I heard a country-western version of Wish You Were Here as muzak at a market this afternoon. Pretty horrible.
Oops, wrong thread…
How about UFO’s cover of Alone Again Or?
Paul Anka did an entire album of covers called Rock Swings, rock songs done in swing style. My favorite track is probably Van Halen’s Jump.
Sometimes you know about artists because of their work in a band, but you never really look into their solo work. Thanks for reminding me. (now on a Youtube spree)
That’s incorrect. The greatest cover of an already great song is Stevie Ray Vaughan’s cover of Hendrix’s Little Wing.
I listened to Only Shallow: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=J9k9Vq1Wo3I
That’s really good! Never heard of them; thanks.
blondebear, I heard UFO’s version of that song first. I hadn’t heard Love, only read about them. In my 20’s I finally dug in and listened and with the first song went “oh, shit, it’s that UFO song!” We all learn.
As for the thread, I’ll add Jeff Beck’s cover of A Day in the Life: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yUWvKDf3g5Y
Two of my favourites, both by Faith No More.
Easy, with possibly the best “UUURRGHHH!” in rock music at (1’ 53")
Old 97s do a pretty good cover of Marty Robbins’ El Paso.
Also, a staple of their live shows is their cover of Merle Haggard’s Mama Tried.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Wilson Pickett owns Hey Jude.
Discovered this one a few weeks ago. I think Herman Brood and Maggie MacNeal do “Sylvia’s Mother” with a lot more soul and feeling than Dr. Hook.
Rage Against the Machine: The Ghost of Tom Joad
And with backing by Duane Allman…I think we may have a thread winner here.
I really like Walk Off The Earth’s cover of Gotye’s “Somebody I Used To Know”.
Also, another cover/bluegrass band called Iron Horse, they do a lot of cool covers.Here’s their version of Elton John’s “Rocketman”: Rocketman // Iron Horse - YouTube
They also do a great version of Nirvana’s “All Apologies”.
Also Two Cellos does some great cover work. Here’s their “Highway To Hell”, and Steve Vai makes an appearance.
Satisfaction, Devo.
Take Me to the River, Talking Heads.
Star Spangled Banner, Jimi Hendrix
The Corrs Little Wing
There have actually been well over 30 covers of this song (originally by Jimmy Hendrix).
“Rio”, by [del]Duran Duran[/del] Goldfinger
Also, songs you probably didn’t know were covers:
Blondie “Hanging on the Telephone”
Elvis Presley “Hound Dog”
George Harrison “I Got My Mind Set on You”
Joan Jett & the Blackhearts “I Love Rock and Roll”
Kim Carnes “Bette Davis Eyes”
Laura Branigan “Gloria”
Natalie Imbrugia “Torn”
Rolling Stones “Time Is On My Side”
Soft Cell “Tainted Love”
Tesla “Little Suzi”
They Might Be Giants “Istanbul (Not Constantinople)”
For a couple numbers that the Beatles made a hash of - there’s Money from early Jim Branson protoges The Flying Lizards, and the Del Rubio Triplets’ enhancement of Hey Jude, which will blow your fucking mind.
A pretty seriously fuckin cool cover, though, is provided here by the intriguing Chronos Quartet, covering Purple Haze. They’ve done over 900 songs!
Here’s the skinny* on them from wiki.
As a postscript, I will forgive this thread for the inexcusable, onerous omission of the amazing Wing.
*Always thought that’s what the dope should’ve been called.
I have a few favorites. John Lennon’s cover of “Stand By Me” by Ben E. King. Tina Turner’s cover of Elton John’s “The Bitch Is Back” from the tribute album Two Rooms. The Who’s cover of “Summertime Blues” by Eddie Cochran. Creedence Clearwater Revival’s cover of “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” by the Miracles. (Yes, they recorded it first. Marvin Gaye’s version was a cover itself.) Pat Benatar’s cover of “Helter Skelter.”
Check it out. Herbie Hancock covering Joni Mitchell, vocals by Tina Turner.
Edith and The Kingpin
Not so fast. Yes, I agree the Wicked Pickett’s cover of the Fab Four is great but before we start awarding any prizes, I think we should listen to Al Green’s cover of “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart” first. Even if you don’t think it’s better than Pickett’s “Hey Jude”, it blows away the Bee Gee’s original.