I can’t remember if it was here or elsewhere recently a thread about favourite cover versions & for some reason I am not sure if I commented.
So here are 3 of my absolute favourites (with no doubt many others to follow).
INPO
Nazareth – this flight tonight
Bryan Ferry – A hard rains a’gonna fall
Joe Cocker – With a little help from my friends.
The mighty Slade – Darling be home soon
As I say, more to come I am sure.
A brilliant version I think.
Appalling, one of the worst things he ever did (IN MY OPINION)
Even I don’t like this. Dennis Davis and a shouty Lennon try desperately to save it. They can’t.
This, on the other hand, is great
Superb vocal performance. Take 1, I think, of 19.
I’m with you on this. I’ve never understood the hate for this track. One of Bowie’s best.
Ella’s Cream.
Better than the original I think.
Sorry, you are wrong. Little Eva’s is far superior IMO
I really like the Patti Smith’s Group’s version of “ So you wanna be a Rock n Roll Star?” Yes, it’s rockist but I love the guitars and hi-hats.
Stranglers – Walk On By
Stiff Little Fingers – Doesn’t Make It Alright
Of course! Just going for a walk in the trees…
Senor Coconut’s version of Smoke on the Water is my favourite cover.
If you are a fan of Kraftwerk his lp El Baile Alemán is fantastic, it’s pretty much straight forward covers of their songs except all played with a Latin groove.
This is superb! Sparkling work @cookieboy
My life’s work is covers, hence
https://www.covermesongs.com/
…those Anna Taylor Joy covers of Downtown are superb. What a singer!
I think Grace Jones is an artist who can cover anything effortlessly. Private Life, Nightclubbing, Libertango, La Vie En Rose. And many more. It’s a Jamaican thing. Reggaefy it or funkify it. Works so well.
I don’t know … I was never keen on her version of “She’s Lost Control”.
My considered, scholarly assessment:
I prefer The Damned version of Alone Again Or over Love’s original.
Not markedly different, but it was the first version I heard and prefer Dave Vanian’s voice over Arthur Lee.
And sticking with The Damned
Eloise..
Funny I have heard The damned version a couple of times lately and was thinking how anemic it is compared to the original.
Ray Davies songs sung by women
Pretenders – Stop Your Sobbing
Kirsty MacColl – Days
Kate Rusby – Village Green Preservation Society
Fanny – Hey Bulldog
Yes! Such a seriously great band. Massively underated. That performance is stormingly great. All their CDs may be had direct from the woman on the drum stool above – don’t pay the chancers on the dodgers, buy direct from Alice. She’ll even write you a nice little ‘Thank You’ note that she’ll put in with your CDs.
Too many of today’s cover versions have been John Lewisised. Winey no-talent pillocks and their rubbish acoustic guitars. But these two aren’t.
“John Lewisised” – brilliant. Played too slowly and sung by miserable slurring boys or girls with “kooky”(=squeaky and irritating) voices.
This is the one: Thin Lizzy’s version of Bob Seger’s Rosalie. Perfect.
Yes, yes and thrice yes!
Ably supported by Ben Folds and Joe Jackson, William Shatner speaks/sings a mighty fine verion
An hour’s worth of my current favourites:
I have always loved this freaky beaky powerhouse version:
+1 – new to me but absolutely first rate.
Great call, Vulpster. I have it on vinyl. Fabulous bass from Bill.
Then there’s this utterly ethereal, other-worldly wonder, from Spirit’s magnificent ’76 album:
Be sure to play loud, preferably though cans, man..
Spirit gamely refused to accept that the 60s had finished deeeeeeeeep into the 70s. History, as we know, was on their side.
Superb version which is as good as if not better than Eno’s original.
Bad Boy on the first Beatles’ comp.
Lennon-McCartney 15 times and then, all alone, one song by “Williams.”
Eh… Williams?
The others were all familiar, this one not so.
Still my favourite Beatles’ cover and I’ve gone full-circle (actually more of an eighth-circle) back to pretty much only listen to Larry Williams’ original and its like.
Twist and Shout was fairly obscure before the boys put a rocket under it. See also the wonderful Anna (Go To Him) – the guitar and the slightly ghostly backing vocals make it an improvement on the original.
You Really Got A Hold On Me is, as Ian McDonald says, a draw with the original: the fact that that original is one of The Miracles’ (the fkin Miracles!!) best records makes that quite an achievement.
Yeah, Love Will Tear Us Apart was the secret hymn of indie losers before Paul Young elevated it to the pantheon by awarding it a place on No Parlez.
Earlier this year someone on here was chastising me for leaving Karen, Don’t Be Sad out of my Dead Petz edit. Hearing this version on the new Cousteaux album made me realise it’s Miley’s whiny Wayne style vocal that was putting me off and it is a rather splendid song..
Wilko and Rog knock out a cover of a Dylan track that Wilko had already covered before.
(So much better than the Transvision Vamp version)
I could post this on @bingo-little Funny Feeling thread. I could post it on @NiallB favourite songwriter thread but I’ll leave it here.
Many of you will have seen it before but this month sees the 29th anniversary of my Dad passing and also what would have been his 100th birthday. He’s been on my mind a lot, looking through old photos and paperwork. His time in Singapore didn’t define him but clearly was a period that he would never have truly escaped. My pride is not so much that he survived but more the fact that he survived to be a brilliant Dad…
Stina Nordenstam doing the Doors, remixed by UNKLE:
Otway – National Treasure?
Emmylou Harris covering Here There and Everywhere by The Beatles
Emmylou Harris covering Every Grain of Sand by Bob Dylan
Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt covering Across the Border by Bruce Springsteen
Emmylou covering pretty much anything. Peerless
@Blue-Boy
You forgot her and GP’s spine-tinging version of the Everley’s “Love Hurts”
The only version you’ll ever need.
Apart from the Velvet Underground
And my annual “every song Dylan ever wrote is better sung by someone else,” post.
There is a possible truism there Mr B …
Nobody sings Dylan like Dylan
I’ve always liked this version…I like the original as well…
…and this…apparently didn’t go over too well with Crosby…
Miles Davis covers your song and you’re bitching? Chrrrrrist…..
Too wasted? Worth reading the rest of the linked story – includes Nash’s version of what happened…
Thanks for that.
I dont think I even realised that was a cover.
@Arthur-Cowslip
Which one?
Everydays by Yes.
You’ve probably found it by now…but just in case, here’s the original…
The Bangles
This by the Band. Levon Helm’s voice really gets the sadness & desperation at the heart of the song.
Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good” must be one of the greatest cover versions (a lot of people believe it’s the original but I think it was originally done by Anthony Newley ?)
Actually that begs another question – which cover versions have become the de facto “standard” version (maybe this should be another thread – but after 3 G&Ts my typing on the iPad is all over the place and my autocorrect is going into meltdown, so someone else can start if they want….)
Marvin Gaye – I Heard It Through The Grapevine
The Beatles – Twist & Shout
The Rolling Stones – It’s All Over Now
Almost any Dylan cover 😉
Written with the recently departed Leslie Bricusse.
@davebigpicture
Good shout on Hazy Shade Of Winter and here’s another great cover by The Bangles of a splendid song – Jules Shear’s If She Knew What She Wants
Also, I have been listening to The Long Ryders do this a lot lately – NRBQ’s I Want You Bad
@Pajp I didn’t know If She Knew… was a cover. The Bangles also covered Katrina and the Waves’ Going Down to Liverpool.
Here’s The Long Ryders’ Sid Griffin covering Phil Ochs’ Flower Lady from the Phil Odgers album Ghosts of Rock n Roll
@davebigpicture
Thanks. Unfortunately, I have a big “Video unavailable” sign in place of Sid Griffin, but I am listening to Phil Ochs as I type.
Back on Jules Shear, there is also Alison Moyet covering his Whispering Your Name. Be aware – also contains Dawn French
More Jules Shear. See also Cyndi Lauper All Through The Night
I didn’t know this was a cover until Mrs theref told me:
Last time we did this, I asked if anyone thought the original was better. Twang said he thought it was but I can’t agree.
I think this version is wonderful.
The most obvious example of a song being stolen completely from it’s originator is Aretha’s version of “Respect”.
Not necessarily the best versions ever, but all credible IMO.
Frank Zappa – Directly From My Heart To You (Little Richard)
Little Feat – On Your Way Down (Allen Toussaint)
Rolling Stones – You Better Move On (Arthur Alexander)
Billy Bragg – She Smiled Sweetly (Rolling Stones)
June Tabor – The Band Played Waltzing Matilda (Eric Bogle)
Jo-El Sonnier – Tear Stained Letter (Richard Thompson)
Nina Simone – I Shall Be Released (Bob Dylan)
Magazine – Thank You Falletinme Be Mice Elf Agin (Sly & The Family Stone)
Donald Fagen – Ruby Baby (The Drifters)
Kokoroko – Colonial Mentality (Fela Kuti)
Ezra Collective – Space Is The Place (Sun Ra)
Susanna & The Magical Orchestra – Love Will Tear Us Apart (Joy Division)
Frank Zappa – Stolen Moments/Murder By Numbers (Oliver Nelson/Sting)
Let’s go back in time a bit.
In 1736, Giovanni Pergolesi composed his famous Stabat Mater.
J.S. Bach must have rated this work, because about 10 years later, he did a direct cover version of it, in the form of a motet entitled “Tilge, Höchster, meine Sünden” (BWV 1083). This was a blatant bit of plagiarism, but Pergolesi wasn’t around to complain, as he’d died just a couple of months after composing the original piece.
Aztec Camera cover Van Halen
I’ve been adding to this playlist for a long while now and it still doesn’t include much of the suggestions above but here it is anyway
Note that the title is that IMHO this vs is better than the original (I’m feeling brave tonight!)
However a personal favourite cover of mine is Jackie Levens vs of I Say A Little Prayer – but I can’t honestly say it’s better than either Dionne or Aretha
Hello Hurray … written by Rolf Kemp
Covered firstly by Judy Collins https://youtu.be/DB0TtT6NVcA
Before Alice Cooper made it their own … https://youtu.be/HY8wGxj032A
@Feed_File beat me to Jackie’s cover of I Say A Little Prayer, so how about Jackie as Sir Vincent Lone covering possibly JL’s favourite artist, Judee Sill
Jackie Leven and David Thomas are The Righteous Brothers ….
They bloody aren’t….. Whilst I totally agree about how fine The version of Say a Little Prayer is, YLTLF is a stinker. I blame David Thomas.
Mr’s B won’t permit me to play anything by Mr Thomas if she is in hearing distance, @retropath2 I’m guessing you won’t like this cover then……
Jings, that’s grim, right enough…
@retropath2 you have to be kidding Thats a great version.
Is a dead heat possible? I remember how extraordinary The Days of Pearly Spencer sounded from the radio:
And then Marc Almond – also great:
This version of YLTLF knocks all the others into a cocked hat. The extraordinary emotion Paul Shane puts into this performance is quite staggering.
Now you’re talkin’!!
I had no idea Slade had covered Darling Be Home Soon. Absolutely love that song.
Re: cover versions, I’m nominating the below. He totally, totally owns that tune.
It’s on their best album, one of the finest live albums ever recorded, a veritable Stomping Rockfest, wittily entitled Slade Alive!
I will have to go check it out.
Another brilliant cover by Slade, which I feel is better than the original.
Talking of the mighty Slade, there’s this version of Janis Joplin’s ‘Move Over’ from ‘Slayed?’ I’d never even heard of Janis Joplin when I bought this, aged 12!
And Slade do Little Richard:
How about a cover of a cover ?
Possibly SuBo’s first appearance on the Afterword. Time for a reappraisal?
I strongly suspect the answer is “no”.
I reckon we can just appreciate her performance of this one song. I’m not sure she’s fully feeling what she’s singing about, but there’s something affecting about the way she pulls it off. Maybe it’s the incongruity. Like Anita Harris covering the New York Dolls.
Anita did cover X-Ray Spex.
Oh Matron! Up Yours!
People don’t say “Up Yours” any more, do they?
Mind you, you don’t get called a “Joey” either, so it’s swings and roundabouts.
Norma Waterson’s fine version of the Garcia/Hunter song “Black Muddy River”.
I’m saying: BETTER THAN THE GRATEFUL DEAD’S ORIGINAL.
That’s not a Dead song. It only lasts four and a half minutes.
Show of Hands do The Quiet One from the folkies-do-Fabs “Rubber Folk” album. I sometimes ‘drop’ this into DJ sets.
Alt. Fleetwood Mac
Something to warm you all up. Probably my most watched YT clip ever.
A reverse cover version for all the Grebos out there. The Wilde Knights later became Genesis (no, not that one).
Similarly… proto-Undertones, The Grodes.
And The Nerves pre-empt Blondie.
Are we at hamper status yet?
Yet another Chuck Berry cover, but done a bit different.
A cover version of a song what you wrote, someone else had a hit with, and now you’re stealing it back
Ian Gomm – Cruel To Be Kind
Weird, isn’t it, how Nick Lowe surrounded himself with talented players and nicked their songs, often making hits of them. Billy Bremner has just put out a “tribute” to Rockpile, which includes Heart, which he wrote. OK, he sang on the Rockpile version, but Nick also did a cover of it, making it hard to always see who is covering quite who.
(I can only find a live clip of Bremner’s Rockfiles (sic) version, which doesn’t do the song or him any favours)
“Dull but worthy” singer-songwriter Boo Hewerdine did an album of his own covers of his own songs back in 2005 called Harmonograph. There were a few years in the later 90s where he seemed to give all his songs away. Here’s his take on the mighty Hepburn:
Some favourites of mine:
Joni Mitchell – Twisted
Cat Power – Satisfaction
Notting Hillbillies – Feeling like going home
Betty Lavette – Wish you were here
Ry Cooder – Goodnight Irene
Peter Gabriel – The boy in the bubble
Nanci Griffith – Speed of the sound of loneliness.
Nils Lofgren – Goin back
This: strip out the disco and replace it with sleazy, bluesy soul…
Think I’m a bit late with this but I’ll post it anyway, as it is so fabulous.
Fans of cover versions might, an unashamed plug, like to mosey over to http://www.covermesongs.com, where that is the whole MO of the site. In a couple of weeks the best covers of 2021 will go up. I will guess that will concentrate on the young folks music seemingly much loved by a proportion of AW, but at least one of their writers will try and keep the vintage end of the market up……
Three of my absolute favourites: