> So, here's the question: Why are there no Rock and Roll standards like
> there are in Jazz, Blues and Folk?
Because:
> Me, personally, I LOVE a good cover - Mark Lanegan's version of The Leaving
> Trains' "Creeping Coastline of Lights" comes to mind - but hate most cover
> bands
What you are calling "great covers" are the exception in rock -- where someone takes a song and changes it substantially to match their own style.
The normal cover in rock -- what you get with cover bands -- is slavish imitation. Hence the derogatory sense of it.
In jazz and folk, the norm is to take songs and remake them in your own style. It's the majority of the songs that are played. That's why they're called standards instead of covers.
Rock isn't a standard-based genre. If the vast majority of your songs aren't original with you, you aren't a real band. But that's certainly not true in folk or jazz.
Michael