Open discussion:
Nothing worse than some crappy pop band trying to sing Beatles songs, or Bob Dylan (with affect and harmonica… terrible) or Nirvana.
But does it ever happen that a cover song just works?
What’s the best? Worst?
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There are songs I think are sacred, but every once in a while you hear one and go, “Shit that was actually good.” So yes.
Most recently I think was the singer from Mumford & Sons covering The Boxer. It is pretty freaking awesome.
“Boys of Summer” by The Ataris surpassed The Eagles’ original.
There is no way. Boys of Summer by Don Henley is just an A+ timeless song. Especially now that we’re all wearing Wayfarers again!
I’ll second that.
Though I just listened to it, it’s from 2007 I think. It’s actually really great. I mean, it’s SUCH a superior rock song that any band with competence can make an excellent song of it. But better than Henley? I guess it probably depends upon what type of music you like.
But I’ll give it to the Ataris that it’s awesome.
Sort of like The Boxer by Mumord and Sons… Is it better? Nah, but it’s really freaking good.
Joey Ramone’s cover of “What A Wonderful World.”
Johnny Cash covering Trent Reznor’s Hurt.
YES! It’s awesome!
SECONDED!
Here’s Lil Keke and Fat Pat doing 25 Lighters:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iTfoFLz5nA
And here’s ZZ Top’s cover:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJRBdLpTeso
For me its all about the heavy rock, so I think ZZ’s version is much better.
Hendrix’ cover of Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower”.
yeah, I think I remember reading somewhere that Dylan actually liked Hendrix’ version himself.
Speaking of Dylan, The White Stripes’ cover of “One More Cup of Coffee (Valley Below) was not bad at all
Dylan has said that he considers “All Along the Watchtower” a Hendrix song, and that he’s proud that he wrote it
Otis Redding originally wrote and performed “Respect” but Aretha Franklin made it famous.
http://thenightowlpresents.blogspot.com/2009/10/ultimate-singles-jukebox-slot-101.html
I’d say any cover of Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, or Neil Diamond is better than the original, just because those guys can’t sing.
A second on Jimi Hendrix’s “All Along the Watchtower,” as well as Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons’ “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right.”
Cowboy Junkies’ “Sweet Jane”
U2′s “Satellite of Love”
The Monkees’ “I’m a Believer” (and just about every other Neil Diamond song)
The Bird and the Bee’s “How Deep Is Your Love”
Acoustic Shack’s “Bad Moon Rising”
Aimee Mann’s “One”
PFR’s “We Can Work It Out” (the only good Beatles cover ever)
Jonatha Brooke’s “Eye in the Sky”
Ani DiFranco’s “Wishin’ and Hopin’”
The Beautiful South’s “Everybody’s Talkin’”
Frente’s “I Want You Back”
Pentatonix’s “We Are Young”
Jess Penner’s “Video Games”
Naked Eyes’ “Always Something There to Remind Me”
They Might Be Giants’ “Istanbul”
Those are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head. Lots of covers are better than the originals.
OH you know what’s odd but great? The Civil Wars’ cover of “I Want You Back”… Just super different from the original, almost unrecognizable which is sometimes super cool. It’s a sad song, really, and it’s hard to hear that with that adorable MJ kid voice.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOwWJJijgnk
OH you know what’s amazing!? Leonard Cohen’s “One of Us Cannot Be Wrong” covered by Gregory Alan Isakov. Holy shit, that song. His guitar work is amazing and then the haunting background vocals of Brandi Carlisle… That song’s lyrics are no fucking joke.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xo1DtyTcswo
“an Eskimo showed me a movie
he’d recently taken of you
the poor man could hardly stop shivering
his lips and his fingers were blue
I suppose that he froze when the wind took your clothes
and I guess he just never got warm
but you stand there so nice, in your blizzard of ice
please let me come into your storm”
Leonard Cohen is just the greatest lyricist ever.
And we’re in luck – the old man is still touring, and still in spectacular form. If you get even half a chance, buy, borrow, beg, or steal a ticket to one of his shows.
Nice list. I have to respectfully disagree about Dylan, though. I consider him one of the best singers in rock’n'roll. His phrasing and timing is second to none. And, hey – I’m not alone; Rolling Stone list him as no. 7 on their “100 great singers” list.
I remember being amused listening to the Travelling Wilburys albums; Dylan consistently had the best vocals
By it’s definition the bar is pretty high when one does a cover because it means that you are retreading covered ground. And when ground is retread the first instinct is to compare to the first treading. So its understandable that a good cover is rare.
Listen to Iggy Pop’s original version of “China Girl” compared to Bowie’s cover. I’m a big fan of Iggy, but his buddy Bowie hit that one out of the park.
I prefer Dolly Parton’s version, but the Whitney Houston version of “I Will Always Love You” was a cover of the Parton song, and I think that’s the top-selling single of all time by a female singer.
The Beatles are my all-time favorite, so there aren’t many covers of Beatles songs that I think surpass the originals, but one that might is Elton John’s cover of “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”.
For a cover of a cover that I thought was better than both the original and the cover that inspired it, there was Adam Lambert’s “Mad World”, which came from Gary Jules’ cover (had to look up that name) of the Tears For Fears song. I have yet to be impressed by Lambert’s post-American Idol work, but in an ocean of very mediocre covers, I thought his were often excellent while on the show.
I think so. Iron & Wine has a cover of Love Vigilantes that I love more than New Order’s original version.
rocky moutain way> godsmack
When it was popular I liked the Bee Gees’ recording of To Love Somebody. Then I heard Joplin sing it and never wanted to hear the Bee Gees’ version again.
So true.
I say The Smashing Pumpkins did Landslide better than Fleetwood Mac, but the original is excellent as well. YMMV.
Billy Joel playing with Queen did The Show Must Go On better than Freddie Mercury ever did. Which is unfortunate, because Mercury was probably a better singer in his prime. :\
I actually like the Dixie Chicks’ Landslide better than the Fleetwood Mac.
If you like Fleetwood Mac covers, try to look for the new “Just Tell Me That You Want Me” cover album. Plenty of good covers there. (you can probably find much of it on youtube if you’re so inclined).
‘The real me’ original by The Who
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pohhMx9EdNc
‘The real me’ cover by WASP
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iEL43Oebcc
I like The Who’s version and the drumming is better than on the cover. However I prefer the full throttle intensity of the WASP cover
Patti Smith’s Gimme Shelter smokes the Stones’
It’s a great version, yes. Indeed, her entire “Twelve” album is nothing but great covers.
I long believed the conventional wisdom that said no one could pull off a Beatles cover. Then I saw the great movie “Across the Universe.” At least in the context of the movie, most of the covers worked.
Speaking of good covers, what about the Beatles’ covers of “Mr. Postman,” “Money,” “Rock and Roll Music,” etc? They sound pretty good to me.
Hendrix also did a nice job covering “Like a Rolling Stone,” though he did drop a verse.
As to A.Y. Slu’s comment about Dylan not being able to sing, I must respectfully disagree, at least from Bringin it All Back Home to Blond on Blond. No one has succeeded in covering “Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands,” including Dylan – he’s never performed it.
Plenty of great covers out there. Clapton’s version of “Cocaine”. Ditto “After Midnight” and “I Shot the Sherif”. John Cale’s version of “Hallelujah”. Run-DMC’s “Walk This Way”. Ramones’ “Surfin Bird”. Marianne Faithful’s recent version of “Angle”. Stones’ many versions of “Carol” and “Love in Vain”. The Band’s version of “I Shall Be Released”. Grateful Dead’s many versions of “When I Paint My Masterpiece”. Warren Zevon’s “Raspberry Barret”. Bob Dylan’s “Boom Boom Mancini”. Linda Ronstandt’s “Willin’”. Bob Seeger’s “Who Do You Love”. Muddy Waters “I’m A Man”. Bruce Springsteen’s “Jersey Girl”. Jennifer Warnes “Famous Blue Raincoat”. Nick Cave’s “Death Is Not The End”. Ry Cooder’s versoin of “Jesus on the Mainline”. Aretha Franklin’s version of “Elanor Rigby” (especially the one on ‘Live at Fillmore West” – listen that and tell me again that Beatles covers are no good). Elvis Costello’s “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood”. Joni Mitchell’s “Why Do Fools Fall In Love”. Van Morrison’s “Goodnight Irene” (also by Ry Cooder, Bryan Ferry). Beachboys’ “Sloop John B”. Bryan Ferry’s “Positively 4th Street” and countless others.
The list goes on and on. Many of these have become classics in their own right, and some (like Jersey Girl) have become trademark songs of the cover artist, not the artist who wrote them.