# Good Covers by bands **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 5, 2011, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-covers-by-bands/573600 "2011-03-05T18:02:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Hakuna\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hakuna\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hakuna_Matata)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-covers-by-bands/573600/21 "2011-03-06T22:59:38Z")
These are all great! thanks everyone for your links. I appreciate it! ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-covers-by-bands/573600/22 "2011-03-06T23:35:28Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > Good cover, won’t say it improves on the original. > > You _know_ Happy Rhodes? Cool. Nobody could improve on the original, it’s Kate, after all. She’s my main musical goddess. Still, it was nice to hear the song done live by my 2nd favorite musical goddess. I’ve known her since 1988, I tracked her down when I first became a fan and wanted to play her music on my radio show. This was many years before she became a world-wide cult artist. In the first link she says “This is for Vickie” in a mock stern voice because I’d been after her for years to cover Kate. She finally did, and it made me so giddy. ---
**Author:** ![akira5822](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/53a042/32.png) [@akira5822](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/akira5822)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-covers-by-bands/573600/23 "2011-03-07T00:20:47Z")
[- YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dgw6lR_akvw) Great CCR cover ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-covers-by-bands/573600/24 "2011-03-07T04:08:49Z")
[Without You covered by Harry Nilsson](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERhvqJzmZAY) [The original by Badfinger](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyBS_1vGwpU&feature=related) ---
**Author:** ![eunoia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eunoia/32/97_2.png) [@eunoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eunoia)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-covers-by-bands/573600/25 "2011-03-07T06:27:27Z")
I didn’t like the list much, some of the original artists did far better versions IMO. In that spirit here’s some covers that may upset other music fans: [Gillian Welch - Black Star (Radiohead)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YTW6zj6G-I) [irongoddesstea - Right in Two (Tool)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PHoIZM3v88) [Coil - Tainted Love (Gloria Jones)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eo3TUtRnZi4) First one I thought of was Galaxie 500’s cover of Ceremony (Joy Division/New Order) but couldn’t find the studio version and can’t be arsed to rip the vinyl. ---
**Author:** ![Tarwater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9de0a6/32.png) [@Tarwater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarwater)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-covers-by-bands/573600/26 "2011-03-07T06:40:28Z")
Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy does an excellent cover of R. Kelly’s already excellent song [“The World’s Greatest”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTrgF7Dakvw). His cover of PJ Harvey’s ["Sweeter Than Anything](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eedVOZoPWI0) is also worth listening to. ---
**Author:** ![Dinaroozie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Dinaroozie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinaroozie)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-covers-by-bands/573600/27 "2011-03-07T07:02:44Z")
Tripod is a nerdy Australian comedy band, I’m guessing not particularly well known outside of the country. They occasionally do something a bit less comic, though, like [this cover of Paranoid Android](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8rNU6QZvl4) (by Radiohead). ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-covers-by-bands/573600/28 "2011-03-07T07:35:45Z")
On a completely different note from my earlier contributions… [Oingo Boingo covering I Am the Walrus](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DJ55m3kDRM)…it’s similar enough to the original to be instantly recognizable, but it’s also entirely Oingo Boingo. ---
**Author:** ![Nom\_de\_Plume](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/85f322/32.png) [@Nom\_de\_Plume](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nom_de_Plume)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-covers-by-bands/573600/29 "2011-03-07T08:07:46Z")
Bonnie Raitt’s cover of John Prine’s “Angel from Montgomery,” and Stevie Ray Vaughn’s version of Jimi Hendrix’s “Little Wing” are two of my faves. ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-covers-by-bands/573600/30 "2011-03-08T22:42:49Z")
> [@Sakuma\_Drops](#): > > ~ Jimi Hendrix, “All Along the Watchtower” A cover so good that after the Hendrix version Dylan changed the way he sung it to be more like Hendrix. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-covers-by-bands/573600/31 "2011-03-09T05:05:51Z")
Since I recently mentioned **Nazareth** in another thread, I’ll have to say that their cover of [Love Hurts](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WISogScYNXA) and Joni Mitchell’s [This Flight Tonight](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tq32P9xIv9E&feature=related) are superior to the originals. This may be the product of my youthful reminiscence and rock heresy, but I still believe it. “All Along the Watchtower” by Jimi Hendrix was better than Dylan’s original. Not many people upstaged The Beatles, but [Joe Cocker’s Version of I Get By (With a Little Help From My Friends)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQYDvQ1HH-E&feature=related) is a classic. And after you’ve seen that, you just have to watch [John Belushi](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHaA4RePosY&feature=related)’s version. Eric Clapton’s early career was built on superior covers of JJ Cale songs (Cocaine, After Midnight) ZZ Top did a better version of “I Thank You” than Sam and Dave did. [The White Stripes](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaiyDOZp23k) blew the doors off of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene”. The link is to a live performance that’s just awesome. Janis Joplin’s version of “Me and Bobby McGee” is far better than Kris Kristofferson’s original. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-covers-by-bands/573600/32 "2011-03-09T05:19:47Z")
> [@Winnie](#): > > Hands down my favorite is Stevie Wonder’s cover of **[“We Can Work it Out”.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dL1GzbUdtfg)’** Whereas **Stevie Ray Vaughan** ’s cover of his _Superstition_ is [simply frickin’ amazing](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xX-GJ46kiCo). ---
**Author:** ![Foldup\_Rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/df788c/32.png) [@Foldup\_Rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foldup_Rabbit)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-covers-by-bands/573600/33 "2011-03-09T06:00:18Z")
A.C. Newman covering [Take On Me](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_eBTIIQOtA) always gets me. ---
**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:** [March 9, 2011, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-covers-by-bands/573600/34 "2011-03-09T06:07:03Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > [The White Stripes](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaiyDOZp23k) blew the doors off of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene”. The link is to a live performance that’s just awesome. Speaking of The White Stripes, Joss Stone remade “Fell In Love with a Girl” (changing it to “Fell in Love with a Boy”), and knocked it out of the friggin’ ballpark. ---
**Author:** ![brocks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7feea3/32.png) [@brocks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brocks)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-covers-by-bands/573600/35 "2011-03-09T08:24:36Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > “All Along the Watchtower” by Jimi Hendrix was better than Dylan’s original. Dylan is too easy. Great writer, meh singer. The first thing I thought of when I saw this thread was “Mr. Tambourine Man.” ---
**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:** [March 9, 2011, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-covers-by-bands/573600/36 "2011-03-09T08:25:26Z")
I don’t think it’s accurate to say that Janis Joplin’s version of “Me and Bobby McGee” is a cover of Kris Kristofferson’s original version: > **[Me and Bobby McGee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Me_and_Bobby_McGee)** > > "Me and Bobby McGee" is a song written by American singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson and originally performed by Roger Miller. Fred Foster shares the writing credit, as Kristofferson wrote the song based on a suggestion from Foster. A posthumously released version by Janis Joplin topped the U.S. singles chart in 1971, making the song the second posthumously released No. 1 single in U.S. chart history after "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding. Gordon Lightfoot released a versi If the list in the Wikipedia entry is accurate, Kris Kristofferson’s version of the song (which he co-wrote) is the fifth version to be released and the Janis Joplin version is the eighth. At that point Kristofferson still thought of himself as a songwriter who supplied songs for a variety of singers, occasionally including himself. The Joplin version might be the best version, but I don’t know what you would call the original version. It isn’t clear that any of the early versions of the song were done because the singer heard an earlier version on a record or on the radio. The song was just passing around singers in recording studios and some of them decided to record it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-covers-by-bands/573600.md?page=1)