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
i think it's nice how both "Satisfaction" and "Grapevine" both have three undeniable classics via "rock version", "soul version," "punk deconstruction"
― tenderhoos (Whiney G. Weingarten), Monday, 30 March 2009 17:05 (fifteen years ago) link
"The Model" - Kraftwerk, Big Black, Electric Six
― snoball, Monday, 30 March 2009 17:07 (fifteen years ago) link
xpost to self
New question: Are there any other songs that have three classics in that mold?
― tenderhoos (Whiney G. Weingarten), Monday, 30 March 2009 17:07 (fifteen years ago) link
The Harlequin 4's "Set It Off??' The Samoans' "Time Has Come Today??"
These ones are awesome; are you nuts? (Ever hear the Harlequin 4 14-minute B-side supposedly "instrumental" even though it isn't version? Jeez, man. It's like ESG or something, but way longer.) C# Sharp's and the Ramones (ditto their sub-Dictators "California Sun"), okay maybe a little bit less so, I admit. I still absolutely stand by "The Mexican" and "Ca Plane Pour Moi" and "Someone's Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In" and "Hey Joe" and "Gloria" though. (And honestly never thought Gladys's "Grapevine," much less CCR's interminable version, were all that great. But that's just me.)
― xhuxk, Monday, 30 March 2009 17:08 (fifteen years ago) link
much less CCR's interminable version
you are insane
― I'm Into that Japanese Pop-Funk (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 30 March 2009 17:10 (fifteen years ago) link
its way better than their version of I Put a Spell On You!
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