I was listening to Hendrix's take on "All Along the Watchtower" and it got me to thinking about the best cover songs of all time. That's one obviously. I also thought about Tom Scott's version of "Today" and The Brothers Johnson's "Strawberry Letter 23".

Which ones am I leaving out?

hendrix did some great covers... "hey joe" "sgt. pepper's"...

my favorite cover is probably "I feel 4 u" chaka khan.

Good choices. How could I forget "With A Little Help From My Friends". That's arguably the best of all-time.

I forgot Santana's "Black Magic Woman" too.

Nina Simone-Here Comes The Sun

Ray Charles-A Song for You

Jimi Hendrix-All Along the Watchtower/Johnny B Goode

David Bowie-Wild is The Wind

Michael Jackson-Smile

D'Angelo-Cruisin

Stevie Ray Vaughn-3rd Stone From the Sun/Little Wing

John Lee Hooker-Red House

Melissa Morgan(?)-Do Me Baby

Prince-Best of You

Can't find the studio version, this is stripped down, but his voice...fuckin' hell.

Whitney Houston I Will Always Love You

Herbie Hancock ft. Raul Midon, I Just Called To Say I Love You like it much more than Stevie's

UB40 - Red Red Wine

A Taste of Honey - Sukiyaki

The Byrds - Mr. Tambourine Man

Joe Cocker - The Letter

Isaac Hayes - Don't Let Go

Johnny Cash - Hurt

Mariah Carey - I'll Be There

Nirvana - The Man Who Sold The World

Destiny's Child - Emotion

Faith no more´s cover of the Black Sabbath Song "War Pigs" is one of the best covers ever to be done.

Jeff Buckleys Hallelujah (i think it is better than COhens song).

Good versions of Dylan songs: Knocking on heavens door (Guns n´ roses) , LIke a rolling stone (Rolling stones).

Martha and the Vandellas: Dancing in the street- Van Halens Version i like very much (much more than Bowies and Micks version).

"Always on mind" - i only know the version of Elvis and the almost better Pet Shop Boys version.

mill8 said:

Faith no more´s cover of the Black Sabbath Song "War Pigs" is one of the best covers ever to be done.

Jeff Buckleys Hallelujah (i think it is better than COhens song).

Good versions of Dylan songs: Knocking on heavens door (Guns n´ roses) , LIke a rolling stone (Rolling stones).

Martha and the Vandellas: Dancing in the street- Van Halens Version i like very much (much more than Bowies and Micks version).

"Always on mind" - i only know the version of Elvis and the almost better Pet Shop Boys version.

Actually, the most popular version was done by Willie Nelson in 1982.

Mariah carey- I still believe

COMPUTERBLUE1984 said:

Nina Simone-Here Comes The Sun

Ray Charles-A Song for You

Jimi Hendrix-All Along the Watchtower/Johnny B Goode

David Bowie-Wild is The Wind

Michael Jackson-Smile

D'Angelo-Cruisin

Stevie Ray Vaughn-3rd Stone From the Sun/Little Wing

John Lee Hooker-Red House

Melissa Morgan(?)-Do Me Baby

Prince-Best of You

Is that a Beatles cover? I haven't heard that one. I'll have to track it down.

Nina Simone also did a great cover of Dylan's "Like a Woman".

Respect - Aretha Franklin

Why Have I Lost You - Cameo (their 2nd version)

I Feel For You - Chaka Khan

LoveIsTheMessage said:

k.d. lang - After The Gold Rush (Neil Young)

Tori Amos - A Case of You (Joni Mitchell)

Lloyd Cole - Famous Blue Raincoat (Leonard Cohen)

Peter Gabriel - Suzanne (Leonard Cohen)

David Bowie - Cactus (The Pixies)

Annie Lennox - No More "I Love You"'s (The Lover Speaks)

The Feelies - Paint it Black (Rolling Stones)

Nickel Creek - Tomorrow is a Long Time (Dylan)

Mark Lanegan - Man in the Long Black Coat (Dylan)

Dixie Chicks - Mississippi (Dylan)

Twilight Singers - Black is the Colour of my True Love's Hair (traditional)

Duran Duran - Femme Fatale (VU)

Nine Inch Nails - Dead Souls (Joy Division)

Bangles - Hazy Shade of Winter (Simon & Garfunkel)

Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs - A Different Drum (Stone Poneys)

Libido - Running Up That Hill (Kate Bush)

those are a few of my favorites off the top of my head

xpertluva said:

COMPUTERBLUE1984 said:

Nina Simone-Here Comes The Sun

Ray Charles-A Song for You

Jimi Hendrix-All Along the Watchtower/Johnny B Goode

David Bowie-Wild is The Wind

Michael Jackson-Smile

D'Angelo-Cruisin

Stevie Ray Vaughn-3rd Stone From the Sun/Little Wing

John Lee Hooker-Red House

Melissa Morgan(?)-Do Me Baby

Prince-Best of You

Is that a Beatles cover? I haven't heard that one. I'll have to track it down.

Nina Simone also did a great cover of Dylan's "Like a Woman".

Yes it is. It has a more melancholy feel, but sounds great. Wild is the Wind is also her song, covered by Bowie

George Benson - This Masquerade (Leon Russell)

Donny Hathaway - Song For You (Leon Russell)

..any song covered by the Isley Brothers

BklynBabe said:

Whitney Houston I Will Always Love You

I would have to disagree with you Bklyn. To me, she ruined the sentiment of the song, by singing it the way she did. The song is about a breakup between two people, which is supposed to be a tender and heartfelt moment. Now, I don't know about you but, if you were breaking up with me, there would be no way in hell would I want you to be yelling and screaming like that. Dolly's, is more understanding. As much as I love Whitney, I think she ruined that song...

Maxayn - You Can't Always Get What You Want

Summer Breeze - The Isley Brothers

Got To Get You Into My Life - Earth Wind & Fire

Hazy Shade of Winter - The Bangles

I Fought the Law - The Clash

Mony Mony - Billy Idol

Red Red Wine - UB40

Sea of Love - The Honeydrippers

The Crying Game - Boy George

xpertluva said:

Good choices. How could I forget "With A Little Help From My Friends". That's arguably the best of all-time.

I forgot Santana's "Black Magic Woman" too.

i think that version i posted is even better than the woodstock performance

(shitty sound though)

[Edited 8/16/10 16:29pm]

LoveIsTheMessage said:

sorry but ewww , no that's just atrocious

what a way to ruin a classic

could they have done it any more sappy

[Edited 8/16/10 16:34pm]

Dewrede said:

LoveIsTheMessage said:

sorry but ewww , no

could they have done it anymore sappy

Bah!

The original sounds like some random garage band rehearsal compared to this. Lakeside put some soul into it

^

i'm not disputing their musicanship

just saying that it shouldn't have been changed into a slow soul song , it just doesn't work imho

not to mention the cheesiness and sappiness

[Edited 8/16/10 18:11pm]

MJ-Come Together

D'Angelo - Crusin' / She's Alawys In My Hair / Heaven Must Be Like This

TLC - If I Was Your Girlfriend

J-Hud - And I Am Telling You

Prince - I Can't Make You Love Me

Jordan Knight - I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man

COMPUTERBLUE1984 said:

xpertluva said:

Is that a Beatles cover? I haven't heard that one. I'll have to track it down.

Nina Simone also did a great cover of Dylan's "Like a Woman".

Yes it is. It has a more melancholy feel, but sounds great. Wild is the Wind is also her song, covered by Bowie

I found it and listened to it. You're right, it sounds great. It has an entirely different feel than the original. Of course that's usually what makes for a good cover.

shorttrini said:

BklynBabe said:

Whitney Houston I Will Always Love You

I would have to disagree with you Bklyn. To me, she ruined the sentiment of the song, by singing it the way she did. The song is about a breakup between two people, which is supposed to be a tender and heartfelt moment. Now, I don't know about you but, if you were breaking up with me, there would be no way in hell would I want you to be yelling and screaming like that. Dolly's, is more understanding. As much as I love Whitney, I think she ruined that song...

Yeah, I agree with shorttrini on these points.

shorttrini where have you been?