this got way too much attention. and now he ****s with lightfoot? i should kill him.

quote:

Originally posted by keytohwy:
Good one.

Did you hear him do Gordon Lightfoot's "If You Could Read My Mind" on the last album. Awesome!

keytohwy

quote:

Originally posted by Purple Teeth:
Johnny Cash - Hurt (originally Nine Inch Nails)

quote:

Originally posted by TBird:
i just threw up. 2 x's.

quote:

Originally posted by Icewino:

quote:

Sympathy For The Devil

Same song by Guns N' Roses.

Tbird....since you certainly have credibility on this question!

Who did the better cover of Helter Skelter - U2 or Motley Crue? (And I know you aren't a Crue fan)

IMHO, a cover needs to take the song to another level...and U2's version didn't do that.

ummm...

quote:

Originally posted by TBird:
this got way too much attention. and now he ****s with lightfoot? i should kill him.

quote:

Originally posted by keytohwy:
Good one.

Did you hear him do Gordon Lightfoot's "If You Could Read My Mind" on the last album. Awesome!

keytohwy

quote:

Originally posted by Purple Teeth:
Johnny Cash - Hurt (originally Nine Inch Nails)

PWI?

quote:

Originally posted by TBird:
this got way too much attention. and now he ****s with lightfoot? i should kill him.

I'm surprised to see only one mention of a Leonard Cohen cover. Seems like everyone does his songs.

Possibly tops is “Hallelujah” done by Jeff Buckley. John Cales version is up there too.

Other notables:
Johnny Cash or Willie Nelson “Bird on a Wire”
Joe Cocker's of the same, provided you like Joe Cocker.
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds “Tower of Song”
Concrete Blonde “Everybody Knows”
James “So Long, Maryanne”
REM “First We Take Manhattan” was already mentioned.

I'm sure others here can come up with plenty. Cohen is like Dylan in that if you don't like his singing (are not bothered by out of tune), his songs are better done by others.

There are plenty of horrible Cohen covers, too. I hope to never hear "Suzanne" again. I'm sorry I even thought of it.

quote:

Originally posted by keytohwy:

Angel from Montgomery by Bonnie Raitt (John Prine)
Man, there are a ton.



keytohwy

If you like that one, check out the Susan Tedeschi version off 'Just Won't Burn'...

Israel Kamakawiwo'ole (? or, IZ )
Somewhere Over the Rainbow (what a wonderful world)

quote:

Originally posted by Chilepepper:
Who did the better cover of Helter Skelter - U2 or Motley Crue? (And I know you aren't a Crue fan)

Pat Benatar, back when she was good, wearing short leather skirts and belting out Hell Is For Children at the top of her lungs.

Rush released "Feedback" a couple years ago. A album of them covering songs that influenced them. Quite good, with some amusing musical humor.

Summertime Blues
Heart Full of Soul
For What It's Worth
The Seeker
Mr. Soul
Seven and Seven Is
Shapes of Things
Crossroads

Heartbreak Hotel - John Cale
Pancho and Lefty - Emmylou Harris
All Along the Watchtower - Hendrix
Slip Inside this House - Primal Scream
Love Hurts - Gram Parsons & Emmylou Harris
Hickory Wind - Gillian Welch
Days - Elvis Costello
Hurt - Johnny Cash
With a Little Help From my Friends - Joe Cocker
Brand New Cadillac - Clash

definately the crue!

i also liked hanoi rocks version of "up around the bend".

quote:

Originally posted by Chilepepper:

quote:

Originally posted by TBird:
i just threw up. 2 x's.

quote:

Originally posted by Icewino:

quote:

Sympathy For The Devil

Same song by Guns N' Roses.

Tbird....since you certainly have credibility on this question!

Who did the better cover of Helter Skelter - U2 or Motley Crue? (And I know you aren't a Crue fan)

IMHO, a cover needs to take the song to another level...and U2's version didn't do that.

Holy cow, there have been some GREAT answers!

My rule for myself is to not duplicate, so...

Tainted Love, by Soft Cell (the original was surprisingly insipid.) The 12" has a great segue into a cover of Where Did Our Love Go.

I'll add to the Ring of Fire list with Social Distortion's version.

Jimi Hendrix' version of Wild Thing.

Tonio K's version of La Bomba (please seek it out.)

Every They Might Be Giants re-run of my childhood science songs, but the best is "The Sun Is A Mass Of Incandescent Gas."

Liz Phair's version of the Banana Splits Theme Song (Tra La La, Tra La La La.)

The Stones' Love In Vain.

John Lennon's version of Stand By Me.

The Flying Lizards' version of Money.

The Dixie Cups version of Iko Iko (spelling?)

Dr. John and Rickie Lee Jones doing "Makin' Whopee."

Oh!

How about Bow Wow Wow's version of I Want Candy?!?!?

Hallelujah by Jeff Buckley or k.d. Lang.

Grace Jones killed with her version of Use me and Demolition man (better than the original!)

Angelique Kidjo's Voodoo Child is pretty good.

Caron Wheeler's version of The Wind Cries mary.

Enough for now.

Cheers!

Yngwie Malmsteen did a great version of Rush's "Anthem". Too bad his material often was lacking in the songwriting department.

"Pictures of Home" from Deep Purple by Malmsteen was also awesome.

Some better than the original ones I've seen in concert:

Primus doing Pink Floyd's "In the Flesh"
Storm and Her Dirty Mouth doing a slow, sultry, bluesy AC/DC's "Shook Me (All Night Long)"
Alice Donut doing Fugazi's "Waiting Room"
Fungus doing Donna Summer's "I Feel Love" with dog howls instead of oohs, and superior musicianship

quote:

Originally posted by spo:
Yngwie Malmsteen did a great version of Rush's "Anthem". Too bad his material often was lacking in the songwriting department.

"Pictures of Home" from Deep Purple by Malmsteen was also awesome.

Malmsteen spo?
"Unleash the F'ing Fury!!!"

" Stand by your man " covered by Lemme from Motorhead and Wendy O Williams from the plasmatics.

I think Summertime must be the most covered song I can think of.

I saw Richie Haven's do All Along the Watchtower, and tell the story of how Jimi Hendrix got it from him after he got it from Bob Dylan.

I also like the cover of I Will Survive by Cake. And you should hear their version of the Muppets Ba Dum pa dum.

And Johnny Cash's cover of My Own Personal Jesus.

quote:

Originally posted by dinwiddie:
I think Summertime must be the most covered song I can think of.

I think the record is held by the Beatles' "Yesterday".

quote:

And Johnny Cash's cover of My Own Personal Jesus.

Now that I'd like to hear.
EDIT: Thanks Seeqpod. That's pretty cool.

"Blue Moon" is right up there with "Summertime" in covers. When I fist heard it as a kid, I thought that "Bom, bom, a bom" was an original. Turns out that even the lyrics were the fourth set for the tune.

A lot of the selections named sprang to my mind immediately when I first saw this thread, and "All Along the Watchtower" was one. I think it is one of the best top forty hits of all time, but some people I know think it is too commercial and prefer Hendrix doing "Hey Joe".

Stevie Ray Vaughn covering any Hendrix was a tour de force. An amusing circle is Albert King, who was the major early influence on SRV doing a cover of Jimi's "Red House."

Did anyone mention The Animals doing "House of the Rising Sun" that they took from Dylan, who took it from Dave Van Ronk, who took it from Traditional?

How about the Byrds "Turn, Turn, Turn", burying the preachiness of Pete Seeger's cover of Ecclesiastes in catchy folk rock. No? I didn't think so.

One more cover of a cover. The Hendrix version of "“To Anacreon in Heaven.”

quote:

Originally posted by spo:
Yngwie Malmsteen did a great version of Rush's "Anthem". Too bad his material often was lacking in the songwriting department.

"Pictures of Home" from Deep Purple by Malmsteen was also awesome.

Ya gonna fault one of the best guitarists ever for his song writing skills?

So Carlos Santana can write a Top 40 hit...he also can't play guitar like Yngwie. (although he is good)

quote:

Originally posted by yhn:
Some better than the original ones I've seen in concert:

Primus doing Pink Floyd's "In the Flesh"
Storm and Her Dirty Mouth doing a slow, sultry, bluesy AC/DC's "Shook Me (All Night Long)"
Alice Donut doing Fugazi's "Waiting Room"
Fungus doing Donna Summer's "I Feel Love" with dog howls instead of oohs, and superior musicianship

I can't speak for Fungus, but I have hard time believing copy cats doing a cover better thean Pink Floyd, AC/DC or Fugazi originals.

Frankly though...who couldn't do a better cover of Donna Summer?

quote:

I can't speak for Fungus, but I have hard time believing copy cats doing a cover better thean Pink Floyd

Korn does a great cover of Another Brick in the Wall.

quote:

Originally posted by Chilepepper:

Ya gonna fault one of the best guitarists ever for his song writing skills?

So Carlos Santana can write a Top 40 hit...he also can't play guitar like Yngwie. (although he is good)

Santanna can make songs I enjoy. A lot of Malmsteen's output is unlistenable. It is not that I don't like metal or rock. If you are a musician and you make music to be heard.....

most people have a very hard time recognizing and then admitting when material is over their head. it happens all the time.

quote:

Originally posted by spo:

quote:

Originally posted by Chilepepper:

Ya gonna fault one of the best guitarists ever for his song writing skills?

So Carlos Santana can write a Top 40 hit...he also can't play guitar like Yngwie. (although he is good)

Santanna can make songs I enjoy. A lot of Malmsteen's output is unlistenable. It is not that I don't like metal or rock. If you are a musician and you make music to be heard.....