Country Cover Songs- Faith Hill Vs. Janis Joplin

With this week’s Country Cover Songs, we look at Faith Hill Vs. Janis Joplin. This song is a classic, but no matter which version you prefer, it’s still a classic. The song in question is “Piece Of My Heart”. Janis Joplin originally had a hit with it all the way back in 1969. Faith Hill released her version of the song in 1993. And I think we can all agree that both versions of the song are awesome, but different and unique in their own way.

Lets talk about Janis Joplin’s version. It’s raw, it’s soulful, it’s rockin’, it sounds like 1969! Like I said before it’s a classic. You can tell that Janis was feeling every single word she was singing. I love songs like that. Songs that you know were lived by the way they were being sung.

Now we move on to Faith Hill’s version of “Piece Of My Heart”. It’s a little more structured, it’s a little more polished and neat. Faith’s version is like it’s meant for the radio, and it was, the song was a huge hit for her. It’s a song that makes you think about Faith Hill, and in fact you may not have even know this was a country cover song.

Can you say one version is better than the other? Maybe so, but it would be tough. Faith Hill’s version was the first one I heard growing up, and I’ll always be partial to it. However, Janis did do the original, and it’s awesome too. I think this is a case of both versions of the songs are great. In my opinion, one isn’t better than the other. They’re both different, and awesome in their own unique way. I think we can appreciate both versions.

Here’s Faith’s version:

Here’s Janis’ version:

If you missed my Country Cover Songs last week with Jason Aldean and Bryan Adams, you can check that out here.

8 Of Faith Hill’s Number One Songs, Ranked

• 8. “It Matters To Me” (1995)

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  This song was co-written by Faith's first husband Ed Hill. It was released in November 1995 as her second single and title track from Hill’s album of the same name. It was her third number one on the Billboard country charts.

• 7. “Wild One” (1993)

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  A catchy song and her debut single. Going to number one, the song spent the first four chart weeks of 1994 at the top of the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart.

• 6. “Piece Of My Heart” (1994)

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  Another song from Faith’s debut album, “Piece Of My Heart,” was a cover of an Erma Franklin's (Aretha’s big sister) 1967 song. Hill is not the only one who covered it as through the years it was also recorded by Dusty Springfield also in 1968, and a duet version by Melissa Etheridge and Joss Stone in 2005. The most famous version, however, is Janis Joplin's from 1968.
• 5. “Mississippi Girl” (2005)

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  Faith released this song in May 2005 as the lead single from her sixth studio album, Fireflies. It was written specifically for Hill by John Rich (of Big & Rich), and fellow MuzikMafia member Adam Shoenfeld. The song references Faith's forays into acting at the time, in an episode of 'Touched By An Angel' and the 2004 film 'The Stepford Wives.'

• 4. “The Way That You Love Me” (2000)

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  The song reached number four in Hungary, number nine in Spain, and number 15 in the United Kingdom. The video for the chart-topper shows Hill as many different characters, including a mother, police officer, robber, waitress, heiress, and nurse.

• 3. “It’s Your Love” with Tim McGraw (1997)

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  Hill was pregnant with their oldest daughter Gracie Katherine when the music video for this song was filmed. The song stayed at number one for six weeks and became McGraw's and Hill's first top-ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number seven.
• 2. “Breathe” (1999)

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  A big song for Hill as "Breathe" became her seventh number one on the Hot Country Songs chart, spending six weeks at number one. It also peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in April 2000. Despite not hitting number one, it was the number-one pop single of 2000. In 2009, the single was named the 27th-most-successful song of the 2000s, on the Billboard Hot 100 Songs of the Decade.

• 1. “This Kiss” (1996)

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  Just an amazing and catchy song and the song Faith's solo career is known for. The song became a crossover hit, peaking within the top 10 on both the US Billboard Hot 100 and the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.