Great cover versions

[Pingu]

Just heard Tool's cover of No Quarter. It's very faithful.

[Cudzoziemiec]

I'm not sure whether this is great, but it's very different from the original and yet in the same mood. Probably better. And I only heard it cos I listened to one of the others mentioned upthread! The Day Before You Came covered by "The Real Tuesday Weld" whoever they are.

https://youtu.be/UmoVNCsPv1k?si=jdnqoWmsiQrULa02

Oh wow! I love that. The Real Tuesday Weld is aka The Clerkenwell Kid aka Stephen Coates. He has a quirky line in what you might call steampunk electronica, which that cover exemplifies perfectly. Have to admit I'd forgotten all about him but I remember very much liking his album I, Lucifer, which apparently came out way back in 2002. I have a vague recollection that the lead track from it, Bathtime in Clerkenwell, was used in an advert at the time so might be familiar...
https://youtu.be/ETyOwymflXc?si=6gTRhAJCgI6F4aCX

That is brilliant! The animation is excellent too. In 2002 I was living in the Far Off Frozen Wastes of Eastern Europe, so wouldn't have heard the advert. In fact, if I hadn't known, I might have guessed it was recorded in the early sixties or late fifties in the West Indies...

The Blancmange cover of The Day Before You Came is nothing special musically IMO but I did like the way they had Bollywood on TV.

[Cudzoziemiec]

I'm wondering why TDBYC attracts multiple covers. It's hardly one of Abba's big hits. Are there perhaps factors which make a song a good prospect for cover versions? Maybe it's better if it wasn't a huge hit, so it's not too much associated with the original artist?

[citoyen]

I'm wondering why TDBYC attracts multiple covers. It's hardly one of Abba's big hits. Are there perhaps factors which make a song a good prospect for cover versions? Maybe it's better if it wasn't a huge hit, so it's not too much associated with the original artist?

It may not have been a big hit at the time but it is retrospectively regarded as one of their very best. And perhaps that’s all there is to it - people cover it because they like it?

Other reasons could include the cool factor in picking one of the lesser-known songs to cover - the mark of the cognoscenti.

Plus the fact that it’s quite unlike anything else they ever did - the “this is an ABBA song? WTF!” factor.

[Cudzoziemiec]

I'm not sure that an impromptu performance in a pub counts as a cover version, but last night I heard St James Infirmary played on "slap cello" and a sort of Chinese bamboo flute. More interestingly, but not a cover at all, the player of the Chinese flute had earlier performed on a sort of simple two-string Mongolian instrument apparently called dongola (or something similar) with throat singing in Mandarin.

[pcolbeck]

Scary Pockets - Bad Habits (Ed Sheeran)

https://youtu.be/DjZEAAtk8rc?si=Z9tDzBwMQjRnfR1H

Much better than the ginger one's origional.

[pcolbeck]

And another one from Scary Pockets - Kiss

https://youtu.be/Y63m5JqCziE?si=-Hpo7Al3M3ny6VBZ

They are a bunch of session musicians from LA just having fun in the studio, hence a revolving cast of players and vocalists.

[rogerzilla]

Have we had Weezer's cover of TLC's "No Scrubs"?


https://youtu.be/55UtG-1os_s?si=fZ29G3in2eWYSA-7

[citoyen]

Have we had Weezer's cover of TLC's "No Scrubs"?

No, because this is the "great cover versions" thread, not the "pleasestopit'smakingmyearsbleed cover versions" thread"

[citoyen]

To shamelessly copy what someone said elsewhere, CYRM by ØXN was the best album involving a member of Lankum to come out in 2023.

Not least for this splendid cover of Scott Walker's Farmer In The City...

https://youtu.be/HE9VmdB_o5E?si=AOyaDiGQErXzqWsP

[Legs]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUa5RvpUEhw

[Robh]

This is new to me. Pretty epic. Hendrix covering 'Gloria':

https://youtu.be/IZN3MTgB0Ec?si=zDJNAE5wVK7L0Ax0

[slope]

"Watch This Sound" by the Uniques - Sam Smith, Lloyd Charmers and Jimmy Riley. 1968.

Could it be satisfactorily described as a cover? Wonder what Mr Stills thought?

https://youtu.be/I1Y7cukyuf0?feature=shared

[TimC]

I'm a bit of a fan of Post Modern Jukebox. I also use various fairly clever bits of software to make music sometimes. My own efforts are clumsy at best, but this is a masterpiece. To be clear, this is an artificial voice created from singing 'building blocks' within a program called Synth V. It is not AI song creation. The AI comes in the way that the various voice components are combined to form recognisable words and translate the programmer's inputs into a musical output. The actual song creation is a manual process that requires a huge amount of study and work - much like using Blender to create amazing animated scenes.

This is so good it's effectively pointless! But as an exhibition of technique, it's superb.

https://youtu.be/MTiDN08F10w?si=EAamMA5XzR0D5PqM

[citoyen]

Move over, the Flying Pickets! This is slightly twee but lots of fun - an acapella take on The Who's I Can See For Miles...

https://youtu.be/a1W6B6C6SYw?si=vFo1lXPoqQzZZAX_

Petra Haden, who is behind it, has recorded the whole of The Who Sell Out in the same vein (she does all the vocal parts herself on the record, which is impressive). Not listened to the rest of it yet.

It's not new but I only heard it for the first time a few days ago on the radio when Gideon Coe played it.

[Wowbagger]

A Rickroll with a difference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlV0k-rC-00&ab_channel=JosepCastanyerAlonso

That really is quite superbly done.

[Robh]

Move over, the Flying Pickets! This is slightly twee but lots of fun - an acapella take on The Who's I Can See For Miles...

https://youtu.be/a1W6B6C6SYw?si=vFo1lXPoqQzZZAX_

Petra Haden, who is behind it, has recorded the whole of The Who Sell Out in the same vein (she does all the vocal parts herself on the record, which is impressive). Not listened to the rest of it yet.

It's not new but I only heard it for the first time a few days ago on the radio when Gideon Coe played it.

Petra Haden is the daughter of the late Charlie Haden, jazz bass supremo of note. He was responsible for the distinctive riff in Ian Drury's 'Sex & Drugs & Rock and Roll', which he created as part of his contribution to Ornette Coleman's 'Ramblin' in the 1960 studio recording.

[Robh]

I'm not sure if this is the right place for this, but it's interesting. The Smoke On The Water riff may not have been - as Ritchie Blackmore claimed - derived from Beethoven after all: https://youtu.be/wKzqC_TWrhs?si=TKY9-1sswRx4fXqF

[pcolbeck]

Bobby Whitlock & CoCo Carmel "Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad"

https://youtu.be/sZPoeZSnp9M?si=8ZbsYluMiT-81u0T

Does it count as a cover when Bobby wrote it with Clapton and played on the original?

Anyway his Hammond B3 playing is blistering. Dave Grissom and Eric Johnson doing the Clapton and Duanne Allman guitar bits are excellent as well.

[Peter]

Slight inversion, here:-

Do we have many cases where an original is much more obscure than the really well-known but also much better?

I think this is a case in point.  The Beatles (who are on a pinnacle for me) are all over You Tube and their BBC collection with "Some Other Guy".  It's very good - dynamic and powerful, all you'd expect from the Beatles even at that stage in their career.  But I wonder how many people have heard the original?  I think it's much better and the writers might surprise some!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnGiyRP6Sqc

[sam]

the writers might surprise some!

On March 9, 1958, Leiber and Stoller appeared together on the TV panel quiz show What's My Line? as rock and roll composers of "Hounddog", "Jailhouse Rock" and "Don't". They were not household names and did not appear as celebrity mystery guests (a regular feature of the show) but as ordinary people with an unusual “line” of work. They even signed in under their own names, as the producers apparently were certain that the panel would not know who they were.

Incidentally, I do like vids where record labels feature.

My offering tonight is AC/DC's Highway to hell:

Carla Bruni
https://youtu.be/6tJAYcxNSdA

Ms I'mUpHere (the YT comments are as one might expect)
https://youtu.be/d2RZXeQc5HU

Personally I think the original can't be beat.

[citoyen]

Do we have many cases where an original is much more obscure than the really well-known but also much better?

I think we had a whole thread on this a while back.

The one that always comes to mind for me is the Valentinos - It's All Over Now.

I think this is a case in point.  The Beatles (who are on a pinnacle for me) are all over You Tube and their BBC collection with "Some Other Guy".  It's very good - dynamic and powerful, all you'd expect from the Beatles even at that stage in their career.  But I wonder how many people have heard the original?  I think it's much better and the writers might surprise some!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnGiyRP6Sqc

That is superb! Not sure I know the Beatles version but I can easily imagine what it sounds like.

[fd3]

Have we had Weezer's cover of TLC's "No Scrubs"?


https://youtu.be/55UtG-1os_s?si=fZ29G3in2eWYSA-7

They might be giants covering "bills bills bills". 

[Peter]

Do we have many cases where an original is much more obscure than the really well-known but also much better?

I think we had a whole thread on this a while back.

The one that always comes to mind for me is the Valentinos - It's All Over Now.

I think this is a case in point.  The Beatles (who are on a pinnacle for me) are all over You Tube and their BBC collection with "Some Other Guy".  It's very good - dynamic and powerful, all you'd expect from the Beatles even at that stage in their career.  But I wonder how many people have heard the original?  I think it's much better and the writers might surprise some!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnGiyRP6Sqc

That is superb! Not sure I know the Beatles version but I can easily imagine what it sounds like.

Yes, D, The Valentinos were the Womack Brothers and Bobby wrote it and sang lead.  As for The Fab Four and Some Other Guy, see if this matches your imagination:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfgvoNvjRFY

There's no denying the energy and general excellence of a group that were already streets ahead of the game but I think George's guitar is out of tune and I just love the Ray Charles vibe (especially the piano) on Richie Barrett's original.  it's great making these discoveries!

[T42]

Always look on the bright side of life - North Korean edition

https://youtu.be/ifLqzLEB3E0?si=l7q4IVAm-ofHbAgj