A Small Panel Discusses The Greatest Rock Cover-Versions of All-Time
Published April 03, 2004
This began, I believe, with Jim Henley's exploration of classic cover-versions of songs.
Here are my nominees:
--Sleater-Kinney's "More Than A Feeling" (Boston): which makes it clear, if anyone failed to appreciate the message of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit", that the sheer emotional power of the original song could fuel far more radical undertakings than technologically oriented FM-rockers like Boston ever dreamed...
--Linda Scott's "I've Told Ev'ry Little Star" (Jerome Kern): Which brought Kern's genius to the Phil Spector generation far more effectively than the Platters had a few years earlier--at least in my opinion...
--The Ramones' "Needles and Pins" (Sony Bono & Jack Nitzsche) & "Do You Wanna Dance?" (Bobby Freeman): The Ramones are famous for their covers, and it's because they dramatize the group's almost unique ability to maintain the tension between wearing their influences on their sleeves and going boldly where no band had gone before (all artists ought to strive to walk this line!)
--The Breeders' "Happiness is a Warm Gun" (Beatles): Dave Intermittent also nominates this one--it's sort of like the finished portrait based on the brilliant sketch the Beatles gave us...
--The Clash's "Pressure Drop" (Toots and the Maytals): The fusion of rock and reggae that the band had been seeking to perfect since their first album...
--Nirvana's "Molly's Lips" (the Vaselines): A good song brought to a boil by Cobain's amped up sense of urgency...
Aaron Haspel awards the title of Champion Cover of the Universe, Blogosphere division, to Devo's version of "Satisfaction"... I came forward, a few days back, with these nominees. After further consideration, I want to add:
--Bobby Fuller's versions of "Summertime Blues", "I Fought the Law", and "Anytime at All" (Beatles)
--The Pixies' version of "Head On" (Jesus & Mary Chain)
--Sheryl Crow's interpretation of "D'Yer Maker" (Led Zeppelin)
--Nirvana's version of "Lake of Fire" (Meat Puppets)
At that point, Aaron decided that we ought to clarify our terms:
One, [the cover] must be better than the original. Different does not suffice. Wish You Were Here covers are eliminated prima facie, Wish You Were Here being the greatest rock song ever written.Right now, if i had to pick one, I would still go with the Breeders...
Two, the song must be great to begin with. You cannot make a silk purse from a sow's ear. Shonen Knife's Top of the World is out.Finally, and almost ineffably, the cover must be inevitable. It must strike the listener as the way the song should have been done in the first place. The Breeders' Happiness Is a Warm Gun may still qualify, but as I haven't heard it, I cannot say.
What do the rest of you think?
Dave
- A Small Panel Discusses The Greatest Rock Cover-Versions of All-Time
- Published: April 03, 2004
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- Section: Music
- Filed Under: Music: Rock
- Writer: David Fiore
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Joan Jett's version of Crimson & Clover
Another good Tommy James cover would be Concrete Blondes "Crystal Blue Persuasion"
Another great Concrete Blonde cover song is Hendrixs' "Little Wing" but maybe wouldn't qualify as being "better than the original".
Rubinoos doing "I Think We're Alone Now"
Clash doing "I Fought the Law"
Ramones doing "Baby I Love You"
Van Halen - "You Really Got Me"
Dinosaur Jr - "Just Like Heaven"
Dickies - "Knights In White Satin"
Todd Rundgren - "Never Never Land"
Metallica - "Stone Cold Crazy"
Bauhaus - "Ziggy Stardust"
Beatles - "Twist and Shout"
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: "By The Time I Get To Phoenix" (a double cover since he did the Isaac Hayes version which is a cover - and live he did the Hayes monologue)
The Pixies: "Heaven" (the Lady in the Radiator song)
Israel "IZ" Kamakawiwo'ole: "Somewhere Over The Rainbow - What A Wonderful World"
Circle Jerks - Repo Man Soundtrack - "When The Shit Hits the Fan"
This Mortal Coil - "Song of the Siren" (though does a group which only exists to do covers really count?)
Lemon heads - Mrs. Robinson
Bruce Springsteen - Viva Las Vegas
Hendrix - All along the watchtower
Oh, don't get me started! Uh oh- too late.
We could get a nice spate of songs covered by Sinead O'Connor. You just HAVE to hear her versions of
"Ode to Billie Joe" I'm not sure there could be such as a thing as something clearly "better" than the original Bobbie Gentry classic, but this would be it. She brings all kinds of misty Irish dread that shows the song in a whole new light.
"Success Has Made a Failure of Our Home" I know this as a country song, but Sinead takes it to the moon as a big band drama.
"I Believe in You" Again, I hate to say "better" than Bob, but yeah.
Actually since Lemonheads were mentioned, their version of "Luka" just kicks all kind of ass, since essentially the band are better known for their covers than for their own songs.
oh - and Birdsongs of the Mezosic - "Rocky and Bullwinkle" theme. That Rockeys, and hey, I pulled a rabbit out of my hat!
William Shatner's "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"?
Perhaps not.
Most of my candidates have been listed already, but what about Gary Moore's version of "Shapes of Things".
Arguably not quite a cover (because it includes one of the original writers), Rainbow's live version of "Mistreated". Ronnie Dio certainly takes Coverdale's original song and makes it his own.
Johnny Cash's interpretation of Hurt (by NIN) is one of the best songs he ever recorded, and it draws out the meaning of the words in a manner so heartfelt that you can't help but see it as the perfect cover.
Great Rock Cover Songs,hhhmmmmmmmm.....
Del Shannon - Under My Thumb
(I'm a Stones freak but this version is
just as good,maybe even better)
Jimi Hendrix - Drifters Escape
(Jimi's best Dylan cover)
Johnny Winter-I'll Drown In My Own Tears
(NO WAY you can top Ray Charles but this
is a very good version of this tune.)
Ramones - Time Has Come Today
(The R's manage to breath new life into
this Chambers Bros. piece)
The Gories - Ghost Rider
(Yeah,the Suicide song.You might not of
ever heard these guys,but you should)
Iggy Pop - I'm Crying
(He never recorded this Animals tune but
I saw him do it live and it Rocked!!!)
Otis Redding - Satisfaction
(Otis just steals this one away from the
Stones!)
Brownsville Station - Sweet Jane
(A killer version of a killer tune)
D.O.A - Communication Breakdown
(I don't dig Led Zep but I like this)
The Dickies - Tra La La
(The Banana Splits rule and this cover's
the fastest and funniest version of The
Spilts theme song)
Awww, there's just too many good covers
but these ten tunes come to mind.
What about Manfred Mann's Earth Band. Their covers of Bruce Springsteen's "Blinded by the Light" blew away the original. Listening to Bruce sing that song after hearing Mann's cover is pure torture. They also did a really outstanding job on the Police's "Demolition Man." They fixed the rhythmic issues on both and just plain did a great job. They could be the finest cover band ever. By the way, any of you hippies who throw out The Greatful Dead, please don't.
Sum killer kovers R:Devo- Satisfaction
Killdozer - Cinnamon Girl,The Minutemen-
Green River, Meat Puppets- Beer Drinkers
& Hell Raisers, Circle Jerks - Wild In
The Streets (Garland Jeffreys cover).
allahthesefuggersrock!!!
"Pretty in Pink" by Social Distortion is excellent
Good call on "Head On" -- it's way better live than on record when the Pixies do it. A great example of a great band making an already-good song even better (albeit very different).
"Son of a Gun" was the better Vaselines song that Nirvana covered. It was an odd choice because it was such a sweet pop song, but it made for the sweetest thing Nirvana ever recorded, a bit of sunlight (as the song says) amidst all the darkness that was that band.
Social Distortion did one of the best covers of all time with "Ring of Fire," which was still one of their live encores when I saw them last weekend.
That is all.
Didn't we already have a topic like this?
Anyway Sid Vicious - My Way
Springsteen singing "War!"
U2 - Maggie's Farm (live)
WHAT ABOUT MACHINEHEAD - MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE!!! for god sake its so much better the stings orginal verson, and what about whisky in the jar by metallica!!!!
Nina Hagen - White Punks on Dope
But in fact, no band but the Dickies even needs to be mentioned in this category, because they take ANY song they cover and make it better. Adding their speed punk style to a pedestrian song can turn it into something remarkable.
Let me recommend:
Nights in White Satin (Moody Blues)
Sounds of Silence (Simon and Garfunkel)
Paranoid (Ozzy Osborne)
Eve of Destruction (Barry McGuide)
Gigantor Theme Song - absolutely the best
dave
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Right off the bat, any number of Aerosmith covers of old blues & rock classics, and that's not even including the new album (haven't heard most of it yet). Let's see, how about "Milk Cow Blues" from Draw the Line, even if they used the Kinks' cover as a prototype of their own. Sure beats having to sit through another power ballad like "Cryin'".