Saturday, September 01, 2007

TWQ: Good Cover Versions

TWQ (The Weekend Question) looks into cover versions of songs this week.

Which cover versions of songs do you like, and possibly exceed the quality of the original version? List as many as you wish.

My answers are:

Mr Tambourine Man - The Byrds (originally Bob Dylan)

The Mighty Quinn - Manfred Mann (originally Bob Dylan)

I Will Always Love You - Whitney Houston (originally Dolly Parton)

Now it's over to you....

But before I go.....

The delightful Nina (SFGirl) has given me this wonderful Award:



Thank you, Nina. It's much appreciated.

23 comments:

MsT said...

Normally I am a fan of the original but this is an exception: Sea of Love by the Honeydrippers (with Robert Plant) - such a lush version of the one that came out two or 3 decades earlier. Hello from Michele!

Amanda said...

I really like Michael Buble's version of 'Can't by me love'. Originally by the Beatles.

Anonymous said...

I prefer the original anyday!

Michele sent me back.

PS: My name is gAUtami not gUAtami...!!

November Rain said...

HI JP

Hmm I normally prefer originals
but I do like Somebody to love done with Elton Jon and George Micheal as a tribute to Freddy Mercury with Queen

The Mistress of the Dark said...

I have to say I agree with you on The Mighty Quinn, but not on I Will Always Love You.

For me..

Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood - Elvis Costello to The Animals original.

Vincent by Justin Hayward over Don MacLean's original.

Perfect Day and Femme Fatale by Duran Duran over Lou Reed/Velvet Underground.

Erasure's Solsbury Hill and Take A Chance On Me...over Peter Gabriel and ABBA though I do love ABBA.

Anonymous said...

It took me a while to remember what you meant by cover version.

I like Mary Black's version of Moon River.

November Rain said...

michelle sent me to say I remember another

Enigma quite often will take somes and mix them up to create a new song

my favorite is the Gravity of Love which has O fortuna mixed in it

Susan Helene Gottfried said...

Metallica's cover of Turn the Page puts Bob Seger to shame. Really, it would have been much better had Seger written the song and just handed it to Het and the boys.

A band named Sanctuary covered the Jefferson Airplane's White Rabbit. A fantastic, fantastic cover.

And Alien Ant Farm covering Michael Jackson's Smooth Criminal? Again, the way the song should have been done the first time.

And... and... oh, all right. I'll shut up now.

Anonymous said...

I'll go ahead and list one that will probably cause everyone to say, "WTF?" You can hardly even compare Jessica Simpson's version of "These Boots Were Made For Walking" to Nancy Sinatra. Clearly Jessica had a vision of how to make the song her own, and with Willie Nelson barely audible whispering in the background. All I can say is it truly blew my mind.

The Turmanators said...

I love Neil Young, but I saw the Indigo Girls and Matthew Sweet team up to cover "Cortez the Killer" and it was amazing. You can find it on Napster, I think, although M. S. is not credited. So many of Dylan's songs are better when done by someone else, aren't they? Not much of a singer, but he sure can write.

Michele sent me to enjoy this music-themed post!

Paperback Writer said...

Add It Up - Guster (originally by Violent Femmes)

Crazy - Ray LaMontagne (originally by
Gnarls Barkley)

Lahdeedah said...

I have a hard enough time remembering who sang the originals, buuut...

I like T.a.t.u's version of James Morissey's "How Soon is Now"

Bilbo said...

The version of "My Moonlight Memories of You" done by Klaus Hallen as a dance number is far, far superior to Barry Manilow's original.

Miscellaneous-Mum said...

Tears for Fears's "Mad World" done by them, then re-done better by Gary Jules

Unknown said...

Whiter shade of pale [but I like the original better]
'Layla' the re-done version was better

Anonymous said...

I almost always like the new version better than the old. Still, the original often comes from a time of naive simplicity in our lives, which brings back fond memories. And that is why Korn's version of "Word Up" sounds so much better than the original by Cameo. Ah, the eighties. Naive, flashy, simple, stupid.

Lavender said...

Gday Captain! Congratulations on that sweet award, Hooray for you! And Kudos to Nina, that was thoughtful indeed!

Cover songs...one that springs immediately to mind is Jimi Hendrix's "Foxy Lady" as done by The Cure on thier first album - I LOVE the Cure's version and the original by Hendrix just doesnt do it for me...(if indeed Hendrix was the first, cause I dunno!)

Oh, just thought of another one...on Madness' first album, they do "Swan Lake" and I love that too, but I couldnt say it was an improvement on the original classic compostion - but I thought it a darned good "interpretation"

Another great TWQ Captain! Very sorry Ive been absent from duty last few days due to fencing - much more fun to read your stories!

Anonymous said...

I like Sting's version of "Come Down In Time" better than Elton's; and I like Van Halen's "You Really Got Me" better than The Kinks'.

Jean-Luc Picard said...

You've all reminded me of many good covers; some I haven't heard before. I wouldn't have imagined Phil Phillips' 'Sea Of Love' and Gnarls Barclay's 'Crazy' could be bettered.

Fab said...

Video Killed the Radio Star by The Presidents of the United States of America (originally by Kim Wilde)

Hurt by Johnny Cash (originally by Nine Inch Nails)

World in My Eyes by The Cure - found on the Join the Dots special 4CD box(originally by Depeche Mode)

Unknown said...

People are People by Dope (originally...um...)
Cinnamon Girl by Type O Negative (originally Neil Young)
Sweet Dreams by Marilyn Manson (originally Eurythmics)

I also like the originals...

Congrats on your award!

Ed & Jeanne said...

How about 'Black Magic Woman' by Santana? Very few people know that was a cover. The original was done by Fleetwood Mac.

Anonymous said...

Your Shelfari friend stopping by to say "Hi!"

Love this blog!