Best Covers

[Pat O' Banton]

... at a prompt from Gustavo on Worst covers Every thought this may well be started.

Inspiral Carpets Tainted Love
Johnny Cash - Hurt & Personal Jesus
Pet Shop Boys - Always on My Mind
Jesus and Mary Chain - Surfing USA & Guitar Man
Ian Brown - Sorry Ms Jackson

[Dublin12]

The best cover I've heard recently,and I'm not ashamed to say it either is,Beyonce's-crazy in love,the old Chi-lite's tune.

[carrickharp]

Bo'Selecta - I got you Babe

[Macy]

Johnny Cash - Hurt & Personal Jesus

And virtually all the other covers on the American Recording series are decent.

Ian Brown - Billie Jean
Oasis - I am the Walrus (from 94-95)
Time For Livin - The Charlatans and The Chemical Brothers

[noby]

Inspiral Carpets Tainted Love

I think Soft Cell's cover was a better version.

I'm sure this thread was done already. So I'll avoid re-hashing the usual suspects.
One I came across recently is Ballboy - Born in the USA. In a time when the whole world and his mother are doing slowed down acoustic versions of songs (thank you very much Ray Darcy) this blows them all out of the water.

[the 12 th man]

happy mondays "boys are back"
pm dawn "true" (not strictly a cover though)

[Pat O' Banton]

Oh for an album of 'covers' Mermaid Avenue' by Billy Bragg is a load of old Wood Guthery songs that had no tunes and Guthrie's family gave them to Billy to put tunes to, and a fine job he did as well.

Think Aretha Franklin's 'Respect' is a cover of an old Ottis Redding number, but done very differently - which is one of the secrets of a good cover version.

Like 'Medley' by The Pouges which has the advantage of being three covers roled into one.

Oh yeah and Carter USM's version of 'This is how it feels'

[Macy]

Oh for an album of 'covers' Mermaid Avenue' by Billy Bragg is a load of old Wood Guthery songs that had no tunes and Guthrie's family gave them to Billy to put tunes to, and a fine job he did as well.

What was the name of the band that did that album with Billy Bragg (it wasn't a solo Bragg project)

Edit - was it Wilco

[noby]

Oh for an album of 'covers'

or Nick Cave - Kicking against the *****s (oops. that's pr1cks)

Think Aretha Franklin's 'Respect' is a cover of an old Ottis Redding number, but done very differently

Very differently in more ways than one. Redding's version was like " I expect you to show me some respect when I get home"

[Aberdonian Stu]

Bobby Darin - Mack the Knife (originally a bizarre German concoction by Berthold Brecht I believe)
Gun - Word Up

[The Good Son]

Song To The Siren - This Mortal Coil
Armagideon Time - The Clash
Seventeen Seconds - Cowboy Junkies
This Corrosion - Lambchop
Shiny Happy People - Fatima Mansions
Redemption Song - Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros
Sing Me Back Home - The Stars Of Heaven

[Ruairi]

My favourite ever cover is the Chili Peppers version of Stevie Wonder's Higher Ground. Fan-funking-tastic.

Also quite partial to Rage Against The Machine's version of Cypress Hill's how I Could Just kill a Man

[Sheridan]

Bobby Darin - Mack the Knife (originally a bizarre German concoction by Berthold Brecht I believe)

Eh? Nothing bizarre about it! It's from Die Dreigroschenoper, and was inserted to flesh out the character of Macheath (Mack the Knife) at the insistence of the lead actor, who hoped to procure more lines for himself; instead, the performance of the song was entrusted to the character of the Ballad Singer.

Bobby Darin's version (and every version subsequently perpetrated by two-bit cabaret singers) is cr*p. The original is far darker (although I like the fact that a song detailing the depraved behaviour of a child-murderer, rapist and gangster has infiltrated the standard cabaret repertoire.) Track down the version from the 1990 recording of Die Dreigroschenoper (or Ute Lemper's attempt) to hear how it should be done.

[Sheridan]

Also: The Best Cover Ever is Pulp's version of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons' The Night. Nothing like the original, but all the better for it. Very difficult to track down, unfortunately.

[Troy.McClure]

David Kitt has just released an album of covers. His version of 'Dancing in the Moonlight' by Thin Lizzy is really good.