# Songs with impressions of other singers/groups **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 8, 2016, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-impressions-of-other-singers-groups/742474 "2016-01-08T04:44:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2016, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-impressions-of-other-singers-groups/742474/41 "2016-01-09T21:55:31Z")
Not sure if this counts, but here is [Bill Kirchen doing many “guitar impressions” during a long version of Hot Rod Lincoln.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxjvlB26Rgw) He played on Commander Cody’s version years ago, and is a lot of fun to see live. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2016, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-impressions-of-other-singers-groups/742474/42 "2016-01-10T17:09:53Z")
> [@BurnMeUp](#): > > Here’s Guttermouth doing a What If… Fred Schneider tried out for the doors > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOsbuWAzUZo](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOsbuWAzUZo) Here’s Burton Cummings doing a What If… Gordon Lightfoot’s favourite singer was Rod Stewart. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/_rh5slFWPlY/maxresdefault.jpg "Gordon Lightfoot Does Maggie May (Burton Cummings)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rh5slFWPlY) ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2016, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-impressions-of-other-singers-groups/742474/43 "2016-01-10T17:41:28Z")
Flo and Eddie’s “Keep it Warm” riffs on the Beatles and the Beach Boys, but doesn’t really rise to the level of impression. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2016, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-impressions-of-other-singers-groups/742474/44 "2016-01-10T17:54:58Z")
I suppose you could add Bobby Pickett’s “Monster Mash” to the list. The song isn’t a parody, but it’s sung in imitation of Boris Karloff. And the title song from the Sex Pistols film _The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle_ features a procession of lead singers doing impressions of Johnny Rotten, who by that time had left the band. ---
**Author:** ![Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harvey_The_Heavy)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2016, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-impressions-of-other-singers-groups/742474/45 "2016-01-11T10:24:01Z")
Paul Stanley wrote [Hard Luck Woman](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5zzTzGCtQ8) with the intention of giving it to Rod Stewart, who passed on it. KISS then recorded it with Peter Criss on vocals, since he had a raspy singing voice kind of like Rod’s. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2016, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-impressions-of-other-singers-groups/742474/46 "2016-01-11T12:47:34Z")
> [@jrbor76](#): > > Sugarloaf’s song “Don’t Call Us (We’ll Call You)” name-checks John, Paul and George (but sadly, not Ringo), then lifts one of the riffs from “I Feel Fine”. …which John (as George admitted) had pretty much lifted from Bobby Parker’s [Watch Your Step](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TvtabNAb_wE). ---
**Author:** ![Tread](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Tread](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tread)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2016, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-impressions-of-other-singers-groups/742474/47 "2016-01-11T12:51:19Z")
Three Dog Night’s Mama Told Me Not to Come, was done as an impression of song writer Randy Newman ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2016, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-impressions-of-other-singers-groups/742474/48 "2016-01-11T12:59:23Z")
Seems relevant today to mention Bowie’s nod to the Beatles from “Young Americans,” where his singers reference “I heard the news today, oh boy!” ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2016, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-impressions-of-other-singers-groups/742474/49 "2016-01-11T13:02:19Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2016, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-impressions-of-other-singers-groups/742474/50 "2016-01-11T13:13:14Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > Seems relevant today to mention Bowie’s nod to the Beatles from “Young Americans,” where his singers reference “I heard the news today, oh boy!” I’d call that one a quotation, not an impression. There’s absolutely no attempt made to sing that line in the style of the original. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2016, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-impressions-of-other-singers-groups/742474/51 "2016-01-11T13:37:18Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > I’d call that one a quotation, not an impression. There’s absolutely no attempt made to sing that line in the style of the original. Hmm. Fair enough — retracted. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2016, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-impressions-of-other-singers-groups/742474/52 "2016-01-11T13:58:05Z")
The band Muse have their own sound, but sometimes appear to channel Queen, most strikingly on their song [United States of Eurasia](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5-K51jHQ6k). ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2016, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-impressions-of-other-singers-groups/742474/53 "2016-01-11T20:42:24Z")
Not sure if this counts, since they are apparently primarily a comedy act, but I was impressed by the impressions in [Eskimo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwO33oUawM8) by Corky & the Juice Pigs ---
**Author:** ![BurnMeUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@BurnMeUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BurnMeUp)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2016, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-impressions-of-other-singers-groups/742474/54 "2016-01-11T22:06:05Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Frank Zappa’s [Flakes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgyeUHH_V0g) has a funny Bob Dylan parody section, done by Adrian Belew, I think. Also the song Sy Borg on Joe’s Garage is musically pretty much an homage to Steely Dan. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2016, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-impressions-of-other-singers-groups/742474/55 "2016-01-11T22:48:47Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > David Allen Coe does a pretty good imitation of Waylon Jennings, Charlie Pride and Merle Haggard in [“You Never Even Called Me by My Name”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAOVRkSCWmg). And it calls out to “Hello Walls” in the second verse. It wasn’t bad, but it didn’t hold a candle to the way [the late great Steve sang it.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hsa5IiNjIkQ) And for some reason, Coe left out some of the elements from the last verse (farms, a major holiday like Christmas, and dead dogs like Shep), turning the perfect country song into a less than perfect country song. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-impressions-of-other-singers-groups/742474/56 "2016-01-12T00:34:49Z")
> [@BurnMeUp](#): > > Also the song Sy Borg on Joe’s Garage is musically pretty much an homage to Steely Dan. Not the Steely Dan that I like. Sounds a little like Gaucho or Nightfly maybe but I wouldn’t make the leap myself. ---
**Author:** ![syncrolecyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@syncrolecyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/syncrolecyne)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-impressions-of-other-singers-groups/742474/57 "2016-01-12T00:50:29Z")
A case within a group may be the Beatles “Why Don’t We Do it in the Road?” I recall in a couple of interviews (the 1980 playboy interview), John Lennon seemed to think it was Paul’s knock-off or parody of his vocal and lyrical style, and resented not being included in its sessions. ---
**Author:** ![syncrolecyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@syncrolecyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/syncrolecyne)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-impressions-of-other-singers-groups/742474/58 "2016-01-12T00:52:33Z")
…and on a related note, on “Glass Onion,” Lennon seems to be making fun of his own group! ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Mondegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/91b2a8/32.png) [@Lord\_Mondegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Mondegreen)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-impressions-of-other-singers-groups/742474/59 "2016-01-12T03:07:35Z")
I recall an interview with John Lennon where he was talking about the Double Fantasy album. He said that he was deliberately imitating Elvis in _(Just Like) Starting Over_ with the “It’s been too long since we took the time” bit. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-impressions-of-other-singers-groups/742474/60 "2016-01-12T03:09:59Z")
> [@Lord\_Mondegreen](#): > > I recall an interview with John Lennon where he was talking about the Double Fantasy album. He said that he was deliberately imitating Elvis in _(Just Like) Starting Over_ with the “It’s been too long since we took the time” bit. That’s exactly true. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-impressions-of-other-singers-groups/742474.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-impressions-of-other-singers-groups/742474.md?page=4)