I was playing guitar with a friend of mine and he was going on and on about Garth Brooks. I’m not really a country guy but my friend loves him. He was telling me how talented he was and finally he turned me onto Garth Brooks doing “Somebody to Love” and I could NOT tell it was a cover. I kept saying during the song “Wait a minute, THIS is Garth Brooks?” Apparently Garth put out a box set called “Blame it on the Roots” in which he did various covers of the bands he loved growing up. I only heard the Queen song but it was so close to the original that it was scary. Garth Brooks does an EXCELLENT Freddie Mercury whether it’s the low breathy jive or the high powered finale vocals. He’s spot on. The next day I scoured the internet for it to play it for my wife but Garth doesn’t want it on there for whatever reason. Wish I could provide a link.
Karen Carpenter sang a slower, bluesy version of ‘Ticket to Ride’. I always liked that. I never was a Carpenters fsn. My sister was crazy for them, so I heard it alot.
Melissa Etheridge’s cover of Janis Joplin’s “Piece of My Heart” is very faithful to the original, note for note.
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
–Girl In A Coma
Great song by George, but after 50 years it needed a woman’s touch.
Today I heard for the first time a male band who covered Little Eva’s song Loco-motion. Turns out it was Grand Funk Railroad (Get it! Railroad locomotion). And it was a really good cover.
it is, IMHO, most definitely;) almost spot on …
Alison by Linda Rondstadt.
I had forgotten about the song until I saw this thread. Listening now.
I would argue that her version is better than the original
Of course I am biased. I was 16 when it was recorded, in love, in lust, infatuated with her, then and now.
Hell, I just found this. Linda, with Emmylou, singing the Hank Williams song I Can’t Help it If I Am Still in Love with You.
Garth Brooks did a spot-on cover of “Hard Luck Woman.” Of course, with KISS backing you up, you’re going to sound perfect, but Brooks does a fantastic job of sounding like original vocalist Peter Criss.
And I see I already mentioned this before. Oh well. Carry on, then.
Summertime Blues:
Not exactly spot-on, but The Bangles cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s, “Hazy Shade of Winter,” is a big improvement. Plus, they sing the pants off it.
Agreed. Note for note. Same gorgeous 12-string Rickenbacker sound. (And luckily Jeff Lynne didn’t ruin it with excessive “aah” backing vocals.) I approve, cuz that’s probably my favorite Byrds track, and they essentially just cleaned and cleared up the sound.
I’ve revisited the Bangles 30+ years after the fact, and found that I’d terribly underrated them during their 80s heyday. They can really play and sing. Watch their recent live clips on YouTube - those do better justice to their capabilities than their original studio recordings.
Bonus: Susanna Hoffs must have made a deal with the devil, because she looks **amazing **for her age. Hell, she just plain looks amazing. Without the 80s big hair and heavy makeup, she looks more appealing now than she did then. And she was smokin’ then…
I am still trying to figure this one out. Their straight-up, note-for-note cover is either an incredibly subtle in-joke - or they genuinely respect the song.
How about a different Jeff (Foskett) performing ELO’s Telephone Line? It was on a Jeff Lynne tribute album called Lynne Me Your Ears.
ELO cover that hits the spot (if not precisely spot-on):
The Beach Boys do a great cover of Stevie Wonder’s “I Was Made to Love Her” on their 1967 album “Wild Honey.”
I only found out that it was a d’Abo track relatively recently when I took my Ma to see the Manfreds for her birthday, and they did various non-Manfred bits they’d each been involved with - Tom McGuinness’s 'When I’m Dead & Gone being a real show-stealer - and it was the first time I’d ever heard “Handbags & Gladrags” without completely hating it.
This is weird. REALLY weird. I adore Fountains of Wayne. They’re up there vying for position as my favourite band ever. And I have that ELO track and have listened to it - by ELO - dozens of times.
And now, reading your post, I notice for the first time that that Fountains live track from Out Of State Plates is an ELO cover.