Post-1960 Songs of Which There Are At Least Three 5-star, All-Time, Stone-Cold Classic Recorded Versions

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carole_King#Hits_by_Goffin_and_King

"Locomotion" maybe? again, possibly stretching classic

And Lloyd Cole.

Do you mean John Cale?

― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Monday, 30 March 2009 15:16 (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I think they were talking "Chelsea Hotel"

"Ruby Baby" - Drifters, Dion, Donald Fagen

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>

Victoria: The Kinks, The Fall, The Kooks. oh wait..

"Twist and Shout": Isley Brothers, Beatles, Chaka Demus & Pliers

i imagine several leiber/stoller compositions as well

Do two totally different versions by the same performer count?

LOUIE LOUIE

I think they were talking "Chelsea Hotel"

Oh right.

Oh yeah, sorry, didn't read the title properly.

I want to say Hallelujah

Lennon's "Imagine" has a ton of cover versions. Most of them I imagine (ha!lol) recorded in 1981...

Tomorrow Is A Long Time: Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, Rod Stewart

Really? Rod Stewart?

Only Love Can Break Your Heart - Neil Young, St. Etienne... um Juliana Hatfield?

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.

Re: Imagine

most of them, I imagine, not classic.

Actually, name one.

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...

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.

How about Jackson Browne's "These Days"?

Pick three:

Jackson B.
Iain Matthews
Nico
Greg Allman
St. Vincent

so many others...

"Gentle on My Mind"

John Hartford
Glen Campbell
Elvis

"Both Sides Now"

Pick three:

Judy
Joni
The Chairman
Dave Van Ronk

so many others...

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: Imagine
most of them, I imagine, not classic.

...it turns out to be not the case. Eva Cassidey's version at a pinch.

"Both Sides Now"
^^^Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

Georgia On My Mind

Ray Charles (1960!)
James Brown
Willie Nelson

Lowell George's "Willin'"

Linda Ronstadt
Little Feat (twice)
Steve Earle
Commander Cody
David Allan Coe

"Both Sides Now"

Glen Campbell may have the best version:

"Dancing In The Streets"

Martha & the Vandellas
Van Halen
Jagger & Bowie

Hahahahaha.

"Dark End of the Street" -- James Carr, Percy Sledge, Flying Burrito Brothers

Linda Ronstadt!

Light My Fire

The Doors
Young Holt Unlimited
Spanky Wilson
Ananda Shankar

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!

"I Think We're Alone Now"

Tommy James & the Shondells
The Rubinoos
Tiffany

"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?)

Sonic Youth did a good cover of the Fall's cover of Victoria.

Tainted Love:

Gloria Jones
Ruth Swann
Soft Cell.

I think so.

Always On My Mind - Elvis, Willie Nelson, Pet Shop Boys.

The Willie Nelson version being the best.

"Ca Plane Pour Moi"/"Jet Boy Jet Girl" (at least three of each, but they're really all the same song -- ditto "Bad Boy Bad Girl," Two Man Sound version)

"Dark End of the Street" -- James Carr, Percy Sledge, Flying Burrito Brothers

+ Richard & Linda Thompson

I guess "Louie Louie" and "Whiskey In the Jar" and "Hey Joe" are all technically pre-'60s songs, right?

thread question doesn't say anything about when the song was WRITTEN, just when it was recorded/performed. (Georgia on my Mind was written in the 30s)

Also pre-1960, but with scads of great post-1960 versions: "House Of The Rising Sun"

coil did tainted love too

thread question doesn't say anything about when the song was WRITTEN

Actually, the phrase "post-1960 songs" is pretty ambiguous.

More Almond associations- but yeah, the Coil "Tainted Love" is stone-cold for sure:
Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart - Gene Pitney, Nick Cave, Marc Almond.

I've never heard the Cilla Black version.

NoTimeBeforeTime: thank you! I have the songs of the 49th parallel CD and love it – I knew there was another hallelujah I could rep for! I hate to bring up Rufus *again* (especially considering I only own his first CD, which features neither cover) but Across the Universe: Beatles, Fiona Apple, Rufus Wainwright.
Anyone good cover Yoko Ono’s “I Felt Like Smashing My Face in a Clear Glass Window” besides Of Montreal?

WLT add the Residents to list of classic Satisfaction covers

Anyone good cover Yoko Ono’s “I Felt Like Smashing My Face in a Clear Glass Window” besides Of Montreal?

! My estimation of Of Montreal just went up a notch

It’s what made me give them a chance, Mo – it’s faithful but maybe a bit more accessible than the Y.O. version.

yeah xhuxk is right about R+L Thompson's "Dark End Of The Street"! Came here to post that. Might be my fave version of that great, great song. Maybe that song wins?

I was thinking written post-1960, to avoid "Summertime" etc., but it obviously doesn't really matter what I was thinking.

"Yes We Can [Can]"
Lee Dorsey
Pointer Sisters
Treacherous Three

"I Second that Emotion"
The Miracles
Diana Ross & The Supremes with The Temptations
Japan

"It's Too Late"

Carole King
The Isley Brothers
The Stylistics

"A Thin Line Between Love & Hate"

The Persuaders
The Pretenders
H-Town

Feel like there’s probably a bunch more with The Isleys, given the amount of covers they did.

"Whatever You Like"

T.I.
Anya Marina
Joan As Police Woman

"If I Were a Carpenter"

Tim Hardin
Four Tops
Bobby Darin
Johnny Cash & June Carter

(and a half dozen other contenders)

Tim Hardin also did a stone-cold classic rendition of "Moonshiner", a song mentioned upthread.

david hasselhoff, apply directly to the forehead

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.

‘Different Drum’, Stone Poneys, Lemonheads, Susanna Hoffs & Matthew Sweet.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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)

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.”

"Human Fly"
The Cramps
Nouvelle Vague
The Horse Flies

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVQQfTE2FHY

How to describe...bluegrass meets Steve Reich?

Halo of Flies did it too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uxii5GbQQ_o

bob hund did a pretty good version of human fly live too! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilfm8xQl3mg

"Landslide"

Fleetwood Mac
Smashing Pumpkins
The Dixie Chicks

“You’re No Good” (1961)

Dee Dee Warwick
Betty Everett
Linda Ronstadt

^^Also: Van Halen

“Cry to Me” (1962)

Solomon Burke
Betty Harris
Freddie Scott