[QUOTE=smithsb]
Working Class Hero - Original by John Lennon
I heard Marianne Faithful’s version; her voice had substantially changed in the 1970s due to various addictions and health issues; really blew me away. Very powerful and strange/exotic sounding.
Many other covers since then by others but none with the same shock or impact.
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Just a dissenting opinion–I find that the weakest track on an otherwise fantastic album (Broken English). I don’t think anyone can really pull off a cover of that song (though I guess she comes closer than anyone else). The original is just too nakedly personal. It belongs 100% to Lennon.
[QUOTE=Valgard]
If you think that’s bad, check out Celine Dion singing “You Shook Me All Night Long”.
It’s on YouTube. I double-dog-dare you to listen to it.
Although I guess it’s not exactly a surprise that this would suck.
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Celine is the musical opposite of bacon salt: anything you add her to becomes unpalatable.
Tom Jones’ (and Art of Noise’s) cover of Prince’s Kiss. The guy freakin’ smokes that song!
I feel so dirty. The dirts not coming off!!
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Seconded, big time!
I am a Tom Jones fan, and have been since childhood. This is one of very few covers that I actually prefer to the original.
It was actually a regular song in his live shows before he finally recorded it.
My vote goes to Alanis Morrisette 's cover of “My Humps”, though more for the video than the song itself.
[QUOTE=want2know]
This is one of very few covers that I actually prefer to the original.
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For me, that would be Elton’s Lucy in the Sky. Yeah, I know. Heresy. But still.
Warren Zevon did an interesting cover of Prince’s Raspberry Beret. It was a fairly straight-ahead rendition of the song, but hearing his raspy baritone sing it definitely surprised me.
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Done with the Hindu Love Gods - Zevon backed by Mike Mills, Peter Buck and Bill Berry. The album they did also had ‘Battleship Chains,’ done very well. I’m a big cover fan for some reason.
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There were nothing but covers on that album. It was basically a recorded warm-up session for Zevon’s Sentimental Hygiene (1987), on which the threee REMmers played a bit (in addition to Zevon’s usual suspects.)
[QUOTE=want2know]
I am a Tom Jones fan, and have been since childhood. This is one of very few covers that I actually prefer to the original.
It was actually a regular song in his live shows before he finally recorded it.
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Ooh! Tom Jones doing Procol Harum’s “Simple Sister” on a tribute album. I almost put the CD back in the rack when I saw his name. Wrong! He rocks like hell on that song! BTW, I recently Netflixed the first disc of the This Is Tom Jones DVD, mainly to see the Moody Blues and the Who, but the man was pretty awesome himself.
[QUOTE=Indyellen]
I would have to agree with you, Lib. Although, for me that’s probably because I heard Elton’s version first.
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Wow. How did that happen? The Beatles had been fairly ubiquitous. (Not doubting you, just genuinely curious.)
[QUOTE=Sean Factotum]
There were nothing but covers on that album.
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Oh yeah, I know. I still have the cassette.
But the OP was about covers that surprised you, and it was definitely Raspberry Beret that really got me to sit up and take notice. As I recall, it even got radio attention.
Another striking cover is Alien Ant Farm’s cover of Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal.” I heard it and was blown away. I’d almost forgotten the song, actually like the cover better. Some younger people don’t even know that MJ wrote the song.
[QUOTE=Hodge]
I envy your chance to hear her music for the first time, Lib. I was literally awestruck when I discovered her about 4 years ago and immediately purchased (and, yes, downloaded) everything I could find by her. I really believe she’s one of the best song interpreters of the last century who, alongside her technical talent, had a rare ability to cut to the emotional core of a song. While she only released 2 albums when she was alive, she did a lot of recording in small clubs so there are lot of compilations and live sets floating around. Of the three you ordered, Songbird is probably my favourite. If you still want to here more, Live at Blues Alley is probably my #1 fave.
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Off topic: I truly wish I could have this appreciation for Eva Cassidy that everyone else seems to have. I have friends who would choose her stuff as their only music on a desert island, yet her stuff does nothing for me. It’s so weird, because I love covers and she seemed to love them too. I just found (nobody shoot me, okay?) that her interpretations seemed so hollow and a little too “listen to my hypnotizing voice” for me.
Then again, I only listened to a few after not liking those. Can you suggest some of your favorite songs of hers? I still have all of her CDs so I can easily listen.
[QUOTE=Sleeps With Butterflies]
Off topic: I truly wish I could have this appreciation for Eva Cassidy that everyone else seems to have.
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I wouldn’t sweat it, Sleeps. Nobody is going to have 100% universal admiration. For me with her, it is much less about the songs themselves and much more about her voice. And that’s a very subjective call.
[QUOTE=Joey P]
Tivo has a Podcaster, I regularly listen to Coverville. The most recent great cover I heard was the Delgados doing Mr Blue Sky…great. In fact, it was part of an hour or so of all ELO covers. Unfortuantly I tend to fall asleep after the first one or two songs (I listen to it when I go to bed), so I have to remember to get it started about 15 minutes before I go to bed so I can hear the next few songs.
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I also discovered Coverville through my Tivo. I get it in iTunes now.
I’m a big fan of covers, especially unusual ones. Such as folky covers of rap songs:
“Bring the Noise” by Brent Runyon
“Baby Got Back” by Jonathon Coulton
and especially “Straight Out of Compton” by Nina Gordon
Nouvelle Vague are like Me First and the Gimme Gimmes in reverse. They convert songs from Punk (and New Wave), into Bossa Nova. Of the songs I’ve heard, my favorite is “Love Will Tear Us Apart”, but the most surprising would be “Too Drunk to Fuck”.
Speaking of “Love Will Tear Us Apart”, there’s a cool dub version by a group called Jah Division.
The Clash’s “Hateful” by Stevie Mac is nice.
Living Colour covered Tracy Chapman’s “Talkin’ 'Bout a Revolution”.
The T.A.T.U. version of “How Soon is Now?” is a guilty pleasure.
