# R&B Covers-- good ones? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 21, 2008, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-b-covers-good-ones/460788 "2008-08-21T12:41:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-b-covers-good-ones/460788/1 "2008-08-21T12:41:54Z")
I love R&B, Soul and Funk. I also love Top 40 pop. Combine the two-- I’m in heaven. So far, all the R&B covers I’ve come across I love and I’d like to hear of more like: Al Green’s cover of the BeeGee’s How Can You Mend A Broken Heart The Manhattan’s Tomorrow (from Annie) The Isley Brother’s Summer Breeze Earth, Wind and Fire’s Got to Get You Into My Life. Are there anymore out there that I don’t know about? ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-b-covers-good-ones/460788/2 "2008-08-21T12:48:39Z")
Tina Turner’s cover of “Let’s Stay Together”. Taylor Dayne’s cover of “Can’t Get Enough of Your Love” is better than it has a right to be. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-b-covers-good-ones/460788/3 "2008-08-21T15:40:14Z")
Is Stevie Wonder’s cover of “We Can Work It Out” the kind of thing you’re talking abou? ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-b-covers-good-ones/460788/4 "2008-08-21T15:49:33Z")
If you ever find yourself in my neck of the woods, you would love my cover of Barry White’s _Can’t Get Enough of Your Love, Babe_. Alas, I only perform in the shower. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-b-covers-good-ones/460788/5 "2008-08-21T15:55:33Z")
[QUOTE=Otto] Taylor Dayne’s cover of “Can’t Get Enough of Your Love” is better than it has a right to be. [/QUOTE] That sounds great! I’ll have to seek it out. > [@Thudlow Boink](#): > > Is Stevie Wonder’s cover of “We Can Work It Out” the kind of thing you’re talking abou? Yeup, exactly what I’m talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-b-covers-good-ones/460788/6 "2008-08-21T16:38:12Z")
“Tracks of My Tears” by Go West doesn’t suck. ---
**Author:** ![WreckingCrew](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wreckingcrew/32/4080_2.png) [@WreckingCrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WreckingCrew)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-b-covers-good-ones/460788/7 "2008-08-21T17:13:43Z")
Otis Redding’s versions of both “Day Tripper” and “(I can’t get no) Satisfaction” are outstanding. “Satisfaction” is fun because he uses horns on the classic opening riff where Keith used a fuzz guitar to imitate horns. Wilson Pickett’s “Sugar, Sugar” and “Hey Jude” are wonderful as is Aretha Franklin on “The Weight” and “Eleanor Rigby” ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2008, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-b-covers-good-ones/460788/8 "2008-08-22T04:11:05Z")
Are you only interested in “white” songs performed by soul groups? Or are “white” covers of soul songs welcome too? If you’re looking only for the former, there’s: Aretha Franklin’s covers of Burt Bacharach’s "I Say a Little Prayer, the Band’s “The Weight,” and Paul Simon’s “Bridge Over Troubled Waters.” Stevie Wonder did Bob Dylan’s “Blowing in the Wind” Smokey Robinson & the Miracles covered Dion’s “Abraham, Martin & John” Or Fats Domino’s cover of the Beatles’ “Lady Madonna” \* If you’re open to white covers of soul classics, let me know. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2008, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-b-covers-good-ones/460788/9 "2008-08-22T05:00:17Z")
Billy Stewart’s cover of [Summertime](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDLDl0_pt_k) is a favorite. Err…though reading the OP a bit more carefully, I’m not sure if Gershwin counts as Top 40 pop ;). ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2008, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-b-covers-good-ones/460788/10 "2008-08-22T05:23:15Z")
[QUOTE=WreckingCrew] Wilson Pickett’s “Sugar, Sugar” and “Hey Jude” are wonderful as is Aretha Franklin on “The Weight” and “Eleanor Rigby” [/QUOTE] I’d also recommend Ray Charles’ funky cover of “Eleanor Rigby” as well as his version of the country standard, “Busted.” Of course that’s just the tip of the iceberg for Charles who did many covers of standards and country songs during his long career. As for white covers, you already may be familiar with Cream’s live versions of Robert Johnson’s “Crossroads” and Willie Dixon’s “Spoonful.” I also think Dion did a little-known but great cover of the latter song. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2008, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-b-covers-good-ones/460788/11 "2008-08-22T05:29:30Z")
Oh, again maybe not quite there, but I like Richie Havens’ cover of [Here Comes the Sun](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ET9GwgwbC7U). But I guess Havens was always way more of a folky than any sort of R&B dude. Hrrmmm…I’ll come up with a better example ( that I like ) one of these times. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2008, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-b-covers-good-ones/460788/12 "2008-08-22T09:26:24Z")
I was thinking of soul covers of poppy tunes. The color of the singer doesn’t matter. Joe Cocker’s cover of A Little Help from my Friends would qualify. Not that I don’t like poppy covers of soul tunes but those are much easier for me to find.