Heather Huff:
Jimi Hendrix, "All Along the Watchtower" (Dylan) Dylan's original is a minimalist, three-chord acoustic folk song with apocalyptic lyrics. Hendrix gave new life to the song by matching the lyrics with urgent, fire and brimstone guitar solos. Rumor is Hendrix heard "All Along the Watchtower" on the radio and went into the studio the same day to record his own version. He took this song to another level, yet he stayed true it's essence.
Tom Waits, "Sea of Love" (Phil Phillips)
Simply Sublime. Tom Waits, with one of the most expressive voices of our time, took a popular love song and gave it an authenticity no one else (The Honeydrippers, Robert Plant, Cat Power) could quite muster.
Flying Burrito Brothers, "Wild Horses" (Rolling Stones)
The cover that came a year before the original. Keith Richards once said that he and Gram Parsons played so much together that they "osmosed." Whatever you call it, Parson's influence on Stones classics such as this one and "Honky Tonk Women," are obvious. The FBB version doesn't stray too much from the original, but it is a tad more country and Parson's voice is, I dare say, more engaging.
Ryan Adams, "Wonderwall" (Oasis)
Drawing from his endless pit of emotion, Ryan Adams took a sad song and made it sadder. It took some nerve to cover an Oasis song, but he made this one his own. Even Noel "every-other-musician-is-a-wanker" Gallagher agrees, so much so that he now covers the Ryan Adams version.
Pet Shop Boys, "You Were Always On My Mind" (Elvis)
The Pet Shop Boys completely transform the feeling of this song and it's not just with the addition of a disco beat. The refrain, "you were always on my mind" switches to, "you were always in my house," replacing the theme of love to one of resentment.
Pixies, "Head On" (Jesus and Mary Chain)
This sped up version of the Jesus and Mary Chain classic is a fairly straightforward cover of a great song. Frank Black's spunk and the band's energy give it more of a punk rock feel.
Blue Cheer, "Summertime Blues" (Eddie Cochran)
Blue Cheer is one of the hardest and sadly most over-looked bands of the late 60’s. Their version of "Summertime Blues," leaves little of the original, save the lyrics. They scrap the shuffle beat in favor of screeching guitar lines that would pave the way for heavy metal.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Elizabeth
You can't forget:
1) David Bowie's cover of "Waiting for the Man" by The Velvet Underground
2) Nirvana's cover of "The Man Who Sold the World" by David Bowie
2 - JD
those are good ones too!
3 - Eric Berlin
I'll throw in Dynamite Hack's cover of Easy-E's "Boyz in the Hood." Brilliant, funny, and compulsively listenable. Stark old school rap converted to harmonious folk-pop.
4 - JD
yes its very cool when folks from competely different genres cover songs.
5 - Mark Saleski
i haven't heard that Dave Mathews version of The Maker but it had better be ultra-fatastic to unseat the reference standard: Emmylou Harris on the record "Spyboy".
6 - JD
I haven't heard the Emmy Lou version.
7 - steve
Some cross-genre covers....
-Zebrahead's cover the Spice Girls' "Wannabe" (from pop to punk)
-Toad the Wet Sprocket's cover of KISS's "Rock And Roll All Nite" (rock to folk)
-Limp Bizkit's cover of George Michael's "Faith" (pop to heavy metal/rap)
-Anything by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes (ex. Mandy, Rocket Man, Sweet Caroline, etc) (70's Adult Contemporary to Punk)
8 - andy marsh
how about SRV doing Stevie Wonder?
9 - The Proprietor
OK, perhaps I'm showing my age here, but I'd certainly say the Beatles covers of "Twist And Shout" and "Long Tall Sally" are worthy of consideration as great covers.
10 - Jeff Davidson
thumbs up to all of those too. SRV rocked. Pretty much anything the Beatles did was great in my book.
I also like the Red Hot Chilli Peppers version of "Higher Ground" and forgot to add that in.
11 - Chris Beaumont
Rob Zombie's versions of Brickhouse, I'm Your Boogeyman, and Blitzkrieg Bop are fantastic!
12 - Mike
I submit that the greatest Dylan cover of all time is The Byrds' version of "My Back Pages." It was radiant with the joy of rebirth, in a way that even the acoustic original couldn't quite muster.
The Beatles covers were great, too, and what about Elvis? "That's All Right Mama," "Blue Moon of Kentucky," and "Hound Dog," among others, were covers and who can imagine anyone else doing them now?
13 - Elizabeth
Oh, for the best genre crosser I've ever heard . . .
Eels cover of "Get Your Freak On" by Missy Elliot
14 - Jeff Davidson
You guys are coming up with some cool stuff! And, some stuff I haven't heard.
15 - Eric Berlin
Marilyn Manson's cover of "Sweet Dreams" is pretty creepy/great.
16 - Chris Beaumont
That is true, Eric!
How about Anthrax (w/PE) Bring the Noize?
17 - Chris Beaumont
Sepultura's Black sabbath cover of Children of the Grave.
Type O Negative's cover of Neil Young's Cinnamon Girl
18 - Eric Berlin
Oh, speaking of Type O Negative:
They do a simply fabulous, kind of hardcore goth version of The Doors' "Light My Fire."
19 - Mark Sahm
It's not too widely known, but the Foo Fighters did a phenomenal cover of the 70's classic "Baker Street" by Gerry Rafferty. The original had sax solos and disco synth, but the Foos reworked it all to guitar and bass. It's the B-Side to the UK "My Hero" single.
20 - Eric Berlin
Mark -- That is a great cover, absolutely. It played on the radio for a bit around five years ago.
21 - Mark Sahm
Oh, how could I forget--- Rage Against The Machine's cover of Springsteen's "Ghost of Tom Joad". Those lyrics were meant to be screamed. Heh.
22 - Eric Berlin
I'd pick several RATM covers over Tom Joad. How about Dylan's "Maggie's Farm" or "Renegades of Funk" by... African Bambaata, I believe?
23 - JR
Mission Impossible Theme - Larry Mullen, Jr. & Adam Clayton covering Lalo Schifrin
sucked.
They took a really cool 5/4 riff and dumbed it down to 4/4 for the brainless dance crowd.
24 - Elizabeth
A recent cover that is pretty damn great it Caesar's cover of Blue Oyster Cult's "(Don't Fear) The Reaper." It was released on Six Feet Under: Everything Ends, Music from the HBO Original Series - Vol. 2. Read more and listen to the song at http://musiccapitol.blogspot.com/2005/07/six-feet-under-everything-ends-music.html
25 - Eric Berlin
And for the record, I think that Scissor Sisters' cover of Floyd is off-the-charts great. It's rare when a great song is reinvented into an equally great (or greater?) tune while not being at all derivative of the original.
For the record: what is NOT off-the-charts great... I flipped on MTV this morning and caught Jessica Simpson's cover of "These Boots Are Made For Walking."
My fingers walked right over to the remote and flipped over to Headline News.