going to bring in some of this swamp
rock with a blues touch. And I'm going to go
with J .J. Gray and Moe Froh's Seminal Wind from
his Alustee album, originally recorded in 1992
by country singer John Anderson. The original
tune is breezy, it's mid -tempo, and... Dare
I use the word relaxing? This track's been covered
by Donna the Buffalo, James Taylor, and Luke
Combs over the years. However, J .J. Graham Mofro
didn't just cover this song. They completely
reinvented it. It goes from this breezy country
song, like I just said, to this scorching New
Orleans -infused swamp rock jam, complete with
horns and J .J.'s unmistakable gravelly Joe Cocker
-esque delivery. This is hands down one of the
best examples of putting your stamp on a song,
at least in terms of this year's batch of cover
tunes. And I'll say just overall in general what
I love about cover songs. Because if you listen
to John Anderson's version, followed up by J
.J. Gray and Mofro's version. you're getting
two completely different experiences. And I love
that about cover songs. J .J. Gray and Mofro,
this is the first album they put out in over
a decade. I really hope we don't have to wait
another 10 years. One of my favorite groups,
I've gotten to see them live. If they come through
your area, make sure to put them on your list.
They are a must -see live act. Unbelievable.
live band, and they bring it on the studio albums
as well. A Lusty from start to finish, another
one of my favorite albums of 2024. So moving
on from the Swamp Rock, I'm actually going to
weave from blues to Swamp Rock into country now.
And this song is from Cody Jink's album, Change
the Game, and it features Pearl Adai, the daughter
of Meatloaf. On this rendition of Faith No More's
Take This Bottle from their 1995 album King for
a Day, Fool for a Lifetime. Now, usually with
cover songs, people know the original that I'm
talking about. And I'm sure there's some of you
out there that just went, what? When I mentioned
this. obscure take this bottle song i when i
saw the title of the song on cody jink's album
track listing i said there's no way that's the
faith no more version and when i first streamed
the album i immediately went to and i'm like
oh my god it is this is unbelievable i know i'm
in the minority with that but in terms of the
original Take This Bottle is the track that quietly
follows up the insanity that is Dig in the Grave
on King for a Day. And this outlaw country sound
was a ridiculously dynamic shift when listening
to the album as a whole even 30 years ago. Going
from manic metal to outlaw country always demanded
my attention when listening to that album. And
I'm taking nothing away from Dig in the Grave
because it is just a killer. killer faith no
more song but take this bottle might be low -key
one of my favorite faith no more songs across
their entire catalog so i'll admit when i first
clicked play and realized that it definitely
was a cover of the faith no more song that i
had fallen in love with 30 plus years ago i went
into it pretty skeptical Mike Patton's vocals
go from the lowest of lows to some of the highest
of highs. I mean, some pretty elevated stuff.
So I was very curious to hear what Cody and Pearl
were going to bring to their version. And I guess
I have no choice but to call this a faithful
rendition using quote marks because it already
was an outlaw country song from the jump. It
was just by Faith No More. And Cody does hit
those Patton lows with authority. Musically,
his band's up for the challenge. Obviously, they
do country music all the time, and they're able
to bring this song into 2024's country landscape
without changing the core of what the song brings
to the table originally. I have to admit, I love
the gender flip of Pearl's vocals for the second
verse and the octave change when she starts hitting
the verses with that added heft and authority.
That really stuck out to me at first. They do
take the chorus from that point on line by line.
Personally, I would have loved for them to take
the song a step further and maybe worked out
some harmonies because their voices really work
well back and forth. I would have loved to hear
them more together and in harmony. But that's
just a small gripe because they really both nailed
their performances on this track. Now from that,
I'm going to go from a cover of one rock ballad,
even though it was country, To another rock ballad.
And I'm going to bring it. Well actually. I'm
not going to bring it too far out of country.
Because this version kind of sticks in the Americana
label. I would call it. But the original. Released
on Aerosmith's 1987 album Permanent Vacation.
Was a tried and true power ballad. And I am talking
about the song Angel. The song was written by
Steven Tyler and Desmond Child, who the latter
was a guest on my weekly mixtape, not once, but
twice on both episodes 54 and 90. And we talk
about this song in each of those two episodes,
along with the countless hits he's written for
Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Katy Perry, Joan Jett and
the Blackhearts, Meatloaf, Kiss. Ava Max, hell,
even Kermit the Frog. So many others and so many
incredible stories on those two episodes. If
you want to hear some of the coolest stories
behind some of the biggest hits of the last four
decades, you definitely need to check out those
Desmond Child interviews. But with that said,
Aerosmith's Angel. The cover I'm going with,
actually, I first want to start by giving a shout
out to Patreon mixtaper Sean Goff, who chimed
in with this version as well, saying, when you
have a song by my all -time favorite band being
covered by probably my favorite underrated artist,
it's hard not to go with Aerosmith's Angel, covered
by Butch Walker featuring Ashley Monroe. Could
not agree more on the underrated part. Butch
produces so many incredible albums that I don't
think a lot of people realize. But he also has
his rock stuff with Marvelous 3. He's got his
solo stuff. This guy is so versatile musically.
And what he did on this cover was strip away
the heft and the sheen of Aerosmith's 80s power
ballad version. And he reduced it to a beautiful
picking guitar, light piano work and just Butch
and Ashley's vocals harmonizing each other with
a perfect blend of vulnerability, but authority
as well. Like they damn near punch these vocals,
but there's also a sweetness to it and they weave
in and out of it. And it's just so. mesmerizing
it forces you to pay attention to the lyrics
and the beauty of what desmond wrote with aerosmith
and then when you get to the bridge of the song
oh my god if you want to talk about harmonies
the vocal harmonies in this set i mean across
the whole song they're amazing but in this section
instant goosebumps for me i challenge you to
listen to this song and not have the hair on
your arm stand up every time you listen to this
bridge. It is absolutely stunning. If it were
up to me, Butch can do an entire album of covers
using this exact formula and I'd be all over
it because this was absolutely masterful. Now
we've had blues, swamp rock, country, Americana.
So what I'm going to do is take that Americana
and circle back to some of that blues. Mix it
up in a pot. Take my favorite artist of all time
and bring him into the mix. Because 2024 was
a great year to be a Tom Petty fan. Especially
considering they released the deluxe edition
of Long After Dark with a second disc of amazing
material. There were also two covers albums released
this year specifically dedicated to Tom Petty's
music. You had the Petty Country album as well
as the Bad Monkey soundtrack. Now, considering
I did an entire under -the -cover episode dedicated
to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' Refugee,
which was the first under -the -cover episode,
if I'm not mistaken, on that version, I included
Winona Judd and Lainey Wilson's Refugee. Now,
since I talked about it on that episode, I actually
wanted to go with something different to give
me an excuse to talk about another Tom Petty
cover that I love. But zero disrespect to Winona
and Lainey because that version is absolutely
killer. And if you're a country fan... you might
want to check out the Ultimate 2024 Country playlist
that I did with Leah Jones from The Struts just
a couple of weeks ago, because there may or may
not have been some Winona Judd and Lainey Wilson
talk in that one. But back to the song at hand,
I am actually going to go with a gender -flipped
version of Runnin' Down a Dream, which was originally
recorded for Tom Petty's 1989 solo album Full
Moon Fever, and the version is by Larkin Poe.
We talked about Larkin Poe on episode 55, the
ultimate modern blues rock playlist featuring
Jax Hollow. And my God, Larkin Poe towing the
line between country Americana blues and rock.
This version is quite faithful to the original,
but I would say it's a tad bit more aggressive
in a good way. Both of these versions give me
road trip vibes, but on Larkin Poe's road trip.
The pedal's a little bit more to the metal than
on Tom Petty's version. I have a feeling Larkin
Poe is going to explode in 2025. They have a
brand new album coming out in early 2025 called
Bloom. And from the singles that have been released
so far, could already be on my radar for album
of the year for next year. And we're still not
even in 2025 yet. So be on the lookout for Larkin
Poe. What an incredible energy they bring to
this song. And that energy is exactly what I'm
going to tap into to continue on to my next choice.
Again, kind of staying bluesy. There's been a
ton of amazing blues covers coming out in 2024.
Great year for it. And this song was originally
recorded by the Jesters in 1965. And once again,
it's a gender flip song. The song... Cadillac
Man, the artist ZZ Ward from her newest Mother
EP. But instead of me talking about the song,
let's hear what ZZ herself had to say about this
cover, shall we? You know, this song is an incredible
song. It is. It's such an amazing song. When
I started playing it live, we had recorded this
song. And it was a hell of a lot of lyrics to
get in there. I was like, holy shit, like trying
to like get all these lyrics into this recording
is a mouthful. And the more I would play this
song live, I wondered if the audience would be
able to digest the incredible story that's in
this song from the live show. I don't know. You
know, when I was up there on stage and I'd be
singing, I was thinking, are they getting all
these lyrics? Because when I really had time
to digest these lyrics, I was like. This song
is incredible. This is a car chase song. This
is literally like you're suddenly transported
to a movie where you've stolen a car that you
can't afford and the cops are on your tail. And
it's just amazing. I've never heard a song quite
like this song. It's really, really unique. Now
that clip was from the album dive ZZ Ward's mother
EP episode of My Weekly Mixtape. Please go back
and check out the full episode because ZZ really
brings it on this EP. She's going right back
to that blue sound that she did back in 2012
for her debut Till the Casket Drops. And she
even re -recorded a few of the songs from that
album for this EP, Put the Gun Down and Little
Darling, both the Dirty Son versions. Definitely
be sure to check out this EP, It's Incredible,
and the episode that goes along with it. One
of the best covers of the year. Shout out to
Patreon mixtaper Chad LaMassa, who also chimed
in with Cadillac Man. Could not agree more on
the cover there. And following that up, we're
finally going to get out of the blues a little
bit. And we're going to get out of the country
a little bit, and the Americana a little bit.
And we're going to get a little bit more into
the pop and the rock side of things, because
I feel like we haven't touched on much of that
yet. But we're going to get there. And we're
going to stay with the females because they brought
it this year. But this song was originally from
Talking Heads 1983 album Speaking in Tongues.
And I am going to go with Paramore's cover of
Burning Down the House, which was featured on
the Stop Making Sense tribute album, where Patreon
mixtaper Brandon from Virginia chimed in with
El Mato e un Policia Motorizados, Slippery People,
from the same release. And if I butchered that
title, I sincerely apologize. I have not had
a Spanish class in several decades, but I hope
I didn't butcher it too, too much there. Back
to Paramore, they're bringing their now pop -infused
rock sound, the modern Paramore sound, to this
Talking Heads classic. And while it remains faithful
to the original's production elements, once again
tonight, Hayley Williams gender flips the song,
and her take on it just soars. Honestly, I might
not have been this keen on this cover if it was
another male voice singing it, because musically,
I think they were quite faithful to Talking Heads'
version. And while there's nothing wrong with
that, because the original kicks all sorts of
ass. The gender flip actually becomes the highlight
of this version. Hailey's voice, she brings the
heft. She obviously loves the original because
it shows on her delivery of the vocals here.
But she's not afraid to add her own unique nuances
to the performance to make the track her own.
While musically, it does sound familiar. So a
very well done version. If you're a Talking Heads
fan, the Stop Making Sense tribute album. has
to be on your list to check off this year. And
from here, yes, Paramore is the pop rock side
of things now, but at one point, they were punk
rock and a little heavier, and I think that's
where I'm going to go with my next pick. And
this one's a combination of bands that, on paper,
would pretty much make my eyebrow raise and probably
did when most of you heard about it for the first
time. That would be metal band Ice Nine Kills
teaming up with ska punk band Real Big Fish on
Walking on Sunshine from the American Psycho
comic series soundtrack, originally recorded
by Katrina and the Waves. read that this version
was out in existence i was really skeptical because
i had no idea what to expect having seen ice
nine kills on the metallica tour and the horror
metal that they do i know ice nine kills has
done some really great covers including their
take on someone like you by adele however this
is kind of a different animal they were attacking
and bringing one of my favorite ska punk bands
on the planet real big fish on board I was not
sure what to expect here. And they bring the
heft and the happiness on this version. And while
it's obviously much heavier than the original,
it still bathes in that unmistakable glow of
sunshine that the original has given us all for
decades on end. So if you're a Real Big Fish
fan like me, don't forget to check out episode
28, the ultimate ska punk playlist featuring
Scott Kloppenstein of Real Big Fish and the Littlest
Man Band. We talk a ton of ska punk as well as
Real Big Fish in that episode. But while we're
mentioning Real Big Fish, we got to continue
with the cover songs tonight. And I'm going to
continue with my next song choice that leans
right into that ska punk sound. And once again,
it's two bands coming together. However, it's
two bands that don't shock me as much as Ice
Nine Kills and Real Big Fish did, as these are
two more ska punk legends, Goldfinger, featuring
less than Jake, covering I Had Some Help from
Post Malone's F1 Trillion album. If that Post
Malone album sounds familiar, came out in 2024,
as did this cover. Pretty quickly after the original
dropped, I should add. And I have to admit, it's
pretty ballsy to go after one of the biggest
country songs of the year and rework it into
a ska punk tune. But if anybody's going to do
it, John Feldman's going to be one of the people
to pull it off. And he does here with ease. This
version is a legit ska punk song taking a country
song. With Post Malone and Morgan Wallen, one
of the biggest hits of the year, which, spoiler
alert, we discussed on the Ultimate 2024 Country
playlist because it was, again, one of the biggest
country albums of the year. And it works as a
ska punk song. Shout out to Patreon mixtaper
Chris Pazica, who also felt this way and chimed
in with this one as well. I'm all in on this
cover. It's a lot of fun. And fun is how I'm
going to close out this episode. Because we have
gone kind of all over the map here, from blues
to country to Americana to swamp rock to pop
to metal to ska punk. But we haven't gone to
polka. Shout out to Patreon mixtaper Philip Bergman,
who chimed in by asking, do medleys count? Because
if so, I'd like to include Weird Al's Polka Mania.
And yes, Philip. Not only do medleys count, it's
how I'm closing out tonight's cover song dive.
Weird Al releases his first song since the songs
he recorded for the Weird movie as well as the
Hamilton polka. And there was some other guest
spots that he's done on other songs that kind
of cloudy up the waters. But look, anytime we
get a new Weird Al polka, it's a good year. And
this one is for my 10th song of the night, a
medley. Of 10 other songs. Those songs being.
Adele's Hello. Ariana Grande's Thank You Next.
Billie Eilish's Bad Guy. Cardi B featuring Megan
Thee Stallion. WAP. The cast of Encanto. We don't
talk about Bruno. Ed Sheeran's Shape of You.
Lil Nas X's Old Town Road. Louis Fonsi featuring
Daddy Yankee's Despacito. Mark Ronson featuring
Bruno Mars. Uptown Funk. Miley Cyrus' Flowers,
Olivia Rodrigo's Vampire, and Taylor Swift's
Shake It Off. I honestly don't think there's
a better way to close out this cover song's playlist,
but the only kind of sad part about this is even
though I knew every song that Al used in this
polka, had it been a polka specifically geared
towards the year 2024, I wonder if I'd be saying
that same thing. But that said, Hearing Al sing
WAP wasn't on my 2024 bingo card, but here we
are. Sound effects and all. You'll have to listen
to the song to know what I'm talking about. And
I'm all here for it. If you'd like to hear more
Weird Al talk, I highly recommend episode 56,
The Ultimate Weird Al Yankovic Playlist, which
also features Patreon mixtaper Philip Bergman,
who chimed in with this one. Such a fun discussion
and some unexpected song choices. From both of
our parties, if I do say so myself. And as well,
this past October, I was fortunate enough to
be a guest on the extremely fun Children of the
80s podcast to talk all things Weird Al from
an 80s only perspective with Jim and Lindsay
over there. I have that episode embedded on the
guest appearances page over at myweeklymixtape
.com. along with a link to check out all the
other things they have going on over at Children
of the 80s. If you like nostalgia and you like
to reminisce about all things 80s, this is an
extremely fun place to do it. Highly recommended.
But there you have it, folks. My 10 favorite
covers of 2024, which kicked off with Slash featuring
Chris Robinson of the Black Crows, The Pusher,
originally by Steppenwolf. J .J. Gray and Mofro's
Seminal Wind, originally by John Anderson. Cody
Jinks featuring Pearl A Day, Take This Bottle,
originally by Faith No More. Butch Walker featuring
Ashley Monroe's Angel, originally by Aerosmith.
Lark and Poe's Runnin' Down a Dream, originally
by Tom Petty. ZZ Ward's Cadillac Man, originally
by The Jesters. Paramore's Burning Down the House,
originally by Talking Heads. Ice Nine Kills,
featuring Real Big Fish, Walking on Sunshine,
originally by Katrina and the Waves. Goldfinger,
featuring Less Than Jake's I Had Some Help, originally
by Post Malone, featuring Morgan Wallen, and
Weird Al Yankovic's Pokamania. Head over to myweeklymixtape
.com to hear all the songs I've discussed in
this mix. through the playlist embedded on the
episode page. And remember, you can find My Weekly
Mixtape on almost all the social media haunts
at My Weekly Mixtape. You can also head to MyWeeklyMixtape
.com to check out the full catalog of My Weekly
Mixtape episodes. And if you like what you're
hearing on this show, you can help me out by
either telling a friend, leaving the show a five
-star review wherever you're tuning in, or becoming
a Patreon mixtape or a patreon .com forward slash
My Weekly Mixtape. There you can enjoy ad -free
episodes of the show, get early access to future
My Weekly Mixtape episodes, chime in on upcoming
topics, become a future guest, and so much more.
That's all for this week. Thanks again for listening.
And until next time, enjoy the tunes.