It’s much the same in music. When you get into the covers, there is a special kind of comfort. You’ve been there before.
You can trust that you’ll feel good again.
Of course, some covers are more enjoyable than others. Some of our favorite songs can be turned ugly in the wrong hands, or more specifically, vocal cords.
Some people who cover classics without the proper expertise to do them justice should probably be locked in a small room with Connie Chung and a piano as punishment.
But this is not about them. This is to celebrate the covers that went right, the ones that make us feel privileged to listen to people who copy other people’s songs.
Admittedly, covers are rampant, so culling a “top 10?? list is a bit quixotic.
There are so many that deserve inclusion. So don’t think of this as a definitive list. Think of it as a tasty sampler, which will cause you to salivate and want more.
And remember, covers aren’t necessarily better or worse than the originals. They’re unique. The best of them are versions that the cover artist has made his or her own.
So without further ado, these are the 10 covers we’re covering:
“LOTTA LOVE?? by Nicolette Larson.
This was penned by Neil Young, who performed it with his usual country rock flair. Larson had established her reputation in the music biz as a backup singer, mostly in country and bluegrass, for the likes of Hoyt Axton, Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt and Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen. Her take on “Lotta Love,?
? which was her first single from her debut album in 1978, was breezier, with more energy and a fuller arrangement. The album went gold, but she could never duplicate that initial success.
After forays into pure country, for which she received solid reviews and appearances on country charts but not the commercial success of “Lotta Love,?? she went into semi-retirement.
Larson died much too soon, in December of 1997 at the age of 45, from complications arising from a cerebral edema.
“BACK DOOR MAN??
by the Doors. Lots of artists have covered this Willie Dixon composition, from Howlin’ Wolf to Black Oak Arkansas. But the Doors’ 1967 version is the one most folks remember for Jim Morrison’s lascivious delivery of lines like, “You men eat your dinner, eat your pork and beans; I eat more chicken any man ever seen.
?? It’s hard to believe straight-arrow Jim would embrace a song about someone who sneaks in through the back door to rendezvous with another man’s wife, but the music doesn’t lie.
In fact, Jim was confronted by police backstage at a show in Connecticut in ‘67 after a sexual encounter with a young woman and became so incensed that he went onstage and exposed himself while performing this song, which brought about his arrest. Fortunately, the Doors omitted a verse in the original Dixon song about committing murder.
“PERSONAL JESUS?
? by Johnny Cash. The original was done by techno-pop downers Depeche Mode.
The group got the idea for the song from Priscilla Presley, who in a book described her relationship with Elvis as one in which he played a spiritual role. “Feeling unknown and you’re all alone, flesh and bone, by the telephone, lift up the receiver, I’ll make you a believer.?
? Cash might appear to be an unlikely candidate to translate this staple of alternative airplay into his own brand of earthy country and western, but his “Personal Jesus??
resonates with the Man in Black’s unique power. Cash did a series of recordings in the ‘90s with producer Rick Rubin, which helped him connect with a whole new generation of music lovers, and “Personal Jesus??
appears on one of them entitled, “American IV: The Man Comes Around.??
“KILLING ME SOFTLY?? by the Fugees.
“Killing Me Softly With His Song?? was written by Norman Gimbel and Charles Fox, who also wrote the theme song to the “Happy Days?
? TV show. They wrote “Killing?
? for Lori Lieberman after she described to them her feelings about seeing Don McLean perform at a concert. Roberta Flack heard Lieberman’s 1971 version and decided to record it herself.
The result was three Grammys for Flack in 1974. In 1996, the group Fugees, with Lauryn Hill on lead vocals, did a cover mixing their special brand of hip-hop, soul and reggae, and it went to No. 1 in both the U.
S. and UK. While this might be the song mainstream music lovers identify with the Fugees, it also caused somewhat of a backlash by hardcore fans of the group who felt this was a crossover sellout engineered by the record company.
“ODE TO BILLIE JOE?? by Satan and Adam.
This duo’s history is too rich to cram into one blurb. In a nutshell, Sterling “Mr. Satan?
? Magee was an African-American Mississippi blues devotee who hit on hard times and was performing in the streets of Harlem when Adam Gussow, a white Columbia grad student and part-time guitarist and harmonica player, happened by. They joined forces to re-invent modern blues in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s.
“Ode to Billie Joe?? was a No.
1 hit by Bobbie Gentry and tells the story about a young man who commits suicide by jumping off the Tallahatchie Bridge in Greenwood, Mississippi. It caused all kinds of speculation about what Billie Joe and the song’s narrator threw off the bridge the day before he jumped. A baby?
A body? Satan and Adam’s lowdown version keeps the mystery alive. Tom Petty did and the results are on display at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, which is showcasing Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers in an exhibit that opened Friday.
When representatives from the Rock Hall visited Petty’s Spanish-style ranch in Malibu, Calif., in April looking for artifacts, he invited them into his bedroom, then into his rather sizable closet.
Petty pulled out a flowered shirt he wore in the video for his biggest chart hit, “Free Fallin’,?
? and the gray jacket he wore as a member of the esteemed Traveling Wilburys. He also produced a nylon bag of notebooks filled with handwritten lyrics.
“We left his house pinching ourselves,?? said Howard Kramer, Rock Hall curator.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, inducted into the Rock Hall in 2002, are a classic American band, a blue-collar act that has always stuck to the basics.
While Bruce Springsteen has become the iconic American rocker of the last few decades, Petty’s laid-back, homespun style has made him and the Heartbreakers the country’s house band — one with a catalog of hits that could fill a five-hour set.
“In terms of continuity, you don’t have many guys like this,?
? said Warren Zanes, the Rock Hall’s vice president for education.
Zanes, whose band the Del Fuegos toured with Petty in the mid-‘80s, says Petty and the Heartbreakers resonate because they play what comes to them, what feels right.
“Petty has stuck closer to the great American tradition of the garage band,?? Zanes said.
“In doing so, he’s the guy who best represents the coolest thing about rock ’n’ roll.??
The exhibit comes at a momentous time for Petty, who is on a 30th anniversary tour with the Heartbreakers and is releasing his third solo album, “Highway Companion,?? on July 25.
The band also will be the subject of a documentary being filmed by director Peter Bogdanovich.
Petty, 55, told The Associated Press last month that he’s happy to be on the road. The band ranked in the Top-10 tours last year, according to Pollstar, a concert-industry trade publication.
But Petty said he may cut back on the band’s touring schedule because of the many recording projects he wants to pursue.
“We’re in such a nice position right now, things have gone so well,??
he said. “I have people approach me on the streets and say, ‘Thanks for writing the soundtrack to my life.’ I can’t tell you how good that makes me feel as a songwriter.
??
From the band’s self-titled debut album in 1976, to the watershed “Damn the Torpedoes,?
? to Petty’s first solo album, “Full Moon Fever,??
the Gainesville, Fla.-native has consistently churned out hit tunes, and groundbreaking videos.
The exhibit includes a montage of the band’s videos, including the psychedelic, “Alice in Wonderland?
?-inspired “Don’t Come Around Here No More.?
? Petty’s oversized hat from his “The Mad Hatter??
role is a permanent part of the museum’s collection.
Coincidentally, Petty is the fourth member of the Traveling Wilburys to get the museum’s spotlight treatment this year. It opened an exhibit on Roy Orbison in April and a major exhibit exploring the early years of Bob Dylan’s career in May.
An exhibit on George Harrison was on display last year and will reopen this summer. 
Jenkins died Monday night at a hospital in Macon, according to Jones Brothers Eastlawn Chapel.
Jenkins was touring around the South, playing fraternity parties and other venues with his band, the Pinetoppers, when he met up with Redding.
“So I went up to him, and I said, ’Do you mind if I play behind you?
I can make you sound good,??’ Jenkins recalled in the book “Sweet Soul Music?
? by Peter Guralnick. “Well, he sounded great with me playing behind him — and he knowed it.
??
Jenkins became part of the fledgling Capricorn Records label co-founded by Phil Walden and partner Frank Fenter.
“I thought my entire world rotated around Johnny Jenkins’ guitar,?? Walden, who died in April, said in a 1996 interview with The Telegraph in Macon.
“I was convinced he could have been the greatest thing in rock ’n’ roll.??
The Pinetoppers had a regional hit in the early 1960s with an instrumental called “Love Twist.??
Redding began recording with the famed Stax Records in Memphis after accompanying Jenkins and his band there to record a follow-up, according to an account in Rolling Stone magazine in 2004 by producer-musician Steve Cropper. The singer died in a plane crash in 1967 at 26.
Paul Hornsby, a musician and producer who worked with Jenkins, said Jenkins was famous regionally as “the left-handed guitar player who was doing all these acrobatics.
?? His stunts included playing his guitar behind his head.
His style became known indirectly through Hendrix, who saw him perform when visiting his aunt in Macon.
Vocalist Arthur Ponder, who sang with Jenkins, recalled Hendrix as a “little guy who would follow us around a lot. Next thing we know, he’s Jimi Hendrix.
??
After Capricorn went out of business in the late 1970s, Jenkins faded from the music scene.
In 1996, Walden produced Jenkins’ comeback album, “Blessed Blues.??
Jenkins continued to perform sporadically, including a 2000 show at the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. His last two albums, “Handle with Care??
(2001) and “All in Good Time?? (2003), were produced by Mean Old World Records.
Enthusiasm waned because many in the 1970s audience were startled to see something they apparently didn’t know about Christian recording artists Andrae Crouch and the Disciples: They’re black.
“It was like turning the stove on from burning hot, scorching hot, to low,??
Crouch said, laughing. “It would be like, from cayenne pepper to bubble gum.?
?
Some began walking out of the Fort Worth concert, but everyone stayed once the group started playing, according to Crouch’s recollection.
“The Lord gave us an expression of our own to reach people,?
? said Crouch, one of the most celebrated gospel artists ever. “Some of my best friends today were people in that concert.
??
Crouch returns to Dallas-Fort Worth Friday to receive the International Worship Institute’s Cherub Award in suburban Grapevine.
Past winners include prolific gospel songwriters Bill and Gloria Gaither.
“He has transcended so many boundaries and borders,??
said LaMar Boschman, founder of the institute, which helps church leaders enhance worship services.
Crouch’s songs, which include “My Tribute (To God be the Glory)??
and “The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power,?? which he wrote at the age of 14, span racial and cultural divisions.
Andrae Crouch and the Disciples helped pioneer “Jesus music,?? a 1960s and ‘70s movement that spawned the current explosion in contemporary Christian music.
Crouch, 64, has won six Grammys for gospel performances and one for a pop/contemporary gospel album. He has also contributed to the secular music world, arranging Michael Jackson’s 1987 hit song “Man in the Mirror??
as well as the music from Disney’s “The Lion King?? in 1994 and Steven Spielberg’s 1985 film “The Color Purple.
??
He just released his first album since 1997, “A Mighty Wind?
? (Verity).
Crouch’s songs, which range from reverent hymns to funky soul, have been performed by Elvis Presley and Paul Simon.
In 2004, he became only the third gospel artist to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, joining Mahalia Jackson and the Rev. James Cleveland.
Crouch, his voice raspy from singing and preaching, spoke recently with The Associated Press by telephone from New Christ Memorial Church of God in Christ in San Fernando, Calif.
He pastors the church founded by his parents. His sister, Sandra, is the assistant pastor.
“My mother was quite conservative as far as rhythm,?
? he said. “She didn’t know how to clap on two and four; she would clap on one and three.
My father was just the opposite. He knew everything about gospel singing.?
?
Young Andrae was exposed to all types of music in the home — as long as it wasn’t contrary to the family’s religious beliefs. His father taught him to pay close attention to a song’s message, a lesson he says has made a difference throughout his career.
“God was training him in how to tell us how the lyric content was, and how the music matched the lyric,?? Crouch said.
“It just seemed like he was training us, and we just soaked it in. When we were in Bible school, we were so conscious of explaining who the Lord was.?
?
Crouch founded the Disciples in the 1960s, a time of social upheaval around the country. They frequently encountered racism, including the time when they brought their wives to a concert at a church.
“One of the boys in the group had married a white girl. When they saw she was a white girl, an ‘emergency’ came, and they had to shut down the concert,??
he said.
Crouch said some radio-station program directors refused to play his songs that “sounded like black people singing.?
? And the group once found Ku Klux Klan stickers on a hotel door.
“We didn’t know the seriousness,?
? he said. “We were never afraid, not at all.
We were always witnesses.??
Crouch still composes songs — as well as sermons — and says more albums will come. He has 150 songs that have never been released. His head is filled with music, and he sometimes writes five or six songs in a day.
He credits God for the process.
“Sometimes, I might be thinking of butterflies, and he’ll give me a song about dinosaurs,??
Crouch said. “I’ll not even be thinking about the subject matter I’m writing about, I’m just playing around with something else.?
?
Once, Crouch remembers, he somehow came up with a song about an artesian well.
“I never in my life read nothing about an artesian well, and here I was explaining it and making parallels with my life,?
? he said. “It’s really not ‘scary’ because God was doing it, but for a lack of words, it would be a scary thing.
??
With more than 40 years in the business, new people are being introduced to his music all the time — even at his church.
“When I sing my songs, 90 percent of the time, the people who compliment the songs come up and say, ‘Pastor, is that a new one?’ I say, ‘yes, if you consider Abe Lincoln to be a young man,??
he said, laughing. “It’s brand new. It’s hot off the press.
?? 
HOUSTON - Bobby Brown was back with New Edition — and his ostentatious behavior stood out when he was paired with the soulful group.
Brown, who left New Edition in the 1980s for a solo career, reunited with the band Sunday night for two songs at the Essence Music Festival.
As the other five members moved to slick choreography Sunday, Brown ran around the stage wildly and performed raunchy dance moves.
The men brought the crowd to its feet with their performance of the 1985 hit “Mr. Telephone Man.
??
Brown then left the stage, and the remainder of the group — original members Ralph Tresvant, Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins and Ronnie DeVoe, plus Johnny Gill, who replaced Brown — performed several ballads.
Brown followed with a solo set that started with “Don’t Be Cruel,?? then quickly turned to more raunchy dancing and talk about his sex life with wife Whitney Houston.
By the time he finished with “My Prerogative,?? Brown was shirtless and many in the audience were screaming for him to get off the stage.
The accomplishment, though, is muted slightly:
“American V: A Hundred Highways,??
a compilation of recordings by the Man in Black, reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Top 200 albums chart with a record-low sales figure for a first-place debut, 88,000 units, according to the Web site billboardradiomonitor.com.
The disc is Cash’s first No. 1 album since 1969’s “Johnny Cash at San Quentin.?
?
It also tops Billboard’s country-albums chart, pushing the Dixie Chicks’ “Taking the Long Way??
to second place.
Cash died of complications from diabetes on Sept. 12, 2003, at age 71.
June Carter, his wife of 35 years, died in May of the same year.
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