I think Siouxsie and the Banshee’s cover of “Dear Prudence” kicks the Beatles ass.
here are a few:
Hallelujah - Jeff Buckley
Oh Sister, Girl from the North Country, She, He was a Friend of Mine, Night they Drove Dixie Down - The Black Crowes
I’ve never ever heard a bad version of Blue Moon. Whether it was rock, jazz, or country I’ve also liked it.
Marc
Always on my mind by the amazingly talented Pet Shop Boys (god will Neil really be 50 next year?!!!) was better IMO than the Elvis original.
1)pet shop boys-boys and girls
2)the white stripes-i just dont know what to do with myself
3)the sex pistols-rock around the clock
4)the living end-tainted love
5)monaco and PRe_SHRUNK- you should be dancing
Not to dispute you, but just to say: I heard this song the other day and collapsed in hysterical laughter.
“You keep me hanging on” by Vanilla Fudge was a surprise treat I came across on an Sixties Psychedelia compilation.
Some covers I like:
7 Seconds - 99 Red Balloons
7 Seconds - These Boots Were Made for Walking
Black Flag - Louie, Louie (the best version ever IMHO)
Botch - O Fortuna
Earth Crisis - Holliday in Cambodia (I despise this band, but this cover is decent)
Jello Biafra & DOA - We Gotta Get Outa This Place
Melt Banana - Surfin’ USA
Minor Threat - Steppin’ Stone
Slayer - Filler/I Don’t Wanna Hear It
The Faction - California Dreaming
The Sonics - Good Gooly Miss Molly
X-Acto - Dance of Days
I prefer Stevie Ray Vaughn’s version, myself.
Thirded on Revco’s cover of Do You Think I’m Sexy.
Any, and all, covers of Bob Dylan tunes, including Cassandra Wilson’s wonderful interpretation of Shelter From The Storm. In fact, any Cassandra Wilson cover tune is well worth a listen. You should check out what she does with Last Train to Clarkesville. :eek:
And, because I really loathe the song, Killdozer’s version of I Am, I Said is hysterical.
BTW, I absolutely hate the Pet Shop Boy’s cover of Always on my Mind. Hate, hate, hate.
Oddly enough, my favorite version of Little Wing is the one by Derek and the Dominos.
Two more opinions, which may not be that popular:
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Guns N’ Roses recorded the greatest cover of Knocking on Heaven’s Door, better even than Clapton.
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Bryan Ferry’s cover of Jealous Guy is better than the original, which I always found too cutesy.
While I’ve liked a few Dylan covers, I think that, in the 1960s and 1970s, Bob Dylan was almost always the best interpreter of his own songs.
The Byrds’ rendition of “Mr. Tambourine Man” was very good, but I prefer Dylan’s original… and most of the Byrds’ other Dylan covers were just a little too smooth and sanitized (their version of “All I Really Want to Do” completely lacked the warmth and the comedy of the original). Ditto for every Dylan song ever covered by Peter, Paul & Mary.
Dylan was NEVER a great singer in any conventional sense, and yet genuinely good singers who tried to do his 60s and 70s material rarely improved on his original recordings.
Of course, Dylan long ago ceased being merely an unconventional singer, and has moved on to flat-out HORRIBLE. He hasn’t made a good record in about 20 years. He still writes good songs, but is utterly incapable of making decent records, even with the best producers and the most modern recording studio tricks available.
Virtually any cover of any Dylan song since 1980 or so WOULD be a huge improvement over the original.
I liked both versions of “Broken Arrow” (Robbie Robertson, Rod Stewart)
I hate the Doors, but I very much liked Billy Idol’s version of “L.A. Woman”.
Springsteen’s cover of “Chimes of Freedom”
G&R’s “Sympathy for the Devil”.
I wholly agree with the Cowboy Junkies’ “Sweet Jane”, and I’ll throw in their “Cowboy Junkies Lament” (Bonus point to all those of you who knew this was a cover. Double bonus points to those who know who did it originally)
Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard’s cover of “Poncho and Lefty”
“Band of Gold” and “Come See About Me” covered by Afghan Whigs
However, no one should ever be allowed to cover Warren Zevon. Linda Rhonstat and whatever pop-country fluffette who covered “Poor Poor Pitiful Me” seven or eight years ago should have been flogged.
good evening friends,
at last, by joan osborne
piece of my heart, by janis joplin (faith hill’s version sucked)
a natural woman, by aretha franklin
try a little tenderness, andrew strong (from the commitments soundtrack)
Oh, and lest we forget…
Elvis Presley’s “Hound Dog” was a cover of Big Mama Thornton’s minor hit. And Elvis did it much better.
Johnny Cash did a quite excellent cover of Nick Cave’s “The Mercy Seat”.
Jolene - The Sisters of Mercy
Tainted Love - Coil. Not better than the original just very different (and so much better than the Marilyn Manson version)
Life is Life - Laibach. The english version is good but the german version Leben heisst Leben is even better.
Lovers in a Dangerous Time - Bare Naked Ladies
Ani Defranco - When U Were Mine
I love these threads. They always produce great compliation CDs.
~t
hmmm…
i second
Jeff Buckley- Hallelujah
i’d like to propose
Elvis Costello -My Funny Valentine
also,
Travis-Hit me baby(one more time)
(sung as a piss-take on BBC radio 1 session, in the style of a heart-rending love song. they forget the words half way through and end up laughing too hard to carry on. beats britney hands down)
Are you referring to the song by Etta James? I’d be curious to hear it, but I very much doubt Osborne could live up to the original.
Also, should this be considered a cover? I know Carole King wrote it, but Aretha Franklin recorded it first.