“Red Red Wine”
By: UB40
Off the album: Labour of Love (1983)
    Yes, I know this was originally a Neil Diamond song, but I have to admit I love this cover more than the original. When the band decided to cover the song, their version was actually inspired by Tony Tribe’s reggae cover of Diamond’s song. At the time, they didn’t even realize the “Diamond” who was credited as the writer was actually Neil Diamond! Ever since UB40’s cover became a hit, Neil Diamond has been known to play a UB40-inspired version of his song at live concerts, even including the rap heard in the middle of the track that’s not in Diamond’s original piece.

 

“Such Great Heights”
By: Iron & Wine
Off the album: Garden State Soundtrack (2004)
    Ok, you got me. I’m cheating on one of my lists once again, but I just had to include this amazing artist! That’s right, Iron & Wine is just one guy, Samuel Beam, who has a firm beard and kick ass acoustic guitar. Or is that a kick ass beard and firm acoustic guitar? Either way, we’re getting back into cover territory with this song. It’s a cover of the more popular version of the song by The Postal Service, whose singer – Ben Gibbard – is also the singer of Death Cab for Cutie. The cover by Iron & Wine isn’t on any of his studio albums, rather it appears on the soundtrack of the film, Garden State. Director Zach Braff felt the soundtrack was so integral to the film, he included a copy of it with every script he sent out.

 

“Scenes from an Italian Restaurant”
By: Billy Joel
Off the album: The Stranger (1977)
    Interestingly, this song’s opening line, “A bottle of white, a bottle of red, perhaps a bottle of rosé instead?” was the exact question asked to Joel by a waiter when he was out dining at a restaurant. For years, no one knew what restaurant had inspired the song, but Joel finally revealed 30 years after the album was released, that it was a place called Fontana di Trevi in Manhattan, a favorite of his when playing in the city during the year he wrote the song. Musically, Joel credits “The Medley” of The Beatles’ Abbey Road as inspiration for “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant.” You can definitely hear similarities by its constantly changing sections and similar sound.

 

“Old Red Wine”
By: The Who
Off the album: Then and Now (2004)
    It’s not too often you find a gem like this in a compilation album. While the majority of songs included on the record were past hits, the last two songs on the tracklist, which included “Old Red Wine,” were the first new songs released by The Who in 15 years. On a somber note, guitarist and songwriter Pete Townshend wrote the song about his former bandmate, bassist John Entwistle, who died of a cocaine-induced heart attack in 2002. Entwistle was known to love red wine; so much so that he would even drink it after the bottle had been expired.

 

“When I’m Sixty-Four”
By: The Beatles
Off the album: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)
    It’s eerie that Paul McCartney wrote this song, being that he is one of only two Beatles who actually lived to the age of 64 (and thankfully longer). This was actually one of the first songs McCartney ever wrote, and he was wondering if anyone would “still be sending me a valentine, birthday greetings, bottle of wine” when he was 16. It has been speculated by music producer George Martin – one of a small handful of people to have the title of The Fifth Beatle – that McCartney thought about the song because his father had turned 64 the year they began recording Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

 

“Going to California”
By: Led Zeppelin
Off the album: Led Zeppelin IV (1971)
    According to frontman Robert Plant, this song’s lyrics reflect a moment of his life when he was living the rock star dream in California… at the age of 20. Let the jealousy seep in; on a regular day for 20-year-old Plant in the late 60s, he “Spent my days with a woman unkind, smoked my stuff and drank all my wine.” As a folk-inspired acoustic song, it is a big departure from most of the album’s tracks that are loud and heavily amplified. Similar to the other folk-influenced song on the album, “The Battle of Evermore,” “Going to California” is a great display of bassist John Paul Jones’ virtuosity on the mandolin.