You and I totally agree on the way Wilson Pickett owns “Hey Jude!” During my senior year in high school (1968), when the Beatles released “Hey Jude,” I remember thinking the first time I heard Pickett’s version, “what the hell?” I pretty much dismissed it, much the way I dismissed Otis Redding’s cover of “Satisfaction” a few years earlier. (Just part of being a callow youth, I suppose. Redding’s take on “Satisfaction” kicks ass, but the Stones still own the song.)
In 1972, when the Duane Allman anthology was released (with “Hey Jude” on it), on hearing it again I went, “Holy Crap!!” Part of that was because of Duane’s blistering guitar, but upon repeated listenings, I found that every nuance of Pickett’s interpretation was superior to McCartney. I doubt a month has gone by in the last 40 years that I haven’t listened to that song at least once.
Annie-Xmas, every time there is a thread about cover songs, I can depend on you to come in and point to Pickett’s “Hey Jude.” God love you for that! Your taste is impeccable!
I’m sure the flower children hate it but my favorite cover is The Power Station’s version of T-Rex’s Bang a Gong. Turned a simple mindless ditty into a hard rock classic! Great music video too (pure 80s!)
I’m very fond of covers that go weird places with the song. So…Puncolle, an album of punk songs covered by Japanese voice actresses obviously appealed to me…though I understand how it wouldn’t to other people…mostly.
The last track is Smells Like Teen Spirit by Yuko Goto, which…takes it in a direction Kurt probably would never have thought of, but is really quite good.
To be nitpicky, it’s a little more specific than that. It’s another version released at about the same time, often in a different style to sell the song to a different audience.
A couple of essays on the subject written by people more knowledgeable than I:
Tom Petty “Any Way You Want It” (live, 1983, from his Anthology set). I wouldn’t say it’s better than the Dave Clark Five original, but it sure is fun.
I had only heard one cover song ever that was better than the original (assuming I’d heard the original first) – it was a reggae version of Hard Rain.
Then I heard a New Found Glory CD with cover songs that absolutely killed versus the original – It Ain’t Me Babe, Promise*, Kiss Me, etc. It’s basically a back-to-back comparison which confirms that I will like the emo-pop-punk style of music until the day I die.
And yesterday I heard another good cover of Hard Rain by Ann Wilson of Heart. Plus, I’ve heard another good cover of Promse by Anberlin, so going from a year or so ago when I had never heard a cover better than the original it’s suddenly exploded into like 12, 2 of which there are multiple better versions of (not that I dislike Hard Rain or Promise.)
*“I’m fine but I’m just thinking of the right words to say”.
