Toggle sidebar

What cover songs are better than the original?

W

Wall2Boogie

New member
Jan 28, 2010
26,239
5,587
0
what cover songs have you heard that are better than the original? I was listening to a few that to me were better than the original


1. Tesla-signs
2. Gnr- knockin on heavens door
3. White stripes-Jolene
4. Nirvana-the man who sold the world
5. Johnny cash-hurt
6. Hendrix-all along the watch tower

There's a few, I know there are thousands in your opinion which are the best?
 
G

Get Buckets

Well-known member
Nov 4, 2007
4,532
1,397
92
Turn the Page - Metallica
Baker Street - Foo Fighters

Several on the Nirvana Unplugged album.
 
D

DSmith21

New member
Mar 27, 2012
8,297
2,036
0
Van Halen's cover of The Kinks "You Really Got Me".
Manfred Mann's Earth Band cover of Springsteen's "Blinded by the Light"
The Clash cover of "I Fought the Law".
 
Last edited:
L

-LEK-

New member
Mar 27, 2009
11,787
12,233
0
*** on feel the noise- quiet riot
12XU-Minor threat
Ain't talking about love- Minutemen
Hey Joe- Hendrix
Jailbreak- Shellac
Dazed and Confused- Led Zeppelin.

And no to the first 3 songs in the OPs list.
 
funKYcat75

funKYcat75

Well-known member
Apr 10, 2008
32,260
14,822
112
Pretty much this whole album.
 
  • Like
Reactions: UKGrad93
G

GrandePdre

New member
Jan 21, 2008
17,126
1,432
0
I Will Always Love You, original by Dolly Parton, covered by Whitney Houston
Change the Locks, original by Lucinda Williams, covered by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Astronomy, original by Blue Oyster Cult, covered by Metallica
Whiskey in the Jar (rock version), original by Thin Lizzy, covered by Metallica
Respect, original by Otis Redding, covered by Aretha Franklin
Twist and Shout, original by the Isley Brothers, covered by the Beatles
Personal Jesus, original by Depeche Mode, covered by Johnny Cash
Tainted Love, original by Gloria Jones, covered by Soft Cell
Hallelujah, original by Leonard Cohen, covered by Jeff Buckley
 
  • Like
Reactions: tncatsfan, Blueisbest and P.PattersonISwalkingthruthatdoor
8

80 Proof

Well-known member
Jan 3, 2003
64,566
2,675
113
Hurt - Johnny Cash
Dreams I'll Never See - Mollie Hatchet
Tennessee Flat Top Box - Rosanne Cash
The Scientist - Willie Nelson
I'm Looking Through You - Steve Earle
 
  • Like
Reactions: GrandePdre
C

Crushgroove

New member
Oct 11, 2014
7,331
1,961
0
GrandePdre said:
Personal Jesus, original by Depeche Mode, covered by Johnny Cash
Click to expand...

No.

The Black Keys' cover of "I Can't Find My Mind" by The Cramps.
Leo Kottke's cover of "Little Martha" by Duane Allman
Kottke & Gordon's cover of "I'm a Lonesome Fugitive" by Merle Haggard
Big Sugar's cover of "Wild Ox Moan" by Vera Hall
The Gypsy Kings' cover of "Volare" by Domenico Modugno
John Hammond's cover of "Get Behind the Mule" by Tom Waits (but only the acoustic version off of the album Rough & Tough)
 
Last edited:
D

djshanks

New member
Sep 29, 2003
734
5
0
I love the Cash version of Hurt but in no way is it better than the original.
Dolly's I Will Always Love You is far superior to Whitney's version regardless of album sales
I don't know that I think it is better but I prefer the Patty Loveless version of You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive
Rob Thomas does a good cover of Time After Time
No offense to Lead Belly but I am going with the Nirvana version of In the Pines
 
  • Like
Reactions: Lexie's Dad
G

GhostVol

New member
Oct 25, 2007
37,469
4,832
0
Mas Que Nada - original by Jorge Ben, covered by Sergio Mendes
Heard It Through the Grapevine - original by Gladys Knight and the Pips, covered by Marvin Gaye
Never Can Say Goodbye - original by the Jackson 5, covered by Isaac Hayes
Enter Sandman - original by Metallica which is great, but man, I LOVE Lemmy's version.
 
  • Like
Reactions: -LEK- and GrandePdre
L

Lexie's Dad

New member
Jan 12, 2003
9,700
596
0
Cash did a GREAT job with Hurt, but to say it was better than NIN is simply a matter of taste. I like both, but prefer NIN's version.

Also like Manson's version of Personal Jesus.

GnR - Live and Let Die
Nirvana - Anything from Unplugged in New York
Motley Crue - Helter Skelter
Metallica - Anything from Garage Days
Slayer - Anything from Undisputed Attitude

Does Run DMC's Walk this Way count since they did it with Aerosmith?
 
  • Like
Reactions: allabouttheUK and MegaBlue05
B

BlueRaider22

New member
Sep 24, 2003
15,562
1,858
0
There are actually thousands. Most people haven't even heard of the originals.

For example Clay Walker went to #1 on the Country Billboard chart in 1993 with "What's it to you?" Hardly nobody knows that Curtis Wright wrote it and released it a yr prior.
 
T

Teachable Moe

New member
Mar 19, 2015
2,708
876
0
DSmith21 said:
The Clash cover of "I Fought the Law".
Click to expand...

No.

I'd go with "Ruby Ruby" by Dion over The Coasters original.
Here Comes My Baby by the Tremeloes is better than the Cat Stevens original. If you don't know it check it out. Great pop song.
The Yardbirds "Train Kept a Rollin" over the Tiny Bradshaw original or the Johnny Burnette cover. The Tiny Bradshaw original is a jump blues not a rocker so feel free to disagree.
The Stones always improved their Chuck Berry covers. Except their Let It Rock. The Stones changed their performance of Satisfaction to try to catch up to Otis Redding's cover.
Judy Collins "In My Life" is about the only Beatle's song someone improved.
Johnny Winter's "Highway 61" improved the Dylan original even more than Hendrix improved "All Along the Watchtower."
Nobody did a better version of Skylark than Helen Forrest. But you knew that.
Linda Thompson's solo version of Dimming of the Day is better than the one she did with Richard. Amazing but true.
I don't know who did "How Long Has This Been Going On" before Ella Fitzgerald got to it.
You have to try to find something Louis Armstrong didn't improve. The Beatles rarely improved anything.
 
L

-LEK-

New member
Mar 27, 2009
11,787
12,233
0
GhostVol said:
Mas Que Nada - original by Jorge Ben, covered by Sergio Mendes
Heard It Through the Grapevine - original by Gladys Knight and the Pips, covered by Marvin Gaye
Never Can Say Goodbye - original by the Jackson 5, covered by Isaac Hayes
Enter Sandman - original by Metallica which is great, but man, I LOVE Lemmy's version.
Click to expand...
Good call on grapevine. Wilson Pickett does ax mean version of "keep me hanging on" with the muscle shoals band. Not sure if better than the supremes, but decent
 
T

Teachable Moe

New member
Mar 19, 2015
2,708
876
0
DSmith21 said:
You must be thinking of the Bobby Fuller Four version of "I Fought the Law". That was also a cover of Sonny Curtis' song. Either cover (BFF or the Clash) are far better than the original.

Click to expand...


I knew he wrote it, but that stinks. I thought he was simply a song-writer. [checks the intertubes] Wow. Yes. It came out in 1960.

BFF's is best.
 
8

80 Proof

Well-known member
Jan 3, 2003
64,566
2,675
113
Lexie's Dad said:
Cash did a GREAT job with Hurt, but to say it was better than NIN is simply a matter of taste. I like both, but prefer NIN's version.
Click to expand...

I agree, both are great though I prefer the Cash version.

Here's Trent Reznor's famous quote about Cash's cover, I think this sums it up pretty well:
"I pop the video in, and wow… Tears welling, silence, goose-bumps… Wow. [I felt like] I just lost my girlfriend, because that song isn’t mine anymore… It really made me think about how powerful music is as a medium and art form. I wrote some words and music in my bedroom as a way of staying sane, about a bleak and desperate place I was in, totally isolated and alone. [Somehow] that winds up reinterpreted by a music legend from a radically different era/genre and still retains sincerity and meaning — different, but every bit as pure."
 
  • Like
Reactions: GrandePdre
C

catsfanbgky

New member
Oct 18, 2006
18,910
272
0
Smoking in the Boys Room - Motley Crue over Brownsville Station version.

Killing Me Softly - The Fugees better than Roberta Flack version.

I Love Rock & Roll Joan Jett - (Arrows original)

Love Hurts - Nazareth - ( Everly Bros original)

Get it On - Powerstation (T-Rex original version)
 
  • Like
Reactions: cbpointblank1979
L

Lexie's Dad

New member
Jan 12, 2003
9,700
596
0
Whenever I'm in the car with my wife and hear Dylan singing "Heaven's Door" I ask her why he's playing a Guns n' Roses song just to piss her off. It amuses me greatly.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Tinker Dan
M

MegaBlue05

New member
Mar 8, 2014
10,042
2,686
0
Gun N' Roses - Live and Let Die
Slayer - In A Gadda Da Vida (Faster tempo, more appropriate length)
Quiet Riot - *** On Feel The Noise
Anthrax - Antisocial

And .... (ft. ex-Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo)

 
  • Like
Reactions: cbpointblank1979
B

Blueisbest

New member
Mar 22, 2003
24,628
623
0
catsfanbgky said:
Smoking in the Boys Room - Motley Crue over Brownsville Station version.

Killing Me Softly - The Fugees better than Roberta Flack version.

I Love Rock & Roll Joan Jett - (Arrows original)

Love Hurts - Nazareth - ( Everly Bros original)

Get it On - Powerstation (T-Rex original version)
Click to expand...
Yes to everything but Killing Me Softly. I don't care for The Fugees version at all.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom