Favorite Song Covers

[Dove]

Doin' it in a reggae stylie:

 

[Dove]

Dread Zeppelin....where Elvis and Robert Plant collide...

 

[uconnfan68]

Can't really call this a "best" thread; more about covers you like.

Some covers try to stay faithful to the original, some repurpose the original and then you have straight up cover bands which cover all types of music.

I'll start off with one of each.

Lots of great versions of “All along the Watchtower” out there. Bob himself, Jimi, Bob with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers are 3 of my favorites. Dave Matthews has a good live version.

 

[uconnfan68]

"I'm a Man" covered by Chicago. Original was by Spencer Davis Group.

Loved Chicago from first album, but never saw them live. Wish I had a few do-overs.

 

[zepfan]

Joe Cocker "The Letter"
James Taylor "You've got a friend"
The Eagles "Take it Easy"
Aerosmith "Train Kept a Rollin"
Pink "Me and Bobby McGee"

 

[KingConn]

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

The Atari’s version of Boys of Summer.

 

[Ewekon]

Joe Cocker "The Letter"
James Taylor "You've got a friend"
The Eagles "Take it Easy"
Aerosmith "Train Kept a Rollin"
Pink "Me and Bobby McGee"

My daughter saw Pink in Houston last week and said she did a killer "Smells like teen spirit".

 

[dennismenace]

I like Joe Cocker's cover of Screamin' Jay Hawkins' "I Put a Spell on You" better than the original, even though Hawkins was of "my" era, and I saw him do it live (at the State Theater in Hartford, some time in the late 50s.).

The Crazy world of Arthur Brown cover of the same song from 1968:

Arthur Brown - I put a spell on you

 

[SoFla Steve]

The Supremes' "You Keep Me Hangin' On" done by Vanilla Fudge. They're nothing alike.

 

[Husky25]

Joe Cocker "The Letter"
James Taylor "You've got a friend"
The Eagles "Take it Easy"
Aerosmith "Train Kept a Rollin"
Pink "Me and Bobby McGee"

I don't think you can classify the Eagles' version of "Take it Easy" as a cover. It was co-written by Jackson Browne and Glenn Frey, then a fulltime member of the Eagles. Jackson Browne's version wasn't released until after the Eagles' version.

Interestingly, the Eagles do technically cover a lot songs, especially in concert. They just happen to be mostly songs written for/by and originally performed by the solo or past incarnations of their band members (i.e. Life's Been Good, Rocky Mountain Way, Ordinary Average Guy, Boys of Summer, Smuggler's Blues etc.).

The best song covered by the Eagles (IMO) is "Ol' 55," originally written and performed by Tom Waits.

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

all of led zeppelin's music

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

 

[Excalibur]

 

[Excalibur]

 

[Excalibur]

Not better than the original but certainly more well-known:

 

[Excalibur]

 

[Tex-Lager93]

Enjoyed Thirty Seconds to Mars version of Rihanna's Stay.

 

[Husky25]

From my formative years, I'd rather listen to Motley Crue's version of "Smokin' in the Boy's Room," Poison's "Your Momma Can't Dance, and Your Daddy Don't Rock'n Roll," and Tesla's version of "Signs."

I just heard Joan Jett's cover or "Crimson & Clover." That was pretty good.

Aerosmith has some other classics on their mainstream records such as "Walkin the Dog," "Big Ten Inch," "Remember (Walking in the Sand), and "Come Together."

Early Van Halen had at least one cover on each of their albums, not to mention Diver Down, which had a handful on it's own.

 

[RichZ]

The Crazy world of Arthur Brown cover of the same song from 1968:

Arthur Brown - I put a spell on you

Not a big fan of organ music, so never got through the intro.<G>

 

[storrsroars]

I'm gonna drop a couple of covers here that I'm pretty sure few on BY are familiar with, or would just dismiss out of hand because of the artist doing the covers. But I'm putting them in this thread to more or less demonstrate how good songs can be transcendent and interpreted in ways that are both surprising and even profound.

First up, Dolly Parton takes perhaps the most classic rock song of all time and turns into a mashup of bluegrass, C&W and revivalist gospel. It's a shame the video cuts off the end of the closing jam, but it's pretty awesome, IMHO.

 

[storrsroars]

For the other one, Paul Anka takes a classic grunge tune and makes it seem like it was written specifically for Frank Sinatra and arranged by the Nelson Riddle Orchestra. And he sells it as if that were actually the case.



I know Pat Boone did a full album of rock covers years ago, but he was trying to do them pretty much as originally concepted, just with Pat Boone singing them. What Anka's done here is to take the bones of the song and create something entirely different that works for his style and audience. Your parents (or grandparents) would probably love it.

 

[cw00dson24]

 

[cw00dson24]