A third "Tainted Love"?
Marilyn Manson, but that's kind of pushing the definition of "stone cold classic"
― snoball, Monday, 30 March 2009 15:08 (fifteen years ago) link
Leonard Cohen, Rufus Wainwright, Regina Spektor.
And Lloyd Cole.
― It is not enough to love mankind – you must be able to stand (Michael White), Monday, 30 March 2009 15:08 (fifteen years ago) link
Amsterdam - Brel, Walker, Bowie
― Zelda Zonk, Monday, 30 March 2009 15:09 (fifteen years ago) link
"Dark End of the Street" -- James Carr, Percy Sledge, Flying Burrito Brothers
I'm not sure all three of these qualify as 5-star, but depending on tastes, you could substitute other versions (Diamanda Galas, maybe). There must be other soul standards that would fit in here.
― Brad C., Monday, 30 March 2009 15:10 (fifteen years ago) link
'56 should count really--I only put post-1960, 'cause I'm less interested in obvious standards....
"Dark End" was surely from an earlier era tho
― otm in new york (G00blar), Monday, 30 March 2009 15:11 (fifteen years ago) link
Satisfaction: Rolling Stones, Otis Redding, Devo
― kornrulez6969, Monday, 30 March 2009 15:11 (fifteen years ago) link
"Girl from Ipanema" certainly has more than three classic versions. Off the top of my head I can mention the version on Gilberto/Getz, the Portuguese version by João Gilberto, and versions by Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald. I guess many folks would call the version sang by Jobim himself a classic too, but I'm not fond of his singing. I really like the disco version done by Astrud Gilberto in the 1970s, but that's probably not considered a classic.
― Tuomas, Monday, 30 March 2009 15:12 (fifteen years ago) link
xpostIf '56 counts, then Wild Is The Wind (Mathis/Simone/Bowie)
― Zelda Zonk, Monday, 30 March 2009 15:13 (fifteen years ago) link
'56 should count really
Oh good. Then "Do You Wanna Dance" (Bobby Freeman, Beach Boys, Ramones).
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 30 March 2009 15:13 (fifteen years ago) link
Dammit, I was just about to post satisfaction!
― NotEnough, Monday, 30 March 2009 15:13 (fifteen years ago) link
I think "Dark End" is early 60s -- Chips Moman and Dan Penn. They've got another song or two that might make the cut here.
― Brad C., Monday, 30 March 2009 15:14 (fifteen years ago) link
shit, written in 1967, don't know what I was thinking
― otm in new york (G00blar), Monday, 30 March 2009 15:15 (fifteen years ago) link
Do you mean John Cale?
― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Monday, 30 March 2009 15:16 (fifteen years ago) link
Eight Miles High: The Byrds, Roxy Music, Husker Du
― kornrulez6969, Monday, 30 March 2009 15:17 (fifteen years ago) link
Something - The Beatles, James Brown, Frank SinatraAlways On My Mind - Elvis Presley, Willie Nelson, Pet Shop Boys
― dad a, Monday, 30 March 2009 15:19 (fifteen years ago) link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carole_King#Hits_by_Goffin_and_King
"Locomotion" maybe? again, possibly stretching classic
― now is the time to winterize your manscape (will), Monday, 30 March 2009 15:21 (fifteen years ago) link
And Lloyd Cole.Do you mean John Cale?― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Monday, 30 March 2009 15:16 (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Monday, 30 March 2009 15:16 (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
I think they were talking "Chelsea Hotel"
― Mark G, Monday, 30 March 2009 15:23 (fifteen years ago) link
"Ruby Baby" - Drifters, Dion, Donald Fagen
― now is the time to winterize your manscape (will), Monday, 30 March 2009 15:24 (fifteen years ago) link
Interesting searchable database here...http://www.coversproject.com/I'd start with singer songwriters, ie, Neil Diamond. For example "Sweet Caroline", ND himself, Sinatra, Presley.Actually I think that a lot of these are going to be Sinatra, Preskey, <someone_else>
― snoball, Monday, 30 March 2009 15:24 (fifteen years ago) link
Victoria: The Kinks, The Fall, The Kooks. oh wait..
― Mark G, Monday, 30 March 2009 15:24 (fifteen years ago) link
"Twist and Shout": Isley Brothers, Beatles, Chaka Demus & Pliers
― Tuomas, Monday, 30 March 2009 15:26 (fifteen years ago) link
i imagine several leiber/stoller compositions as well
― now is the time to winterize your manscape (will), Monday, 30 March 2009 15:27 (fifteen years ago) link
Do two totally different versions by the same performer count?
― Tuomas, Monday, 30 March 2009 15:29 (fifteen years ago) link
LOUIE LOUIE
― I'm Into that Japanese Pop-Funk (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 30 March 2009 15:29 (fifteen years ago) link
Oh right.
― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Monday, 30 March 2009 15:30 (fifteen years ago) link
Oh yeah, sorry, didn't read the title properly.
― Tuomas, Monday, 30 March 2009 15:31 (fifteen years ago) link
I want to say Hallelujah
Lennon's "Imagine" has a ton of cover versions. Most of them I imagine (ha!lol) recorded in 1981...
― snoball, Monday, 30 March 2009 15:31 (fifteen years ago) link
Tomorrow Is A Long Time: Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, Rod Stewart
― kornrulez6969, Monday, 30 March 2009 15:34 (fifteen years ago) link
Really? Rod Stewart?
― otm in new york (G00blar), Monday, 30 March 2009 15:35 (fifteen years ago) link
Only Love Can Break Your Heart - Neil Young, St. Etienne... um Juliana Hatfield?
― I'm Into that Japanese Pop-Funk (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 30 March 2009 15:36 (fifteen years ago) link
I know there are plenty of songs that have been covered lots, and covered by notable artists, but the thread idea was really prompted by just how high a standard those three "Grapevine" versions hold to. Man those are three perfect records.
― otm in new york (G00blar), Monday, 30 March 2009 15:37 (fifteen years ago) link
Re: Imagine
most of them, I imagine, not classic.
Actually, name one.
― Mark G, Monday, 30 March 2009 15:37 (fifteen years ago) link
xpost yeah, it's a good question.
Really? Rod Stewart?Rod's version is on Every Picture Tells A Story.
Elvis's version is best of all though...
― kornrulez6969, Monday, 30 March 2009 15:38 (fifteen years ago) link
I thought about "Tomorrow Is A Long Time", but while Dylan wrote it, I wouldn't say his version is a stone-cold five star classic. The other two you mentioned, though, for sure.
― Euler, Monday, 30 March 2009 15:38 (fifteen years ago) link
How about Jackson Browne's "These Days"?
Pick three:
Jackson B.Iain MatthewsNicoGreg AllmanSt. Vincent
so many others...
― QuantumNoise, Monday, 30 March 2009 15:39 (fifteen years ago) link
"Gentle on My Mind"
John HartfordGlen CampbellElvis
"Both Sides Now"
JudyJoniThe ChairmanDave Van Ronk
― QuantumNoise, Monday, 30 March 2009 15:41 (fifteen years ago) link
the thread idea was really prompted by just how high a standard those three "Grapevine" versions hold to.
I guess the point I was trying to make is that if a song has 50 cover versions then three of them should be pretty good, however...
Re: Imaginemost of them, I imagine, not classic.
...it turns out to be not the case. Eva Cassidey's version at a pinch.
― snoball, Monday, 30 March 2009 15:41 (fifteen years ago) link
"Both Sides Now"^^^Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
― I'm Into that Japanese Pop-Funk (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 30 March 2009 15:41 (fifteen years ago) link
Georgia On My Mind
Ray Charles (1960!)James BrownWillie Nelson
― I'm Into that Japanese Pop-Funk (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 30 March 2009 15:42 (fifteen years ago) link
Lowell George's "Willin'"
Linda RonstadtLittle Feat (twice)Steve EarleCommander CodyDavid Allan Coe
― QuantumNoise, Monday, 30 March 2009 15:44 (fifteen years ago) link
Glen Campbell may have the best version:
― kornrulez6969, Monday, 30 March 2009 15:46 (fifteen years ago) link
"Dancing In The Streets"
Martha & the VandellasVan HalenJagger & Bowie
Hahahahaha.
― lolling through my bagel (Pancakes Hackman), Monday, 30 March 2009 15:49 (fifteen years ago) link
Linda Ronstadt!
― The Screaming Lobster of Challops (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 30 March 2009 15:54 (fifteen years ago) link
Light My Fire
The DoorsYoung Holt UnlimitedSpanky WilsonAnanda Shankar
― ambient bangers (gnarly sceptre), Monday, 30 March 2009 15:54 (fifteen years ago) link
I want to say Hallelujah comes close but I can’t think of a third – how about Chelsea Hotel? Leonard Cohen, Rufus Wainwright, Regina Spektor.
k.d. lang's version is the best of all!
― NoTimeBeforeTime, Monday, 30 March 2009 15:55 (fifteen years ago) link
"I Think We're Alone Now"
Tommy James & the ShondellsThe RubinoosTiffany
― ambient bangers (gnarly sceptre), Monday, 30 March 2009 15:57 (fifteen years ago) link
"The Mexican""Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood""Gloria"
I guess "Louie Louie" and "Whiskey In the Jar" and "Hey Joe" are all technically pre-'60s songs, right? (Or if there are 3+ 5-star versions after the '60s, does that mean they count regardless?)
― xhuxk, Monday, 30 March 2009 15:58 (fifteen years ago) link
Sonic Youth did a good cover of the Fall's cover of Victoria.
― bendy, Monday, 30 March 2009 15:59 (fifteen years ago) link
“When You Were Mine”PrinceCyndi LauperDump― JoeStork, Friday, 20 May 2022 22:37 (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink
PrinceCyndi LauperDump
― JoeStork, Friday, 20 May 2022 22:37 (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink
Also love the Cristina version
― TWELVE Michelob stars?!? (seandalai), Saturday, 21 May 2022 19:38 (two years ago) link
niche but I like all of these:
Lucio Battisti - Ancora TuJustine and the Victorian Punks - Still YouRóisín Murphy - Ancora Tu
― TWELVE Michelob stars?!? (seandalai), Saturday, 21 May 2022 19:40 (two years ago) link
“To Love Somebody”:Nina SimoneBee GeesThe Flying Burrito Brothers
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Saturday, 21 May 2022 20:13 (two years ago) link
'don't let me be misunderstood':
nina simoneanimalssanta esmeraldaelvis costelloetc. etc.
― mookieproof, Saturday, 21 May 2022 20:15 (two years ago) link
― Apollo and the Aqueducts (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 21 May 2022 20:42 (two years ago) link
“That’s How I Got to Memphis”Tom T. HallBobby BareKarl Blau(and some more, I think)
― Apollo and the Aqueducts (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 21 May 2022 20:45 (two years ago) link
Scott Walker and Joe Pernice, for starters.
― henry s, Saturday, 21 May 2022 21:25 (two years ago) link
Never heard either of those, thanks. Can’t even locate the Scott Walker one. But did find this:https://americana-uk.com/versions-thats-how-i-got-to-memphis
― Apollo and the Aqueducts (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 21 May 2022 21:45 (two years ago) link
Website mentions the Solomon Burke version which I had on my list as well but wanted to listen again before posting.
― Apollo and the Aqueducts (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 21 May 2022 21:50 (two years ago) link
I still like the Sid Selvidge version as well. Might have been the first one I paid attention to.
― Apollo and the Aqueducts (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 21 May 2022 21:56 (two years ago) link
Roseanne Cash version with her dad is fine but maybe not as must hear as some others.
― Apollo and the Aqueducts (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 21 May 2022 21:59 (two years ago) link
Slim Slow Slider:
Van MPeter LaughnerSandy Dirt (The Pastels + Al Larsen of Some Velvet Sidewalk) - a very liberal interpretation, but it’s good and I needed a third
― Mule, Saturday, 21 May 2022 22:38 (two years ago) link
^good one!
― Apollo and the Aqueducts (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 21 May 2022 22:42 (two years ago) link
Hang on, David Hasselhof did a Jesus and Mary Chain cover?
Gosh...
― Mark G, Saturday, 21 May 2022 23:06 (two years ago) link
"Ball of Confusion"
TemptationsTina TurnerLove and Rockets
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Saturday, 21 May 2022 23:12 (two years ago) link
"I Second that Emotion"The MiraclesDiana Ross & The Supremes with The TemptationsJapan
― Millsner, Sunday, 22 May 2022 02:01 (two years ago) link
"It's Too Late"
Carole KingThe Isley BrothersThe Stylistics
― that's not my post, Sunday, 22 May 2022 02:36 (two years ago) link
"A Thin Line Between Love & Hate"
The PersuadersThe PretendersH-Town
― that's not my post, Sunday, 22 May 2022 02:45 (two years ago) link
Feel like there’s probably a bunch more with The Isleys, given the amount of covers they did.
― Apollo and the Aqueducts (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 22 May 2022 03:13 (two years ago) link
"Whatever You Like"
T.I.Anya MarinaJoan As Police Woman
― deep luminous trombone (Eazy), Sunday, 22 May 2022 06:23 (two years ago) link
"If I Were a Carpenter"
Tim HardinFour TopsBobby DarinJohnny Cash & June Carter
(and a half dozen other contenders)
Tim Hardin also did a stone-cold classic rendition of "Moonshiner", a song mentioned upthread.
― Lee626, Sunday, 22 May 2022 10:35 (two years ago) link
david hasselhoff, apply directly to the forehead
― Kate (rushomancy), Sunday, 22 May 2022 10:52 (two years ago) link
This thread premise but written post-1980, when the notion of a unified pop songbook really breaks down? I can think of lots of great covers but not a lot of third versions, especially when singing contest hackery makes “Hallelujah” harder to stomach in any interpretation.
― bendy
you know what music has sort of a unified songbook, video game music, pretty much all of which is post-1980. a lot of people grew up with this music and there's a pretty solid "canon" of songs that people remember as being exceptional, from songs everybody knows (koji kondo) to songs that were mainly done for shitty video games but are all-time bangers (tim follin). this does straddle the line i guess between "cover" and "remix" but a lot of them are flat-out covers. and a lot of them are shitty "metal" versions but there are some _really_ good people working in the field and so you can hear some pretty fantastic versions of songs from games as recent as, say, fez or shovel knight - disasterpeace and jake kaufman being particularly well-loved game composers.
― Kate (rushomancy), Sunday, 22 May 2022 11:11 (two years ago) link
‘Different Drum’, Stone Poneys, Lemonheads, Susanna Hoffs & Matthew Sweet.
― Dan Worsley, Sunday, 22 May 2022 12:10 (two years ago) link
Fascinating point rushomancy! I know very little about video game music, never having put in the time to acquire the ear worms. Also complicating this is the rise of hip hop and dancehall and dance music, where a beat or a feel is providing the familiar point for the reinterpretation but the point is to create unique top line words or melody. It reverses the old notion of a cover where the rhythm and genre conventions provide the shift.
― bendy, Sunday, 22 May 2022 12:36 (two years ago) link
Umbrella: the Rihanna original, the Seamus Haji remix (huge hit in its own right & doesn’t share anything with the original), and the cover by The Baseballs (also a big hit).
― Siegbran, Sunday, 22 May 2022 13:19 (two years ago) link
Bring The Noise had three hit covers with the same vocals: the Public Enemy original, the remake with Anthrax, and the Grammy-winning Benny Benassi remix.
― Siegbran, Sunday, 22 May 2022 13:25 (two years ago) link
Xpost
I don’t think the Cat Power version is quite 5 stars but Rihanna’s original of ‘Stay’ and Low’s cover definitely are.
― Dan Worsley, Sunday, 22 May 2022 13:52 (two years ago) link
xps Pastels version of "Different Drum" is 5 star for me
"Diamonds and Rust": Joan Baez, Judas Priest, Ritchie Blackmore's Night
(cheating with the last, which is good but not 5 star good)
― bulb after bulb, Sunday, 22 May 2022 14:44 (two years ago) link
James Carr too!Wow, NO idea why I’ve never heard this version before. And now I have a new favorite recording of “To Love Somebody.”
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Sunday, 22 May 2022 15:15 (two years ago) link
"Human Fly"The CrampsNouvelle VagueThe Horse Flies
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVQQfTE2FHY
How to describe...bluegrass meets Steve Reich?
― Hideous Lump, Sunday, 22 May 2022 16:25 (two years ago) link
Halo of Flies did it too:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uxii5GbQQ_o
― Bob Dylan's iconic Ray Ban sunglasses (morrisp), Sunday, 22 May 2022 16:38 (two years ago) link
bob hund did a pretty good version of human fly live too! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilfm8xQl3mg
― Kate (rushomancy), Sunday, 22 May 2022 16:46 (two years ago) link
"Landslide"
Fleetwood MacSmashing PumpkinsThe Dixie Chicks
― Indexed, Monday, 23 May 2022 14:09 (two years ago) link
“You’re No Good” (1961)Dee Dee WarwickBetty EverettLinda Ronstadt
― subject matter expert (morrisp), Monday, 30 May 2022 03:28 (two years ago) link
^^Also: Van Halen
― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Monday, 30 May 2022 03:46 (two years ago) link
“Cry to Me” (1962)Solomon BurkeBetty HarrisFreddie Scott
― subject matter expert (morrisp), Sunday, 5 June 2022 05:13 (one year ago) link