Hey everyone! This week, I will be back on the air for another great episode of The Gus Knorr Show. This week’s theme relates to covers, as throughout the show tonight, I will be playing some songs that were better known by a cover version but in my opinion, are still very good songs, and then some good cover versions that I think are better than the original, or have a unique twist to them in some way.

• The first song tonight is by a mid-’60s garage rock band from Los Angeles, who released the first single version of this song in 1965, though it was better known for its cover by the Jimi Hendrix Experience released a year later. This song, by The Leaves, is “Hey Joe.”
• The next song is by another garage rock band from the 1960s, which was from New York, despite claiming to be from Australia. This band, The Strangeloves, recorded the first version of “I Want Candy,” better known for its later covers by Bow Wow Wow and Aaron Carter, among others.
• Next up is a song by legendary soul singer Otis Redding, which was much better known for its later cover version by Aretha Franklin; it’s “Respect.”
• A song by another soul singer from the 1970s is next, namely Al Green. This song was better known for being covered by the Talking Heads a few years later, and for being sung by the Big Mouth Billy Bass many years later, and it’s “Take Me to the River.”
• Moving right along, the next song is by Eddie Cochran, and was a successful song, though was slightly overshadowed by its later cover versions, including a great live version by The Who. Released two years before his untimely death at the age of 21, here’s “Summertime Blues.”
• Next is an R&B song from the 1950s, though was much better known for its cover version released by garage rock band The Kingsmen in 1963. This song, by Richard Berry, is the original version of “Louie Louie,” and you can actually understand the lyrics!
• Moving on to a couple of newer cover songs, the next song is by Swedish folk group First Aid Kit, and is a cover of the 1979 Patti Smith song “Dancing Barefoot.”
• Next up is a cover of The Clash’s song “Guns of Brixton,” by San Francisco based group Rupa and the April Fishes, off their new album, Build.
• Moving back to some cover versions of older songs, the next song is an amazing cover version of the traditional folk song, “House of the Rising Sun.” This, of course, is the folk rock version by The Animals, one of the biggest hits of the British Invasion in 1964.
• Next is another great cover version that was a number one single in America, and in some circles, is known as “That Song About a Douche,” but is actually called “Blinded By the Light,” by Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, a cover of an older Bruce Springsteen song.
• A song from the early 1970s is next, and is by Janis Joplin, released a few months after her death at the age of 27 in October 1970. The song, a cover of an earlier song written by Kris Kristofferson, is “Me and Bobby McGee.”
• The next song is one from the 1950s, performed by Fats Domino, and is arguably the best known version of the song, which was performed by many musicians before that, with the original version one being by The Singing Cowboy, Gene Autry; it’s “Blueberry Hill.”
• Moving on to a couple of novelty cover songs, the next one is William Shatner’s hilariously awful spoken-word version of The Beatles’ “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds.”
• Another funny song released in 1968 by one of the greatest comedians of all time is next, namely Bill Cosby’s adaptation/parody/cover of Stevie Wonder’s “Uptight (Everything’s Alright,)” titled “Little Ole Man.” Somehow, this song peaked at number 4 on the Billboard charts in America.
• The Wesley Willis Song of the Week is next, and is one of his few cover songs, performed with his punk rock band the Wesley Willis Fiasco. This cover is of Pure Prairie League’s song “Amie.”
• Moving on to a newer song for a minute, and the second to last song on The Gus Knorr Show tonight, the next song is by country musician Jake Owen, and is a cover of Ben Harper’s song “Steal My Kisses,” released off of his new EP, Endless Summer.
• The final song on The Gus Knorr Show tonight is by Joe Cocker, well known for several great, soulful and vastly different cover versions of several popular songs in the 1960s and 1970s. This song is a live performance of The Box Tops’ song, “The Letter,” recorded at The Fillmore East in New York in 1970.

That’s it for The Gus Knorr Show this week, but stay tuned for The Gus Knorr Show next week, on Thursday, October 4th, at 8:00 PM, and for the rest of the semester. Thanks for listening!