# Songs knowingly done in the style of another artist **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 30, 2008, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-knowingly-done-in-the-style-of-another-artist/435587 "2008-01-30T14:54:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-knowingly-done-in-the-style-of-another-artist/435587/1 "2008-01-30T14:54:40Z")
A current thread notes that the Traveling Wilbury song “Tweeter & The Monkeyman” is an obvious nod to Bruce Springsteen, made even more amusing by the fact that many consider Bruce’s early work to be in the Dylan style. Another example is Led Zeppelin’s “The Crunge”, their tribute/parody/ripoff (as Robert Christgau described it) of James Brown. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-knowingly-done-in-the-style-of-another-artist/435587/2 "2008-01-30T15:00:09Z")
Utopia’s album _Deface the Music_ consists entirely of songs done in the style(s) of The Beatles. Ditto The Rutles. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-knowingly-done-in-the-style-of-another-artist/435587/3 "2008-01-30T15:03:04Z")
Well, there are plenty of parodies. Some of the best are the Harvard Lampoon’s Dylan parody “Twenty-Three Miles from Waukeegan my Canteloupe Died” from **The Surprising Sheep and Other Mind Excursions**. There’s also Neil Innes’s Beatles parodies in his time with the Rutles, the best being **Piggy in the Middle** ([Click for MP3](http://www.neilinnes.org/audio/Neil%20Innes%20Live%20-%20Piggy%20In%20The%20Middle.mp3)) ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-knowingly-done-in-the-style-of-another-artist/435587/4 "2008-01-30T15:04:01Z")
Isn’t “(You’ve Got to) Hide Your Love Away” by Lennon with The Beatles generally considered Lennon doing Dylan? I get the impression that the Beatles did a lot of this… ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-knowingly-done-in-the-style-of-another-artist/435587/5 "2008-01-30T15:04:23Z")
Terry Stafford’s “Suspicion” (Elvis) Matt Monroe’s “My Kind of Girl” (Sinatra) True or not, Dean Martin said he stole his singing style from Bing Crosby. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-knowingly-done-in-the-style-of-another-artist/435587/6 "2008-01-30T15:21:14Z")
Lies, by the Knickerbockers, was a deliberate Beatles imitation. I have read the REM’s At My Most Beautiful was an homage to the Beach Boys. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-knowingly-done-in-the-style-of-another-artist/435587/7 "2008-01-30T15:34:47Z")
[QUOTE=RealityChuck] Well, there are plenty of parodies. Some of the best are the Harvard Lampoon’s Dylan parody “Twenty-Three Miles from Waukeegan my Canteloupe Died” from **The Surprising Sheep and Other Mind Excursions**. There’s also Neil Innes’s Beatles parodies in his time with the Rutles, the best being **Piggy in the Middle** ([Click for MP3](http://www.neilinnes.org/audio/Neil%20Innes%20Live%20-%20Piggy%20In%20The%20Middle.mp3)) [/QUOTE] Surely if we can invoke “Lampoons” the **National Lampoon** ’s _Lemmings_ is king. A lovely little bit [here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIl-OOUsxLY) ---
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-knowingly-done-in-the-style-of-another-artist/435587/8 "2008-01-30T15:36:04Z")
_Crazy Little Thing Called Love_- **Queen** Sounds a tad like Elvis. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-knowingly-done-in-the-style-of-another-artist/435587/9 "2008-01-30T15:54:58Z")
_[Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Cool_Woman)_ by **the Hollies** sounds like they were trying to emulate **Creedence Clearwater Revival** ’s sound, and did a pretty good job of it. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-knowingly-done-in-the-style-of-another-artist/435587/10 "2008-01-30T16:03:41Z")
Since **Mad the Swine** stole mine, I’ll offer Buckcherry’s “Sorry” as a lame imitation of Aerosmith when they were going through their lame ballad phase. In the video the lead singer even does Stephen Tyler’s stomping foot , thrusted hand of angst move. ---
**Author:** ![HeadNinja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b4bc9f/32.png) [@HeadNinja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeadNinja)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-knowingly-done-in-the-style-of-another-artist/435587/11 "2008-01-30T16:05:53Z")
Everything Ween has ever done is in someone else’s style. But slighty different. ---
**Author:** ![Amok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f17d59/32.png) [@Amok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amok)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-knowingly-done-in-the-style-of-another-artist/435587/12 "2008-01-30T16:06:46Z")
The Beatles’ _Back in the U.S.S.R._ is something of a Beach Boy parody. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-knowingly-done-in-the-style-of-another-artist/435587/13 "2008-01-30T16:15:33Z")
Some of the Beatles’ songs were done in what Paul calls his Elvis voice. You can hear echoes of Little Richard in some of their early numbers with the falsetto wooo. Some may disagree, but I see _Back In The USSR_ as a nod to Chuck Berry. Leann Rimes channelled Patsy Cline in most of her _Blue_ album. ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-knowingly-done-in-the-style-of-another-artist/435587/14 "2008-01-30T16:31:44Z")
In addition to flat-out parodies, Weird Al Yankovic also does pastiches. “[Dare to be Stupid](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nIlFsERnmk),” of DEVO, “[Bob](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nej4xJe4Tdg)” of Bob Dylan, and “[Pancreas](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tq_-zxPgFzE)” of The Beach Boys are all examples. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-knowingly-done-in-the-style-of-another-artist/435587/15 "2008-01-30T16:32:18Z")
Peter, Paul and Mary’s “I Dig Rock and Roll Music” parodied several popular acts of the 60s. Lousy song, but the imitation of The Mamas and the Papas was dead on. Long before Stevie Ray Vaughn started covering Hendrix, Robin Trower was heavily influenced by Hendrix; unlike Vaughn, though, he didn’t do a bitwise copy. Gene Vincent’s entire catalog seems to be an imitation of Elvis. Imitating Elvis was not unusual in the 50s, but Vincent was particularly good at it. A lot of people thought Be-Bop-A-Lula _was_ done by Elvis. We all know that Oasis = recycled Beatles. The Beatles’ “Back in the USSR” is definitely a nod to the Beach Boys. But I can see where **AskNott** would see Chuck Berry’s influence, and am prepared to call it a hybrid. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-knowingly-done-in-the-style-of-another-artist/435587/16 "2008-01-30T16:37:02Z")
I was going to say Back in the USSR. America’s **Horse with No Name** sounds more like Neil Young at the time than Neil Young did. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-knowingly-done-in-the-style-of-another-artist/435587/17 "2008-01-30T16:39:14Z")
Country musicians are evoking Jimmie Rodgers when they throw a yodel into their song. An early example of such an homage is “Long Gone Lonesome Blues” by Hank Williams. You occasionally hear Dwight Yoakam imitating other artists. He slips into a George Jones impression sometimes, though I’m having trouble naming a specific song at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-knowingly-done-in-the-style-of-another-artist/435587/18 "2008-01-30T16:50:59Z")
**Buddy Holly and the Crickets** were knowingly copping **Bo Diddley** ’s style with [“Not Fade Away.”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fd6zBMZ423g) ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-knowingly-done-in-the-style-of-another-artist/435587/19 "2008-01-30T16:56:56Z")
Since **Weird Al** got claimed already, I’ll offer **Cherry Poppin’ Daddies** ’ _Come Back to Me_, an homage to Sammy Davis Jr. Pure lounge music. ---
**Author:** ![WreckingCrew](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wreckingcrew/32/4080_2.png) [@WreckingCrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WreckingCrew)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-knowingly-done-in-the-style-of-another-artist/435587/20 "2008-01-30T16:59:44Z")
[QUOTE=kelly5078] The Beatles’ “Back in the USSR” is definitely a nod to the Beach Boys. But I can see where **AskNott** would see Chuck Berry’s influence, and am prepared to call it a hybrid. [/QUOTE] No surprise at all that people hear a Chuck Berry/ Beach Boys blend there. The Beach Boys were so influenced by Chuck Berry that he ended up with the writing credit for “Surfin’ USA” due to its similarity to “Sweet Little Sixteen.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-knowingly-done-in-the-style-of-another-artist/435587.md?page=2)