Share what you think is the "best" cover of a well known song.

[dixiegrrrrl]

Lots of good music all around us, new and old.
Often, a very good song made famous by the original singer/group, etc becomes ever better by someone else.

For instance, I recently found Darius Rucker's cover of Wagon Wheel to be perfection, IMHO. I esp. like the video version.
You might agree.....

Add your "best" cover....

[Ptah]

1. Leningrad Cowboys Red Army Choir SWEET HOME ALABAMA

[dixiegrrrrl]

5. OMG!

Shades of Rocky Horror !!

[Coventina]

2. Well, mine is pretty obvious, but here goes:

[Hoyt]

3. Can't top that, even with Chimes of Freedom.

[Coventina]

4. Yeah, even though I'm a child of the 80's, that's pretty much the Holy Grail of covers, IMHO.

Something about it is just magic, that isn't there in the Dylan original.

[mac56]

10. "My Back Pages" gets my vote.

[sl8]

17. +1

[lastlib]

6. Cannot find it online anywhere, but.....

Melanie (Safka)* does an absolutely KILLER version of "All Along the Watchtower"!!

I NEVER thought anyone could match Hendrix's version of it, but she comes incredibly close! It completely blew me away when I first heard it on satellite radio.

*more famously of the Roller Skate song

[panader0]

45. Hendrix's version was a cover too--of Dylan's original.

[lastlib]

62. you are correct--but AFAIAC,

Hendrix's is THE definitive version. For me, Hendrix owns it. But Melanie comes damn close.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

7. Patti Smith's cover of Dylan's Changing of the Guards

[Ptah]

8. I could probably list ten excellent covers. Here's one more:

[Texasgal]

9. Little Wing- Sting

I think he did a beautiful job with this cover.

[Cheese Sandwich]

34. Stevie Ray Vaughan did a good cover of that too

[Major Nikon]

11. Firework

[dixiegrrrrl]

14. uhhh......errrr......

hmmmmm....

think I will take your word on that...

[progressoid]

18. I lasted 4 seconds.

[Major Nikon]

19. You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din

[Wounded Bear]

12. My standard reply to this one....Hurt - Johnny Cash

Hurt - Johnny Cash

[47of74]

40. That was going to be my reply as well.

He did an amazing job with that song.

[Wounded Bear]

42. Well, to really nail this song...

you kind of have to know about drug use and addiction. Johnny did, and I know more than I sometimes like to admit.

Sometimes I can't listen to it, because I start to tear up a bit.

[Kingofalldems]

13. Dave Edmunds--New York's a Lonely Town

[sl8]

15. Mad World

Gary Jules:

Tears for Fears:

[ailsagirl]

16. I liked Linda Ronstadt's version of "Heat Wave" better than...

Martha and the Vandellas' (though I love their version, too)

It's very sad that Linda can't sing now. Back then, she sang like an 'effin canary!!

[dixiegrrrrl]

22. ooooh...I agree.

Nice version.

[sl8]

20. On a related note:

Watchmojo's Top 10 Songs You Didn’t Know Were Covers:

[progressoid]

25. Good list but...

I've seen that before but I'm not sure they should have included 'Superstition'. How and who wrote it is a little vague.

I like both versions. A LOT.

Beck was present in the studio when Wonder wrote the track. In fact, it all started with a drumbeat Beck came up with while noodling around between takes in the studio where he’d been asked to join Wonder during the sessions for what became 1972’s Talking Book album...The original agreement was that he’d write me a song, and in return, I’d play on his album, and that’s where ‘Superstition’ came in.”

Beck went into the story in a bit further detail in Annette Carson’s book Jeff Beck: Crazy Fingers, saying, “One day I was sitting at the drum kit, which I love to play when nobody’s around, doing this beat. Stevie came kinda boogieing into the studio: ‘Don’t stop.’ ‘Ah, c’mon, Stevie,’ I can’t play the drums.’ Then the lick came out: ‘Superstition.’ That was my song, in return for Talking Book. I thought, ‘He’s given me the riff of the century.'”

...

As Beck remembered it in The Guitar Greats, Wonder “basically wrote it for me, but the story goes that he loved it a bit too much. No, he played it to Motown, and they said, ‘No way is Beck getting this song, it’s too good’ and, as they had the right to say what Stevie released at that time, I lost the song as an original.”

Wonder offered his version of events during an interview with Ben Fong-Torres, recalling, “Motown decided they wanted to release ‘Superstition.’ I said Jeff wanted it, and they told me I needed a strong single in order for the album to be successful. My understanding was that Jeff would be releasing ‘Superstition’ long before I was going to finish my album. I was late giving them Talking Book. Jeff recorded ‘Superstition’ in July, so I thought it would be out.”


Read More: The History of 'Superstition,' the No. 1 Song Stevie Wonder Stole From Jeff Beck | http://ultimateclassicrock.com/stevie-wonder-jeff-beck-superstition/?trackback=tsmclip

Kind of like 'Because the Night" is attributed to Patti Smith but was a song fragment of Springsteens that was given to her and she made it her own.

[sl8]

50. Thanks for the background on "Superstition."

I had no idear.

Very interesting.

[progressoid]

21. Just one? Hendrix - All Along the Watchtower.

[progressoid]

26. Changed my mind. Aretha - Respect.

[progressoid]

27. No. Wait. George Benson - On Broadway

[progressoid]

28. OK, I got it now. They Might Be Giants - Istanbul (not Constantinople)

[malthaussen]

36. Nah, I prefer the Four Lads. n/t

[drmeow]

67. I love both! n/t

[My Good Babushka]

76. I thought of saying that

I'm glad someone did.

I think Tom Waits' cover of Sea of Love is top-notch, too. I couldn't decide.

[Parker CA]

23. Chris Cornell's version of "Nothing Compares 2 U"

https://m.

[sl8]

24. Whip My Hair

[dixiegrrrrl]

29. Another one....Ring of Fire, by Home Free

Remarkable.....

[jmowreader]

61. If we're doing Ring of Fire...

...gotta have some Zappa.

[GReedDiamond]

30. Spooky Tooth - I Am The Walrus

[progressoid]

35. That's a version I've never heard before.

Don't really know that much about Spooky Tooth either. Wikipedia here I come.

[Throd]

49. I rather liked that.

[SeattleVet]

31. Luna's cover of Santo & Johnny's 'Sleepwalk'

performed on a gayageum:

[The Second Stone]

32. I'll give you three

Hendrix covers "All Along The Watchtower"
Manfred Mann covers "Blinded by the Light"
Eva Cassidy covers "Fields of Gold"

[dixiegrrrrl]

52. Eva Cassidy's "Over the Rainbow" and "autumn Leaves". too.

She had way of making songs very much her own and still glorious.

[pressbox69]

33. Caravan of Thieves

[malthaussen]

37. Well, there's always John...

Mind you, the Isley's version is good, too, but the boys rock this one pretty hard.

-- Mal

[sharp_stick]

38. Be My Baby by Hey Ocean

A Canadian band from the Vancouver BC area. I know one of the members so I'm a little biased here. I do think it's really well done.

[sharp_stick]

39. The Roots, Taylor Hicks and Stephen Colbert - Friday

Seriously don't click on this. It's much better than the original of course but it's a massive earworm.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xhxqq5_stephen-colbert-friday_shortfilms

[progressoid]

70. Oh I remember that one.

Doesn't take much to improve that song.

[47of74]

41. And of course there's the Gipsy Kings version of Hotel California...

[Paladin]

43. Ry Cooder's reggae version of the Stones' "It's All Over Now."

[cemaphonic]

44. Jane's Addiction - Ripple

One of those covers that puts a unique stamp on the original, without going too far afield. And the little outro guitar bit is channeling Jerry perfectly.

Also, Darius Rucker's Wagon Wheel? He does a nice job with the vocals, but the arrangement and production is too "Modern Country," especially compared to the punk folkgrass vibe of the OCMS original.

[Iggo]

46. Creep -- Postmodern Jukebox ft. Hayley Reinhart

Seriously, there's hundreds of covers I like.

But this is my current favorite.

[MowCowWhoHow III]

47. two

Iron Man covered by The Cardigans

Don't Stop Me Now covered by Foxes

[KamaAina]

48. Stones -- Time Is On My Side.

Yup, it's a cover. The original is by Irma Thomas, the "Soul Queen of New Orleans".

[ret5hd]

51. Patti Smith - Smells Like Teen Spirit

[rbrnmw]

53. She Came In Through The Bathroom Window

[progressoid]

71. Cocker does some great covers. My fave of his "Feelin' Alright"

[Lochloosa]

54. Since Hurt was taken.

Last edited Mon May 2, 2016, 07:47 PM - Edit history (1)

[lame54]

55. Most disagree but I love this cover...

[KamaAina]

56. While My Guitar Gently Weeps ft. The Purple One

[dixiegrrrrl]

59. I have heard this one, tis very good.

[TacoD]

57. "What's Up" by He-Man and the Masters of the Universe

[Lars39]

58. Tuba Skinny's cover of Crow Jane

[ailsagirl]

60. A few more...

Beatles' version of Please Mr. Postman (as opposed to the Marvelettes')

Beatles' version of You Really Got a Hold on Me (as opposed to Smoky Robinson & the Miracles')

Joe Cocker's version of A Little Help From My Friends (as opposed to the Beatles')

Though I love the originals, too!!

[TexasBushwhacker]

68. Not necessarily best

But there's a whole CD of Jimi Hendrix covers called Stone Free. I picked it up in a bargain bin. Here's The Cure's "Purple Haze"

And Eric Clapton covering "Stone Free"

[blue neen]

63. There are a number of covers of this famous Dolly Parton song,

but this one is the best:

[Bryan]

64. Gov't Mule, "She Said She Said"

[Mnpaul]

65. Heart doing Stairway to Heaven

Kennedy center honors Led Zeppelin. They even got a standing ovation from the remaining members.

[TexasBushwhacker]

66. Hell yes! N/t

[TexasBushwhacker]

69. How about most surprising

Mom plays "Wipeout".

[dixiegrrrrl]

72. You win the most surprising, indeed! n/t

[Ino]

78. OMG! Is she your Mom??

She. Is. Smoking!!!

[TexasBushwhacker]

80. Oh no. It's just something I had see before

I read down in the comments that she had been in an all girl band in the 80s and 90s but hadn't played in public for 15 years. But somebody knew that she still played and talked her into joining a local band that plays weddings and parties. I believe she's also a teacher.

[LanternWaste]

73. ELO's 'Roll Over Beethoven' and The Proclaimer's 'King of the Road'.

ELO's 'Roll Over Beethoven' and The Proclaimer's 'King of the Road'.

[Tikki]

74. Not so much a cover but a tribute and with a great video.

ORIGINAL

Tikki

[malthaussen]

84. One of the greatest rock albums of all time...

... deserves more exposure. I don't think there's a weak cut on there.

-- Mal

[Tikki]

75. This one is grand...

ONE OF THE ORIGINALS

Tikki

[Ino]

77. Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Israel Kamakawiwo'Ole

[dixiegrrrrl]

79. That is very nice......

[Rhythm]

81. Can't help but be happy when i hear this one...

[Rhythm]

82. Let's start with ~this~ version of "Enjoy the Silence"

It gives the song a whole different emotion...
The difference between "I love you" and "I FUCKING LOVE YOU!!!"

[Rhythm]

83. Someone else mentioned Johnny Cash's version of "Hurt"... but he had so many

The "American Recordings" series of CDs are chock-full of amazing versions of songs originally done by diverse artists...

These are my 3 favorites:

[GreenPartyVoter]

85. Disney's "Let It Go" by Leo Moracchioli

https://m.

[Skittles]

86. Lemonheads' Mrs. Robinson!