Favorite Cover Songs #5 - "Sweet Jane"

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#5 in my Favorite Cover Songs series takes us to Toronto, home of Cowboy Junkies. Fronted by the sweet, sweet vocals of Margo Timmons, Cowboy Junkies hit big with their 1988 album The Trinity Session, which contains their cover of The Velvet Underground's "Sweet Jane." The Velvet Underground, meanwhile, was one of the most influential groups in rock music history, and springboarded Lou Reed into a successful solo career. The classic "Sweet Jane" was not a hit for the Velvet's (at least, I'm not finding any evidence of chart action,) but it was a #5 on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart for the Junkies, who stripped the song down into a haunting, alt-countrified version that will forever be hard to top. "Sweet Jane" has been covered by Mott the Hoople and even Brownsville Station. However, according to Wikipedia, Reed, the song's writer, declared the Cowboy Junkies version the best. And I just cannot bring myself to disagree with Lou Reed. I got to meet Margo Timmons one night after a Cowboy Junkies show. Very pretty, very nice lady.