5 of the All-Time Best Rock and Roll Covers of Blues Standards That Came Before Them

We often associate revamping decades-old tunes with genres like folk and country music. But there are plenty of rock ‘n’ roll cuts that take blues standards and turn them into something new, gritty, and raw. Oftentimes, these heavyweight versions sound so natural and authentic to the bands that are covering them that many don’t realize they’re playing a song that was written decades earlier.

From historical retellings of devastating floods to timeless heartbreak songs, these are some of the all-time best rock and roll covers of much older blues songs and standards.

“Black Betty” by Ram Jam

Ram Jam released their one major hit, “Black Betty”, in 1977. But the real song dates back at least to the early 1930s, when John and Alan Lomax archived field recordings of inmates singing it a cappella in Sugar Land, Texas. Blues singer Lead Belly cut his own version of the track in 1939. When Ram Jam put out their rendition in 1977, it broke into the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100.

“When The Levee Breaks” by Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin’s 1971 version of “When The Levee Breaks” is a remake of Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie’s 1929 original. McCoy and Minnie wrote the song based on the events of the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927. Led Zeppelin’s cover of the decades-old blues track was just one of the many instances of the English rock and roll band taking cues from early 20th-century American blues.

“Hey Joe” by Jimi Hendrix

Though not strictly blues, “Hey Joe” was long considered a traditional folk standard that rock bands began co-opting in the early 1960s. Billy Roberts later registered the copyright to the track that helped elevate Jimi Hendrix to global superstar status in 1962, four years before Hendrix released his version. The song helped Hendrix break into the English rock scene. “Hey Joe” also closed out the Woodstock Music and Art Fair as the last song in Hendrix’s set.

“Back Door Man” by The Doors

Like so many other rock bands of the time, The Doors took many of their musical cues from blues giants that came before them. “Back Door Man” by Willie Dixon and made famous by Howlin’ Wolf was no exception. The Doors included the cover on their eponymous debut. But given Jim Morrison’s salacious, rabble-rousing, tom-catting reputation, the song sounds like something he could’ve written.

“Ball And Chain” by Janis Joplin

Janis Joplin had no problem admitting that she took tremendous influence from blues singers like Big Mama Thornton and Bessie Smith. Her rendition of Thornton’s “Ball And Chain” proved her ability to pay homage without outright copying the artists who came before her. And like the other songs on this list, the rock and roll version of the early 60s blues track sounded authentically like Janis Joplin.

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