Great cover versions

[pcolbeck]

Cowboy Junkies - Helpless

https://youtu.be/8-qIM1N2ONY

[pcolbeck]

Eurythmics - Tous Les Garçons Et Les Filles

https://youtu.be/LbxocGwHBoE

I'm late to the party here, didn't realise they had covered this Françoise Hardy song.

[Slave To The Viking]

Johnny Cash's version of "If You Could Read My Mind".  Technically, it's awful.  As an interpretation, it's perfect.

https://youtu.be/xEx147n9G1A

Hell's teeth, that's appalling. Johnny Cash spent a long time being regarded as hokey old nonsense, before being retconned into always having been respected. But by the time he did this, he was an old man with a cracked and knackered old voice, singing a song whose composer is an old man who can still sing beautifully. There's none of the effortless lyrical meandering that Lightfoot does so well - I quite possibly wouldn't have noticed how great a song it was if I didn't already know.

[phil653]

The Chain

https://youtu.be/pwEdMi9MvBw

Plain Jane

I'll see your Plain Jane and raise you a Chiara Kilchling, who I don't think has featured here before. I was looking for covers of Led Zep's Kashmir and YT's algorithm threw her version my way - see link below, and more on that in a mo.  As far as the talented-youth-recording-in-a-bedroom genre goes I think this is about as good as it gets. My only quibble is that the bass isn't quite perfectly tuned for that F1 riff, for which there's no real excuse in this day and age of electronic tuners. Her voice and harmonies are excellent, and she's obviously got musical chops in spades. It's been on repeat this afternoon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vi2SSx_8YIA

Meanwhile, that Kashmir cover is also pretty impressive. Just her voice and an acoustic guitar, adorned with the symbols from Led Zep IV.  It's not from one single take, but that's no criticism. Kashmir is notoriously difficult given that the guitar part in in triple metre, whereas the vocal part is in quadruple metre, very hard to do both at the same time. She plays it in the correct DADGAD tuning, with overdubs - anything other than standard tuning, dropped D and open E or D baffles my muscle memory, and for the same reason 5 string bass was beyond me and I immediately reverted to four so as to match my double bass.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyKfjh2fvYE

[sam]

It's not quite in the spirit of the OP,

So, what are your 'best' covers? I'm thinking of versions that take the original to a new level rather than just being copies.

more in the vein of Simon Cowell {ugh} 's reaction to Susan Boyle. The Last Band On Earth aka the Elsenburg family doing Fleetwood Mac:



Not so much inspired as technically competent (I don't mean to damn with faint praise!), but as someone in the comments put it, "Clicked on this prepared to be unimpressed... boy was I wrong."

#LockdownGenre

[Peter]

Would have been nice for the boy actually to have his part appear in the mix!

[Legs]

Have we had Nils Lofgren's cover of Carole King's Goin' Back?  (I'm not a big fan of the Dusty version)

[Mr Larrington]

Those lovely chaps of Amplifier have done a cover of “Kashmir” and while Sel Balamir would, I'm sure, be the first to admit that Percy is the better singer, it ent half bad.  Might be audible at https://www.rockosmos.com/music – this Unit just downloaded it.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Mr Bojangles sang by someone with a better voice than Bob Dylan
https://youtu.be/InFBVuxE6dI

[pcolbeck]

Phish - Spanish Moon

https://youtu.be/7lHtcAGuc40

[citoyen]

Just heard this on the radio and it has knocked my socks off - Gary Numan's Cars as interpreted by The Leisure Society:

https://youtu.be/9JQaf4tpqiA


I've always thought that the original kind of depended on that very particular Numan sound to work, but this proves that there's a decent song underneath the bombastic futuristic synths that stands up to other treatments much better than you might imagine.

[MattH]

Africa - Angel City Chorale. The intro is especially clever.

https://youtu.be/-c9-poC5HGw?si=4VX8Y2jK_o2e2gqw

[Legs]

Andy Williams' I Can't Help Falling In Love With You

Sublime.

[Ham]

I came across Elize Fleury, and I can't make up my mind whether she is actually very good or she just reminds me of a girlfriend from long ago (appearance, voice, playing).

Time https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EULp8xJEdCM
When the levee breaks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFRb4DJUhuA
Me and bobby McGee https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFyDPj61a5M

[sam]

I wanted to do a post about Dylan covering Dylan, but I inevitably prefer the versions that made it onto CDs. This is a good example:

Dignity - alternate version
Dignity

Re Mr Bojangles, I think it needs a tired, gravelly voice to feel it in your bones.

It's very rare that I hear someone else singing one of his songs and think they've done it justice. My wife knows this, so when she introduced me to Simply Red's version of Positively 4th Street, she was sure I'd hate it. Happy to say she was wrong on that score (despite what I still consider to be a mismatch).

[Peter]

@ Cudzo and Sam.  This are versions of Jerry Jeff Walker's Mr Bojangles that you really need.  They pre-dates all the ones you've mentioned.  The first is by Harry Nilsson in 1969:-


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRREgC7xLqk][url][url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRREgC7xLqk][url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRREgC7xLqk][url][url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRREgC7xLqk[/url][/url]

And here's Nina Simone from 1971


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjfV1q2yO1c

EDIT:  Just got a bit melancholic.  My older brother who died almost 3 years ago, bought me the Nilsson album for Christmas in 69.

[Ham]

If you are a little tired of the overproduction that seems to be omnipresent these days, I offer you Biko's mama

eg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSWA3vin7i4 - Say a little prayer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EpIM5GzA88 take five

Not the best covers but listening and watching I found pleasing.

[fd3]

This is an unlikely one Since You've Been Gone:

https://youtu.be/jq799Vf_auQ

Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott covering Rainbow.

Goes to show how subjective music is.

[Peter]

If you are a little tired of the overproduction that seems to be omnipresent these days, I offer you Biko's mama

eg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSWA3vin7i4 - Say a little prayer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EpIM5GzA88 take five

Not the best covers but listening and watching I found pleasing.

Ham , your mis-spelling of Manna (mama) got me watching under false pretences, wondering just how old Steve Biko's Mama might be by now.  But I'm very glad I did!  These children are obviously not the finished article and hopefully they will survive being dragged around America like a freak show although they might have more opportunities than in Sarth Efrika.  Their take on Take 5 made me think for the first time (as a guitarist myself) what a flamenco type tune it is.  Excellent, thanks!

[Peter]

This is an unlikely one Since You've Been Gone:

https://youtu.be/jq799Vf_auQ

Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott covering Rainbow.

Goes to show how subjective music is.

Strictly speaking "Since You Been Gone" -  you tube's mistake, not yours.

The chorus riff might be considered as a cover version of Beethoven's Fifth!

[Ham]

Ham , your mis-spelling of Manna (mama) got me watching under false pretences, wondering just how old Steve Biko's Mama might be by now.

Oh yes...... 

And yes, it appears that they will be chewed up, hope it all works out for them.

[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

[citoyen]

I love Dusty Springfield and doubt anything she did could be improved upon, but I also love this cover of You Don't Have To Say You Love Me by Walt Disco...

https://youtu.be/dmGSDfeEPiI?si=9WxpxXM_ZEv87uOn

Saw this bunch supporting another band a couple of weeks ago and they were awesome. They're supporting OMD on their big tour next year and Andy McCluskey rates them as his favourite band right now.

[citoyen]

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

[citoyen]

This is a much straighter* version of The Day Before You Came by Blancmange, but it's the definitive version for me because it's the one that first introduced me to the song the best part of 40 years ago (only found out it was a cover somewhat later - for some reason the original passed me by, and I don't think I ever twigged why Agnetha appears in the Blancmange video)

https://youtu.be/oWrS4oqtBW4?si=76ktwY1UHzBlSc_P


*fsvo "straight"