Covers that are better than the original

i also like rusty cage and southern accents from the american recordings

Cool beans!!

Wicked choice!!

I was lucky to see Linda Ronstadt live in concert. She did all of her hits. But what really impressed me was her soulful rendition of Tracy Nelson's "Down So Low":

Not a bad instrumental version; but hardly a 'cover' of the 'song'...maybe of the 'tune'.

I don't know that I will EVER like a cover a Metallica song better than the original. I don't think such a thing is even possible.

My favorite cover ever is the Ramones singing "Needles and Pins"....

It's impossible to top Ennio Morricone's original brilliant act of iconic film scoring but Metallica does give it their best shot....

Metallica Ecstasy of Gold

I really like M. Ward's reinvention of "Let's Dance" -- not sure I'd say it's better than Bowie's, just a completely different/same song.




Mr. Cash did a fine job with Cohen's "Bird on a Wire," as well. But if you're making a list of great covers, you're probably going to have a lot of songs originally performed by Bob Dylan or Leonard Cohen...

Cowboy Junkies did a great "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" on the Trinity Sessions. (Good version of "Sweet Jane" on the same album...)

And I'd definitely take the Clash's versions of "Police and Thieves" and "I Fought the Law" over the originals...

Seu Jorge did several absolutely incredible David Bowie covers, reconfigured into Portuguese for the Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou soundtrack.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_7?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-music&field-keywords=life+aquatic+soundtrack&x=0&y=0&sprefix=life+aq

My only quibble is the actual recording (on the CD) sounds like it was recorded in a dusty mop closet rather then a professional studio and it's the first and only time I ever had a complaint against the technical production of an album before.

In the movie and on this video, it sounds fine. On the CD, it sounds like crap.

Great thread.I don't consider too many covers better or worse than the original; to me they're just different. A good example is Lion Tamer's pick of Dreams by Hatchet.

The Allman version is a grand symphonic piece with a superb vocal and sorrowful organ.The Hatchet version is powerful guitar driven Southern Rock.

I've never heard a live band play the Allman version but countless bands in this area feature the Hatchet version.

I dunno either. But I think that it would simply become a different (and possibly better) song.

Here's some originals....which version do you like better?

I mostly like Sarah Blaskos cover of flame trees better but sometimes my mood calls for the cold chisel classic version.

Flame trees



original by aussie pub rock band Cold Chisel




cover by sarah blasko for the (extreemly underated) film Little Fish

for pete's guitar solo @ 1:19...

Isaac Hayes stole Glen Campbells's "By The Time I Get to Phoenix". Also Burt Bacharach/Hal Davis/Dionne Warwick's "Walk On By" and "Close To You".
And it was criminal the way Luther Vandross took ownership of "A House Is Not a Home".
"Respect" was originally Otis Redding's before Aretha took it over.
Willie Nelson's "Crazy" became a Patsy Cline staple.

The Everly Brothers released "Love Hurts" in 1960. Many have done covers of that song since then. Nazareth's version expressed the emotion behind the lyrics very well.

the stranglers did a very cool version of walk on by

Janis Joplin's version of "Piece of My Heart" is one of my favorite recordings of all time. I never heard the original until you just posted it. The original is outstanding!

Did Glen Campbell sing about any other places?

Dennis Brown stole his "Wichita Lineman."

You choose:

The cover:

The original:

To be fair, the cover seems to sample the original and has numerous visual hommages to the writer (who you should all recognize). Personally, I really prefer the cover, and was surprised at who'd written it.

Oh, and at 7:17 of the MJ video, you can see his patented invention in action.

Thanks for commenting wand....I was afraid my examples were so ancient, nobody would recognize the cover version...