Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, "Somewhere over the rainbow" (Judy Garland)
You can't possibly listen to this song without smiling. A gently strummed ukulele accompanies Kamakawiwo'ole's sweet voice.
Rob Dunne:
Don't Let Me Down - Stereophonics covering Beatles - Kelly Jones' voice is pitch perfect - great version.
Hit Me Baby - Travis covering Britney Spears - starts out funny and then gets scary when you realize it's a great tune.
Mission Impossible Theme - Larry Mullen, Jr. & Adam Clayton covering Lalo Schifrin - kick ass rendition from the bass/drum powerhouse duo.
Everlasting Love - U2 covering Robert Knight - I just love this version , the acoustic guitar is perfect.
I am the Walrus - Oasis covering Beatles - Liam Gallagher's voice on this is brilliant.
Bittersweet Symphony - Coldplay & Richard Ashcroft covering The Verve - live at the Live 8 show, this was fantastic.
Exit Music (For a Film) - Christopher O'Riley covering Radiohead - beautiful on the piano.
Hallelujah - Jeff Buckley covering Leonard Cohen - powerful version.
Paul Dobry:
Cat Power "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" (The Rolling Stones)
Chan Marshall strips down this raucous Stone's hit on her aptly titled "Covers Record". The album is rife with beautiful reworkings from Nina Simone, The
Velvet Underground, David Bowie and others. On this one she omits the chorus entirely and adds a slowed melancholy that lends all new meaning to lyrics like
"Can't you see, I'm on a losing streak?"
Jeff Buckley "Hallelujah" (Leonard Cohen)
No one has made a cover this much their own since Hendrix made people think Dylan was covering him. Buckley's voice is more haunting than on any of his own tunes. His voice soars to hit notes that Cohen couldn't quite reach, giving the song life that Cohen surely intended but couldn't achieve.
Nirvana "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?" (Leadbelly)
Sometimes there is a reason that certain "too young to die" rock stars get props they do. As overrated as Kurt Cobain may be, I don't think anyone else could come this close the the burning desperation evident in this Leadbelly song. No one can top Mr. Leadbetter's working class, done against, bad luck moan, but Cobain pulls out all the stops to get damn close.
Radiohead "Nobody Does it Better" (Carly Simon)
Thom Yorke introduces this live cover as "the sexiest song that was ever written." The perfect execution of this tune makes one think that Carly Simon wrote the
it as a preemptive response to the cover.
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.