Case in point, **Ron Wood’s ** studio version of"Seven Days"… but stay away from his version on the 30th Anniversary Concert Collection. It goes on and on and on and on and on …
You got that backwards, man.
Left Banke 9/10/66 #5
Four Tops 2/03/68 #14
I haven’t heard this, but it did put me in the mind for another superior cover that Disturbed has done, Tears for Fears “Shout.” Something about the way that Disturbed actually do shout a bit in the song adds to it immensely.
Personally, I really prefer Ryan Adams cover of “Wonderwall” (On the Love is Hell album) to the Oasis original, but my sister violently disagrees with me. Adams just brings some feeling to the song, while the original is very straightforward.
The I Am Sam soundtrack is nothing but Beatles covers, and while most fall far short of the originals, I’ll take Rufus Wainwright’s “Across the Universe,” Eddie Vedder’s “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away,” or Ben Folds “Golden Slumbers” over the originals any day.
And while I’m on Rufus Wainwright, the man is making a career of cover songs…
Not just “Across the Universe”, but he also does a version of “Hallelujah” (a very solid second to Jeff Buckley’s best), a superior cover of Bee Gees “He Ain’t Heavy (He’s My Brother),” cover of his father’s “One Man Guy,” “Origin of Love” from Hedwig and the Angry Inch, holiday standard “What Are You Doing New Years Eve?,” a live cover with Ben Folds of “Careless Whisper” that thoroughly blows the Wham! original out of the water (go figure)…
Remakes of Beatle songs that are better than the originals:
And I Love Her, Nancy Wilson
Nowhere Man, Vikki Carr
The Fool on the Hill, Sergio Mendes & Brasil 66
Revolution, Nina Simone
We Can Work It Out, Stevie Wonder
Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight, Elis Regina
I also like Siouxsie’s Dear Prudence
No, you’re not the only one. I like the Indigo Girls, but their version of that song is so lacking as to leave me baffled why anyone would choose to listen to it over the original.
I may be mistaken, but I think the Hollies do the original of that one.
Oh, that reminds me. She does an awesome cover of George Harrison’s Isn’t it a Pity. Awesome. I always liked the song, but she took it places that were only hinted at in the original.
Did you know that the Joe Cocker version was recorded before the Beatles’ version, although the latter ended up being released first? That was the period when George was giving his songs away–like “Sour Milk Sea” for Jackie Lomax, and “My Sweet Lord,” which was released by Billy Preston before George put out his own version.
Man, that song pops into my hedaabout every three months. I need to get it on CD.
I don’t remember who it was, but I loved the cover of “Across the Universe” that was in Pleasantville.
Ween’s covers of just about anything are awesome. Off the top of my head, I’ve heard them cover The Beatles, Motorhead, Prince, Waylon Jennings, Schoolhouse Rock, etc.
I really like Tenacious D’s version(s) of the Fat Albert theme.
And then there’s “Fever”… Peggy Lee? Elvis? Peggy Lee? Elvis? I can’t decide. They’re both awesome.
Speaking of the Indigo Girls, they do a killer version of Uncle John’s Band on this album – which also has Lyle Lovett’s truly killer version of Friend of the Devil – and some other good stuff as well. Deadheads who haven’t encountered this album should definitely check it out.
Fiona Apple.
Bauhaus’ majestic “Ziggy Stardust” is light years better than Bowie’s original.
Sublime’s 40 oz to Freedom contains a handful of cover songs which I think are consistently better than the originals, in particular:
“Scarlet Begonias” (originally by the Grateful Dead, and their version is good too)
“Hope” (originally by the Descendents, and their version is good too)
“Smoke 2 Joints” (originally by the Toys, and their version isn’t that good)
“We’re Only Gonna Die For Our Own Arrogance” (originally by Bad Religion, but their version isn’t that good)
Every cover song that I know of by Led Zeppelin is superior to its original version, and I don’t think anyones remade a Zeppelin song better than the original.
Guns N Roses version of “Live and Let Die” is good but I like McCartney’s better.
Cover versions of Bob Dylan songs by both the Byrds and Hendrix generally faired better than the originals. (By the way, Hendrix fans should check out Jimi’s version of Dylan’s “Please Come Crawl out Your Window” on the BBC Sessions album.)
In general it seems that the only way to sucessfully trump an already good song when you’re covering it is to totally reinvent it. Can anyone think of a straightforward interpretation of an already-good song that is better than the original?
I don’t know they punked it up so much as just played it straight from the sheet music. For me, that’s the quintessential pointless remake.
The Bangles Hazy Shade of Winter was all right though. I also like Siouxsie’s version of The Passenger better than Iggy Pop’s.
Blasphemy!!!
Hmm…which makes the second time I’ve come here to defend Bowie. And on top of that I’ve prefered him over the Stones…well you can see where my prejudices lie.
Anyway despite that, the cover is a good one. And moreover, their *Third Uncle * is as good (but different) than the original. And I confess to prefering their Telegram Sam.
Oh and if we’re talking about punked out versions, the Dickies’ Knights in White Satin is the only version I ever want to hear again.
Oh wait. I forgot the best remake ever…Jim Foetus and Lydia Lunch doing “Why Don’t We Do It In The Road.” As it was meant to be done.
The problem with icons like the Beatles is that their version becomes the version in a way that is difficult to shake, especially for hardcore fans. Consequently, interesting departures from the original style tend to have the best chance of being appealing, even if they don’t eclipse the original (e.g., “Got to Get You into My Life” by Earth, Wind & Fire; “With a Little Help From My Friends” by Cocker). Versions that are slight tweaks of the original are OK, but they ultimately fade away (e.g., “Come Together” by Aerosmith; “Day Tripper” by Cheap Trick). IMO, anyway.
I actually tend to enjoy remakes far more than the originals in most cases. I’ve never quite understood the tendency of some people to be convinced that no one could redo their favorite band’s songs justice (see it from Beatles fans most often).
The ones that spring to mind:
Pantera’s cover of Planet Caravan, originally done by Black Sabbath
Collaboration of Califone and Isaac Brock (frontman for Modest Mouse) covering South of Heaven, originally by Slayer
Cat Power’s cover of Oasis’ Wonderwall
Radiohead’s cover of Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here
The Cure’s cover of Radiohead’s Creep
Ben Fold’s Five doing Built to Spill’s Twin Falls
Iron and Wine’s cover of The Postal Service’s Such Great Heights
Pretty much every song Metallica has covered
Pretty much every song Type O Negative has covered, especially Summer Breeze, originally by Seals and Crofts (or was it the Isley Brothers?)
I like Talking Heads’ cover of Al Green’s Take Me To The River, though Al’s is good too.
I like Manfred Mann’s version of Blinded by the Light better than Springsteen’s version.
I like Joe Cocker’s version of She Came In Through The Bathroom Window better than the Beatles’ version. And, since he did primarily covers, I was going to throw him a bone for “Ain’t it High Time We Went” but, bless him, he actually wrote that one. 
Seals and Crofts did it originally in 1972 (#6) and the Isley Brothers did a remake in 1974 (#60).