William Shatner covering Pulp's "Common People."
Many (especially Pulp fans) despise this cover, and with good reason. But if you can’t take joy in the sneer in Shatner’s voice as he spits “you’ll never fail like common people,” then you are certainly not cynical enough.
David Schultz:
Respect – Aretha Franklin covering Otis Redding
After hearing Aretha's revamped version of Respect, Otis Redding knew exactly what had happened, declaring "that girl done stole my song." Improving on the original in every way, Aretha created a feminist statement while cementing her reputation as the Queen of Soul. No cover song has been as intimately associated with its singer as Respect and Aretha. Without question, the best cover song ever.
Hey Joe – Willy Deville ostensibly covering Jimi Hendrix
The Hendrix version of Hey Joe is a cover itself but it is the seminal version of the song and any version that followed must out of necessity be compared to it. While most artists covering Hey Joe try to put their spin on the signature guitar riffs, Deville goes in another direction – he employs a Mariachi band. Replete with horns and a Tijuana beat, Deville’s version works on a different level from all of the other versions.
Gloria – Patti Smith covering Them
On her debut album, Horses, Patti Smith turned the Van Morrison sing-along into a growling punk anthem. Smith's super-cool poetry backed by Lenny Kaye's thundering guitar robbed the song of all its innocence. This is definitely not the stereotypical sing-along version.
With A Little Help From My Friends – Joe Cocker covering The Beatles
The only chance you may have of one upping the Beatles is to cover a Ringo tune. Cocker transformed the Beatles family friendly song into an anthem of the Woodstock generation and ultimately the coolest TV theme ever. The Cocker rendition is one of the better examples of adapting another artist's song to your strengths.
Proud Mary – Ike & Tina Turner covering Creedence Clearwater Revival
Tina Turner brought an abundance of energy to this laidback CCR tune and turned it into her signature song. Replacing the "choogle" with rhythm and blues, Ike & Tina assured that this song will be a classic in multiple genres of music. John Fogerty's impetus to once again play his Creedence songs came from Bob Dylan telling him that if he didn't, the world would remember Proud Mary as a Tina Turner song.
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.