bluesboy Posted December 17, 2008 Report Posted December 17, 2008 These covers are dancing around both sides of the original Mr. Bojangles by Jerry Jeff Walker (1967), some a little better some not. Jerry Jeff Walker Sammy Davis Jr. Nina Simone and my favorite... The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (music starts at 1:56 of video clip )
bluesboy Posted December 17, 2008 Report Posted December 17, 2008 Since Louis Jordan cut Is You is or is You Ain't My Baby in the mid '40s and Screamin' Jay Hawkins cut Is You is or is You Ain't My Baby in 1991, the mere fact of modern arrangements and recording techniques gives the original a run for the money.
Farin Posted December 22, 2008 Report Posted December 22, 2008 Someday at Christmas ~ Pearl Jam cover of Stevie Wonder and Jackson Five
MindCrime Posted December 30, 2008 Report Posted December 30, 2008 Bullet the Blue Sky - Queensryche (a cover of the U2 song)
bluesboy Posted January 2, 2009 Report Posted January 2, 2009 Eddie Cochran originally did - Cut Across Shorty (1960) But it was probably done better by Rod Stewart off his Gasoline Alley album.(1970)
bluesboy Posted January 3, 2009 Report Posted January 3, 2009 I think the original is almost every bit as good as the Nilsson version. Everybody's Talkin' - Fred Neil (1965) Everybody's Talkin' - Harry Nilsson (1969)
The Seeker Posted January 13, 2009 Report Posted January 13, 2009 Man With Money -- The Who This is a cover of an Everly Brothers song. Does anybody happen to have the original? I'd love to hear it.
The Seeker Posted January 13, 2009 Report Posted January 13, 2009 Lee pointed me in the right direction I like the original too, but I'm sorry to say they lacked Keith Moon
Farin Posted February 1, 2009 Report Posted February 1, 2009 Drive ~ The Veils originally from R.E.M.'s Automatic for the People great song - in both versions
bazooka Posted February 3, 2009 Report Posted February 3, 2009 Don't It Make You Want to Go Home Joe South's original is a kind of clunky country song, not much by my tastes. The Persuasions completely enlivened the song and turned it something so much better. And they did that a cappella to boot! ([smaller]note: YouTube courtesy of the always tasteful[/smaller] bluesboy )
KentH Posted February 3, 2009 Report Posted February 3, 2009 Won't say it's better, but it is definitely different and gives the song a whole new feel: Jason Mraz--Blitzkrieg Bop (Originally by the Ramones)
KentH Posted February 3, 2009 Report Posted February 3, 2009 Gad, it's horrible. *LOL* I said it was different!
blind-fitter Posted February 3, 2009 Report Posted February 3, 2009 But for a much more palatable example of a top-notch punk tune covered in an unexpected stylee: "Gary Gilmore's Eyes" - The Pine Valley Cosmonauts The Adverts' original, by way of comparison: Link
TheLizard Posted February 3, 2009 Report Posted February 3, 2009 Gad, it's horrible. Seconded. Let's take one of the most energetic rock songs ever and turn it into a putrid lullaby. My brain hurts.
MindCrime Posted February 7, 2009 Report Posted February 7, 2009 Smooth Criminal - Alien Ant Farm Originally performed by Michael Jackson
edna Posted February 7, 2009 Report Posted February 7, 2009 RonS2V made me think about it. I almost prefer "Every Time You Go Away" by Paul Young rather than the original by Hall and Oates
Viaene Posted February 7, 2009 Report Posted February 7, 2009 Smooth Criminal - Alien Ant Farm Originally performed by Michael Jackson I love that version :rock:
LeeBB Posted February 7, 2009 Report Posted February 7, 2009 RonS2V made me think about it. I almost prefer "Every Time You Go Away" by Paul Young rather than the original by Hall and Oates I sure don't. I loved Paul Young when he was in the Q-Tips, but then he went solo with that not-great version of a great song. Why did he change the tune/rhythm of the chorus? I don;t see the point. Actually, I don't see the point of that cover at all. Take a great song by a hugely successful contemporary act, change the chorus a little, and release it as a single. I mean... why? I guess part of what annoys me is that Darryl Hall is a hugely under-appreciated blue-eyed-soul singer. He made it big doing poppy peppy bubble gum music, but he was in fact a singer to-die-for. (Love the stuff he did for Robert Fripp..._ Anyway, I don't think that the cover is a patch on the original, and I don't think that Paul Young solo was ever as wonderful as the Q-Tips had been. That's just me venting. I wish I could sing like Paul Young. Obviously...
edna Posted February 15, 2009 Report Posted February 15, 2009 "River Of Salt" - Ketty Lester I can´t find Bryan Ferry´s cover, which -I think- is far better than the original...
Steel2Velvet Posted February 15, 2009 Report Posted February 15, 2009 In 1966-68, I performed as half of a folk duet "Jim & Me." Our songs were almost exclusively lifted from Ian and Sylvia albums. I would not say we covered their music, but that we emulated their music. There is a big difference, though both methods are rooted in respect. That Jason Mraz slowed down The Ramones' piece or that Paul Young de-souled Darryl Hall is secondary to both artists' creative ability to interpret. This creative interpretation is so much more noteworthy than mere emulation, relying on hopefully "better" voices, arrangement or instrumentation. Lauro Niro certainly did not have the vocal talents of David Clayton Thomas; and Bob Dylan's voice certainly takes some getting used to, but how can one assert the writer's own version is less "how it should be played" than those who covered them? Or that the cover artist had the intention of denigrating the original? There can really be no "right or wrong" "great or awful" in those cases - only our individual taste in music, which will steer us to appreciate more or less a particular version, though all great covers are born from the covering artist's respect for another version and the desire to make it their own. Adoption, as it were. And anyone who has adopted will tell you that much consideration goes into that decision. I feel a lot of our opinions can be tainted by which version we heard first. I heard Paul Young's version of Everytime You Go Away many times before even knowing it was originally by Darryl Hall, whose voice and style is in my Personal Pantheon of Admired Voices. Now (thanks to Songfacts) that I have discovered Hall's outstanding original I share respect for both versions. Though Hall's version goes straight to my gut, I also appreciate that Paul Young did not simply, by virtue of his voice alone (like Jim and me used to do - albeit very, very poorly) lift Hall's song, but did alter the chorus and other parts, so that he in fact paid homage to what I am sure he felt was a great song. Ironically, Hall and Oates did a remake of the Righteous Brothers song, You've Lost That Loving Feeling with hardly a note out of place from the original. That was more imitation than interpretation, but as the saying goes, "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."
greendaddy43 Posted February 15, 2009 Report Posted February 15, 2009 OK so I'm new and this thread is already 14 pages long so forgive me if I'm reposting. Nine Inch nails - Hurt Johnny cash - Hurt This would never have been possible (in my opinion) if the cover hadn't had been done when Johnny Cash was so close to dying. The video is one of the best at capturing the truth behind what everyone was thinking.
Farin Posted February 15, 2009 Report Posted February 15, 2009 This would never have been possible (in my opinion) if the cover hadn't had been done when Johnny Cash was so close to dying. The video is one of the best at capturing the truth behind what everyone was thinking. I think that really has a lot to do with why it's so popular
bluesboy Posted February 16, 2009 Report Posted February 16, 2009 Colin James & The Little Big Band's version of Surely I Love You is a modern swingin' update of Roscoe Gordon's original (1960)(Vee-Jay # 348) .
greendaddy43 Posted February 17, 2009 Report Posted February 17, 2009 I used the original version in another thread and I thought I had to put it here. When The Levee Breaks - Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie When The levee Breaks - Led Zeppelin
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