Best Song Covers???

Rural Roadie

The BikeForums Team

-adv-

This is an archived thread, you can find the full version of this thread, with images, links and more content here.

Ready to buy? Check out these two online bike stores:
- http://www.nashbar.com (you can find the latest bike nashbar coupons in this thread)
- http://www.performancebike.com (you can find the latest performance bike coupons in this thread)

Cya on the forums,
- The BikeForums Team
- http://www.bikeforums.net

Stacey

Diamonds & Rust. While I've got to give props to Joan for writing and preforming a great song. Judas Priest rocks the hell out of it.

Believe it or not I heard Johnny Cash cover NIN's 'Hurt'... It blew me away when I found out who's song it was. It just fit Johnny's style perfectly.... and I knew every word and never heard it before.

SpiderMike

Believe it or not I heard Johnny Cash cover NIN's 'Hurt'... It blew me away when I found out who's song it was. It just fit Johnny's style perfectly.... and I knew every word and never heard it before.

Hands down, Mr. Cash did the best cover with that song.

Honorable mentions
Reverend Horton Heat - Folsom Prison Blues
Reverend Horton Heat - Johnny Quest/Stop That Pigeon
Joey Ramone - What a Wonderful World
The Dan Band - TOTAL ECLIPSE of the HEART (what a riot)

Rural Roadie

I still have my "Unleashed in the East" album.

Fugazi Dave

Cornflake Girl by Tori Amos, as covered by Jawbox
Time After Time as covered by the Gandharvas
How Soon is Now originally by the Smiths, covered by the Afghan Whigs
She Don't Use Jelly originally by the Flaming Lips, covered by Ben Folds

classic1

Jimi Hendrix - All Along the Watchtower

KingTermite

The WORST cover of all time is William Shatner's cover of Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds. Need proof?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/2995901.stm

One of the covers I really liked was Uncle Cracker's cover of Joe Cocker's Drift Away.

Give me the beat boys that frees my soul
I wanna get lost in your rock and roll
And drift away......

glade

"Drift Away" was Dobie Grey, not Joe Cocker.

My vote goes for the Grateful Dead covering "Wish You Were Here" check it out sometime.

KingTermite

"Drift Away" was Dobie Grey, not Joe Cocker.

My vote goes for the Grateful Dead covering "Wish You Were Here" check it out sometime.
So it is...just looked it up. Wow...learn something new every day. I've always thought that song was Joe Cocker....it sounds like him.

I never heard of Grateful Dead doing a cover of "Wish You Were Here", but as it is my all-time favorite Floyd song (and I have most of their albums) I'll have to find it and give it a listen.

lotek

Best cover I've heard to date
Yes cover of Beatles "Every Little Thing" on first Yes album (1968?)

"My Way" by Sex Pistols is pretty good too!

Marty

Karldar

Believe it or not I heard Johnny Cash cover NIN's 'Hurt'... It blew me away when I found out who's song it was. It just fit Johnny's style perfectly.... and I knew every word and never heard it before.

That is a fantastic rendition. The video almost made me cry(saw it after they had both passed).

Hmm, I likes:

The Devil Went Down To Georgia(Charlie Daniels Band) as performed by Primus.
Wicked(Ice Cube) as performed by Korn.
Blue Monday(New Order) as performed by Orgy.
Metal(Gary Numan) as performed by NIN.
Cars(Gary Numan) as performed by Fear Factory.
Have A Cigar(Pink Floyd) as performed by Brian May & Foo Fighters.
Breadfan(Budgie) as performed by Metallica.

That's all I could think of off the top of my head. Not that I like the covers better than the original, but this is a covers thread.:)

By the way, Megadeth's version of Anarchy In The U.K. is on their album So Far, So Good...So What. It's also on the compilation The Hard And The Heavy, Volume One(Disc Two). And, yes, I have both.

* jack *

wabbit

I havent heard "Hurt" by Johnny cash yet!

Nights in White satin, Paranoid: The dickies
Paranoid: Steel Pole Bath tub
Rainy Day women: Johnny Winter
Voodoo Chile and Little Wing: Stevie Ray Vaughn
I like "How soon is now" as done for "Buffy". I never watched the show really but saw the credits. Was that "Everclear"?
Every Time we say Goodbye: Annie Lennox

Stacey

I havent heard "Hurt" by Johnny cash yet!

You can catch the vid here (http://www.losthighwayrecords.com/e/cash11403.html)

If you can I recommend the WM HI version and go full screen.

Excellent!

Stacey

My Favorite Things (Rogers/Hammerstein) | John Coltrane
Born Under a Bad Sign (Albert King) | Cream
All Along the Watchtower (Bob Dylan) | Jimi Hendrix
Hurt (Trent Reznor) | Johnny Cash
Long Black Veil (Johnny Cash) | Nick Cave
Head On (Jesus & Mary Chain) | Pixies
Just Like Heaven (the Cure) | Dinosaur Jr
Kick Out the Jams (MC5) | Bad Brains w/ Henry Rollins
1952 Vincent Black Lightning (Richard Thompson) | Del McCoury Band
Man Who Sold the World (David Bowie) | Nirvana
War Pigs (Black Sabbath) | Faith no More

- all I can think of right now...

Now THAT I've got to hear!

Shadiyah

Sonic Youth - Superstar
Les Claypool and the Fearless Flying Frog Brigage - whole P.F. album Animals
Primus - Have a Cigar
Nirvana - The Man Who Sold the World
Oingo Boingo - I am the Walrus
Faith No More - Let's Lynch the Landlord

CyLowe97

Johnny Cash - Rusty Cage (Soundgarden)
Phish - Manteca (Dizzie Gillespie)
Stevie Ray Vaughan - Little Wing (Jimi Hendrix)
Maynard Ferguson - Country Road (James Taylor)
John Coltrane - My Favorite Things (any version he ever did)

nick burns

Best cover I've heard to date
Yes cover of Beatles "Every Little Thing" on first Yes album (1968?)

Their cover of Simon & Garfunkel's "America" ain't too shabby either.

Olebiker

The WORST cover of all time is William Shatner's cover of Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds. Need proof?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/2995901.stm

Nah. The worst was Whitney Houston's cover of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You."

caloso

Good call on Johnny Cash. I've got another one: his cover of Depeche Mode's Personal Jesus.

Here are some of my faves:

Jimi Hendrix: Mannish Boy (Muddy Waters)
Cake: I Will Survive (Gloria Gaynor)
Gratetful Dead: Good Lovin' (Young Rascals)
Thelonious Monk: Caravan (Duke Ellington)

* jack *

Now THAT I've got to hear!

Del changed the "Boxhill" lyric to "Knoxville" and it works great.
I saw them play it live at this year's Merle Fest... 'twas excellent.

nick burns

The Soup Dragon's cover of the Stones' "I'm Free" was pretty good.

Alloy Addict

There's a lot of good ones here. I'll add-

Minor Threat's cover of "Stepping Stone" (performed by the Monkees) is definitely better than the original. I like their cover of 12XU a lot too, but Wire's original is really good.

Mudhoney's cover of "Fix Me" by Black Flag is great, but not necessarily better than the original. Their covers of "The Money Will Roll Right In" (can't remember who did it first) and "Hate The Police" are great too.

Wylde Ratttz' cover of The Stooges "TV Eye" is really good, especially since Ron Asheton is playing on it.

Ween's cover of Prince's "LMLYP" is pretty good, and always makes me laugh.

Mazzy Star's cover of "Five String Serenade" (by Love?) is incredible IMO.

KingTermite

Nah. The worst was Whitney Houston's cover of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You."
I've heard many others say that before, but I like Whitney Houston's version better. The Dolly version just has a little too much "twang" for my tastes.

I almost forgot about this one:
Back In Bluegrass: Bluegrass Tribute To AC/DC

When I first heard about it from a co-worker who had the album, I thought it sounded dorky and would just suck bad. But he talked me into listening to it, and it wasn't a joke. It was a very serious tribute and done extremely well. I thought the entire album was phoenominal. It was basically a bluegrass style cover of the entire "Back in Black" album.

lotek

Ok if we ar listing multiples:
Eric Claptons cover of all of Robert Johnson's catalogue
as heard on "Me and Mr Johnson"
SRV's cover of "Texas Flood", his "Little Wing" is one of
my favourite guitar only no lyrics songs.
Bonnie Raitt's cover of "Crazy thing called Love' (John Hiatt)
also her cover of Angel from Montgomery (John Prine).
Blue Cheer's cover of Summertime Blues.
geez, Icould go on for hours!
marty

muccapazza

Lyle Lovett's cover of Tammy Wynette's Stand By Your Man cracks me up. The Blues Brother's did it too.

Interesting how 1952 Vincent Black Lightning has been adopted by Bluegrass bands, I've heard it at a couple of festivals.

And what about the ultimate cover band, Dread Zeppelin? I mean, an Elvis Impersonator singing Led Zeppelin covers to a reggae beat? That just killed me, I played it for some hardcore Zeppies who hated it, though, even though Robert Plant loved it.

Alloy Addict

<snip>
Blue Cheer's cover of Summertime Blues.
<snip>
marty

Oh yeah, good one!

TimeZer0

made a huge ***** playlist of covers:

Big Mouth Strikes Again- Treepeople doin' Smiths
Sweet Dreams-Marilyn Manson doin' Eurythmics
How Soon Is Now-Afghan Whigs doin' Smiths
Just Like Heaven (live)-Dinosaur Jr doin' The Cure
Please Let Me Get What I Want-The Halo Benders doin' Smiths
Eight Miles High-Husker Du doin' Byrds
Cornflake Girl-Jawbox doin' Tori Amos
Planet Earth-J Church doin' Duran Duran
How Soon Is Now-Quicksand doin' Smiths
The Passenger-Siouxsie and the Banshees doin' Iggy Pop
Jolene-White Stripes doin' Dolly Parton
Third Uncle-Bauhaus doin' Brian Eno
Happiness is a Warm Gun-The Breeders doin' the Beatles
Midnight Cowboy-Cows doin' theme from Midnight Cowboy
War Pigs-Faith No More doin' Black Sabbath
Rusty Cage-Johnny Cash doin' Soundgarden
Run to You-Lou Barlow doin' Brian Adams
Personal Jesus-Marilyn Manson doin' Depeche Mode
steppin' stone-minor threat doin' the Beatles
Ceremony-New Order doin' Joy Division
Dead Souls-Nine Inch Nails doin' Joy Division
Personal Jesus-Johnny Cash doin' Depeche Mode
This Charming Man-Death Cab For Cutie doin' Smiths
Ziggy Stardust-Bauhaus doin' Bowie
Show Me the Way-Dinosaur Jr doin' Peter Frampton
Lay Lady Lay-Ministry doin' Bob Dylan
Rock 'N' Roll -Jane's Addiction doin' Velvet Underground
The Rose-Mudhoney doin' Bette Midler
Hey Joe -MAKE-UP doin' Jimi Hendrix
Iron Man-The Cardigans doin' Black Sabbath
Girl You Want-Soundgarden doin' Devo
Quick Sand-Dinosaur Jr doin' Bowie
Disorder-Bedhead doin' Joy Division
Mrs Robinson-Lemonheads doin' Simon and Garfunkel
Go Your Own Way-Seaweed doin' Fleetwood Mac

Swiss Hoser

The Flintstones Theme done by the B52's.
Yabba Dabba Doo & all!
Absolute riot.

PainTrain

I saw Dread Zeppelin twice in clubs in Atlanta. Second time, beer bottles were flying around, we had to bail. Good times.

My favorites are all listed here already, except Tori Amos' Smells Like Teen Spirit. She does some excellent covers.

zoogirl

Alice Cooper doing The Left Bank's "Pretty Ballerina". It's on his new album, "Dirty Diamonds". Very pretty and not a little spooky.

I have heard the original on Oldies stations, but the band is better known for "Just Walk Away, Renee".

Karldar

I like Iron Horse's bluegrass renditions of Ozzy and Metallica tunes.

konageezer

Krokus covering BTO's "Stayed Awake all Night"

I think I'll listen to that one right now.

VegasVic

Jimmy Buffet's versions of "Brown-Eyed Girl" (Van Morrison) and "Jamaica Farewell" (Harry Belafonte) are WAY better than the original songs.

Rural Roadie

Just remembered another one because I heard Radar Love on the radio.
Candys Gone Bad, first done by Golden Earing but I first heard it done by The Godz.

halfbiked

Mighty Mighty Bosstones doing Simmer Down
Bjork & PJ Harvey doing Satisfaction
Devo doing Satisfaction
The Who doing Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting

tahoegramps

While "cover bands" rate rather low when a really good band covers a song it can really kick aze.
Most memorable was seeing Megadeth cover Anarchy in The Uk, in Des Moines.
So what song have you heard coverd that you thought was better than the original?

BTW, anybody know where I can get a recording of Megadeths cover Anarchy in The Uk?
Hey Rural Roadie, I am from Iowa also, the Des Moines area. I think Hayseed Dixie´s (bluegrass) covers of AC/DC songs are pretty hilarious.

Dubuque is not flat.

CyLowe97

Gotta add one... Foo Fighters ripping through CCR's "Born On The Bayou" on the hurricane relief telethon on 9/9 was incredibly intense.

And +1 for the above mention of the Bosstones' version of Simmer Down!! Yeah!

pgoat

I second "Jolene" by the White Stripes.....I'd add "One More Cup of Coffee"

for a really BAD cover of the MC5's "kick out the jams", check out Blue Oyster Cult's "On your feet or on your Knees" - (I think...live album, circa 1978)........disappointing.

"Police and Thieves" and "I fought the Law" by the Clash

"You can't Hurry love" by the Stray Cats

"Jack of Diamonds" by Fairport Convention

no surprise that while many different artists are mentioned here, Bob Dylan has got to be the most covered songwriter.......with good reason! He and Chuck Berry must be the most covered people on earth.....

caloso

pgoat: Good point. I've always loved the Dead's cover of Johnny B. Goode. I've had it on several of my training mixes. It's a guaranteed Max HR!

pgoat

speaking of BOC, fIREHOSE did a pretty good take on "The Red and The Black" on that live ep (Totem Pole?)....interesting cover of PE, Butthole Surfers, etc on there as well.

pgoat

pgoat: Good point. I've always loved the Dead's cover of Johnny B. Goode. I've had it on several of my training mixes. It's a guaranteed Max HR!

Is that the one from the early 70s? (Europe 72?) I had that cut on an 8 track mix (oh wow, I feel old now :D ), and yes, it was smokin'! I always liked Alabama Getaway too, very chuck berryesque.

caloso

Is that the one from the early 70s? (Europe 72?) I had that cut on an 8 track mix (oh wow, I feel old now :D ), and yes, it was smokin'! I always liked Alabama Getaway too, very chuck berryesque.

Grateful Dead Live. This one is chockful of good covers, also including Kristopherson's Me and Bobby McGee and Haggard's Momma Tried. Good stuff.

http://tralfaz-archives.com/coverart/G/Grateful_Dead/gdead_live1f.jpg

pgoat

ah yes, that be the one! I remember that Haggard cover - good stuff.

I think the BEST Dead cover I ever heard was a circa 1985 boot (with Brent), Jerry singing "The Mighty Quinn" - wow. I'm not a big deadhead but that one floored me......

It's impossible to think of all the great covers out there.....how about Bob Marley - People Get Ready ("One Love").....Jeff Beck and Rod Stewart did a rather nice if AM/slick version, closer to the Impressions, in 1985 or so......

awunder

Nick Cave's cover of Neil Young's Helpless
Cowboy Junkies cover of Lou Reed's Sweet Jane

oscaregg

I'll offer two good Stones covers--NYC band Television recorded a great (but not as good as Devo!) version of Satisfaction, it's available on a live CD that was re-released last year. Bluegrass band Old and In The Way's first album featured a really nice, different take on "Wild Horses."

oscaregg

Addenda: Bob Weir has knocked off Marty Robbins' "Big Iron" with one of his solo projects, and the same writer's "El Paso" used to be part of the Dead's sets.
Also heard Weir perform one of the strangest songs ever on a "Grateful Dead and Friends" show on a Portland radio station recently, Bobby Darin's "Artificial Flowers."

Karldar

snickersnicker

CaP'n Jazz - Take On Me [A-Ha]
Swing Kids - Warsaw [Warsaw/Joy Division]
Heroin - Second Coming [Battalion of Saints]
Don's Ex-Girlfriend - Pair of Brown Eyes [The Pogues]
Born Against - Riding with Mary [X]
Born Against - Janelle [Screeching Weasel]
Defiance, Ohio - Things We Say [Gorilla Biscuits]
Defiance, Ohio - Boxcar (Live) [Jawbreaker]
Die, Emperor! Die! - Filler [Minor Threat]
Die, Emperor! Die! - For Want Of (Rites of Spring)
Transistor Transistor - Boxcar [Jawbreaker]
The Pine - Sleep [Jawbreaker]
Friction - Split [Jawbreaker]
Gameface - Ache [Jawbreaker]
Lagwagon - Want [Jawbreaker]
John Brown Battery - Do You Still Hate Me? [Jawbreaker]
Lucero - Kiss the Bottle [Jawbreaker]

Of course, the covers of Jawbreaker songs aren't as good as the originals (as they are unquestionably some of the best songs ever written and performed), but they're still good.