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kurtkurtley
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12/6/2008 11:32:55 PM
Could this be the Greatest Cover of a Great Song?
I was just listening to the YES version of the Simon & Garfunkel classic "America"....WOW!
Hadn't heard it in a long time....The original is great, but listening to the YES version blew me away...
How 'bout it out there....contenders, pretenders, your fav, whatever....
This one is GREAT!!!
What rivals it in the Great Cover category??
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the perfect banana
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12/6/2008 11:56:39 PM
Watchtower by Hendrix is #1 I think.
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Nigels
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12/7/2008 12:29:23 AM
---- Updated 12/7/2008 2:36:37 AM
I would have to say James Taylor cover of
Karen Daltons song
How Sweet It Is(to be loved by you).
Dalton herself did a great cover of Percy Sledges
When a Man Loves a Woman which has been covered by many and is also the inspiration for a "Whiter Shade of Pale".
Dalton was a brilliant claw hammer style banjo player, her violinist Scarlet Rivera later played on Dylans Rolling Thunder tour and its her sound that was the heart of "Desire"
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No Rhythm
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12/7/2008 12:43:52 AM
I would have to throw two more into the mix
Joe Cocker with "With A Little Help From My Friends" and
Jeff Buckley's version of "Hallelujah" Love them both.
Cheers Mark
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Steve Ison
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12/7/2008 3:22:40 AM
I'm with the Banana on this one..
I love Bowie's version of 'Fill Your Heart' off Hunky Dory-but since i've never heard the original i dunno if that counts..
Your version of Girl On The Train is pretty damn brill too Kurt-tho to suggest Girl On The Train is a 'great' song-like America or Watchtower- rather than merely a good one would be monsterously egotistical (and patently not true lol)
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Steve Ison
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12/7/2008 3:26:03 AM
Jeff Buckleys 'Lilac Wine' is fantastic too...
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kurtkurtley
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12/7/2008 4:00:01 AM
Steve,
Thanks for the plug on the "Girl on the Train" cover....but I have to disagree with you on the original's relative greatness. It was great enough to inspire me :>)
And I'm loving all the thoughts and selections here, some of the songs I hadn't thought of or heard in a long time. "Watch Tower" is certainly one of the best, and I think Joe Cocker took a pretty good Beatle's tune up a notch.
Keep 'em comin' folks, there's more gems to unearth here!
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Hop On Pop
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12/7/2008 8:35:09 AM
Hendrix' "Watchtower" is a given, just like saying that The Beatles are the best band.
Except maybe Aretha Franklin - "Respect" (which most people don't even realize is an Otis Reddng song).
But, aside from that, I nominate:
The Bangles - "Hazy Shade of Winter"
(that song always needed to rock!)
Sly & The Family Stone - "Que Sera, Sera"
(gives new meaning to the words "poingiant" and "soulful".
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srm
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12/7/2008 9:46:18 AM
How about Devo's (NOT Il Divo) version of NiN's "Head Like a Hole"?
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JOHN FRY
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12/7/2008 10:00:55 AM
I think this one takes the cake.
Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, Devil With A Blue Dress On/Good Golly Miss Molly
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JOHN FRY
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12/7/2008 10:04:56 AM
This is a good one too,
Janis Joplin, Me And Bobby McGee
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Richard Scotti
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12/7/2008 10:40:36 AM
I agree with Banana. Even Dylan who hates almost every cover done of his songs loved this one by Jimi.
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Steve April
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12/7/2008 11:24:22 AM
"cross roads," eric clapton covering a robert johnson song. eric also merges a verse from a 2nd robert johnson song about rosedale.
"blinded by the light," manfred mann covering bruce s.
"a change is gonna come," by sam cook, covered by the band, on "moondog matinee." a rich, evocative gospel-y song, kinda obscure. btw, a worthy list overall lol...
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JOHN FRY
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12/7/2008 12:09:30 PM
Sorry Ringo! Joe Cocker , With a little help from my friends
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Steve April
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12/7/2008 12:23:41 PM
a few more...
"Whiter shade of pale" by procal harem, covered by annie lennox.
"woodstock" by joni mitchell, covered by csny. (?? well ya had to be there)
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Vartan
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12/7/2008 1:12:34 PM
What about Faith No More's cover of "Easy"? I love that version.
I have seen Soundgarden do an amazing live cover of "Helter Skelter". It sounded a lot like the slow version that appears on the Beatles' Anthology #2. Oh and they recorded a cover of Black Sabbath's "Into The Void" on the SOMMS EP. So awesome.
Gnarls Barkley did a really cool cover of The Violent Femmes "Gone Daddy Gone" though sadly they omitted the xylophone solo. Tragic.
One of my most recent fav covers is Tom Waits doing "Sea of Love" by Phil Phillips. He turns that 50s wistful doo-wop-ish song into a dark seedy back alley rumba. AMAZING!!!
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Gremislav Iakovich
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12/7/2008 2:20:01 PM
Some notable covers:
Sepultura covering Symptom of the Universe.
John Frusciante's cover of Big Takeover.
Yakuza did an amazing cover of Lucifer Sam on the Syd Barrett tribute album, "Like Black Holes in the Sky".
Anthrax's version of Got the Time.
Qui did a couple of unexpected covers, with great results, on "Love's Miracle": Willie the Pimp and Pink Floyd's Echoes.
....and no list of great cover songs would be complete without mention of Antler Tree's cover of ZZ Top's Tush(y).....
Also:
Love always,
Gremislav
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Chris Hance
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12/7/2008 3:40:21 PM
Heres a cover of Herbie
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Stegor
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12/8/2008 8:05:43 AM
XTC did a real unusual cover of All Along the Watchtower. It's loved by some hated by others. Here's a live rendition, which is quite different from the studio version. I believe it might be considered, how you say in England, a "piss-take"?
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never never band
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12/8/2008 10:23:14 AM
I'm with Kurt on this one...the YES version of America is just magnificent, I've seen YES perform that piece twice and both times it choked me up...
I love Dream Theaters version of "funeral for a friend/love lies bleeding"
Jimis watchtower..of course, ,
And Bonnie Rait and John Prine covering David Grays "silver lining" is one of the greatest covers I ever heard as well, that was an austin city limits performance..
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Hop On Pop
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12/8/2008 10:36:33 AM
Okay, so I found a list (a mix) that I made of most of my favorite covers. At least of the ones that I have on my iTunes.
Here:
The Jam - Batman Theme
The Bangles - Live (Emmitt Rhodes)
Big Black - He's a Whore (Cheap Trick)
Cheap Trick - California Man (The Move)
Toots & The Maytalls - Take Me Home Country Roads (John Denver)
The Clash - Pressure Drop (Toots & The Maytalls)
Butthole Surfers - Hurdy Gurdy Man (Donovan)
Hüsker Dü - Eight Miles High (The Byrds)
Linus Of Hollywood - Goodbye To Romance (Ozzy Osbourne)
Linus Of Hollywood - Need You Around (Smoking Popes)
They Might Be Giants - Istanbul, Not Constantinople (?)
Richard Hell - All the Way (Frank Sinatra)
Sid Vicious - My Way (Frank Sinatra)
Happy Ashtray - Smothered In Hugs (Guided By Voices)
The Clash - I Fought the Law (Bobby Fuller)
Oh, and these do NOT include the ones that I already stated earlier in this thread.
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12/8/2008 10:52:41 AM
---- Updated 12/8/2008 10:53:48 AM
2 of my favorite cover songs there aren't many people who would agree with me. I agree All Along the Watchtower is the best. But I really like the Carpenters version of Ticket to Ride and Elton's version of Lucy in the Sky.
Also did anybody mention the Byrds Mr. Tamborine Man?
CSNY - Woodstock
Sex Pistols of the Monkees' I'm Not Your Steppin Stone
The Monkees of Neil Diamond's I'm a Believer
The Talking Heads' version of Al Green's Take Me To the River
Jeff Beck's version of Stevie Wonder's Cause We Ended as Lovers
Aretha's version of Stevie's Until You Come Back to Me
Grand Funk's version of Carole King's Locomotion
Here's the Carpenters' Ticket to Ride. Cheesy? yes but Karen's voice has this great melancholy tone, it moves me.
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12/8/2008 12:03:27 PM
I think the Dixie Chicks did a good rendition of Landslide.
Fleedwood Mac version is amazing too, but I had actually heard the Dixie Chicks version first.
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Black Velvet Lace
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12/8/2008 1:45:42 PM
Scott, thanks for posting the Carpenter cover, never heard it before. I love Karen's vocal..
another excellent cover? Handy man covered by James taylor
~Lace~
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