Best Cover Songs

[Dave H]

Patti Smith's cover of "So you want to be a rock and roll star"

Tori Amos' cover of "Smells like teen Spirit"

[Decodering]

Great idea for a thread! (YouTube links included in the name of the covering artist)

 

New Order's Blue Monday by

Joni Mitchell's A Case of You by

Burt Bacharach's (There's) Always Something There to Remind Me by Naked Eyes

Randy Newman's I Think It's Going to Rain Today by

Willie Nelson's Always on My Mind by The Pet Shop Boys

 

Andy

[mordante]

Simon and Garfunkel's scarborough fair by

New Order's Blue Monday by

[mordante]

Rolling Stones Paint it black by

[christopher3393]

Rolling Stones "Wild Horses"(Richards/Parsons) by Old and in the Way

 

Joni Mitchell "Cary" by Cyndi Lauper

 

Byrds "Eight Miles High" by Husker Du

 

Joe Cocker "Space Captain" (Matthew Moore) by Black Crowes on Freak 'n Roll and by Herbie Hancock, Tedeschi/Trucks

(killer improv)

[burnspbesq]

The Clash "I Fought the Law"

Phil Seymour "Let Her Dance" (another Bobby Fuller Four song)

Brad Mehldau Trio "Black Hole Sun"

The Neville Brothers "Fever"

Aoife O'Donovan "Lay My Burden Down" (she wrote it, but Alison Krauss recorded it first)

Neko Case "Soulful Shade of Blue"

X "Soul Kitchen"

The Bangles "September Gurls"

and the greatest cover of all time,

Richard Thompson "Oops! I Did It Again"

[powelb]

Neko Case doing Dylan's "Buckets of Rain"

Hope Waits doing Dylan's "Ring them Bells"

Dave's True Story doing any Dylan

 

Catch the pattern? I love Dylan's song writing, hate his voice.

 

Two of my favourite covers are also Dylan songs:

 

Jimi Hendrix doing All Along The Watchtower (already mentioned)

Rage Against The Machine doing Maggie's Farm - this works so well, they bring out the seething anger in the social commentary.

 

I don't think anyone's mentioned this one:

 

Gary Jules doing Mad World (by Tears for Fears). Fantastic version.

 

For those who don't know, this became a Christmas Number 1 here in the UK, after an internet campaign to oust whatever manufactured vacuous drivel it was up against in the charts.

[donunus]

Jeff Buckley's version of Hallelujah. NUTS! This is not the album version but is almost just as good

[donunus]

This would be totally awesome if Steve perry sang with them instead of their vocalist. This version instrumentally is more fun than the original IMO

[jcn3]

good thread -- someone mentioned linda ronstadt earlier. she was the first one i thought of -- she did an excellent cover of tumbling dice by the stones.

[89reksal]

The Slits: I Heard It Through The Grape Vine

 

[Milan]

these 5 are my favorites.

 

Earth Wind and Fire:Got to Get you into my Life(Beatles) from greatest hits

 

Cassandra Wilson:Love is Blindness(U2) from New Moon Daughter.

 

Dianne Reeves: The River (Joni Mitchell) from Bridges.

 

Kenny Garret Lonnie's Lament(John Coltrane) from The Music of John Coltrane..

 

Carmen Gomes inc. I'm on Fire(Bruce Springsteen) from Thousand Shades of Blue

 

[les pako]

Two of my favourite covers are also Dylan songs:

 

Jimi Hendrix doing All Along The Watchtower (already mentioned)

Rage Against The Machine doing Maggie's Farm - this works so well, they bring out the seething anger in the social commentary.

 

I don't think anyone's mentioned this one:

 

Gary Jules doing Mad World (by Tears for Fears). Fantastic version.

 

For those who don't know, this became a Christmas Number 1 here in the UK, after an internet campaign to oust whatever manufactured vacuous drivel it was up against in the charts.

 

 

 

 

Fairport Convention covering "Percy's Song"

[wgscott]

Burning Spear: Estimated Prophet

[souptin]

I am really, really, really not a Cindy Lauper fan, but out of the blue she came up with a beautiful song called "Time after Time".

Here's the Miles Davis version. Instrumental, of course, but who needs words when it's Miles?

 

 

We've had a few covers by Tom Waits (my hero!) listed in this topic, so let's turn the tables and have someone else do a cover of a Waits song. Now, say what you like about Rod Stewart... Well in fact, don't bother, his dodgy dance moves in this video say it all! But when it comes to picking a great song to cover, he's the man. Here's his version of "Downtown Train" (ps, best to fast forward through the drum duet in the middle so as to spare the pain before the *cough* 'amazing' costume change):

 

 

Many times in my life I have realised (too late) that I should have kept my mouth shut. Here's Everything but the Girl showing how to keep your mouth shut in style. Cover is Simon & Garfunkel's "The Only Living Boy in New York" - I love that song!

 

[Booster MPS]

Souptin you touched on an old favorite. I highly recommend that Miles version of Time after Time. I will offer back to you the version by Cassandra Wilson. Stunning.

[Musicophile]

Need to add two more brillant versions from the great Holly Cole, on my absolutely favorite album "Don't Smoke In Bed"

 

- I Can See Clearly Now

- Tenessee Waltz

 

She also does Que Sera on this album, but this one I can really only stand from Doris Day.

 

And finally, although not at the same level as my adored Holly, Youn Sun Na on her album "Same Girl" has a really interesting version of Metallica's Enter Sandman.

[oso]

these 5 are my favorites.

 

Earth Wind and Fire:Got to Get you into my Life(Beatles) from greatest hits

 

Cassandra Wilson:Love is Blindness(U2) from New Moon Daughter.

 

Dianne Reeves: The River (Joni Mitchell) from Bridges.

 

Kenny Garret Lonnie's Lament(John Coltrane) from The Music of John Coltrane..

 

Carmen Gomes inc. I'm on Fire(Bruce Springsteen) from Thousand Shades of Blue

 

 

That's a very nice collection of covers.

I like the Carmen Gomes cover of ''I'm on Fire'' very much,but it is not the same version as the one on the

''Thousand Shades of Blue''album.

The album version has a better sound and a smoother played drum groove.

you can listen to it here:

Carmen Gomes Inc.- SSS no.1

[JBNY]

Dave Grohl's cover of "Band on the Run" at the White House is just so much fun. If you have not hear/seen it you really need to.

 

 

-Joe

[maltby]

Al Green: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart

Nina Simone: Isn't a Pity

Marc Almond Band: New York State of Mind

Nick Cave: Let it Be

Joel Phelps: Spokane Motel Blues

 

...the last one is particularly good if your from Spokane

[tne]

All the covers of Dylan songs listed above and no one has yet mentioned Cher doing "All I Really Want to Do" !!

 

Assuming we are not talking about jazz, where covers of standards are bread-and-butter, and of course classical and opera ( "Wow, Sutherland did a kick ass cover of "Casta Diva" from Bellini's Norma"!!), I will add to the already mentioned songs:

 

Marie Digby covering Rihanna's "Umbrella" (she also does some nice covers of Linkin Park, Beyonce, Britney Spears, all acoustically.....and she is so damn cute).

 

Rolling Stones covering anything by Chuck Berry

 

Keith Greeninger covering Marley's "Three Little Birds" and Morrison's "Into the Mystic"

plus he and Dayan Rai covering the Dead's "Friend of the Devil"

[dummy]

Gloria Gaynor's I Will Survive by Cake

 

Madonna's Borderline by The Flaming Lips

 

Beyonce's Crazy In Love by Antony & The Johnsons

 

Led Zeppelin's Thank You by Tori Amos

 

Billie Holiday's Strange Fruit by Siouxsie & The Banshees

 

 

and, of course, Cohen's Hallelujah who I feel is now "owned" by the late Jeff Buckley

[dummy]

Sheesh, I cannot believe I didn't think of this before!

 

You guessed it, another Dylan cover. Antony doing "I was young when I left home".

 

Mesmerizing...

 

 

 

+ a zillion

 

from the Dark Was The Night compilation

 

I sometimes put this one on repeat for an hour and never get tired of It. Brilliant indeed!

[tne]

Sorry , but two more Dylan covers to add:

"Only a Hobo" and "Tomorrow is a Long Time" both by Rod Stewart

[Moosbrugger]

Sorry if these have already been listed, but Stevie Ray's versions of Voodoo Chile and Little Wing. I don't want to start a fight, but they're better than the originals. (As is Cream's Crossroads.)