what are your top five, desert island favorite cover songs?

Cafe Society
1

in an homage to one of my top five favorite movies , I give you this thread, but first, let’s lay down some ground rules:

  1. The first rule of . . . wait, wait, wrong rules. Ok, the first rule is that for the purposes of this thread, a cover song is a live or recorded performance of a previously recorded song – with this caveat: the songwriter cannot cover his or her own song (e.g. Willie Nelson’s live performance or recording of “Crazy” is not a cover of the Patsy Cline song “Crazy” because Willie wrote the song);
  2. Renditions of traditional/folk songs will be considered covers (e.g. the Thin Lizzy or Metallica rendition of “Whiskey ion the Jar”) – with this caveat: no holiday songs;
  3. Let’s stay away from borrowed melodies or substantial re-writes (e.g. the P. Diddy f/k/a Puff Daddy song “I’ll Be Missing You,” for the purposes of this thread, will not be considered a “cover” of the Police song “Every Breath You Take.”);
  4. Please provide name of original and covering artist;
  5. No repeats. If yours is taken think of another (though please give props to a good selection, “Aw, man that was mine” or somesuch); and
  6. I think this goes without saying here, but feel free to correct someone, especially me.

here goes, my desert island, top five cover songs in no particular order are:

Sweet Jane – Cowboy Junkies’ cover of the Lou Reed/Velvet Underground classic.

Tangled Up in Blue – Grateful Dead live performance of one of Dylan’s best songs

He Was a Friend of Mine – Willie Nelson cover of a folk song of disputed origin

My Way – the Sid Vicious verion of the Anka-Sinatra lounge standard

Baker Street – Foo Fighters masterful performance of the Gerry Rafferty original

What are yours?

2

Corrine Corrina: Bob Dylan’s version of what I believe is a traditional tune.
Tecumseh Valley: Nanci Griffith’s version of the Townes Van Zandt classic
Black Magic Woman: Santana’s version of the Fleetwood Mac song.
Spanish Harlem Incident: The Byrds doing Dylan
Turn on Your Lovelight: And version by Pigpen of the Grateful Dead. Dunno who wrote it.

3
  1. All Along the Wathctower- Hendrix (Dylan)- best cover ever?
  2. Spirits in the Night- Manfred Mann’s Earth Band (Springsteen)
  3. Hurt So Bad- Linda Ronstadt (Little Anthony & the Imperials)
  4. Alone Again Or- The Damned (Love)
  5. Only Love Can Break Your Heart- St. Etienne (Neil Young)
4

I’m kind of afraid to do this, since I’m not as musically literate as some dopers, but I do love a good cover:

  1. Wild Horses – The Sundays (Rolling Stones)
  2. Let’s Do It (Let’s Fall in Love) – Joan Jett feat. Bad Religion (Cole Porter)
  3. Everybody Knows – Concrete Blond (Lenard Cohen)
  4. You Can Leave Your Hat On – Etta James (Tom Jones?)
  5. Me and Bobby McGee – Janis Joplin (Roger Miller)

I had to leave off Me First and the Gimmie Gimmies because it seemed unfair to pick just one song!

5
  1. Memory–Dudu Fisher in Hebrew (Elaine Paige).
  2. Bottle of Wine–The Firebirds (Tom Paxton)
  3. Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts–Joan Baez (Bob Dylan)
  4. Hey Jude–Wilson Pickett (The Beatles)
  5. Maniac/Superstar–Sandra Bernhardt (Jimi Hendrix/Murray Head)
6

Solid pick

Kris Kristofferson, not Roger Miller, and I don’t know that Kris recorded it before Janice, making this very similar to the Willie/Patsy example I gave.

7

Awww, but I went and looked that one up and everything! Roger Miller recorded it first (1969), and it was a hit on the country charts at the time.

Cite 1
Cite 2

Kristofferson did write it though, mea culpa.

8
  1. Allman Brothers Band – Statesboro Blues (in a pinch I’d take Taj Mahal’s or Alice Stuart’s version, though)
  2. Bonzo Dog Band – Monster Mash
  3. Joe Cocker – The Letter (a tough choice over With a Little Help From My Friends and Feelin’ Alright.
  4. The Who – Summertime Blues
  5. The Youngbloods – Speedo
9

In no particular order of preference (but the covering artist is listed first):

“Slack Motherfucker” – Firehose (Superchunk)
“All Along the Watchtower” – Jimi Hendrix (Dylan)
“Strawberry Letter 23” – Brothers Johnson (Shuggie Otis)
“Alone Again Or” – The Damned (Love)
“The Tears of a Clown” – English Beat (Smokey Robinson & The Miracles)

10

you’re right, definitely qualifies.

11
  1. Think Again- Mighty Mighty Bosstones (Minor Threat)
  2. Hard to Handle- Grateful Dead (Otis Redding)
  3. Ace of Spades- Hayseed Dixie (Motorhead)
  4. Take This Job and Shove It- Dead Kennedys (Johnny Paycheck)
  5. You Can’t Judge a Book By Looking At The Cover- Bo Diddly (Willie Dixon)
12

I just realized my whole list is songs by men that were covered by women. From this, I guess we can deduce that my reaction to a cover song is directly proportional to whether or not the new version makes it easier for me to sing along in the car.

13

Wow, some great picks so far. I never thought I would see firehose name checked anywhere…
Anyway my top five are in no particular order

  1. Common People by Bill Shatner Featuring Joe Jackson. Actually better than the original by Pulp.

  2. The Dukes of Hamburg Women. Original by The Zombies

  3. Cocaine Blues Hank III, Original by the great J. Cash.

  4. Mandy by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. Original by He WHo Shall Not Be Named.

  5. Dizzy Miss Lizzy by The Kaisers. I think the original was by some rock combo in the 60s, Buggles? No, Beatniks? No, I’ll think of it later.

14

  1. Indigo Girls’ version of Bob Dylan’s “Tangled Up in Blues”

  2. Jimmy Buffett’s version of Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl”

  3. Lyle Lovett & Keb’Mo’s version of Bob Seger’s “Till It Shines”

  4. The Eagles’ version of Tom Waits’ “Old 55”

  5. Sting’s version of Jimi Hendrix’ “Little Wing”

15
  1. Ry Cooder, with Flaco Jimenez He’ll Have To Go Jim Reeves
  2. David Lindley, Mercury Blues I first heard it by Steve Miller, don’t know who wrote it.
  3. Derek And The Dominos, Little Wing Hendrix
  4. Ry Cooder, My Old Kentucky Home (not the Stephen Foster one) Randy Newman
  5. Van Morrison, Lonely (Black) and Blue Fats Waller. With a few changed words, a song about racism becomes a “missing you” song.

Sting’s Little Wing cover was fine, but I prefer Derek’s.

16

Ziggy Stardust - Bauhaus (David Bowie)
Tomorrow Never Knows - The Mission U.K. (The Beatles)
Into The Void - Kyuss (Black Sabbath)
I Fought the Law - Dead Kennedys (Sonny Curtis)
Do Ya think I’m Sexy - Revolting Cocks (Rod Stewart)

17

Obscure Mississippi bluesman KC Douglas wrote and orignally recorded “Mercury Blues”

18

Now, does it count as a repeat if I have I Fought the Law - The Clash/Sonny Curtis on my list? Can we get the line judge over here please?

My other four:
Dear Prudence - Siouxsie and the Banshees/the Beatles
Take Me to the River - Talking Heads/Al Green
Wild Thing - X/The Troggs
Alabama Song - The Doors/I’m actually not sure who originally performed this Kurt Weill song

19

never heard Sting do it and the Dominoes are ok, but Stevie Ray’s version of “Little Wing” is the better cover, IMHO

nope, different cover of the same song, it’s ok.

20

nice