Rush - Tom Sawyer (Exit Stage Left)

This is the first video I saw from Rush, back when I was a teen watching MTV:



I'm sure it's the first Rush song I heard, too, followed soon by Limelight. I liked them ever since then. One of my close friends was a huge Rush fan. Thanks to him I ended up with cassette copies of A Farewell to Kings and Moving Pictures. I went on to buy a bunch more Rush on vinyl and later on CD.

We lost Neil Peart, but as the Rancid song says, "through our music, we will live forever."

I Like the Cover Better: Summertime Blues

I like the original song, "Summertime Blues" by Eddie Cochran.

I even like the Rush cover from Feedback. And this excellent Kyoushirou version in Japanese. And The Who. And The Stray Cats. The Beach Boys (one my hands-down favorite bands). Even Marc Bolan and TRex! It's a can't-miss song.

But nothing compares, in my mind, to Blue Cheer:



It's oddly a cover that doesn't work as well without your brain knowing the original, but it takes that meta-song knowledge and spins it somewhere amazing. It's Quentin Tarantino-like in its ability to show you what's awesome about the original by going someone the original never, ever, could.

If you know any Summertime Blues covers I didn't mention, please add them in the comments.