Al Krow Posted March 2, 2019 Share Posted March 2, 2019 (edited) Just seen an interesting documentary, that was originally released back in 2015, so I suspect a bunch of you will already have seen it: "The Joy of the cover" on iPlayer. What kinda surprised me more than anything was the Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah' only charted after Alexandra Burke took her cover version of his (wonderful) song to #1. I'm guessing that's not going to be the only example? So for those of us in covers bands (plus any other folk on BC who happen to like listening to music!): - any other examples of covers 'making' the original or doing something to the original that completely made it their own in a good way? Hopefully that's a sufficiently soft sell for this thread... Edited March 2, 2019 by Al Krow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassBus Posted March 2, 2019 Share Posted March 2, 2019 5 minutes ago, Al Krow said: Hopefully that's a sufficiently soft cell for this thread... There, corrected. Hopefully that doesn't taint your love too much 😄 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Krow Posted March 2, 2019 Author Share Posted March 2, 2019 6 minutes ago, BassBus said: There, corrected. Hopefully that doesn't taint your love too much 😄 And their version was better than Gloria's right? She was a self confessed virgin when she sang the song and could never quite 'feel' it, whereas Marc Almond had no such issues! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skankdelvar Posted March 2, 2019 Share Posted March 2, 2019 (edited) Mr Tambourine Man All Along The Watchtower Hanging On The Telephone Because The Night He’s Gonna Step on You Again (What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding Edited March 2, 2019 by skankdelvar 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassBus Posted March 2, 2019 Share Posted March 2, 2019 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Krow Posted March 2, 2019 Author Share Posted March 2, 2019 20 minutes ago, skankdelvar said: Mr Tambourine Man All Along The Watchtower Hanging On The Telephone Because The Night He’s Gonna Step on You Again (What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding Some very good shouts there! And also a couple that I need to go away and listen to Have to admit one of the things I really love about these threads is my ears getting treated to some great music I should be, but am not yet, familiar with! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Islander Posted March 2, 2019 Share Posted March 2, 2019 (edited) Hurt (Johnny Cash) Nothing compares 2 u (Sinead O' Connor) Respect (Aretha Franklin) Hallelujah (Jeff Buckley) Take me to the river (Talking Heads) All the young dudes (Mott the Hoople) Blinded by the light (Manfred Mann) The only way is up (Yazz) You've got a friend (James Taylor) Ok, I'll stop now... Edited March 2, 2019 by Islander I keep remembering more :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveFry Posted March 2, 2019 Share Posted March 2, 2019 " Without You "from the 1970 album No Dice by Badfinger was a later hit for Harry Nillson , and also later for Mariah Carey . Fred Neil's " Everybody's Talkin' " was a hit 3 years after for Harry Nillson after his version was featured in the " Midnight Cowboy " film . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaggy Posted March 2, 2019 Share Posted March 2, 2019 IMHO it's surprisingly rare that the the cover is better than the original best example to me of the reverse being the case is the sublime "It's all over now Baby Blue" by Them, covering a Bob Dylan song (actually, probably most Dylan is improved by covers.....). Also: Heatwave -The Jam Nostalgia - Penetration Fields of gold - Eva Cassidy One - Johnny Cash Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobbayne Posted March 2, 2019 Share Posted March 2, 2019 Got My Mind Set On You - George Harrison Rosalie - Thin Lizzy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Krow Posted March 2, 2019 Author Share Posted March 2, 2019 11 minutes ago, Shaggy said: IMHO it's surprisingly rare that the the cover is better than the original Fields of gold - Eva Cassidy That was an absolutely beautiful cover by Eva before her untimely death. However, Sting's original was, for me, equally good if not better. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CameronJ Posted March 2, 2019 Share Posted March 2, 2019 Never thought much of the original, but... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taunton-hobbit Posted March 2, 2019 Share Posted March 2, 2019 1 hour ago, BassBus said: Oh gawd, weren't we all sooo young............ 😎 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulWarning Posted March 2, 2019 Share Posted March 2, 2019 any Bob Dylan song sounds better when covered than the original, I'm can never see what good songs they are when I hear his versions. Bit of a link, Hendrix's covers were always better than the originals 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul S Posted March 2, 2019 Share Posted March 2, 2019 I feel like that about Bruce Springsteen songs, generally prefer the covers. Born to Run, Frankie goes to Hollywood, Blinded By the Light, Manfred Man's Earth band, Fire, Pointer Sisters etc 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Krow Posted March 2, 2019 Author Share Posted March 2, 2019 16 minutes ago, PaulWarning said: any Bob Dylan song sounds better when covered than the original, I'm can never see what good songs they are when I hear his versions. Bit of a link, Hendrix's covers were always better than the originals It's kinda interesting the contrast you draw there. As neither would claim to have the world's best vocals. I suspect we'd all agree that one was amongst the best writers of lyrics and the other very possibly the best guitarist ever. But I agree with you: as an example for me, one of the most beautiful love songs ever written was 'Make you feel my love' by Dylan. The lyrics are perfect. But it was only when a 19 year old graduate of a Croydon school for performing arts recorded it, that I really sat up and took note of the song and had a 'wow!' moment. Just checked, she's had a 157 million YouTube views for just one version of her cover. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Starr Posted March 2, 2019 Share Posted March 2, 2019 (edited) I'll nominate Torn, my secret joy is playing the bass line, an example of a bass player getting it just right and lifting a song out of obscurity. I read an interview with Paul Bushnell bassist with the original band Ednaswap about how devastated the band were when the Natalie Imbruglia version became a hit. I had no idea it was a cover and listening to the original you can see why. Ann Preven doesn't sound torn, she sounds pretty angry and not someone you'd want to cross, the guitarist pisses all over everything and the light and shade doesn't fall right with the lyrics (which are great IMO) Bushnell is a bloody good bassist but the session man on the Natalie Imbruglia song blows him away this time. There's a postscript. I thought I'd see who the bassist was, Wikipedia rocks. Phil Thornally, who I suspect a lot of you know. Bassist with the Cure of Love Cats era. Grammy award winner and crucially co-writer of Torn. At least I recognised he was good I'm off to see if I can still remember all those little fills. Edited March 2, 2019 by Phil Starr 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted March 2, 2019 Share Posted March 2, 2019 7 hours ago, Al Krow said: - any other examples of covers 'making' the original or doing something to the original that completely made it their own in a good way? The definitive cover of Hallelujah was Jeff Buckley's 1994 version. Joe Cocker, Get By With A Little Help From My Friends. Delbert McClinton, Standing On Shaky Ground. Eva Cassidy, Over The Rainbow. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stub Mandrel Posted March 2, 2019 Share Posted March 2, 2019 7 hours ago, Al Krow said: any other examples of covers 'making' the original Just about anything by Bob Dylan with the exception of Like a Rolling Stone? Actually, a lot of his early work was covers/traditional songs anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulWarning Posted March 2, 2019 Share Posted March 2, 2019 2 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said: Just about anything by Bob Dylan with the exception of Like a Rolling Stone? Actually, a lot of his early work was covers/traditional songs anyway. not heard Hendrix doing it then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin_lindsay Posted March 2, 2019 Share Posted March 2, 2019 (edited) I've always loved this version Devo - (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction https://youtube/jadvt7CbH1o Edited March 2, 2019 by kevin_lindsay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin_lindsay Posted March 2, 2019 Share Posted March 2, 2019 Also, the Buggles version of this track was the definitive version (this original version was produced by Trevor Horn too) Video Killed The Radio Star 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Islander Posted March 2, 2019 Share Posted March 2, 2019 Another one is Amy Winehouse's version of Valerie although IMO the Zuton's original was far far better. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Krow Posted March 2, 2019 Author Share Posted March 2, 2019 1 hour ago, chris_b said: The definitive cover of Hallelujah was Jeff Buckley's 1994 version. I think most musicians would agree. But it wasn't the cover version that made the song famous. In fact if Buckley hadn't died his version might well have disappeared with a trace. The cover that actually had the biggest commercial impact on the song was by Wainwright / Cale in 2001 as part of the film Shrek. It's terrible in comparison to the Buckley version! "It was on the strength of Wainwright's and Cale's renditions that "Hallelujah" truly became a phenomenon—six-year-old kids were suddenly singing "Hallelujah," and adults came to know it as the song from Shrek." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted March 3, 2019 Share Posted March 3, 2019 Dear Prudence by Siouxsie & The Banshees was a great cover, far better than The Beatles version imo. 6 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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