By popular demand--a covers thread

[Soul of Wit]

A separate thread to discuss covers of other artist's music. All genres and general thoughts on covers are welcome.

 

As a possibly controversial starter, five Beatles covers that I particularly enjoy...

 

"Got To Get You into My Life" - Earth, Wind & Fire (one of my favorite Beatles tracks, and the EW&F treatment is a valid tribute--many a EW&F fan has no idea that this is a Beatles song)

 

"Here Comes the Sun" - Richie Havens (it's tough to compete with perfection, but the guitar work and soulful voice make this a gem in its own right)

 

"Dear Prudence" - Siouxsie & The Banshees (somehow, the same slow tempo and psychedelic trappings sound different in the '80s)

 

"Two of Us" - Aimee Mann & Michael Penn (a perfect track to be covered by the singer/songwriter couple)

 

And saving the best for last...

"T.N.K. (Tomorrow Never Knows)" - 801 (801 was a short-lived side project for Phil Manzanera, Brian Eno, et al.)

audio on YouTube

 

My attitude towards Beatles covers is that their music can stand up to any cover, good or bad. I might as well explore the wide breadth of covers available. For covers, in general, I feel that influential artists should be covered. That's one of the (lesser) ways that they are influential. Imitation (or variations, or even--gasp--sampling) is flattery.

[Goldengirl]

My favorite cover song is "Float On" by Ben Lee, originally by Modest Mouse.

 

I think that cover songs should differ from the original version. They shouldn't be so much a cover that tries to match the original, but instead a reimagination of the song, perhaps in an entirely new genre. Otherwise, why bother listening to the cover song?

[Soul of Wit]

Ben Lee is a good one to check out for singer/songwriter fans. I just checked, and his MM cover is his second most popular song on Spotify.

 

Generally agreed on covers, Goldenking. Some genres are so broad that two artists can technically be in the same genre but be miles apart. Once in a while, someone manages to pull off a "faithful" cover that adds something to the original. Often, this is simply a superior voice. I could always argue that the singer/songwriter with the barely passable voice is still better. Perhaps because their so-so voice (or "acquired taste" voice) adds flavor to the song. I'm thinking of much of Bob Dylan's singing here, but there are other examples.

[Actaeon]

I like covers which significantly alter the orignal (otherwise what's the point?).

 

That could mean a completely different genre (Symphonic Stairway to Heaven)...

 

Or just a different style (

)...

 

Or even the original band changing it up (

).

[Callie]

Off the top of my head (Original artist in parentheses):

 

Led Zeppelin - "When the Levee Breaks" (Memphis Minnie and Kansas Joe McCoy)

 

Peter, Paul, and Mary - "Blowin' in the Wind" (Bob Dylan)

 

The Byrds - "Turn! Turn! Turn!" (Pete Seeger)

 

Johnny Cash - "Hurt" (Nine Inch Nails)

 

Jimi Hendrix - "All Along the Watchtower" (Bob Dylan)

 

Kingston Trio - "Where Have All the Flowers Gone" (Pete Seeger)

 

The Beatles - "Twist and Shout" (Phil Medley and Bert Russel)

[darint]

A few more (showing my age I am afraid):

 

Elvis Presley - "Hound Dog" (Big Mama Thornton)

 

Janis Joplin - "Ball and Chain" (Big Mama Thornton)

 

Janis Joplin - "Me and Bobby McGee" (Roger Miller)

 

Marvin Gaye/Gladys Knight and the Pips - "Heard it through the grapevine" (Smokey Robinson and the Miracles)

 

The Platters - "Smoke gets in your eyes" (Gertrude Niesen)

 

Talking Heads - "Take me to the river" (Al Green)

[Actaeon]

Originally Posted By: darint

Elvis Presley - "Hound Dog" (Big Mama Thornton)

Janis Joplin - "Me and Bobby McGee" (Roger Miller)

Marvin Gaye/Gladys Knight and the Pips - "Heard it through the grapevine" (Smokey Robinson and the Miracles)

Talking Heads - "Take me to the river" (Al Green)

Originally Posted By: Excalibur

Led Zeppelin - "When the Levee Breaks" (Memphis Minnie and Kansas Joe McCoy)

The Byrds - "Turn! Turn! Turn!" (Pete Seeger)

Jimi Hendrix - "All Along the Watchtower" (Bob Dylan)

The Beatles - "Twist and Shout" (Phil Medley and Bert Russel)

Not much controversy with these. Many of them were made famous in their cover form, and in some cases (All Along the Watchtower, for instance), the originals sound a bit hollow to those that heard the cover first.

(Edit: I actually heard CCR's "Heard it Through the Grapevine" before either Gaye's cover or the original. Without Fogerty, they BOTH sound a bit weak.)

[Randomizer]

Walter Murphy and the Big Apple Band - "A Fifth of Beethoven" (Beethoven's Fifth Symphony)

[darint]

Yeah, I could have included CCR in "Heard it through the grapevine", but it seemed too many artists and it is the version I like the least. If you haven't heard it, do yourself a favor and at least listen to Gladys Knight and the Pips' version. It is a lot different than the others and really rocks.

 

And speaking of CCR:

 

Nina Simone/CCR - "I put a spell on you" (Screaming Jay Hawkins)

 

And another trio I just remembered:

 

Bill Haley and the Comets/Elvis Presley - "Shake, Rattle, and Roll" (Big Joe Turner)

 

Although for this last, I actually like the original best by far, with Presley's take a distant second. (The same goes for "Ball and Chain")

[Drayk Armitage]

There's plenty of room for taste with covers, too. I don't like Johnny Cash's cover of "Hurt" as he replaced the industrial, quiet-noise elements that have always seemed to me to be the most powerful part of the song, and replaced them with a more conventional instrumentation. On the other hand, Trent Reznor famously said that he liked Cash's version better than his own. There's no accounting for taste, I guess. Here are some covers that I like -- and we'll take Trent as a starting point:

 

Nine Inch Nails -

(Queen) - a hugely improved arrangement from the original

 

Devo -

(Nine Inch Nails) - in my mind pretty much the definitive Devo recording, for what that may or may not be worth

 

Schneider TM vs. Kpt. Michi.gan -

- (cover of "There is a Light" by the Smiths)

 

David Bowie -

(The Pixies)

 

The Pixies -

(The Jesus and Mary Chain)

 

Ciccone Youth AKA Sonic Youth - "Addicted to Love" (Robert Palmer)

 

 

 

In the "makes you twist your brain a little" category:

 

Bigod 20 - "Like a Prayer" (Madonna)

 

Moog Cookbook -

(Weezer)

 

Scala Choir -

(The Divinyls)

 

 

 

Finally, here is the most atrocious cover I've ever seen:

 

Dionne Warwick - "Blowin' in the Wind" (Bob Dylan) - talk about missing the point entirely (note - you can hear a clip on the link without giving any info if you are slightly persistent)

[waterplant]

Johnny Cash 'The Mercy Seat', (Nick Cave)

 

Joe Strummer 'Redemption Songs', (Bob Marley')

 

Pearl Jam 'Crazy Mary', (Victoria Williams)

 

B(if)tek 'Wired for Sound', (Cliff Richard)

 

Bruce Springsteen 'I Want You', (Bob Dylan)

 

Rage Against the Machine 'The Ghost of Tom Joad', (Bruce Springsteen)

 

 

There are so many great covers around and these are a few that come to mind. Aforementioned Richie Havens and EWaF covers are pretty awesome.

 

 

...und - Jose Gonzales cover of The Knife's 'Heartbeats' is a beautiful version of an outstanding track.

[The Ratt]

Well I'm going to show my age here:

 

Cris Cab -

, (Foster the People)

[The Mystic]

To anyone showing their age: There's nothing wrong with that; a lot of good music came from your generation.

 

And now, since I really don't have much else (if anything else) to contribute to this thread, I'll just sit back and groove on.

[Dintiradan]

Originally Posted By: Slarty

Devo -

(Nine Inch Nails) - in my mind pretty much the definitive Devo recording, for what that may or may not be worth

Originally Posted By: Slarty

There's no accounting for taste, I guess.

:-P

My opinions on covers are pretty much identical to Goldenking's and others'. There are a few covers that I think are strictly better than the original, but for the most part, I just want to hear them do something new and interesting with the song.

A lot of mine have already been taken; I'll list a bunch more:

A.F.I. -

(

)

Apocalyptica and Nina Hagen - Seeman (Rammstein

Joan Baez -

(The Band)
(Both are

live,

.)

The Blues Brothers -

(

)

The Clash -

(

)

Jimmy Cliff -

(Johnny Nash)
(If you want to hear more Johnny Nash

)

Jimmy Cliff -

(

)

Cream - Crossroads (

; originally "Cross Road Blues")

Crooked Still -

(

)

Crooked Still -

(

)

Gary Jules -

(

)

The Glitch Mob -

(

(It seems everyone has a "Seven Nation Army" cover.)

The Headstones -

(The Traveling Wilburys)

Laibach -

(

)

Laibach -

(

)

Laibach -

(The Rolling Stones)

Madness -

(Prince Buster)

Madness -

(

)

Andy McKee -

(

)

Frank Sinatra -

(

)

Pete Tosh - Johnny B. Goode (

)

Pretty much everything on Raising Sand, but I've said that before. Does S&M count as the San Francisco Symphony covering Metallica?

I'm not sure what to think about groups that do nothing but produce covers. Someone posted Scala And Kolacny Brothers' version of "Creep" a while back. I was intrigued, but then I realized "Oh, all their songs sound like this." I've had the same experience with the Vitamin String Quartet. The only S&K song that really caught my attention was their cover of Rammstein's

.

EDIT: And now for something completely different:

[Cairo Jim]

I'm pretty sure S&M wouldn't really count as a cover. It's still Metallica playing their own songs. But not to long ago, Metallica, along with Anthrax, Megadeth and Slayer all got on stage to do an awesome cover of Diamondheads Am I Evil?

[Yuna Corne]

The S&K songs that caught my attention were The Beautiful People (Manson) and Black Horse and a Cherry Tree (K.T. Tunstall). The rest tends to bore me, especially since the conductor acts so over the top it's a distraction from the performance.

 

Raising Sand is excellent, and I'm glad you pointed out Nina Hagen's version of Seemann - that's an excellent song.

 

No, S&M doesn't count. Like Jim says, it's still Metallica.

 

Melanie Safka's cover of anything is almost always superior to the original. Ruby Tuesday (especially her 90's version which I'm seemingly incapable of finding...) blows away the Rolling Stone's version by a thousand times;

has ten times the passion that Ronstadt's ever did. I'm So Blue, Detroit or Buffalo,

- all beautiful, beautiful songs.

 

Richie Havens happens to do my single favourite version of

I've ever heard, though to be fair, I've never heard a bad version of it.

 

I love both Rammstein's version of

, as well as the

of it. And on that subject, I also love the Gregorian version of

, as well as

version of the same song.

 

Still on the subject of Rammstein, Mina Harker's version of

is pretty great, even if I'm not a *huge* fan of Laibach's bits.

 

I love Erasure's covers of Abba, the winners being

,

and

.

 

I've also been listening to a *lot* of cello covers lately (not really counting Apocalyptica here, 'cause while I love the idea most of their stuff is largely forgettable). Some favourites have been Smooth Criminal, Welcome to the Jungle,

, this INCREDIBLE version of

done in Swahili,

,

, and

...

 

...but while I'm on the topic of cellos...I may as well start bringing up some excellent Zelda covers, since Zelda is my favourite series of all time and the music has indelibly affected my life. So experience:

 

, Cello Ensemble

on wine glasses

on beer bottles

 

I think I'll stop now. I tend to overpost when it comes to music.

[Dintiradan]

Originally Posted By: Yuna Corne

I think I'll stop now. I tend to overpost when it comes to music.

Same boat. Oh, and there should have been a smiley after my S&M comment.

[Soul of Wit]

Originally Posted By: Dintiradan

The Clash -

(

)

My much older sister (cough) had the original on a vinyl 45. I love both the original and the cover.

Originally Posted By: Dintiradan

Jimmy Cliff -

(Johnny Nash)
(If you want to hear more Johnny Nash

)

Jimmy Cliff's signature vocal performance:

and the

, from a '70s reunion of The Animals.

Originally Posted By: Dintiradan

Pete Tosh - Johnny B. Goode (

)

I see what you did there. Personal trivia: My wedding date is the date that Marty goes back to when he goes back to the future.

Originally Posted By: Dintiradan

I'm not sure what to think about groups that do nothing but produce covers. Someone posted Scala And Kolacny Brothers' version of "Creep" a while back. I was intrigued, but then I realized "Oh, all their songs sound like this." I've had the same experience with the Vitamin String Quartet. The only S&K song that really caught my attention was their cover of Rammstein's

.

That someone would be me. There are good cover bands, just as there are--apparently--good cover choirs. That's the point. Most people can find a choir version of a song that intrigues them.

[Soul of Wit]

Originally Posted By: Excalibur

Off the top of my head (Original artist in parentheses): ... Johnny Cash - "Hurt" (Nine Inch Nails) ...

My wife isn't particularly a fan of either artist, but she loves this cover. The man in black had a late career as an artist covering a wide variety of genres. In turn, here's a cover of a Cash classic, by an artist best known for

.

Wall of Voodoo, covering

. There's an intro, followed by the cover at about :50 into the video.

[Soul of Wit]

Originally Posted By: HOUSE of S

... The Pixies -

(The Jesus and Mary Chain) ...

Great list, Slarty. I never even think about the original version of "Head On". I suppose that is high praise for The Pixies.

[Rowen]

I like covers that are done on the spot-ish. I also like David Fords raspy voice so I tend to enjoy his fun covers.

(starts at :45)

[Necris Omega]

I for one enjoy Jonathan Coulton's version of

by Lenard Cohen

[Drayk Armitage]

Originally Posted By: Soul of Wit

Originally Posted By: HOUSE of S

... The Pixies -

(The Jesus and Mary Chain) ...

Great list, Slarty. I never even think about the original version of "Head On". I suppose that is high praise for The Pixies.

I love both versions for different reasons and go back and forth as to which I prefer. It took me longer to appreciate the original, though. The Pixies' version is aided by its rather juicy placement on Trompe Le Monde, which I still consider to be one of the best rock albums of all time.

[Soul of Wit]

Originally Posted By: Rowen

I like covers that are done on the spot-ish. I also like David Fords raspy voice so I tend to enjoy his fun covers.

(starts at :45)

I'm always on the hunt for covers of "Under Pressure". Thanks for adding this amusing one to my collection. One of the most unique that I've found is...

[Rowen]

I don't know how I forgot about this cover that Steve Burns did of one of my favorite songs.

[Soul of Wit]

Rowen, you are just full of adds to my listening/YouTube viewing. Now, I'm off to research covers of TMBG.

[Randomizer]

Take On Me was covered in the series finale of Chuck by Jeffster accompanied by a full orchestra Thereby giving the show's writers one more back to the 1980s moment.

[Soul of Wit]

OT: The series finale is full of the humor that this simple spy show is known for. Minimal spoilers ensue. A stalker/pervert network is utilized to crowd-source a missing person location. A frankfurter-themed fictional fast food franchise is featured (I've been saving that one.) There is blatant product placement for both an automobile make and a well-known sandwich chain. European taste in US music is mocked openly. It even had a pro-Chicago message, for those forum members so inclined. Romantic, semi-comedic montage and roll credits.

[The Mystic]

Originally Posted By: Yuna Corne

on wine glasses

Yeah, I've seen that one before. Epic.

Originally Posted By: Yuna Corne

on beer bottles

Yikes. Just when I thought it was safe to say I've seen and heard everything..........Cool video, though.

Another good Zelda cover:

on marimba.

And now, I'll sit back and listen to

By Weird Al Yankovic, and have some

courtesy of the Muppets' Swedish Chef.

[keira]

http://ocrememix.org

 

'nuff said.

 

(See also, the Punk Goes Pop albums for covers of atrotious pop songs. Or Punk Goes Classic Rock for covers of real music).

[Soul of Wit]

I assume that you meant...

 

http://ocremix.org/

 

I do love covers of pop schlock, cartoon theme songs and the like.

 

[aka Ravenwing]

Slight topic revival out of necessity. So many metal covers, so few fans of it here… a pity.

 

Let's keep it simple for now. Northern Kings: Reborn and Rethroned, for starters.

[The Mystic]

using some old-school tech.

 

And the

At least, it freaks me out a bit.

 

It's amazing (and, quite frankly, a little disturbing) what can happen when geeks get bored.

[Dintiradan]

I listened to that second link, and then a related link, but done with a hard drive instead.

 

I couldn't finish. Worse than nails on a chalkboard. Seriously, making music out of head crashes? Not for me.

[The Mystic]

I guess I must have a good ear (and a high tolerance) for bad music.

 

Maybe it sounds better when the dark side goes to the dogs.

[aka Ravenwing]

Holy crap, Mystic… I mean… wow…

 

A couple more good ones.

 

Can't go wrong with Blind Guardian.

Mr. Sandman (The Chordettes)

Dream a Little Dream of Me (Ozzie Nelson, I think?)

 

A newish power metal band called Enbound did this. This is actually pretty awesome.

(Michael Jackson)

 

And then there's this horrible little thing Children of Bodom did to a horrible little song. Kinda comical though.

(Britney Spears)

[Alorael at Large]

Originally Posted By: Dintiradan

I listened to that second link, and then a related link, but done with a hard drive instead.

I couldn't finish. Worse than nails on a chalkboard. Seriously, making music out of head crashes? Not for me.

It doesn't help that the floppy drives sound good, while the hard disks sound like, well, crashes.

—Alorael, who is a fan of the many songs made out of Windows sounds effects. Apple doesn't provide nearly the number or variety of sounds that Windows does, so the Mac side of the default sound songs is lacking.

[Soul of Wit]

Originally Posted By: Take the Word by storm.

—Alorael, who is a fan of the many songs made out of Windows sounds effects. Apple doesn't provide nearly the number or variety of sounds that Windows does, so the Mac side of the default sound songs is lacking.

I used to alter all of the Mac's default sounds, and add sounds where none were provided (nor needed.) I want to say that this was circa System 6 or 7, which narrows it down to the late '80s to late '90s. I must have had considerably more free time than I do now.

EDIT: Definitely pre-1995. That's about when the WWW took off, along with a game series. I think it was called Exile, or something like that.

[The Mystic]

Originally Posted By: aka Ravenwing

Holy crap, Mystic… I mean… wow…

Thanks. That's one of the subtle joys of random browsing.

Originally Posted By: aka Ravenwing

A newish power metal band called Enbound did this. This is actually pretty awesome.

(Michael Jackson)

I think it's good too, and I don't care for metal. Also, while listening to it, I kept hearing

in my head; maybe I need to get away from Weird Al for a while.

[Blue Summer Sky]

I realy like this cover of Animal Collective's

On the flip side of that, I really liked Animal Collectives cover of Nirvana's

 

Panic At the Disco's cover of

from the musical "Little Shop of Horror" is also pretty good

 

Reel big fish did a nice cover of Hungry like the wolf , although I must admit I've never heard the original.

 

I prefer the original, but Andrew Jackson Jihad did a really nice cover of NMH's

[keira]

Asking Alexandria covered 18 and Life and Youth Gone Wild in their Life Gone Wild EP. Pretty swell stuff, if I may say so myself.

[Enraged Slith]

Wally plays Monkey Island theme

(this guy makes a lot of amazing arrangements for guitar, though his playing is a little sloppy)

(everything on this guy's channel is gold)

[The Mystic]

Originally Posted By: Enraged Slith

(this guy makes a lot of amazing arrangements for guitar, though his playing is a little sloppy)

Let me add to that the

.

I also found the original Zelda theme done on

, and another one on something called a

. One word of caution: The sound from these two videos (especially the Tesla one) may be a bit hard on the ears.

[Rowen]

I heard this on KoL Radio tonight and just had to share it.

[Lilith]

Originally Posted By: Rowen

I heard this on KoL Radio tonight and just had to share it.

fun fact: trent reznor of nine inch nails said that this was a better version of the song than the original

[Actaeon]

Cash does some solid covers. The local radio station played his version of "Heart of Gold" a few days ago, and I was caught between cracking up and listening raptly.

 

(His "Bridge over Troubled Water" is better than Elvis's, but not really my cup of tea.)

 

Edit: http://www.coversproject.com/artist/johnny%20cash/

[Dintiradan]

Um, wasn't "Bridge over Troubled Water" a Simon and Garfunkel song? By that time Elvis was just doing covers too.

 

Also: KoL Radio is still a thing? I assumed it would have died out the same time all those other web radio stations were legislated out of existence.

[Erebus the Black]

Originally Posted By: Dintiradan

Um, wasn't "Bridge over Troubled Water" a Simon and Garfunkel song? By that time Elvis was just doing covers too.

Yup,
apparently Aretha Franklin and Linda Clifford and many more also covered it.

[Actaeon]

Yes. And I've never heard it covered well. It was written for Garfunkel's voice.

[Callie]

Don't tell that to Paul Simon.