# Cover Versions Of Songs That Are Much Better... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 25, 2019, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-versions-of-songs-that-are-much-better/837628 "2019-07-25T19:02:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2019, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-versions-of-songs-that-are-much-better/837628/141 "2019-11-07T00:39:50Z")
> [@Dahnlor](#): > > [Judas Priest - Diamonds and Rust](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOAHpLBNiUw) And this [acoustic live version](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIC7KQPDuDc)is pretty cool. Somebody upthread mentioned Leo Moracchioli, somebody I’ve been following for a while. I love what he does with his metal covers of songs, especially the way he took a very lame Taylor Swift song (Look What You Made Me Do) and [injected some freaking life into it](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Hkqp0pO9Fo). Also, his daughter is simply adorable 😛 ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2019, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-versions-of-songs-that-are-much-better/837628/142 "2019-11-07T03:53:40Z")
Treading on some iffy ground here. Almost all of Led Zeppelin I. :rolleyes: On more stable ground because they credited the originators, Cream. _Spoonful Crossroads Cat’s Squirel Rolling 'n Tumbling_ Yes, I’ve listened to the originals, but it’s still Cream’s versions that I listen to the most. ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2019, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-versions-of-songs-that-are-much-better/837628/143 "2019-11-07T04:39:46Z")
It’s My Party. The Lesley Gore version is so familiar I won’t bother to link it, but the first recorded version was by [English singer Helen Shapiro](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqkBEd3jZ3k). It comes off so dour it’s downright morbid. And why on earth was a teenage girl sounding like a middle aged guy? ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2019, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-versions-of-songs-that-are-much-better/837628/144 "2019-11-07T05:40:59Z")
I like ZZ Top’s instrumentation on “[Viva Las Vegas](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOoKzw3JSCM)” better than Elvis’s, but not the vocals. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2019, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-versions-of-songs-that-are-much-better/837628/145 "2019-11-07T08:22:19Z")
The song “It’s My Party” has a complicated history. It was written by Seymour Gottlieb, but it was credited to John Gluck, Wally Gold and Herb Weiner. A demo recording was done by Barbara Jean English, but it wasn’t released. It was first released by The Chiffons. It was next released by Helen Shapiro. It was also sung (and perhaps released) around that time by Leslie Gore, Lill-Babs, the Paris Sisters, and Richard Anthony in various language versions: > **[It's My Party](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_My_Party_(Lesley_Gore_song))** > > "It's My Party" is a song by American singer-songwriter Lesley Gore from her debut studio album I'll Cry If I Want To (1963). It was released as the lead single from the album on April 5, 1963, by Mercury Records. The song was collectively written by Herb Wiener, John Gluck Jr., and Wally Gold, whilst production was helmed by Quincy Jones. > The song lyrically portrays the discomfort of a teenage girl at her birthday party when her boyfriend Johnny disappears, only to return in the company of Ju... ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2019, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-versions-of-songs-that-are-much-better/837628/146 "2019-11-07T09:12:27Z")
[**“Evil”**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osnDVXlhxPw) is a great classic blues number first recorded by Howlin’ Wolf, but [Cactus’s hard rock cover](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCBrQQlcPLw) is much better. So good, in fact, that when other rock bands play the song, they stick very closely to the Cactus arrangement, sometimes to the extent of performing a note-by-note cover: see for example the versions by [Monster Magnet](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUf8LfM9wqc), [Clutch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDehbNb4Q1Y), [Widowmaker](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXd-Q2X-Cg0), and [The Dead Daisies](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1RI1121mMw). ---
**Author:** ![LLCoolL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/llcooll/32/3596_2.png) [@LLCoolL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LLCoolL)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2019, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-versions-of-songs-that-are-much-better/837628/147 "2019-11-08T11:34:40Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > I discovered Michael Jackson’s cover of “Ain’t No Sunshine” today, and I like it better than the original by Bill Withers. MJ was roughly 13 when he recorded that. Wow. Incredible control. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2019, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-versions-of-songs-that-are-much-better/837628/148 "2019-11-08T12:50:48Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Dylan is always better in cover form. Although I think GnR is absolute shit, so I don’t like their cover any better than Dylan’s original. I’m not really into GnR, but I do think _Appetite…_ is one of the greatest balls-to-the-wall hard rock albums ever recorded. That said, “Knocking on Heavens Door” (which iis on one of the _Use Your Illusion_s) just sounds so overwrought to me and loses its soul in the process–can’t stand that version. And, while I’m not much of a Dylan fan, I think a number of his originals are definitive, like “Rainy Day Women … [whatever the numbers are]” and “Like A Rolling Stone,” so not all his songs are better as covers. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2019, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-versions-of-songs-that-are-much-better/837628/149 "2019-11-08T14:13:15Z")
Led Zeppelin’s “When the Levee Breaks” is a cover of this song by Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie: U2’s “With or Without You” has a number of intriguing covers: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/QJvTT-x8ZAI/maxresdefault.jpg "With or Without You(U2) - Randolf Arriola - Live Looping w Boss RC 50") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJvTT-x8ZAI) [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/sGhWRMGHHe8/hqdefault.jpg "Vitamin String Quartet Tribute to U2(With or Without You)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGhWRMGHHe8) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/-TJBVUX0pqY/maxresdefault.jpg "With or Without You Orchestral") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TJBVUX0pqY) ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2019, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-versions-of-songs-that-are-much-better/837628/150 "2019-11-08T18:16:59Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > I’ll see your Outlaws and raise you a Dick Dale. > [https://youtu.be/5367CsDAkf8](https://youtu.be/5367CsDAkf8) Thank you. I’ve heard his earlier cover of “Ghost Riders” where he blends it with “Apache” but not this one. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2019, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-versions-of-songs-that-are-much-better/837628/151 "2019-11-08T18:46:35Z")
> [@installLSC](#): > > It’s My Party. The Lesley Gore version is so familiar I won’t bother to link it, but the first recorded version was by [English singer Helen Shapiro](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqkBEd3jZ3k). It comes off so dour it’s downright morbid. And why on earth was a teenage girl sounding like a middle aged guy? Wow, what an incredible contralto! Was she really a teenaged girl when she sang that? ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2019, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-versions-of-songs-that-are-much-better/837628/152 "2019-11-08T19:34:46Z")
I’ve now listened to every Helen Shapiro song I can find. I feel cheated that I’d never heard of her. Damn you, Brits, do you purposely keep musicians [(…and comedians)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=It6EWcVn8EY&list=PLrcNrGNMiK5NetfNJGGf45l_2EBH7Ykmt) a secret from us colonists? That was almost 250 years ago, don’t hold a grudge… ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2019, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-versions-of-songs-that-are-much-better/837628/153 "2019-11-09T06:02:52Z")
Yes, Helen Shapiro recorded that version in February of 1963, which made her 16 at the time she sang it. If there’s anyone to blame for British singers and comedians not becoming well known in the U.S., it’s the American radio stations and TV shows and such and not the British publicists. They would be happy to become famous in the U.S., but they need some showcase for their talents. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2019, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-versions-of-songs-that-are-much-better/837628/154 "2019-11-09T07:02:50Z")
The Rolling Stones’ ['Satisfaction (I Can’t Get No)'](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEjkftp7J7I)is to me one of their better songs. Devo’s [cover](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jadvt7CbH1o)is better. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2019, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-versions-of-songs-that-are-much-better/837628/155 "2019-11-09T07:50:30Z")
The Bangles were mentioned upthread, but I’d say that Susannah Hoffs (with Matthew Sweet) at least equals Linda Rondstat with her cover of [“Different Drum.”](https://youtu.be/GRO5ZZuJGYI) Surprisingly, Gwar can rock some covers, too. Whether it’s [“Carry On, Wayward Son”](https://youtu.be/o7EVersJ6ts), [“She Bop,”](https://youtu.be/aZaudFfjVgo) or [“West End Girls,”](https://youtu.be/79mMVNGHZ5k) which transitions beautifully into “People Who Died,” (with lyrical changes to include Dave Brockie and Dimebag Abbott, among others) they seem to knock them out of the park. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-versions-of-songs-that-are-much-better/837628.md?page=7)