Cover versions that are better than the originals....

hubobulous · June 2018

Controversial, but Pet Shop Boys version of Always on my Mind improves on the already excellent Presley version. Yeah, I know.

Also, Bonamassa's version of Sloe Gin is a superb improvement on Tim Curry's, although the original is quite dark and brooding and good.

And Finally Soft Cell's version of Tainted Love is so good, its synonymous with them.

poopot · June 2018

Aretha Franklin and “respect”

nuff said!.

vale · June 2018

hubobulous said:

Controversial, but Pet Shop Boys version of Always on my Mind improves on the already excellent Presley version. Yeah, I know.
Also, Bonamassa's version of Sloe Gin is a superb improvement on Tim Curry's, although the original is quite dark and brooding and good.
And Finally Soft Cell's version of Tainted Love is so good, its synonymous with them.

agree with both the soft cell & pet shop boys covers.

i'm barely old enough to remember, but judging by contemporary best-ofs ('now' & 'totp') there were a lot of sh*t covers of classics in the early 1980s when anything with a synth on was a novelty. but those two are stand out excellent.

Zoolooter · June 2018

EricTheWeary said:

Grangousier said:

EricTheWeary said:

I'd nominate Robert Wyatt's version of Shipbuilding ( my memory of this prompted by his OGWT performance which someone posted on here the other day). But, yes, tends to be familiarity really and that's hard for your head to get past.

Replying a bit late, but... Wyatt's version is the original - the song was written for him to sing. Costello's version is the cover, if anything.

Ahh, okay, I never knew that.

Ah, but Chet Bakers solo on the Costello version is magnificent.

TTBZ · June 2018

I like most of the songs on the RATM Renegades album more than the originals. Then again they're not really covers, more like rage instrumentals with other people's lyrics.

Social Distortion - Under My Thumb.

Reverend · June 2018

TTBZ said:

I like most of the songs on the RATM Renegades album more than the originals. Then again they're not really covers, more like rage instrumentals with other people's lyrics.

Social Distortion - Under My Thumb.

Renegades is the only RATM album I have, but I've never listened to it.

robinbowes · June 2018

hubobulous said:
Also, Bonamassa's version of Sloe Gin is a superb improvement on Tim Curry's, although the original is quite dark and brooding and good.

I didn't realise it was a cover for a while and thought it was evidence of Bonamassa's song-writing. Nope!

I actually prefer the Tim Curry version.

R.

Haych · June 2018

Just for a laugh, has nobody mentioned this one yet? No, wait, it was better than the original!

A few more I think are better than the originals:

Rush - Summertime Blues
Winterplay - Billie Jean
Pat Travers - Ain't Superstitious
Crooked Still - Little Sadie (not really a cover to be fair but the best version out there)
Buddy Holly - Bo Diddley
Paul McCartney - All Shook Up

Stuckfast · June 2018

Rod Stewart's version of Jailhouse Rock is bloody good.

McSwaggerty · June 2018

quarky · June 2018

Arguably this is at least as good as the original!

guitarmangler · June 2018

The yacht rock version of enter sandman

skip to 2.30

mr-mac · June 2018

Route 66 - Stones...

they defo nailed that song by making it more Chuck Berry than Chuck himself did.

EricTheWeary · June 2018

mr-mac said:

Route 66 - Stones...

they defo nailed that song by making it more Chuck Berry than Chuck himself did.

I guess their’s was based off the Berry version although the song was originally recorded by Nat King Cole. Haven’t heard it for a while but I really loved the Brian Setzer version.

Doug · June 2018

Gary Moore - Shapes of Things

Doug · June 2018

Phil X Superstition

mr-mac · June 2018

EricTheWeary said:

mr-mac said:

Route 66 - Stones...

they defo nailed that song by making it more Chuck Berry than Chuck himself did.

I guess their’s was based off the Berry version although the song was originally recorded by Nat King Cole. Haven’t heard it for a while but I really loved the Brian Setzer version.

Maybe based off hearing his version but Berry's sounded most like his normal trademark 12 bar riff. Where as stones brought it up to what a Berry song should have sounded like and of course added a whole chunk of themselves

EricTheWeary · June 2018

mr-mac said:

EricTheWeary said:

mr-mac said:

Route 66 - Stones...

they defo nailed that song by making it more Chuck Berry than Chuck himself did.

I guess their’s was based off the Berry version although the song was originally recorded by Nat King Cole. Haven’t heard it for a while but I really loved the Brian Setzer version.

Maybe based off hearing his version but Berry's sounded most like his normal trademark 12 bar riff. Where as stones brought it up to what a Berry song should have sounded like and of course added a whole chunk of themselves

Just playing different versions as I’m cleaning up in the kitchen. The Berry version is different to the Cole version and then the Stones version takes it further. They were each a few years apart so there’s a clear evolution but it does mean listening to them back to back the Berry one becomes the version that isn’t quite one thing or another.

I think Cole is overlooked a bit these days, I guess he didn’t have Rat Pack cool and he did record a lot of schmaltz but he was a tremendous jazz/ blues pianist and had such a rich voice. Or perhaps I’m getting old enough that Nat King Cole is starting to appeal and I’ll start cranking up Andy Williams and Perry Como next...

Haych · June 2018

guitarmangler said:

The yacht rock version of enter sandman

skip to 2.30

Oh I do like that!

ICBM · June 2018

That reminds me...

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Cover versions that are better than the originals....

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