I am looking for absolutely terrific (but not so well-known) covers of songs that most people know well.
Example:
Antony and the Johnsons: Knocking on Heaven’s Door
Cowboy Junkies: “Sweet Jane”
Lou Reed himself said that was his favorite version of the song. This page has twelve versions of it, or did before the rot set in.
The Sundays: “Wild Horses”
A great cover of a mostly-forgotten Rolling Stones song.
Wow. Both really nice… and I’d never heard either cover before.
I quite like this cover of John Denver’s “I’m Sorry” performed by the Red House Painters.
Trees of Mystery - Fever
Trees of Mystery - Mack the Knife
The Bad Plus - Tom Sawyer
The Bad Plus - Everybody Wants To Rule The World
DEVO - Are You Experienced? (really wish I could find a decent version of their original video for this song)
Jello Biafra & D.O.A. - We Gotta Get Outta This Place
Sorry; I get carried away.
Thanks to the OP for starting this thread. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun.
Sisters of Mercy cover of the same
Sisters of Mercy cover of Hot Chocolate’s Emma
Big Black cover Kraftwerk’s The Model
Radiohead cover Joy Division/New Order’s Ceremony
Here’s a latter-day performance of a 18th-century hit which, though you may not know the original tune, you probably know both of the 20th-century American classics based on it;
A.L. Lloyd & Alf Edwards - The Unfortunate Rake.
(Bonus points to anyone who can identify the two American songs based on it without referring to Google.)
Cradle of Filth “Temptation” (originally by Heaven 17)
Exodus “Low Rider” (originally by War)
Johnny Cash “Rusty Cage” (originally by Soundgarden)
everyone knows “Hurt” already
Opeth “Bridge of Sighs” (originally by Robin Trower)
Opeth “Soldier of Fortune” (originally by Deep Purple)
Primus “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” (originally by the Charlie Daniels Band)
Type O Negative “Cinnamon Girl” (originally by Neil Young)
Type O Negative “Summer Breeze” (originally by Seals & Croft)
More to come later…
I caught this on YouTube recently as I was reliving my college music years. Baron Greenback is quite correct. (The Smiths/Morrissey were during my college years, I should say.) And when I first heard them, I thought Radiohead was ITSELF a Pixies tribute band.)
The New Morty Show does covers of “Enter Sandman” and a “Rebel Yell/ White Wedding medley” that bring the house down.
And if you haven’t heard Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox, they’re currently doing magnificent covers of contemporary songs in many different genre-defying styles. (Trust me, that’s postmodern.) My favorite tracks of theirs are “All About that Bass” (the video is a visual treat, as well), “Blurred Lines” as a hoedown(!), and of course, “Royals” with a special guest vocal from the unnervingly tall clown, Puddles Pity Party. It sounds kinda sketchy, I know, but it works.
Honorable mentions go to Devo’s “(I can’t get no) Satisfaction” and, yes, a cover of “Black Hole Sun” by none other than Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme.
If you have not seen it you must not miss:
Disturbed - The Sound of Silence
What the heck, this one’s good too:
Mary McCaslin was no slouch doing covers with a Western flair. Here are two.
Beatles Things We Said Today
Better than the original IMHO
The Supremes My World is Empty Without You
Joy Division “transmission” performed by Girl in a Coma. and “walking after midnight” by same band.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VfN6UmQlfIA couple of good Radiohead covers:
Birds of Bellwoods cover Idioteque. I like the way they use traditional instruments to replicate Jonny Greenwood’s squawks and chirrups. Gets really very good when the ginger kid opens his pipes up.
Postmodern Jukebox cover Creep in a lounge stylee. She got lungs!
Apologies for several by the same artist. A couple of year’s ago Bruce Springsteen went on tour to Australia and New Zealand and did a bunch of local* cover versions.
The Easybeats’ Friday On My Mind
*Local - The Bee Gees are British as far as I am aware but got big first in Australia after emigrating, so I guess they’re Aussies in some measure.
Re: the mention of White Wedding above:
Queens of the Stone Age do White Wedding - American Gothic style
Angra “Synchronicity II” (originally by The Police)
The Brazilian accents are a perfect touch.
Bauhaus “Ziggy Stardust” (originally by David Bowie)
Lacuna Coil “Enjoy the Silence” (originally by Depeche Mode)
Lacuna Coil “Losing My Religion” (originally by R.E.M.)
Motörhead doing Chuck Berry’s “Let it Rock” on the David Letterman show.
Rush “Summertime Blues” from their covers EP.
Voivod “Astronomy Domine” (originally by Pink Floyd)
Voivod “The Nile Song” (originally by Pink Floyd)
I don’t normally like covers that are too much like the original, but this is quite lovely:
Old 97s cover of the Marty Robbins classic “El Paso”.
(Posting from my phone. Apologies in advance if link doesn’t work.)
Radiohead covering Pink Floyd’s "Wish You Were Here. Warning, it is over 7 minutes long.
And because I love anything Eddie Vedder sings, here is Pearl Jam covering “Can’t Help Falling In Love With You”
Nitpick: that cover is Sparklehorse (though Thom Yorke is a featured artist). Though I only know this because it’s on the Lords of Dogtown soundtrack, which I have somewhere in the house on CD.