Best cover of classic hits

[MaryMagdaline]

I know, covers are heretical to purists.

List of decent covers:

Fast Car - Luke Combs
Original: Tracy Chapman

First Cut is the Deepest - Cheryl Crow
Original: Rod Stewart

Big Yellow Taxi - Counting Crows
Original: Joni Mitchell

[BOSSHOG]

1. Eleanor Rigby by Aretha Franklin - a lil hot sauce in that gumbo

And brand spanking new: Every breath you take and Don’t let the Sun go Down on me by Dolly Parton from her Rock Star CD.

[MaryMagdaline]

23. Wow! Enlightening choices

[TwilightZone]

2. A little off the beaten path: AC/DC's "Thunderstruck" by Danish industrial band Birmingham 6.

Yeah, I know it's not really "classic", but it's one of my favorite covers.

[MaryMagdaline]

25. AC DC is all classic!

[dweller]

3. First Cut original

is by Cat Steven’s , 1972

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_First_Cut_Is_the_Deepest


✌🏻

[werdna]

22. Actuually and technically -

'" "The First Cut Is the Deepest" is a 1967 song written by British singer-songwriter Cat Stevens, originally released by P. P. Arnold in April 1967."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_First_Cut_Is_the_Deepest

Credit where credit is due and all that.

[TwilightZone]

24. He sold it to her for 30 pounds and her version was a big hit

Kind of amazing, in hindsight. £30 for a song that would eventually be a hit for half a dozen different artists.

[dweller]

28. And so actually, and then technically

It’s a Cat Stevens composition covered by P.P Arnold in her release in 1967.
As the composer, Cat released his version as his original in 1972.

Credit is due to the composer …


✌🏻

[TwilightZone]

33. Cat Stevens released his version in late 1967.

On the album "New Masters"

You might be seeing the Australian version on Wikipedia, which was released in 1972.

[dweller]

37. I can ride with that

My point was the original was Cat Stevens and not Rod Stewart


✌🏻

[MaryMagdaline]

26. Thank you for this information

TBH I always thought the song was a little deep for Rod Stewart. Now I know why.

[MaryMagdaline]

51. Thank you

[TwilightZone]

4. Robert Palmer's "Doctor, Doctor (Bad Case of Lovin' You)" by 90s rock band Giant

[MaryMagdaline]

27. Yes!

[TwilightZone]

5. The Knack's "My Sharona" by German rock band Pink Cream 69

[MaryMagdaline]

29. Well done!

[TwilightZone]

6. Queen's "Fat Bottomed Girls" by all-female NY rock group Antigone Rising

This is fun. I have a million covers.

[MaryMagdaline]

31. Great version

Keep ‘em coming.

[From The Ashes]

188. Nice!

That's one of the few Queen covers I've seen. Freddie was a hard act to follow.

[SarahD]

7. Black Magic Woman

Cover by Santana. Original by Fleetwood Mac.

[MaryMagdaline]

32. I did not know this!!

[WestMichRad]

136. And the song "Gypsy Queen"...

… which quickly follows Santana’s Black Magic Woman (on the Abraxas album), is itself a cover of the original by Gabor Szabo.

Santana did both of them better than the originals!

[MaryMagdaline]

164. Santana is pure gold

[Wounded Bear]

135. Hurt covered by Johnny Cash...

Original by Nine Inch Nails, who said it was Cash's song now.

[TwilightZone]

8. Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" on acoustic guitar by Randy Coleman, son of actor Dabney Coleman

In my opinion, absolutely brilliant.

[MaryMagdaline]

55. Great version!

[chowder66]

65. Holy shit! That was superb!

[From The Ashes]

189. damn that gave me chills...

That is an excellent version of the song!

[SarahD]

9. Poor Poor Pitiful Me

Big hit for Linda Ronstadt. Written and first recorded by Warren Zevon.

[MaryMagdaline]

34. Yes!

I would add Desperado by Linda. Or Allison (Elvis Costello). She had a tendency to take over a song in the best way.

[OilemFirchen]

133. Okay, but...

her version omits this verse:

I met a girl at the Rainbow Bar
She asked me if I'd beat her
She took me back to the Hyatt House
I don't want to talk about it, hey

... and replaces it with this:

Well, I met a boy in The Vieux Carré
Down in Yokohama
He picked me up and he threw me down
He said, "Please don't hurt me mama"

Warren's twisted soul.

[stopdiggin]

10. the idea that 'covers' - are, by definition, something less than 'real' art ...

has to be one of the most inane and infantile notions ever to be declaimed with a straight face.

Nothing 'purist' about it - just ignorant pretentiousness at it's finest.

[stopdiggin]

11. I put a spell on you

[MaryMagdaline]

35. Excellent

[unblock]

93. Cool guitar work on that one! For pure vocals, check out this kid(!)

?si=IldzJYkgnSkRyrnU

[Mr.Bill]

54. Well, there's "covering" a song,

then there's making it your own. An example would be With a Little Help From My Friends by the Beatles (tough band to cover) and Joe Cocker making it his own.

[MaryMagdaline]

57. Yea, Joe Cocker lived it. He knew that song

[Mr.Bill]

72. Then there's the carbon copy.

These guys are damn near religiously dedicated to playing the Beatles' music with the intention of making it sound exactly like the original. You may recognize on bass Will Lee who played with Paul Schaefer's CBS Orchestra on the David Letterman show for decades.

The Fab Faux: (long but phenomenal)

[dgauss]

70. Yes! Great example of taking something wonderful that exists

and then brilliantly expanding it.

[patphil]

156. One of my favorite covers of all time.

[Buzz cook]

101. Yes you'd never hear of

Ella Fitzgerald doing a "cover" of Mack the Knife. It was her version.

[Bobstandard]

12. Barbara Ann by the Beach Boys

Originally by the Regents

[MaryMagdaline]

36. Did not know this

Good one

[TwilightZone]

13. The song covered isn't a "classic" but Johnny Cash is.

His cover of Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt"

Trent Reznor's reaction, in part: "Wow. I just lost my girlfriend, because that song isn't mine any more." and "different, but every bit as pure."

More on his reaction to Cash's version: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurt_(Nine_Inch_Nails_song)#Background (DU link doesn't work, but copy/paste does)

[MaryMagdaline]

38. So powerful. Couldn't do a light listen today. One to store

away and savor later.

[hlthe2b]

120. Very good choice

[TwilightZone]

14. Linda Ronstadt: "You're No Good"

Originally by Dee Dee Warwick

[MaryMagdaline]

39. Another killer by LR

[MaryMagdaline]

59. Yes. Linda steals another one.

[spooky3]

174. Also "Desperado" nt

[TwilightZone]

15. Stevie Wonder's cover of the Beatles' "We Can Work It Out"

Live at the White House in 2010.

[MaryMagdaline]

62. Nice! SW new a great song. Wrote so many himself

[TwilightZone]

16. Jeff Buckley's cover of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah"

[MaryMagdaline]

41. The guitar work - shivers

[chowder66]

67. I was looking to see if anyone posted this.

Thank you! I miss him always.

[patphil]

167. Kinda shakes your soul a bit, doesn't it?

[TwilightZone]

17. Aretha Franklin's cover of "Respect"

Originally by Otis Redding.

25th Anniversary of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

[MaryMagdaline]

40. Perfect!!!

My two home towns -Detroit (birth)
Macon (upbringing)

Detroit for the win!

[Sneederbunk]

18. Joan Osborne - What Becomes of the Brokenhearted.

?si=v2wHit-RVLCgftcX

[MaryMagdaline]

43. Beautiful interpretation

[NotASurfer]

19. Classical Gas

Cover: Tommy Emmanuel (who apparently is just having a blast, riffing into Elton John briefly around 2:30 in)

Original Grammy winner: Mason Williams

?si=QTPXdZ-4teWUeSYi

Me, now I'm doubling back to check out Fat Bottomed Girls. In this thread. The cover. Y'all knew what I meant.

[TwilightZone]

30. Tommy Emmanuel is an incredible guitarist.

Rick Beato of YouTube fame calls him the world's best acoustic guitarist.

[MaryMagdaline]

45. Perfection

[Mr.Bill]

20. Feelin' Alright by Traffic.

Covered by Joe Cocker.

Just about any Bob Dylan song done by anyone but Bob Dylan.

[MaryMagdaline]

46. Good choice!

And yes to Bob Dylan

[TwilightZone]

21. Just for fun: William Shatner and Joe Jackson's cover of English rock band Pulp's "Common People"

It's way better than it has any right to be.

[MaryMagdaline]

47. His comedic chops are wonderful

[AZSkiffyGeek]

58. I love his cover of She Blinded Me with Science

With Bootsy!

?si=9N9Gz6Bmuv1Th4U2

[TwilightZone]

60. Another good one!

[MaryMagdaline]

63. Funny. He's so weird and amusing.

[Beausoleil]

42. Shawn Colvin covers "Wild Horses"

She is an amazing "cover" artist and many have covered this song, but hers is the best, IMO.

With Buddy Miller's band:

[MaryMagdaline]

48. Lovely version

[NBachers]

44. Jimmy Thackery and the Drivers' version of K. C. Douglas' Mercury Blues

[MaryMagdaline]

49. Nice!

[NBachers]

50. The Surfrajettes' cover of The Electric Prunes' I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night

[MaryMagdaline]

66. OMG that weird 60s vibe - how did they capture that?

[NBachers]

78. With their implicit understanding of music older than they are, and their Evel Knievel outfits, they bullseye right in

period pop phenomena. I like their cover of a more recent song, Brittany Spears' Toxic:

[DBoon]

81. I love their cover of In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida!

[DBoon]

82. Take Me to the River as covered by Talking Heads

original by Al Green

[TwilightZone]

87. Excellent cover

[MaryMagdaline]

95. Yes - made it a whole new song

[MaryMagdaline]

52. Adding to my own list

The Weight - Aretha Franklin
Original - The Band

I Will Always Love You -Whitney Houston
Original - Dolly Parton

[TwilightZone]

53. Thank you for this thread.

And my apologies for spamming it. haha

This has been really fun -- the most fun I've had here in a long time. Sometimes it's the simple things in life....

[MaryMagdaline]

64. Keep spamming!

Love to hear new versions of old stuff

[lastlib]

56. For most of my life, I have thought NO ONE could do "All Along The Watch Tower"

...like Jimi Hendrix. No one. (And HIS version is a cover of Bob Dylan's.) But a few years ago, I heard the recently departed Melanie (Safka), author of the roller skate song we all know and (mostly) detest, do her version of it, and it flat-out KNOCKED my SOCKS off! It was incredible! It was played on satellite radio that one single time, and sadly, I haven't heard it since. And I cannot find it ANYWHERE on the internet!

It's not quite on a par with Hendrix' version, but it's DAMN close! I really wish I could find it and hear it again!

[MaryMagdaline]

71. Melanie has such a pure voice

Was anyone better on vinyl???

Would love to hear that version if it ever pops up

[AZSkiffyGeek]

61. Bryan Ferry covering The Stones

?si=Z01Mc-ZDwS16wDGw

[MaryMagdaline]

74. Bryan really brings Lucifer to life

[A HERETIC I AM]

68. The greatest cover of all time; "Stairway to Heaven" by Heart featuring Jason Bonham at the Kennedy Center Honors 2012

[MaryMagdaline]

79. Wow!! They pulled out all of the stops

Artists rocking to their own song

[patphil]

169. Excellent cover.

[TwilightZone]

69. Ok, one more. Cheap Trick's "Surrender" done by Swedish glam/rock band Zan Clan.

[TwilightZone]

73. Sweet's "Action" done by Def Leppard

[AZSkiffyGeek]

75. Three great covers of Iggy Pop

Grace Jones…

?si=MhGPN7VY7qSfhs3P

Siouxsie & the Banshees

?si=hFKRT1sQ2oCxWlXy

And of course, David Bowie

?si=wtzB6KA6MQffFSBF

[TwilightZone]

76. Prince's "1999" done by alt-rockers Bif Naked, Matthew Good, and a bunch of others.

[MaryMagdaline]

84. Great version

[TwilightZone]

77. Donny Osmond (yes, really) and Dweezil Zappa rock up the Bee Gees' "Stayin' Alive"

[MaryMagdaline]

83. Clever riff - thanks

[TwilightZone]

80. Gary Numan's "Cars" done by Fear Factory

...and Gary Numan.

[MaryMagdaline]

92. Nailed it - more than just a remake

[flying_wahini]

85. Really like this Bruce Springsteen cover

[link:

?feature=shared|

I think you will like it.

[MaryMagdaline]

91. Wow - pretty brave

It’s European feel - so different (despite the backwards ball cap)

[TwilightZone]

86. Supertramp's "Take the Long Way Home" by 80s hair metal band Trixter

Ok, I'm done for tonight.

[Skittles]

88. Mrs. Robinson

Lemonheads

&pp=ygUXbXJzIHJvYmluc29uIGxlbW9uaGVhZHM%3D

[MaryMagdaline]

90. Brilliant

[TwilightZone]

185. Good one.

I have a fondness for pop-punk/alt-rock covers.

[MaryMagdaline]

89. Bonnie Raitt - Angel from Montgomery - John Prine

[VGNonly]

94. The Chills covering The Byrds

[link:

|

[Permanut]

96. House of the Rising Sun .

The Animals cover, first recorded in1933 by Clarence Ashley and Gwen Foster.

[MaryMagdaline]

97. When the cover surpasses the original in its outreach

[consider_this]

98. Van Halen - You Really Got Me

[MaryMagdaline]

99. Nice

[Buzz cook]

100. Cyndi Lauper version of Joni Mitchell

Easily the best version of the song.

[spooky3]

182. Also, her cover of "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" is much

Better than the original.

[Tarzanrock]

102. Patti Smith performs Bob Dylan's "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" - Nobel Prize Award Ceremony 2016

Gut wrenching performance of a gut wrenching song.

A transcendent performance for the ages.

[Niagara]

103. Rolling In The Deep, Cover by Linkin Park

Original by Adele.

[MaryMagdaline]

113. Great vocal!

[Niagara]

104. The Man Who Sold The World, Cover by Nirvana

Original by David Bowie

[Niagara]

105. Jolene, Cover by The White Stripes

Original Dolly Parton

[Niagara]

106. Personal Jesus, Cover by Marilyn Manson

Original Depeche Mode

[highplainsdem]

107. Golden Earring's cover of the Beach Boys' Sail On Sailor:

[highplainsdem]

108. Iggy Pop's cover of Johnny O'Keefe's Real Wild Child (Wild One):

[AKwannabe]

109. Anything

Chris Cornell covered. I love every one of them better than the originals.

[Ferrets are Cool]

110. I scanned and didn't see it listed elsewhere so....Blinded by the Light, Manfred Mann's Earth Band

A great cover of the Springstein song that almost no one gets the lyrics correct.

[TwilightZone]

111. Their cover of Springsteen's "For You" is also brilliant.

Has to be the full version, though. The shorter (single) version just isn't the same.

[MaryMagdaline]

112. Oh wow - great cover

[Drum]

114. Santana covered Tito Puente's 1962 release "Oye Como Va"

?feature=shared


And also The Zombies’ “She’s Not There”

?feature=shared

[MaryMagdaline]

142. Oy como va - masterpiece

[Coventina]

115. The Byrds covering Bob Dylan

?si=oDZGOOjt8Hnz7PJn

[Paladin]

116. Bonnie Raitt's cover of "Runaway."

Del Shannon did the original.

[CelticCrow]

117. Disturbed - The Sound of Silence

This is one of my favorite covers, I love David Draimon's voice and how it continues to build through the song.

[link:

|

[MaryMagdaline]

143. Cool interpretation

[JudyM]

118. Neil: Imagine; Sinead: Sacrifice; Eva: Fields of Gold & Over the Rainbow

Neil in a moment of heartfelt prayer:

My vote for best cover (eyes closed to fully feel it) :

[MaryMagdaline]

144. Excellent picks!

[hlthe2b]

119. As a dedicated Stevie Nicks fan, I have never overly liked a cover of her work UNTIL

Paramount Plus started playing this cover of "Go Your Own WAY" with a singer called Lissie. I actually REALLY like it (but still loyal to you, Queen Stevie...LOL )

The actual ad can be seen here:
https://www.ispot.tv/ad/5KX_/paramount-with-showtime-stream-your-own-way

[MaryMagdaline]

145. Stevie would approve - great version

[JudyM]

159. Oh, nice.

Her first verse was true to the original, fun to watch.
My favorite Stevie performance, she is a queen…:

[TwilightZone]

121. Emm Gryner's piano/vocal cover of Ozzy's "Crazy Train"

Perfect example of making a song your own.

[TwilightZone]

122. The Living End's punk cover of the Soft Cell cover of "Tainted Love"

Originally performed by Gloria Jones in 1964.

And the Soft Cell version:

[MaryMagdaline]

146. Perfect!

[TwilightZone]

123. Dark, moody take of John Lennon's "Imagine" by A Perfect Circle

[TwilightZone]

124. Sister Hazel's cover of "Just What I Needed" by The Cars

[MaryMagdaline]

147. Next level

[TwilightZone]

125. Panic at the Disco's cover of "Bohemian Rhapsody"

Brendon Urie can sign.

[TwilightZone]

126. Pop-punk cover of Paula Abdul's "Straight Up" by Halifax

[MaryMagdaline]

148. From cute to menacing 😂

[TwilightZone]

186. It's definitely a different flavor

[OilemFirchen]

127. Sly & The Family Stone's cover of Doris Day's "Que Sera, Sera"

... and Lawrence's unattributed cover of Sly's cover:

... or The Pixies' cover of absolutely nobody's cover:

[MaryMagdaline]

149. Good samples

[TwilightZone]

128. Golden Earring's "Radar Love" by Romanian cover band Shut Up and Kiss Me!

[MaryMagdaline]

150. Joyful!

[TwilightZone]

153. They do seem to be having a wonderful time.

[TwilightZone]

129. One more from Shut Up and Kiss Me! - AC/DC's "Highway to Hell"

[brewens]

130. Cheap Trick-Don't be Cruel. How cool is this video? It also happened to be the first CD I bought when I finally

got a CD player. I held out until the price went down. It was still $100.

I bought many other CDs soon, but this was the one band I loved that had a new one out at the time.

[marble falls]

131. Cure - Purple Haze - best cover of any song ever

?si=kv0Aqn10N6p5whzu

[brewens]

132. The Georgia Satellites doing Rod Stewart's Every Picture Tells a Story.

[Best_man23]

134. Carry On, by Timothy B. Schmit

Remake of the Crosby, Stills, & Nash hit. Was part of the soundtrack for the film Steal This Movie.

[MaryMagdaline]

152. Excellent

[WestMichRad]

137. Sweet Child of Mine by The Heimatdamisch

Cover of the Guns ‘n’ Roses hit… great arrangement and vocals!

&pp=ygUTc3dlZXQgY2hpbGQgb2YgbWluZQ%3D%3D

[TwilightZone]

139. haha, perfect!

[MaryMagdaline]

155. That saxophone!

[TwilightZone]

138. Dylan's "Everything is Broken" by Kenny Wayne Shepherd

[TwilightZone]

140. 2 Cellos do AC/DC's "Thunderstruck"

You've been....

[MaryMagdaline]

157. Wow!

[TwilightZone]

141. More 2 Cellos, with Steve Vai -- "Highway to Hell"

[MaryMagdaline]

160. Probably list some strings with that rendition

[TwilightZone]

163. And bow abuse!

haha

[rogerballard]

151. HELP - Bananarama

[MaryMagdaline]

161. Inspired!

[patphil]

154. And now for something completely different - Black Dog as done by the Hampton String Quartet.

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-e&q=hampton+string+quartet+-+black+doog#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:63d70d10,vid:4jiXqsXm08o,st:0

[TwilightZone]

158. The Bangles' cover of Simon & Garfunkel's "Hazy Shade of Winter"

[MaryMagdaline]

162. Winner! I cranked that song in my car every time

[patphil]

165. Highway 61 Revisited - Johnny Winter

[patphil]

166. Wild Horses - The Sundays

[patphil]

168. Woodstock - Joni Mitchell

Yeah, I know she wrote it, but everyone sees it as a CSNY song.

[spooky3]

176. Wouldn't that make CSNY's version a good cover?

I think she recorded it before they did.

[patphil]

180. Both CSNY and Joni Mitchell released an album with this song on it in March of 1970.

It's a toss up as to who was first.

[spooky3]

181. I think it's a bit different when a songwriter who is not also

A performer writes a song that is then recorded by a performer, versus a singer-songwriter who performed her own work.

In the case of Joni Mitchell, she was seeing Graham Nash at the time. I’m sure he heard her sing it before CSNY sang it. She didn’t cover her own song; she is the originator. No question that CSNY’s version sold more records.

[patphil]

170. Istanbul - They Might be Giants

[MaryMagdaline]

173. Great version

[ProfessorGAC]

171. Actually,...

..."First Cut..." was covered by Rod. Cat Steven's wrote it and recorded it 10 years before Rod recorded his version.
And, in the early 70s, P.P. Arnold had a big UK hit with it.
So, by the time Rod did it, it was the third generation cover.
I do like the Counting Crows version of Big Yellow Taxi, but I have a fondness for Counting Crows, so I'm biased. As a gigantic & long(!) time Joni fan, my wife may differ!
My best cover nominee is:

?si=AQ6ORveJyVTB9c-Z

[patphil]

172. This one kinda caught me off guard. Johnny Cash covers Personal Jesus

My daughter told me about this one.

[TwilightZone]

177. It was the B-side to "Hurt".

They're both pretty amazing.

[ms liberty]

178. Thunderclap Newman's "Something in the Air" covered by Gamma

A Ronnie Montrose band and a really good album. This album also has one of my favorite album covers:

?si=2XZlo8V2yhUZopCd

[Brother Buzz]

179. Blues Brothers cover of Elvis Presley's Jailhouse Rock

It helped that Jake and Elwood had wickedly good top tier session players backing them (Plus the cameo appearances didn't hurt)

[TwilightZone]

183. Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" by a guy on a mall piano

Glaucio Cristelo

[TwilightZone]

184. Robert Palmer - the Gap Band's "Early in the Morning"

Gotta get up...

[TwilightZone]

187. Weird Al - Bohemian (Rhapsody) Polka in 3 1/2 minutes.

Let him go!

[justaprogressive]

190. Got A Couple

Wilson Pickett's "Hey Jude" (with Duane Allman)

Dread Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love"

[malthaussen]

191. Well, Elvis's cover of "Hound Dog" wasn't too bad.

I suppose it depends on what one considers a "cover." Prior to the 60s, it was usual for several different artists to record the same song almost simultaneously; at one point there were five versions of the same song in Britain's Top 40. So while Elvis's "Hound Dog" did come after Big Mama Thornton's, whether it was a cover or not can be argued.

Also, the Beatles's "Twist and Shout" is superior to the original, IMO. And that is unquestionably a cover.

-- Mal

[Hotler]

192. Here's a couple...

Hey Joe; Otos Taylor band.

The Sky is Crying; B. B. Coleman

The blues ain't meant to be described, it's meant to be traveled, it's the scars on your heart, it's the hole in your soul.

[TwilightZone]

193. "Thunderstruck" again, by Finnish band Steve'n'Seagulls

Great band name.

[TwilightZone]

194. George Thorogood - "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer"

Written by Rudy Toombs and recorded by Amos Milburn in 1953!

The John Lee Hooker version is also good:

&t=98s

[rogerballard]

195. Carly Simon - Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye