In 2005, we created a blog to cover Live8 in Philadelphia as a joint venture with AOL. In many ways it was a test of how we’d work together when they acquired us later that year and both sides passed the test.
The first thing I always remember when I think about Live8 was that I got to meet Don Cheadle, but the musical highlight was Stevie Wonder. He doesn’t tour often and he was amazing. In my final post at the end of a long, draining day I reviewed his set and I joked that he did a great cover of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ song Higher Ground. I also said I loved his version of Stevie Ray Vaughn’s Superstition. I didn’t make it clear that I was joking, so of course the commenters went off on me:
You are clearly an idiot.
and
LOL on the Higher Ground attribution. How old is the author?
Since then, I give people the benefit of the doubt when they talk about someone doing a cover of what was really their own song.
But the AP writer who reviewed a Nine Inch Nails show doesn’t seem to be joking:
NIN closed the night with a slow and smoky cover of Johnny Cash’s “Hurt,” which earned nonstop cheers from the crowd. Reznor was soft as he sang the song’s verses — making it the set’s highlight.
At some point, someone must have noticed the mistake because later stories have this version:
NIN closed the night with a slow and smoky version of “Hurt,” which Johnny Cash famously covered.
Hopefully they fixed that before incurring the wrath of AOL commenters.
Brian Alvey 