Best covers evarrr?

[CaledonianGonzo]

The Byrds Dylan covers are very good, but they seemed to become a bit of a crutch for them to use at times, in the same way as they did for Joan Baez.  There's 11 or 12 of them, aren't there?

I too would pick My Back Pages as the best.  I love the overall sound of Mr Tambourine Man, but there's just too much missing from it - after all, it excises what many consider to be the loveliest verse that Dylan ever wrote.

[CaledonianGonzo]

from the same album, Pulp's "All Time High" effortlessly pisses all over the bland Rita Coolidge version.

That Pulp cover lives or dies on one's affection for Jarvis and his whispery spoken-word breathings.  I'm a long-time sceptic and non-believer on the Cocker front, so for me Rita Coolidge takes his piss, swallows it and pisses it straight back at him.  David Arnold's orchestration is nice, but it's spoiled by what's going on in the foreground.  Again, though, a great song to begin with.

However, I do love The Propellerheads take on OHMSS.

[Identity Crisis Ahoy!]

after all, it excises what many consider to be the loveliest verse that Dylan ever wrote.

Really? Which verse?

[CaledonianGonzo]

Then take me disappearin'
through the smoke rings of my mind,
Down the foggy ruins of time,
far past the frozen leaves,
The haunted, frightened trees,
out to the windy beach,
Far from the twisted reach of crazy sorrow.

Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky
with one hand waving free,
Silhouetted by the sea,
circled by the circus sands,
With all memory and fate
driven deep beneath the waves,
Let me forget about today until tomorrow.

[Famous Mortimer]

Granted, it's a lovely curio and a nicely groovy chill-out listen, but you're on your own if you think that at any point a bunch of schoolgirls mouthing along to their music teacher's piano chords outdoes the originals.  

Heck, I included one of their tunes on that outsider music CaB radio mix I did and I don't think they're better than the originals either. Not that my opinion should carry any more weight thanks to the above sentence...check out the end-of-fundraiser WFMU marathon DJ karaoke party for some amazing cover versions, including Bronwyn doing a great take on "Kill The Klansman" by Sun City Girls. Oh, and talking of Sun City Girls, their "Midnight Cowboys From Ipanema" album, chock full of covers, has some gems on it.

[Mary Hinge]

Purely medicinal. Take one of the most insanely catchy novelty songs evarrr and do it ska style. This cheers me up no end. WARNING: Your reaction may be different.

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7wBwtbwdK8[/youtube]

[olafr]

Different people associate this gospel standard with different artists, so whenever it's often seen as a cover, even though there is no original per se.

I love the Ramsey Lewis version, and I used to do a poor take on Graham Bond's rendering in a band a few years ago myself, but I think this is the best version of the song:

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKjkUPzui7A[/youtube]

A really gutsy singer and sadly one that has never got the credit she has deserved. I think she also does the version of 'High Flying Bird' too. Anyone into the likes of Jefferson Airplane should check out the album she did with Jerry Yester, as some of the material is fantastic, particularly 'Snowblind'.

[Hank_Kingsley]

I'm loving R.L Burnside at the moment and his version of 'Chain Of Fools' is an example of a good cover which does something a little different:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/we769p

[boki]

Hellsongs - 'Seasons in the Abyss' (original by Slayer)

[youtube=425,350]ekBU-3gJEZU[/youtube]

The original has, for me, one of Slayer's very best riffs in it and I really like the slight re-arrangement they did on it for the piano part at the beginning.

[Looknorth]

I'm loving R.L Burnside at the moment and his version of 'Chain Of Fools' is an example of a good cover which does something a little different:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/we769p

Thanks for posting that - Good to see another R.L. Burnside appreciator on here.

[Hank_Kingsley]

Here's a lovely instrumental version of that old favourite 'Sea of Love' by the wonderful John Fahey:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/o3l97e

Ah, it's nice.

[olafr]

Hellsongs - 'Seasons in the Abyss' (original by Slayer)

[youtube=425,350]ekBU-3gJEZU[/youtube]

The original has, for me, one of Slayer's very best riffs in it and I really like the slight re-arrangement they did on it for the piano part at the beginning.

Those Nords have form for this. Here's the Cardigans' version of Iron Man: they did quite a few Sabbath covers.

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zq78YAuvZRU[/youtube]

[Looknorth]

<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/VhHzIH9W9Sc"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/VhHzIH9W9Sc" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>

Look at this and weep, a cover of Eleanor Rigby by Kim Weston. Just gold.

[Identity Crisis Ahoy!]

That fucking rules. Love the steamtrain bassline. The song sounds very Bondish. Like it a lot. What else has she done of note?

[Looknorth]

That fucking rules. Love the steamtrain bassline. The song sounds very Bondish. Like it a lot. What else has she done of note?

My blog later today will be doing a bit about her(roman empress, link on my page). I'm still researching her at the mo. But she managed to turn world's most yawn-inducing song into pure magic so....

[Crabwalk]

That Kim Weston Track is available on the 'Soul Gospel' compilation on Soul Jazz Records.

http://www.souljazzrecords.co.uk/releases/?id=219

You can pick it up for a tenner from the usual sources and it is sublime pretty much from beginning to end.

[samadriel]

Great!  Thanks Looknorth.  Dunno if it quite stands up compared to Godhead's BRUTAL RE-ENVISIONING, however.  Who needs the Beatles when we have Godhead?

[Looknorth]

That Kim Weston Track is available on the 'Soul Gospel' compilation on Soul Jazz Records.

http://www.souljazzrecords.co.uk/releases/?id=219

You can pick it up for a tenner from the usual sources and it is sublime pretty much from beginning to end.

that's right  my friend, I have said album and it's pure love juice, sheer liquid g.o.l.d

[Spiteface]

Wind of Change, performed by your lord and master, Alexander Nestor Haddaway:

[youtube=425,350]http://youtube.com/watch?v=z0jvHpDhyqU[/youtube]

I really didn't know which thread to put this, by the way, but this one was nearest...

I amused me, anyway...

[Don_Preston]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=i6TtRPn4hzs

[Famous Mortimer]

Should anyone be in the Sheffield area tomorrow night, my friend Lizzie is DJing at the Washington pub, doing nowt but cover versions. It should be a reasonably large amount of fun.

[Rolf Harris]

Haven't read the whole thread but in case it hasn't already been mentioned, Beck's cover of Diamond Dogs (on the Moulin Rouge soundtrack) is awesome.

[jonbob]

Hellsongs - 'Seasons in the Abyss' (original by Slayer)

[youtube=425,350]ekBU-3gJEZU[/youtube]

The original has, for me, one of Slayer's very best riffs in it and I really like the slight re-arrangement they did on it for the piano part at the beginning.

Just about every acoustic band in the world does covers of Slayer, even Tori Amos. It's as common as pop-punk bands doing covers of 80s hits.

[Hank_Kingsley]

In a similar vein to The Byrds Dylan versions, The Flying Burrito Brothers did some great country covers of soul classics like 'Dark End Of The Street' and 'Do Right Woman'.

I think their version of 'Wild Horses' manages to do something different from the original, and,while not surpassing it, compliments it nicely.

[Identity Crisis Ahoy!]

Yep, their version of Wild Horses might just be better than the original.

[scarecrow]

Emmylou Harris' cover of Gram's Luxury Liner is aaaaaaaaace.

[samadriel]

Can't say I see the big deal about the Burritos' "Wild Horses" -- just sounds like a slightly wonky version of the original with a louder vocal.

[Hank_Kingsley]

Jive.

[boki]

Just about every acoustic band in the world does covers of Slayer, even Tori Amos. It's as common as pop-punk bands doing covers of 80s hits.

Ugh, don't remind me of the time I heard three seconds of Tori Amos' version of 'Raining Blood'!

[Identity Crisis Ahoy!]

The worst is that wacky shit doing a slowed down version of Straight out of Compton. I can't remember who did it but she needs a face full of lava.