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
"Dark End of the Street" -- James Carr, Percy Sledge, Flying Burrito Brothers
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
Tainted Love:
Gloria JonesRuth SwannSoft Cell.
I think so.
― Mark G, Monday, 30 March 2009 15:59 (fifteen years ago) link
Always On My Mind - Elvis, Willie Nelson, Pet Shop Boys.
The Willie Nelson version being the best.
― Matt DC, Monday, 30 March 2009 16:00 (fifteen years ago) link
"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)
+ Richard & Linda Thompson
― xhuxk, Monday, 30 March 2009 16:00 (fifteen years ago) link
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)
― I'm Into that Japanese Pop-Funk (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 30 March 2009 16:01 (fifteen years ago) link
Also pre-1960, but with scads of great post-1960 versions: "House Of The Rising Sun"
― xhuxk, Monday, 30 March 2009 16:02 (fifteen years ago) link
coil did tainted love too
― straightola, Monday, 30 March 2009 16:02 (fifteen years ago) link
thread question doesn't say anything about when the song was WRITTEN
Actually, the phrase "post-1960 songs" is pretty ambiguous.
― xhuxk, Monday, 30 March 2009 16:03 (fifteen years ago) link
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.
― bendy, Monday, 30 March 2009 16:05 (fifteen years ago) link
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?
― she started dancing to that (Finefinemusic), Monday, 30 March 2009 16:05 (fifteen years ago) link
WLT add the Residents to list of classic Satisfaction covers
― I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE UP TO (Colonel Poo), Monday, 30 March 2009 16:06 (fifteen years ago) link
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
― I'm Into that Japanese Pop-Funk (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 30 March 2009 16:14 (fifteen years ago) link
It’s what made me give them a chance, Mo – it’s faithful but maybe a bit more accessible than the Y.O. version.
― she started dancing to that (Finefinemusic), Monday, 30 March 2009 16:16 (fifteen years ago) link
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?
― tylerw, Monday, 30 March 2009 16:21 (fifteen years ago) link
I was thinking written post-1960, to avoid "Summertime" etc., but it obviously doesn't really matter what I was thinking.
― otm in new york (G00blar), Monday, 30 March 2009 16:26 (fifteen years ago) link
"Yes We Can [Can]"Lee DorseyPointer SistersTreacherous Three
― tenderhoos (Whiney G. Weingarten), Monday, 30 March 2009 16:28 (fifteen years ago) link
stone classics all
"Set It Off"StrafeHarlequin 4C# Sharp
― xhuxk, Monday, 30 March 2009 16:35 (fifteen years ago) link
"Someone's Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In Tonight"Fleetwood MacCount BishopsRezillos
― xhuxk, Monday, 30 March 2009 16:37 (fifteen years ago) link
"Time Has Come Today"Chambers BrothersAngry SamoansWurmRamonesetcetc
― xhuxk, Monday, 30 March 2009 16:42 (fifteen years ago) link
"California Sun"RivierasDictatorsRamones
― xhuxk, Monday, 30 March 2009 16:43 (fifteen years ago) link
... because "I Put a Spell On You" covered by CCR & Nina Simone would otherwise qualify
Natacha Atlas's vershion of same 's way wonderful as well.
― t**t, Monday, 30 March 2009 16:57 (fifteen years ago) link
Promised Land (1963)ChuckElvisAnd best of all...Johnnie Allen
― sonofstan, Monday, 30 March 2009 16:57 (fifteen years ago) link
xxpostDo you really think all of those are 5-star, all-time, stone-cold classic versions, xhuxk? The Harlequin 4's "Set It Off??' The Samoans' "Time Has Come Today??"
And I question the 5-star, etc. aspect of a lot of those Sinatra/Presley versions. The Sinatra "Sweet Caroline" is barely a 2-star, part-time, lukewarm recorded version.
But great thread. And I think so far "Grapevine" wins.
― Kevin John Bozelka, Monday, 30 March 2009 16:59 (fifteen years ago) link
Grapevine three classics vs. Satisfaction three classics poll
― tenderhoos (Whiney G. Weingarten), Monday, 30 March 2009 17:01 (fifteen years ago) link
(xpost) I think it's more a result of the general sloppiness that Sinatra and Presley's work had in the 70's
― snoball, Monday, 30 March 2009 17:03 (fifteen 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