Vampire Weekend's Exit Music over the original anyday.
― lambchopelbow, Thursday, 28 April 2011 18:32 (thirteen years ago) link
I'd take 'The Day Before You Came' by Blancmange over the Abba original, definitely. I like the fact that Neil Arthur turns the writer from Marilyn French to Barbara Cartland, that's really funny! But I also think Neil Arthur's delivery is close to perfection -- he adopts a tone somewhere between Neil Tennant and Billy McKenzie and they add lots of percussive and instrumental flourishes which make their version more interesting.
― Grandpont Genie, Saturday, 28 April 2012 16:39 (twelve years ago) link
John Coltrane's My Favourite Things (Sound Of Music), Flamingoes I Only Have Eyes For You (think it was a broadway musical).LOve Little REd BookRoberta Flack No Way To Say Goodbye, First Time Ever I saw Your Eyes.several Steeleye Span tracks from the first couple of lps, though the Dubliners' versions are also pretty great and that was presumably the source.Gun Club Run Through The Jungle or at least I certrainly listen to it more than the CCR track it reinventsMC5 I WAnt You? another major reinvention as regards the Troggs source, though I do like the Troggs
― Stevolende, Saturday, 28 April 2012 18:21 (twelve years ago) link
Coltrane's version is great but I prefer Mark Murphy's.
I Only Have Eyes For You is indeed from 1934 but it was written for this film: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dames
That one is a great suggestion.
― Moka, Saturday, 28 April 2012 18:36 (twelve years ago) link
(from the spiney-shivery thread)
Cecil Taylor's "This Nearly Was Mine" (South Pacific)
― Tarfumes The Escape Goat, Saturday, 28 April 2012 20:31 (twelve years ago) link
not sure as i never heard the original but i cannot imagine a better version of susie q than the one by creedence clearwater revival.
― alex in mainhattan, Saturday, 28 April 2012 21:38 (twelve years ago) link
Yeah, I like CCR version better too.
Still a good time to plug the original. Such a small place the world's been lately.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ex4D-L0cLZA
― pplains, Saturday, 28 April 2012 21:39 (twelve years ago) link
Wrong Hawkins pplains. The original is by Dale Hawkins not Ronnie Hawkins and it's miles better than that one you posted. The CCR is really good and I'd also say it's an improvement even tho I love Dale's version.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-ej9wmOrY4
― Moka, Monday, 30 April 2012 07:45 (twelve years ago) link
Galaxie 500's version of 'Ceremony' by New Order
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_6Ot_4UpFk
― fishermen are coveted by whores & stoners (Pillbox), Monday, 30 April 2012 09:38 (twelve years ago) link
On that tip, I'll add that Luna's version of 'Indian Summer' by Beat Happening.
― fishermen are coveted by whores & stoners (Pillbox), Monday, 30 April 2012 09:47 (twelve years ago) link
Aw, Hawkins cousins be cousins.
― pplains, Monday, 30 April 2012 13:57 (twelve years ago) link
Love Cave and the Bad Seeds version of "All Tomorrow's Parties." Great squalls of guitar and the frantic drumming...
― kwhitehead, Monday, 30 April 2012 23:19 (twelve years ago) link
who is Love Cave? Nick's daughter?
― one dis leads to another (ian), Monday, 30 April 2012 23:43 (twelve years ago) link
I hadn't realised until someone pointed it out the other day that Adeva ‘Respect’ was THE Respect. I really should pay attention to lyrics.
― Chewshabadoo, Monday, 17 June 2013 10:14 (eleven years ago) link
Elvis Presley -- "Sweet Caroline"^^this. Elvis and the TCB Band take a good song and give it that little extra push over the cliff.
― Kid Creole Meets Señor Coconut at a fIREHOSE Show (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 21 April 2014 20:45 (ten years ago) link
Jeff Buckley's version of "Lilac Wine".
― vmajestic, Monday, 21 April 2014 20:51 (ten years ago) link
Well, The Flamingos' 1959 cover of 'I Only Have Eyes for You' still knocks pretty much every other version of the song out of the water, but it sure beats the first recording by Ben Selvin from 1934.
― sikeclops, Monday, 21 April 2014 23:32 (ten years ago) link
Niece knew there was an original of that, thought that was it. Although I thought the same thing of the Marcels's "Blue Moon" for longer than I should admit.
― Kid Creole Meets Señor Coconut at a fIREHOSE Show (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 22 April 2014 03:45 (ten years ago) link
Wilson Pickett - "Hey Jude"Fotheringay - "The Way I Feel"Fairport Convention - "Time Will Show the Wiser"Grateful Dead - "Morning Dew"
― cwkiii, Tuesday, 22 April 2014 15:22 (ten years ago) link
I'm a huge fan of Dillinger Escape Plan's cover of Come to Daddy, featuring the radiant vocals of Mike Patton
― octobeard, Wednesday, 23 April 2014 04:51 (ten years ago) link
I am sure we had a thread on this but the search is closed so there we go again.
― it's the distortion, stupid! (alex in mainhattan), Saturday, 4 March 2017 20:00 (seven years ago) link
I wanted to mention The Feelies dynamic version of "Everybody has got something to hide except me and my monkey" again.
― it's the distortion, stupid! (alex in mainhattan), Saturday, 4 March 2017 20:04 (seven years ago) link
Which cover versions improve on the original?
― pplains, Saturday, 4 March 2017 20:11 (seven years ago) link
I mean, you can still search within a thread.
You know I tried to open a new thread and then ILM suggested this thread and by accident I posted on it automatically, I thought I'd get the choice but I didn't. That's all.
― it's the distortion, stupid! (alex in mainhattan), Saturday, 4 March 2017 20:24 (seven years ago) link
I think "I Call Your Name" by The Mamas and the Papas (Beatles cover) might be one of these.
― Hans Holbein (Chinchilla Volapük), Thursday, 10 June 2021 06:33 (three years ago) link
Donald Byrd - where are we going?Jorja Smith - rose rougeMelanie De Biasio // every cover she has made is an improvement on the original
The Cramps also tend to improve every song they touch with their filthy hands.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Thursday, 10 June 2021 07:13 (three years ago) link
Dorothy Ashby Fool on the Hill
― saer, Thursday, 10 June 2021 07:58 (three years ago) link
obviously Sinéad's "Nothing Compares 2 U"Nico "These Days"Cat Power "I Found a Reason"
― assert (matttkkkk), Thursday, 10 June 2021 09:12 (three years ago) link
Hijokaidan "Silver Machine"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBCWxjV_M64
― atonar, Thursday, 10 June 2021 12:48 (three years ago) link
My top 10, in order:
Stevie Wonder - We Can Work It Out -- I searched this thread and there are *two* different version of We Can Work It Out listed, and somehow neither one is the miraculous Stevie interpretation.
The Clash - Police On My Back — The Equals original is just fine. The Clash version dials the energy up to 11 and lights the guitar riff on fire.
Al Green - How Can You Mend A Broken Heart -- Maybe this is the definitive version? If not, it should be. The Bee Gees version is great, but the slow build of the Al Green version turns it into an absolute epic.
The Main Ingredient - Summer Breeze — This Main Ingredient album had two different Seals and Croft covers, both of which improve on the originals. Their Summer Breeze adds tons of flute and vibraphone (xylophone?) and blows the tune wide open.
All Mixed Up - Red House Painters -- I know, i know, Mark Kozalek. But I loved this song for years before I realized that I already knew it as a Cars song, and his cover of it has so much more depth.
Nouvelle Vague - In A Manner of Speaking -- The Tuxedomoon original is so gawky, I'm a bit surprised that anyone heard the potential in this.
Cowboy Junkies - Sweet Jane — Another song that gets improved by sanding down the rough edges. The disparity is most striking on the bridge. Technically, Margo Timmons is singing the same notes as Lou Reed, but there’s just no comparison.
REM - Crazy — Maybe I just like Stipe’s vocals better than the jerky-jerky Pylon singer. My favorite track on Dead Letter Office.
Jackson 5 - Doctor My Eyes — The Jermaine verse almost tanks the whole endeavor, but MJ (who is only 13 here) just hits it out of the park. Exuberant.
Toots and the Maytals - Take Me Home Country Roads — A little corny (“West Virginia” becomes “West Jamaica”), but undoubtedly an upgrade.
― enochroot, Friday, 11 June 2021 01:16 (three years ago) link
I’m also ashamed to admit at one point of my life that “all mixed up” cover was one of my favorite songs ever.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Friday, 11 June 2021 01:42 (three years ago) link
Bongwater - The DrumGalaxies 500 - Listen the snow is fallingButthole Surfers - Hurdy Gurdy Man
― ringworm, Friday, 11 June 2021 04:30 (three years ago) link
Nico "These Days"
Is it technically a cover if it comes first?
― Johnny Fever, Friday, 11 June 2021 05:09 (three years ago) link
Basically EVERY cover of "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" is an improvement on the original, which I just heard a couple years ago.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXYPb0rrwbA
But apparently Peggy and Ewan MacColl were especially down on Roberta Flack's definitive take, so fuck 'em.
― Johnny Fever, Friday, 11 June 2021 05:13 (three years ago) link
It also applies to “it’s all over now baby blue”, every cover I’ve heard tends to improve on the original.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Friday, 11 June 2021 05:36 (three years ago) link
13th floor elevators and Them versions being the peak so far.
Dylan version is so… soulless. You’d never guess it’s one of his best written songs if you went by the original version.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Friday, 11 June 2021 05:40 (three years ago) link
Even the Anonhi version which sounds as if recorded on a potato is better.
In a similar vein, does anyone stan for Leonard Cohen's original version of Hallelujah?
― enochroot, Friday, 11 June 2021 11:49 (three years ago) link
Rod Stewart – Tom Traubert's BluesRod Stewart – Downtown TrainBruce Springsteen – Jersey Girl
(hmmm, I see a pattern developing here)
Fairport Convention – Percy's SongNick Cave – Death Is Not the EndMarianne Faithfull – The Ballad of Lucy Jordan10,000 Maniacs – Everyday Is Like Sunday10,000 Maniacs – Hello In ThereTindersticks – If You're Looking for a Way OutThis Mortal Coil – Song to the Siren
― joni mitchell jarre (anagram), Friday, 11 June 2021 11:59 (three years ago) link
Nina Simone - Feeling Good (the original Broadway musical version ("The Roar of the Greasepaint, the Smell of the Crowd") of the song is...uhh...fairly unremarkable)
― cancel culture club (Neanderthal), Friday, 11 June 2021 12:17 (three years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPdoWp-PHFU
― Maresn3st, Friday, 11 June 2021 12:40 (three years ago) link
Nina Simone also makes the most definitive version of Sinnerman. I wasn’t even aware it was a cover until recently via another thread on ilm.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Friday, 11 June 2021 14:50 (three years ago) link
Nina Simone's "Who Knows Where The Time Goes?" is also the definitive version IMHO.
― raven, Saturday, 12 June 2021 09:21 (three years ago) link
I still love the original but boy is this one smooth take on this songkali uchis - venus as a boyhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47oiB_quDf8
― Swanswans, Saturday, 12 June 2021 09:30 (three years ago) link
Nina Simone does a lot of reinventions of very white singer songwriter stuff on the material I have collected as Sugar In My bowl.Have found that an odd companion to black militancy which I thought she was about at the time.BUt the versions are really good from what I've heard of them and I'm really glad to have them
― Stevolende, Saturday, 12 June 2021 11:54 (three years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSgZ3B-2q-g
― Being cheap is expensive (snoball), Saturday, 12 June 2021 15:36 (three years ago) link