This could be a very long thread. And it’s simple: what is the best cover that you’ve heard?
For me there are lots, so I will mention those that in my opinion are superior than the original:
1.- Fields of gold by Eva Cassidy.-
2.- One by Johnny Cash.-
3.- Redemption song by Johnny Cash.-
4.- Louie Louie by The Clash.-
5.- What a wonderfull world by The Ramones.-
What are your favourite’s covers?
“Ring of Fire” by Universal Hall Pass (Melissa Kaplan). You can download it here (direct link to the mp3 from her website). It’s really interesting.
I definitely agree with Fields of Gold. I heard that Sting cried when he heard it.
Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah (I think that’s my all-time favorite cover)
Happy Rhodes - Ashes To Ashes (here), Mercy Street (here) and Space Oddity (here, but it’s an audience recording)
Kate Bush - Lord of the Reedy River
Mary Hopkin - Lord of the Reedy River
Victoria Williams - What A Wonderful World
Nan Vernon - While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Kirsty MacColl - Days
Those are just a few of dozens.
Hard to choose just one. Recently I picked up the new Lacuna Coil CD which has a pretty awesome version of Depeche Mode’s “Enjoy the Silence”, it went right on the playlist with Orgy’s “Blue Monday”, In Flames’ “Everything Counts”, and “Clones” by the Smashing Pumpkins.
The world’s funniest cover has got to be David Grohl butchering “Stairway to Heaven” on the Craig Kilborne show. 
Janis Joplin’s cover of Me & Bobby McGee
The four that immediately spring to mind are;
*Most people will know that Dylan himself preferred Hendrix’s cover.
Dave Edmunds’ covers of Smiley Lewis’ “I Hear You Knocking” and Chuck Berry’s “The Promised Land”
Smith’s cover of The Shirelles’ “Baby It’s You”
Atlanta Rhythm Section’s cover of the Classics IV’s “Spooky”
Harry Nilsson’s cover of Badfinger’s “Without You”
The Beatles’ cover of Barrett Strong’s “Money”
The Jeff Beck Group’s cover of Willie Dixon’s “I Ain’t Superstitious”
Charity Brown’s cover of Mary Wells’ “You Beat Me To The Punch”
Creedence Clearwater Revival’s cover of Dale Hawkins’ “Suzie Q”
Tim Curry’s cover of Dionne Warwick’s “Anyone Who Had A Heart”
Downchild Blues Band’s cover of the widely-performed “Caldonia”
The Everly Brothers’ cover of Paul McCartney’s “On The Wings Of A Nightingale”
The Brothers Johnson’s covers of Shuggie Otis’ “Strawberry Letter 23” and The Beatles’ “Come Together”
The Lovemongers’ cover of Led Zeppelin’s “The Battle Of Evermore”
Johnny Rivers’ cover of Huey ‘Piano’ Smith’s “Rockin’ Pneumonia - Boogie Woogie Flu”
The Rolling Stones’ cover of The Temptations’ “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg”
Rare Earth’s cover of The Temptations’ “(I Know) I’m Losing You”
Rod Stewart’s cover of The Temptations’ “(I Know) I’m Losing You” (can’t keep a good song down!)
Linda Ronstadt’s cover of Betty Everett’s “You’re No Good”
Rufus’ cover of Stevie Wonder’s “Tell Me Something Good”
Aretha Franklin’s cover of Stevie Wonder’s “Until You Come Back To Me”
David Lee Roth’s cover of Louis Prima’s “Just A Gigolo / I Ain’t Got Nobody”
Todd Rundgren’s cover of The Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations”
Jackie Shane’s cover of William Bell’s “Any Other Way”
James Taylor’s cover of Jimmy Jones’ “Handy Man”
Three Dog Night’s cover of Harry Nilsson’s “One”
Ike & Tina Turner’s cover of CCR’s “Proud Mary”
Rick Derringer’s cover of his own “Rock And Roll Hoochie Koo”, done first by Johnny Winter
There are a few, off the top of my head, of covers that I think own the originals, except for Todd, which is a draw, as it’s a note-for-note replication. I collect original versions of famous covers, and have all these and many more.
Continuing with Joe Cocker, I love his version of “Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word”, from the Two Rooms album.
I also love this version of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” performed by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole, a Hawaiian man (unfortunately deceased), with just his vocals and a ukelele.
Rufus Wainwright’s cover of “Across the Universe” is one of my all-time favorite songs. It’s the song I was listening to when I finally decided to come out. Any time I get stressed out or worried about the future, I play it and it always grounds me again.
Been playing it a lot, lately.
In 1970, Black Sabbath took an obscure, 3 year old, 3:25 long track by entitled Warning by Aynsley Dunbar’s Retaliation and turned it into 10 1/2 minutes of crunching hard blues perfection.
That is … something. I love her voice and enjoy the music but I cannot decide if I like the song or really, really hate it.
Foo Fighters doing Gerry Rafftery’s “Baker Street.” Foo Fighters doing Prince’s “Darling Nikki.” Michael Stipe and Natalie Merchant doing “To Sir With Love.”
Johnny Cash’s reading of Nick Cave’s “The Mercy Seat” really impresses me. It’s a very complex story that Cash manages to re-edit and reduce to something somehow more majestic and yet terrible.
mm
Fiona Apple’s cover of the Beatles Across The Universe.
Okay. You may all flog me now. But I just love the way the lyrics mesh with her “oh well… who cares… I’m skanky and I sing flat” personality.
It seems, sometimes, like the Beatles existed principally to write and record songs so that other people could make different, better covers of them.
The Fatboy Slim remix of Body Movin’ is so completely different (and superior) to the Beastie Boy’s version as to qualify as a cover, IMO.
Shaft’s cover of Sway (Mucho Mambo).
Creedence Clearwater Revival’s cover of I Heard It Through The Grapevine
Hooked On Classics.
Agreed! Fiona Apple’s cover of this song is one of the few “Sad” songs I actually like…
Hmm am going to turn my favorite cover on right now.
Annie Lennox - Waiting In Vain
So so pretty. So so bittersweet.
They also covered “Tiny Dancer” on Kilborne. Hilarious. Anyone have a link to that?
Without question, my favourite cover of all time is Jeff Buckley’s version of Halleluja. Listen to it; this song will just make you ache.
I know there are a few Kate Bush fans poking around, but I thought that the Futureheads one-upped her on Hounds of Love. Their echoey vocals on the intro absolutely sell it for me. Blasphemy?
Galaxie 500 did an astonishingly moody cover of Isn’t it a Pity. Hard to improve on George Harrison, but there you go.
The Bangles was my favourite band when I was eight. Their cover of Hazy Shade of Winter had a fierce insistency that Simon & Garfunkel’s never had.
Lastly, I’ll nominate Frente’s Bizarre Love Triangle. They took one of my least favourite New Order synth-orgies of dance-pop and gave it new life as an acoustic ballad.
I have to say, among my favourites are:
Tori Amos - Smells Like Teen Spirit
Tori Amos - I don’t like mondays
Scissor Sisters - Comfortably Numb
Marylin manson - Tainted Love
Ben harper - The Drugs Don’t Work
Strawpeople - Drive
Placebo - Running Up That Hill
Joan Baez - Imagine
Mandalay - I don’t want the night to end
Garbage - Wild Horses
Save Ferris - Come On Eileen
natalie Merchant - Symapthy For The Devil
Emiliana Torrini - If You Go Away
Cyndi Lauper - Unchained Melody