Best ever cover songs (1 Viewer)

[pig ear press]

I was just eating a sausage and baked bean pastie and listening to the Flaming Lips & Sparklehorses cover of Daniel Johnstons 'Go' and I got to thinking what your favourite covers are.:rolleyes:

Along with the above I think these are pretty great too...

The Slits - Heard it through the grapevine

Johnny Cash - I see a darkness (cover of Will Oldham)

Jose Gonzales - Hand on your heart (cover of Kylie song)

Joe Strummer - Redemption song

anyway thats enough to get going with for now, so any ideas?

 

[chronic]

Too many great covers (including many that surpassed the originals) to list, but off the top of my head:

The Residents - Satisfaction

Them - Baby, Please Don't Go

David Bowie - Almost everything on Pin Ups

Flying Burrito Bros - Wild Horses

Gram Parsons (w/Emmylou Harris) - Love Hurts

The Cramps - Fever

Rolling Stones - Love in Vain

David Bromberg Band - Come On In My Kitchen

David Bromberg Band - Bullfrog Blues

Rickie Lee Jones - Walk Away Renee

Neil Young - Oh Lonesome Me

The Yardbirds - I'm A Man

Humble Pie - Hallelujah (I Love Her So)

and if I may include live performances not commited to vinyl, I saw Tom Waits several years ago on New Years Eve at the Wiltern Theater. He did mostly covers that night and two stood out big time: Take It As It Comes (The Doors) and Dirty Old Town (originally by Ewan MacColl but covered by many).

 

[cirerita]

M Ward - "Let's Dance" (Bowie)
Neil Young - "All Along the Watchtower" (live electric versions, of course)

 

[Ponder]

I was just eating a sausage and baked bean pastie and listening to the Flaming Lips & Sparklehorses cover of Daniel Johnstons 'Go' and I got to thinking what your favourite covers are.

Dinosaur Jr. - Show me the way (Peter Frampton)
Marilyn Manson - Suicide is painless
Manic Street Preachers - Suicide is painless - (Mike Altman and Johnny Mandel)
Johnny Cash - Hurt (Nine Inch Nails)

I'm going to a Daniel Johnston gig in april.

The Johnny Cash videoclip is legendary to me.

 

[the only good poet]

I saw Tom Waits several years ago on New Years Eve at the Wiltern Theater. He did mostly covers that night and two stood out big time: Take It As It Comes (The Doors)

i wld have loved to have heard that. i was obsessed by Morrison and The Doors. (i owe L.A.) i guess Waits wld have slowed the tempo...

there was a cover of "Over the rainbow" at the end of the film Finding Forrester. that was pretty good.

 

[chronic]

i wld have loved to have heard that. i was obsessed by Morrison and The Doors. (i owe L.A.) i guess Waits wld have slowed the tempo...

Not slowed down at all... it was a pretty frantic performance of the song. I wonder if a tape exists of that night. I'm going to have to ask around.

 

[cirerita]

I think Bob Dylan might have a copy of that Waits gig :D

 

[chronic]

I was thinking more along the lines of usenet. Amazing the things you can find there if you look, or ask.

 

[Jerzy]

Jimmy Hendrix "All Along the Watch Tower"

Jeff Buckley "Hallelujah"

an old nameless Hobo who showed up at a party I was at in Austin, Texas did a kick ass version of the Spice Girls "If You wanna Be My Lover" on his banjo :)

 

[chronic]

Jimmy Hendrix "All Along the Watch Tower"

Can't believe I didn't think of that one. Belongs at the top of the list without a doubt.

 

[hoochmonkey9]

Wild Thing - X
Gloria - Patti Smith
Surfin' Birds - Ramones
Sweet Jane - Cowboy Junkies
Like A Hurricane - Roxy Music
I Ain't Goin' Down To The Well No More - Marianne Faithful
and pretty much anything Johnny Cash did by another artist in the last 15 years of his career...

 

[Bukfan]

Wild Thing - X
Gloria - Patti Smith

Wild thing - Jimmy Hendrix (the original was by The Troggs, I believe)
Gloria by Patti Smith is great! - I also like The Doors version of it...

 

[hoochmonkey9]

House of the rising Sun - the Animals
Mystery Train - Elvis Presley
Blue Moon - Elvis Presley
Brand New Cadillac - the Clash
Black Steel - Tricky

 

[Paul B.]

rolling stones - "love in vain"
the who - "summertime blues"
daniel johnston - "happy talk"
john prine - "clay pigeons"
devo - "(i can't get no) satisfaction"
mott the hoople "sweet jane" & "all the young dudes"
maureen tucker - "pale blue eyes" & "danny boy"
sid viscious - "my way" - the greatest, most appropriate remake of all fucking time.
moby grape- "summertime blues"
nick cave/bad seeds - "wanted man" (better than johnny cash, and, of course, i like cash)
the ramones - "time has come today"

 

[mjp]

Neil Young - "All Along the Watchtower" (live electric versions, of course)

Why would you even try that after the Hendrix version? Seems pointless. ;)

 

[pig ear press]

I'm going to a Daniel Johnston gig in april.

I'm very jealous. I wonder if I could lure him over to the UK if I dress up as Casper the ghost? :D

 

[Ponder]

He is playing in Holland. Can you swim?

 

[pig ear press]

Bugger me (not literally) I was in Holland recently, an ex-girlfriend is doing research out there, to be honest I'd rather have seen Daniel Johnston than her...


...I got my 10m badge in swimming (though I cheated and put my foot down after 5m) so I don't think I'd quite make it to Holland!

 

[Paul B.]

mr. johnston came to minneapolis (where i live) in 2000. he played in a little club (now long gone) downtown. he played about an hour - just daniel and his guitar. i taped it on little cheapo take recorder. very good show. he didnt walk off or leave and he finished every song. it was a miracle. the spirit of casper the friendly ghost was very much with us in that crowded room. the next day he went to kansas city where he played a gig and ended up hanging out with some poeple - including a friend of mine (male). he also tried to pick up my friend's friend (female). as they say: "speeding motorcycle, wont you save me?"

paul

 

[pig ear press]

I'm very jealous Paul, there are very few living artists left around that I still want to see but Daniel is definately one of them. Anyway back to covers...

Tom Waits - King Kong (a link you see!)

The Make Up - Hey Joe

The Clash - I fought the law

The Flaming lips - seven nation army

Senor coconut and his orchestra - Riders on the storm (cheesy but great, cha cha cha)

 

[slimedog]

Knockin' on Heavans Door-Television

Do You Love Me-Johnny Thunders

Heartbreak Hotel-John Cale

Soul Kitchen-X

 

[hoochmonkey9]

You Really Got Me - Van Halen
When Doves Cry - Patti Smith
Time After Time - Miles Davis

 

[hoochmonkey9]

Heigh Ho - Tom Waits
'97 Bonnie & Clyde - Tori Amos
Bizarre Love Triangle - Frente

jesus, I'm such a geek....pouring over my 45's and lp's and cd's and even cassettes....christ, I hate cassettes.

 

[Danielle]

the replacements-Bastards of young
Social distortions - mommy's little monster
Rancid - radio
violent femmes- kiss off

 

[mjp]

the replacements-Bastards of young

That's not a cover song, is it?

 

[Danielle]

yeah me and my friends covered that replacements song

 

[chronic]

Covered it with what?!?

 

[Ninjerk]

Machine gun fire?

 

[Bukfan]

A blanket? :D

 

[the only good poet]

House of the rising Sun - the Animals

wonderful song. love The Animals. they covered much. was the original "Rising Sun" Lead Belly's "New Orleans," anyone?

apparently Nirvana, in an MTV Unplugged show, performed Lead's "Where did you sleep last night," under the title, "In the pines." would like to here that as the original makes the hair stand up.

Led Zep's cover of Sonny Boy Williamson's "Bring it on home" is something for the ears to behold.

 

[Digney in Burnaby]

Was in an east Vancouver book store yesterday and recognized The Saints' "I'm Stranded" being done techno/lounge style. Looked at the CD by the cash register but didn't see who did that version and I didn't ask. A number of years ago I remember hearing a lounge version of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit". Again, no clue as to who did it.

 

[mjp]

That's so pomo.

 

[Digney in Burnaby]

You're probably right. A lot of "theory" went into those covers. But listening to those versions was a lot less excruciating than listening to the sludge of Blue Cheer doing "Summertime Blues" or anything by Vanilla Fudge. Not that I want to spend money on lounge/techno, covers or otherwise.

Covers? Woody Guthrie's "This Land is Your Land" done by The Travellers. Canadian lyrics that we sang in elementary school.

Or the ferocious version of "Louie Louie" by The Sonics.

 

[Ninjerk]

That's so pomo.

hahahaha

 

[BilkoJoe]

Eric Burden (The Animals) Ring of Fire... Genius!

 

[Short Bus]

Friend of the Devil-Lyle Lovett
The Joker Bootsy Collins and Fatboy Slim

 

[Bukfan]

Eric Burden (The Animals) Ring of Fire... Genius!

Zappas version of Ring of Fire is pretty funny. The same goes for his versions of Purple Haze and Sunshine of Your Love...

 

[justine]

Jeff Buckley: "Hallejulah" (Leonard Cohen)
Tori Amos: "Enjoy the Silence" (Depeche Mode)

 

[hank solo]

New cover for me this week:

Bow Wow Wow - I Started Something I Couldn't Finish (The Smiths)

As above, Johnny Cash - Hurt (NIN) amazing cover.

Digney in Burnaby, that lounge Nrvana cover - not the Richard Cheese version of Come As You Are? His comedy lounge tracks make me smile on brighter days...

No, I know - it was Paul Anka on his Rock Swings LP. I remember hearing his "Love Cats" (Cure) and then ironically downloading the album a while ago...

Mad really.

 

[Digney in Burnaby]

New cover for me this week:

Digney in Burnaby, that lounge Nrvana cover - not the Richard Cheese version of Come As You Are? His comedy lounge tracks make me smile on brighter days...

No, I know - it was Paul Anka on his Rock Swings LP. I remember hearing his "Love Cats" (Cure) and then ironically downloading the album a while ago...

Mad really.

I heard it at an old record store (less and less of those around these days) about ten years ago. Did Paul A. cover the song that far back?

Neko Case doing "Duchess" and "Bowling Green" on her first CD (less and less of those stores as well these days).