Cover songs better than the originals

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Bobby_Jim said:
Here’s a slightly obscure one:

Song: “Griselda”
Original: (Un)Holy Modal Rounders (album: Have Moicy!)
Better Cover: Yo La Tengo (album: Fakebook)
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Ah, yes: Yo La Tengo. The legendary New York band that has a yearly tradition of playing concerts each night of Hanukkah. Didn’t mention them because didn’t know who else know about them. “Speeding Motorcycle” (orig. Daniel Johnston) is for all practical purposes now a Yo La Tengo song.
 
Also in the vein of the I-cover-myself-better-live-than-I-do-in-the-studio:

Townes Van Zandt, “Pancho and Lefty”. The album version is a tad overproduced, this live version is far better.

Also, compare these two versions of Simon & Garfunkel’s “For Emily, Wherever I May Find Her”: the studio version, and the live one, which is actually the version on their greatest hits album.
 
John_Lazarus said:
This one’s strange, but it works:

The Song: DIAMONDS
Original Artist: Rihanna (2012)
Cover Artist: Steam-Powered Giraffe (2013)

I generally don’t like Rihanna’s music, but I actually like this song. I like the key(s) it’s played in, the arrangements, etc. I like her live versions better than the original studio version, mainly because I really don’t like the sneery, nasal “Shine bright like a diamond” line. Which is why I’m delighted with the version by Steam-Powered Giraffe, a steampunk-influenced pop group of, um, “robots”. The vocals are primarily done by the character The Spine (David Michael Bennett), who sings the lyrics in two separate registers – a deep, masculine bass/baritone, and an almost delicate tenor. And he imitates Rihanna’s styles and inflections. It’s funny, but it’s also really good.
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This fellow in the Steam-Powered Giraffe video looks like a son of Max Headroom. 😃
 
christofirst said:
This fellow in the Steam-Powered Giraffe video looks like a son of Max Headroom. 😃
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Blue Suede Shoes-Elvis Presley was a cover of the same song by Carl Perkins, Yet Elvis’ version is the one everybody seems to remember.🤷 Also how about “Tutti-Fruity” by Little Richard vs same song by Pat Boone. Then there is “Gloria” by the Shadows of Night or the original version. by. Them (lead singer, Van Morrison)🤷
 
LegoGE1947 said:
Blue Suede Shoes-Elvis Presley was a cover of the same song by Carl Perkins, Yet Elvis’ version is the one everybody seems to remember.🤷 Also how about “Tutti-Fruity” by Little Richard vs same song by Pat Boone. Then there is “Gloria” by the Shadows of Night or the original version. by. Them (lead singer, Van Morrison)🤷
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Beatles Covers that are toss ups:

The Isley Brothers or The Beatles - Twist and Shout
Chuck Berry or The Beatles - Rock 'n Roll Music
The Marvelettes or The Beatles - Please Mr. Postman
Barrett Strong or The Beatles - Money (That’s What I Want)
Dr Feelgood or the Beatles - Mr Moonlight
Carl Perkins or the Beatles - Honey Don’t
Buck Owens or The Beatles - Act Naturally
Larry Williams or the Beatles - Dizzy Miss Lizzy
 
Here’s another one I thought of - the song “Hey Joe” is so closely identified with Jimi Hendrix that I just assumed his version was the original, and definitive. Turns out the origin of this song is unclear, and is probably traditional. But Wikipedia suggests the earliest commercial recording is by The Leaves in 1965-66. So I dug that up on YouTube. Not exactly memorable. Neither are The Leaves. Beatles crossed with Byrds crossed with the Kinks.

youtube.com/watch?v=KWv03Wgz0PQ
 
Bobby_Jim said:
Here’s another one I thought of - the song “Hey Joe” is so closely identified with Jimi Hendrix that I just assumed his version was the original, and definitive. Turns out the origin of this song is unclear, and is probably traditional. But Wikipedia suggests the earliest commercial recording is by The Leaves in 1965-66. So I dug that up on YouTube. Not exactly memorable. Neither are The Leaves. Beatles crossed with Byrds crossed with the Kinks.

youtube.com/watch?v=KWv03Wgz0PQ
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There is a completely different song called “Hey Joe” that is a country song. This is the version by The Anita Kerr Singers. youtube.com/watch?v=XKy6rToMv_o
 
Fireflies by Owl City was covered by Elliot Minor, and I think it was better except for one of the lines that was changed to something inappropriate to try to be funny. 😦 other than that, I like how it sounds more “real”… As in, real instruments, and their voices don’t sound as… hmm, robotic? as the original.
 
Bobby_Jim said:
Here’s another one I thought of - the song “Hey Joe” is so closely identified with Jimi Hendrix that I just assumed his version was the original, and definitive. Turns out the origin of this song is unclear, and is probably traditional. But Wikipedia suggests the earliest commercial recording is by The Leaves in 1965-66. So I dug that up on YouTube. Not exactly memorable. Neither are The Leaves. Beatles crossed with Byrds crossed with the Kinks.

youtube.com/watch?v=KWv03Wgz0PQ
Click to expand...
My favorite cover is the recent one by Otis Taylor on his album “Recapturing the Banjo” (available on iTunes) - who would have thought that a banjo could sound so melancholy?
 
Late to the party, I suppose, but I couldn’t resist:

I originally wanted to post that, while technically covers (I know they are parodies), anything by Weird Al Yankovic I tend to enjoy more than the original song. Most underrated talent around, IMHO.

Ditto Hall & Oates’ “You Lost That Loving Feeling”.

Also, Beach Boys’ “Come Go With Me” (At least, I understand it’s a cover, not sure who the original artist was).

Any Cheap Trick cover but especially “Don’t Be Cruel” (which, I understand, very nearly became the first ever Elvis cover to go to Number One.)

Phil Collins, “Can’t Hurry Love”

The Nylons, “Dream a Little Dream” (Rather obscure a capella group)

I went and saw the band Chicago live back in '82 and their encore was a Beatles song (it’s been too long but I think it was 8 Days a Week) (Remember Chicago already had many, many, many hits of their own and their ENCORE was this song and (again IMHO as a non-Beatles fan (heresy?)), they blew the Fab Four out of the water.
 
Now don’t everyone kill me but Alien Ant Farm does a version of Smooth Criminal that I would rather hear than MJs
 
OK, here’s one I just heard… The Byrds cover of “This Wheel’s On Fire” is far better than The Band’s original. Some may disagree. I’m not a huge fan of The Band anyway. Their version has some weird organ (maybe an early synthesizer?) and odd string sounds. The Byrds version is more raw, apocalyptic almost with heavy distortion and great guitar work by Clarence White. Not the sound I usually associate with The Byrds, particularly that lineup of the Byrds did a lot more country-flavored stuff.
 
WIllie Nelson’s cover version of Always On My Mind tops the Elvis version
 
Bobby_Jim said:
OK, here’s one I just heard… The Byrds cover of “This Wheel’s On Fire” is far better than The Band’s original. Some may disagree. I’m not a huge fan of The Band anyway. Their version has some weird organ (maybe an early synthesizer?) and odd string sounds. The Byrds version is more raw, apocalyptic almost with heavy distortion and great guitar work by Clarence White. Not the sound I usually associate with The Byrds, particularly that lineup of the Byrds did a lot more country-flavored stuff.
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I never heard this song before, I just went over to YouTube to listen, and I agree with you.

As a matter of fact, if you like it with an eighties flavour, Siouxsie and the Banshees do a better version than The Band.
 
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