It's a great song, but yeah, it's been beat to death, along with Brown Eyed Girl, Gimme Three Steps, Margaritaville, Folsom Prison Blues, and Johnny B. Goode. For more modern music, Crazy Bitch and My Own Worst Enemy have quickly become beat-to-death covers as well.
But I think the big issue is something that someone had stated earlier in this thread before it was necro-ed: Too many bands play a hack arrangement of it. If more bands made the effort to really do a good arrangement of the song, it would probably be a lot easier to swallow. But you honestly see that with a lot of the standards that have become cliche. Sweet Home Alabama is a GREAT song. But how many bands actually nail it? How many guitarists hit all of the fills and how many bass players make an effort to do the shuffle feel during the solos? Pride and Joy is another great song. Rarely do you hear the guitarist hit the walking bass lines and the muted rhythm parts between the fills. When you hear a cover of Pride and Joy, nine times out of ten, it's a very hackneyed shuffle arrangement. That tune's not about high-caliber songwriting; it's about Stevie's brilliant playing and Double Trouble being one of the greatest blues rhythm sections of all-time. If you're not going to strive for the integrity of the original performance, don't do it. Man in the Box: A modern classic and another song that 97% of bands should stay the hell away from. Most don't have anywhere near the vocal chops of Staley and Cantrell and the bass player often has no clue on what to play during the pre-chorus and chorus.
I guess my long-winded point is the problem isn't with overplayed pop and rock standards; it's overplayed pop and rock standards overplayed poorly.
But I think the big issue is something that someone had stated earlier in this thread before it was necro-ed: Too many bands play a hack arrangement of it. If more bands made the effort to really do a good arrangement of the song, it would probably be a lot easier to swallow. But you honestly see that with a lot of the standards that have become cliche. Sweet Home Alabama is a GREAT song. But how many bands actually nail it? How many guitarists hit all of the fills and how many bass players make an effort to do the shuffle feel during the solos? Pride and Joy is another great song. Rarely do you hear the guitarist hit the walking bass lines and the muted rhythm parts between the fills. When you hear a cover of Pride and Joy, nine times out of ten, it's a very hackneyed shuffle arrangement. That tune's not about high-caliber songwriting; it's about Stevie's brilliant playing and Double Trouble being one of the greatest blues rhythm sections of all-time. If you're not going to strive for the integrity of the original performance, don't do it. Man in the Box: A modern classic and another song that 97% of bands should stay the hell away from. Most don't have anywhere near the vocal chops of Staley and Cantrell and the bass player often has no clue on what to play during the pre-chorus and chorus.
I guess my long-winded point is the problem isn't with overplayed pop and rock standards; it's overplayed pop and rock standards overplayed poorly.
)
