Cover version beats the original!

[martin8708]

For me , the Amy Winehouse /Ronson version of Valerie .

Good bass stuff in Lemonheads Mrs Robinson ( Simon + Garfunkel  ) 

Previously mentioned , Clash - I fought the law .

[ProfJames]

12 hours ago, Al Krow said:

 

I'm sensing a theme here. Lol! But "anything"?!!!

Just find me something better than Something. 

Shirley Bassey version

[ProfJames]

Walk on By - The Stranglers

Emma - Sisters of Mercy

Like a Hurricane - The Mission

[Shaggy]

11 minutes ago, ProfJames said:

Shirley Bassey version

Talking of Shirley Bassey:

 

[Al Krow]

45 minutes ago, Nail Soup said:

hhhhhmmmm not sure about this.

There have been a lot of great versions of Dylan songs, but the originals are great too. I think It's just that he's a great songwriter and leaves a lot of room for re-interpretations.

Just reminded me about how much I was blown away by this 19 y.o. before she became a global superstar.

Dylan has, for me without question, penned one of the most perfect love songs of all time with this and her vocals bring out the depth of emotion beautifully.

 

[Al Krow]

24 minutes ago, ProfJames said:

Shirley Bassey version

(..of Something by George H)

Actually, that's not a bad shout - that gal had some lungs on her! I still think the original was sublime.

[Mykesbass]

57 minutes ago, ProfJames said:

Walk on By - The Stranglers

Emma - Sisters of Mercy

Like a Hurricane - The Mission

Which brings up the conundrum, when is a cover a cover? Walk on By is old school songwriting; songs which are then offered out often to multiple artists for recording. Who gets to claim the original? 

[chris_b]

I put these two up the last time this thread was posted. I still like both, but the cover is streets ahead. . . .

Original

 

Cover

 

[Rich]

2 hours ago, Nail Soup said:

Shipbuilding (Robert Wyatt) was later done by the songwriter Elvis Costello.

I don't think he was trying to better the RW version though... just document his own take.

Just as well, because that is an impossible task. RW's Shipbuilding is quite possibly my favourite single piece of recorded music ever.

[Rich]

Great as the SAHB original is, this knocks it out of the ground. IMO anyway. Absolutely belting keyboard solo.

 

Edited November 16, 2020 by Rich

[TrevorR]

My personal nominations.....

 

[Ricky 4000]

2 hours ago, Nail Soup said:

hhhhhmmmm not sure about this.

There have been a lot of great versions of Dylan songs, but the originals are great too. I think It's just that he's a great songwriter and leaves a lot of room for re-interpretations.

You won't get far around here with liking Dylan, Oasis, or Little Mix - unfortunately.

[TrevorR]

13 hours ago, wateroftyne said:

I generally detest novelty / quirky / changing-it-for-the-sake-of-changing-it covers, but... I LOVE this.

 

Katzenjammer! Bonkers band in all the very best ways!

[fretmeister]

WASP - The Real Me.

 

As much as I love The Who and JE, Johnny Rod did better on this version.

 

 

 

[Paul S]

The Real Me is a good shout, I'd forgotten that.  Ditto Mercy a couple of posts up.

Seeing 'Blinded By The Light' up there reminds me that I generally prefer Springsteen songs when they are performed by other people.  'Fire' by The Pointer Sisters', 'Born To Run' by Frankie Goes To Hollywood. 

[BreadBin]

9 hours ago, martin8708 said:

For me , the Amy Winehouse /Ronson version of Valerie .

I respectfully disagree, the Zutons original is far less cheesy.

This definitely brings something to the table 👍

https://youtu.be/H4hGSR5njZE

[BlueMoon]

Yes - their version of Simon and Garfunkel's "America"

 

Edited November 16, 2020 by BlueMoon

[Leonard Smalls]

14 hours ago, wateroftyne said:

I generally detest novelty / quirky / changing-it-for-the-sake-of-changing-it covers,

Personally, I don't like covers unless they're significantly different from the o0riginal!

Awesome bass playing on this one!

[Al Krow]

48 minutes ago, BreadBin said:

I respectfully disagree, the Zutons original is far less cheesy.

Interesting one. The Zutons original is pretty darned good and they will no doubt continue to be enjoying the royalties from what Amy / Ronson managed to do with the cover, which is essentially a "PMJ version" of the original. But it was the Amy version that made this into a global hit.

Cheesy cover by Amy W? Well maybe after being played incessantly for over a decade since it was released it now feels like that, but when it first came out it was just instantaneously catchy and the bass line is still fabulous.

[cetera]

KISS' cover of "God Gave Rock n Roll To You" is vastly superior to the original by Argent...

[Rich]

I never tire of watching this. For me, this is better version simply because it hasn't got that awful clunky rhyming of 'company' and 'Serengeti' in the original   

 

 

[Japhet]

Much as I love Stevie Winwood, this eclipses the Spencer Davies version

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8vY3vAbAdQ

[The fasting showman]

 

[The fasting showman]

10 minutes ago, The fasting showman said:

 

It seems post modernism is nothing new! The video isn't good but I remember Peel playing this every now and then.

Edited November 16, 2020 by The fasting showman
typo

[Nail Soup]

21 hours ago, Mykesbass said:

Which brings up the conundrum, when is a cover a cover? Walk on By is old school songwriting; songs which are then offered out often to multiple artists for recording. Who gets to claim the original? 

Good question, don't know the answer.......... did people talk about cover versions before before self-written material became common? Maybe it was just versions.