Better than original

[Jim DaddyO]

I was just thinking (an odd occurance). Have you ever heard a band cover a song that you liked better than the original band doing it. A few of my examples are:

Black Magic Woman, by Santana instead of Fleetwod Mac

Baby please don't go, by Nugent instead of The Them

Battle of Evermore, by The Lovemongers(Heart), instead of Zep

Just wondering, what are your favorites?

[puckhead]

I got a mitt-full off of the top of my head:

All Along the Watchtower: Jimi Hendrix > Bob Dylan
Diamonds and Rust: Judas Priest > Joan Baez
Simple Twist of Fate: Concrete Blonde > Bob Dylan
Tainted Love: Soft Cell > Gloria Jones
Hyperballad: Twilight Singers > Bjork
Live with Me: Twilight Singers > Massive Attack
Everybody Knows: Concrete Blonde > Leonard Cohen
Green Manalishi: Judas Priest > Fleetwood Mac
All the Young Dudes: David Bowie > Mott the Hoople

[iaresee]

Originally Posted by Jim DaddyO

Battle of Evermore, by The Lovemongers(Heart), instead of Zep

I thought I was the only one who liked the Lovemonger's version of that over Zep. Actually there's a great Zep tribute album called Encomium where just about every track on it, I think, sounds better played by someone other than Zep. I'm way past burnt out on Zeppelin.

Other covers that sound better than the originals to me?

Hallelujah - Jeff Buckley (Leonard Cohen)
First We Take Manhattan - Jennifer Warrens (Leonard Cohen) (Okay technically Cohen sings in her version too...but still, it's lifted much higher with her singing it)
Sweet Jane - Cowboy Junkies (Velvet Underground)
Take Me Home - Holly Cole Trio (Tom Waits)
If You Tolerate This - David Usher (Manic Street Preachers)
Roses Are Free - Phish (Ween)
Dancing Days - Stone Temple Pilots (Zep)
Fool In The Rain - Mana (Zep)
Ziggy Stardust - The Gourds (Bowie)
Life on Mars - The Divine Comedy (Bowie)
Gin and Juice - The Gourds (Snoop Dogg)

The short list is definitely heavy on songwriters who's songs I think are performed better by others. No surprise there. I remember when Cohen won the Best Male Vocal Juno for Closing Time -- his acceptance speech started with something along the lines of, "Only in Canada could I get an award for being a singer..." Hilarious.

[Jim DaddyO]

I like most of Dylans songs done by others, like All along the watchtower mentioned above. Of course:

Highway 61 by Johnny Winter instead of Dylan
Crossroads by Cream instead of Robert Johnson (does that count?)

I agree on the Zep burn out....They have sold enough copies of Stairway to afford an escalator by now!
Wanted to get the ball rolling and had a bit of brain freeze. Love some of the examples here.

[Robert1950]

A Little Help From My Friends - Joe Cocker >Beatles
Day Tripper - Otis Redding>Beatles
Satisfaction - Otis Redding>Rolling Stones
The Star Spangled Banner - Jimi Hendrix>Anybody Else

[kw_guitarguy]

Free Fallin - Jon Mayer > Tom Petty

[bscott]

Kentucy Woman - Deep Purple over anyone else.

[CDWaterloo]

Originally Posted by Jim DaddyO

I was just thinking (an odd occurance).

Battle of Evermore, by The Lovemongers(Heart), instead of Zep

+1. One of the best tracks in soundtrack of singles....

[puckhead]

Originally Posted by CDWaterloo

+1. One of the best tracks in soundtrack of singles....

strong words. that is a phenomenal sountrack.

[WarrenG]

Lovers in a Dangerous Time - Barenaked Ladies (orig. Bruce Cockburn)