Take Me Home, Country Roads - Cover Versions

Cover Versions

• Ray Charles cut a cover of the song for his 1972 album A Message from the People.
• Lynn Anderson recorded a cover for her 1971 album How Can I Unlove You.
• Olivia Newton-John recorded a cover version in 1973 that reached the top 10 in Japan and the #15 in the UK, but only bubbled under the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 119 in the United States. It is this recording which is eventually used as the opening song for Whisper of the Heart (1995) a Studio Ghibli anime that uses "Take Me Home, Country Roads" as a plot device featuring several renditions in Japanese including an end-title version performed by Yoko Honna.
• In 1974 Canadian country music singer Sally Dee recorded a cover version for her album "Just Say Hello"
• In the 1970s, Romanian singer Gil Dobrică recorded a version called "Hai acasă, hai cu mine" ("Let's go home, come with me")
• French singer Marie Laforêt recorded an adaptation in French as "Mon pays est ici" (1972)
• French singer Claude Francois recorded an adaptation of the song in French as "J'ai encore ma maison" (1973).
• In 1975, Aleksander Mežek recorded a cover of "Country Roads" in Slovenian language and named it "Siva pot".
• In 1975, Pavel Bobek, Czech country singer recorded cover "Veď mě dál, cesto má" which became huge hit and one of his signature songs.
• In 1975, Tapio Heinonen, Finnish singer, covered the song as "Vanha tie" (Old Road). It later became the signature song of Kari Tapio.
• Another French singer Dick Rivers recorded this song in French in 1976 as "Faire un pont".
• Ted Hawkins recorded "Country Roads" on his 1986 album "On The Boardwalk (The Venice Beach Tapes)"
• Israel Kamakawiwo'ole recorded a version for his 1993 album Facing Future in which West Makaha is substituted for West Virginia.
• Toots & the Maytals recorded a reggae version in which the lyrics are altered to describe Jamaica: "Almost heaven, West Jamaica," for instance, replaces Denver's "West Virginia." This version was itself covered in Almost Heaven, a 2005 German film directed by Ed Herzog. In the story, Helen Shuster is a German girl with a terminal illness who dreams to be a country singer Nashville style and winds up in Jamaica. The song is sung by Heike Makatsch, who plays Helen.
• Hermes House Band recorded a cover and performed on Top of the Pops when the single was released in 2001.
• The German children's band Die Lollipops did a cover to it called Dankeschön.
• Multi-platinum selling artist and Grammy Award-winner Carrie Underwood performed the song during her massive Play On Tour in 2010. Underwood performed the song in the bed of a pick-up truck over the audience.
• In 1994, this song was covered on a Disney's Sing-Along Songs video and DVD: "Campout at Walt Disney World".
• Country music artist Daryle Singletary covered the song for his 2009 album "Rockin' in the Country".
• In 2010, artist Steven Sweet recorded an Alternative Rock cover of "Country Roads" for his debut album, "Scratch on the Break"
• Punk rock cover band, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, covered it for their album Have Another Ball.
• In 2011, in preparation for the All Good Music Festival, the dj Pretty Lights sampled this song in a remix
• In 2012 Mike Doughty recorded a version for a fund raising cd titled "Super Hits Of The Seventies" for radio station WFMU.
• In 2012, Japanese female singer Chihiro Onitsuka covered the song for her cover album "FAMOUS MICROPHONE".