Covers That Are Better Than The Original

What songs do you think have better cover versions than the originals? Pretty much any Byrds cover of a Bob Dylan song does it for me. Even Dylan agreed that the Byrds versions came closest to his original vision of the songs. I expect I'll be called a philistine for saying this though....

 

with a little help from my friends:joe cocker,much better than the original

 

House of the Rising Sun- The Animals version, Eric Burdens vocals are amazing and the bass line is perfect as well.

 

I'd always assumed that was the original, who did it first?

 

Alan Lomax

 

Bob Dylan did it as well on his first album. And then according to Wikipedia, "The oldest known existing recording is by Clarence Ashley and Gwen Foster and was released in 1934."

 

I've always enjoyed NIN's cover of "Dead Souls" more than the Joy Division version, which is almost a sacrelidge, but I really think Trent got something different out of that song that I don't feel from Ian Curtis.

An obscure one would be My Bloody Valentine's cover of Wire's "Map Ref 41N 93W", not that it's a bad original at all, but I think the soundscapes Wire were trying to build it on were fully realised by Kevin Shields many years later.

And I don't think it's better by any means, but Elloitt Smith's cover of Big Star's "Thirteen" is just amazing from the standpoint that he covered a song that certainly didn't need to be and made it beautiful all over again.

 

Johnny Cash's version of NIN's "Hurt"

I love cover versions of cheesy songs, there was a hardcore version of Kate Bush's "Wuthering Heights" that I particularly love by China Drum, the punk band Snuff did quite a few of these kinds of covers, including the theme from "Whatever happened to the likely lads".

Then there's the master of all novelty cover version albums, "Salma and Sabina Sing the Hits of Abba in Hindi"

 

I prefer The Stranglers' cover of Walk On By to Dionne Warwick's. It's got so much grit.

(Dare I say it?) I think Stevie Ray Vaughan's version of Voodoo Child is technically better than Jimi's. Somehow he out-Hendrixes Hendrix.

Also IMO James Taylor does You've Got A Friend better than Carole King.

 

One of my favourites has to be Janis Joplin's "Me and Bobby McGee" (Kris Kristofferson). But there's two acts keep springing to mind when I try to think of others...

The Beatles - Twist & Shout (Top Notes), Honey Don't (Carl Perkins), You've Really Got A Hold On Me (The Miracles)...

Jeff Buckley - Lilac Wine (James Shelton), Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen), Back In N.Y.C (Genesis), Satisfied Mind (J.Hayes & Jack Rhodes).

Some of those I guess wouldn't make my all time top 10 covers, but I reckon Buckley is probably my favourite 'covering' artist.

 

Dougal Reed (aka Tom Cullinan from Th'Faith Healers / Quickspace) once did a track-for-track cover of the entire "Rumours" album by Fleetwood Mac... a wonderfully bonkers project and far far FAR better than the banal soft rock of the original!

 

Agreed. He also did a wicked cover of Big Star's "Kanga Roo". I was fortunate to see him play twice, and two nights I will never ever forget.

 

Oh and Cat Power's version of "Freebird" kicks lynrd skynrd in the nads

 

So does Built To Spill's...

 

Bruce Springsteen's many live coverings of Quarter To Three

Richard Thompson's cover of Woodstock. Easily blows Joni Mitchell and the band whose name I can't remember out of the water.

Hurra Torpedo's cover of Total Eclipse Of The Heart. The original had class and good singing, but the cover has two guys using kitchen appliances for percussion.

 

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I knew there was one I forgot. I second this one

 

Matthew's Southern Comfort version of Woodstock gets my vote too....

 

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