Always a great topic for discussion among music fanatics. I was arguing with a friend about covers only the other day.

The point about white artist covering black blues artists is particularly apt, as many of the older black blues songwriters didn't own their songs, and thus couldn't collect royalties after white rock and rnb artists turned them into massive hits.

I am particularly fond of good songs that the original bands didn't perform well, reinterpreted by other artists (cf. Gypsy Kings cover of "Hotel California" from the Big Lebowski).

My current (it changes) list of covers is as follows:

Worst cover by a good band: Creedence Clearwater Revival's bizarre cover of Marvin Gaye's "Heard it through the Grapevine."

Favorite cover by a good band of a bad band: Cat Power covering Oasis' "Wonderwall" live on John Peel's radio show.

Favorite genre of covers: hardcore bands covering Joy Division (Swing Kids doing "Warsaw", Unbroken doing "Love Will Tear Us Apart").

Favorite current cover: the Rondelles' garage-poppy cover of Madonna's "Like a Prayer."

I'll stop because I could go on all day!

Sent by Andy | 7:32 PM ET | 02-19-2008

I always enjoyed what Linda Ronstadt was able to do as a covers artist -- "When Will I Be Loved?" and "It's So Easy" are clearly covers, but they're interesting covers that try to do something a little different, adding a different groove to already good songs.

Blind Faith's version of Buddy Holly's "Well, All Right," on the other hand, is definitely a completely different song, that takes the original to completely new places.

The mid-90's band Fuzzy, fronted by two women, did mildly interesting versions of The Beach Boys' "Girl Don't Tell Me" and Neil Young's "Losing End" that I've always liked.

Sent by Phil | 7:46 PM ET | 02-19-2008

Mark Kozelek, recording under his own name as well as with Red House Painters and Sun Kil Moon, is perhaps our greatest practitioner of the cover song. He did a whole album of AC/DC covers and another of Modest Mouse. He's released versions of Yes, John Denver, The Cars, and others. Plus, he's a great songwriter in his own right. I don't really have a point here, except that I love Mark Kozelek.

And the Langley Schools album is heartbreaking. I first heard about it when NPR did an interview with one of the grown-up kids. I think it was actually the girl who sang "Desperado." And she still sounded heartbroken.

Sent by Piggy | 7:47 PM ET | 02-19-2008

When you write about vascilating between two versions of a song in order to gain a deeper understanding, I immediatly think of Nina Simone covering Bob Dylan's "Just like Tom Thumbs Blues." Dylan's worldly detachment is so well complimented by Simone's other-worldly elegance. They are both strangers in a strange land, but where Dylan seems to drag his feet in the dirt, Simone appears to float just above it. Here her tenderness is strong and striking. She is as comforting to you as you wish to be to her.

Sent by Carolyn Berk | 7:51 PM ET | 02-19-2008

oh, a topic we could discuss for weeks on end. it is hard to know where to begin. Thank you for pointing out that "Don't You Evah" is a cover--in the days of MP3s it's easy to overlook songwriting credits and that one passed me by.

I will limit myself to some current favorites in iPod rotation:

* Bryan Ferry--the whole Dylan album, but in particular "If Not For You," "Positively 4th Street," and "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues"; "Take Me to the River"
* Talking Heads--"Take Me to the River"
* Fiona Apple--"Use Me" (an MP3 that floats around the internets)
* Sonic Youth--"My New House," "Within You, Without You"
* Sleater-Kinney--"I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight," "More than a Feeling" (not just a cover, an insanely good rewrite)
* Minutemen--"Dr Wu," "Ain't Talkin Bout Love," "Lost," "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?," "Green River," "The Red and the Black"
* Husker Du--"Eight Miles High," "Love Is All Around" (on the same 7"!!)
* Sebadoh--"Pink Moon" (ruined by Volkswagen commercial, kinda), "Everybody's Been Burned"
* The Mountain Goats--"The Sign"
* The Clash--"Police and Thieves," "I Fought the Law" (obvious, I know)
* Flying Burrito Brothers--"Wild Horses"
* Patti Smith--"My Generation"
* The Fall--"I Wanna Be Your Dog"
* Missy Elliott--"Supa Dupa Fly" (adapts "I Can't Stand the Rain")
* Bob Dylan--"Mama You've Been On My Mind" (Rolling Thunder Revue versions)
* Replacements--"Black Diamond"
* Jerry Garcia Band--"The Harder They Come," "Positively 4th Street"
* J. Mascis--"The Boy With the Thorn in His Side"
* Modern Lovers--"Foggy Notion"
* Swans--"Love Will Tear Us Apart" (Michael Gira vocal version)
* Joy Division--"Sister Ray"
* New Order--"Sister Ray"

So many more, but I will leave them for others to name.

Sent by David G. | 8:20 PM ET | 02-19-2008

I love covers. When they're done well, of course. Currently, my favorite covers are:

"The Whole of the Law" by The Only Ones as covered by Yo La Tengo (I actually can't decide which version I like better but don't really feel the need to.)

"He Hit Me" by The Crystals as covered by Grizzly Bear

And a great deal of the I'm Not There soundtrack.

I can't stand covers when they're done for, probably, pure nostalgic value by the dude who lives under me and whatever shitty drummer he could find.

Sent by Jaime | 8:45 PM ET | 02-19-2008

Those Nirvana covers were great, weren't they? I've heard rumors that they were planning on doing a Young Marble Giants song. I really wish that happened.

My favorites, which I think blow the originals out of the water:

The Breeders - "Happiness Is A Warm Gun"
PJ Harvey - "Highway 61 Revisited"

Sent by Karissa | 9:47 PM ET | 02-19-2008

There's a terrific podcast, Coverville, which does a couple of shows a week with just cover songs- different themes, etc. Lots of fun.

Sent by Jayadev | 9:55 PM ET | 02-19-2008

i had an immediate and visceral love for the easy star all-stars reggae cover of radiohead's "let down" -- from the album "radiodread," naturally. apparently they've also done "dark side of the moon."

Sent by jk | 10:16 PM ET | 02-19-2008

It's not a particularly original thought, but I think Pearl Jam does some of the best covers out there. Especially of the Who. And the White Stripes' cover of Jolene is better than the original; it's more visceral, which the lyrics need. Jack White should have been the one to sing it at the Kennedy Center Honors a couple years ago, not whichever interchangeable blond country singer who was chosen instead.

Sent by Laura E. | 10:38 PM ET | 02-19-2008

big fan of built to spill doing 'cortez the killer' it's...thicker.

not that any misfits cover needs to be undone and reconfigured:
murder city devils--hybrid moments
the thermals--astro zombies

and quasi was made to cover 'war pigs'.

Sent by Jason M. | 11:26 PM ET | 02-19-2008

What about jazz? Are standards the same as covers? How much melodic, harmonic, rhythmic alteration can a song withstand and still survive as that song?

Covers on my hi-fi of late:
Detroit Cobras "Life, Love and Leaving"
X "Soul Kitchen"
Sisters of Mercy "1969" and "Gimme Shelter"
Marc Ribot y Los Cubanos Postizos

Sent by Chicken Curry PDX | 12:09 AM ET | 02-20-2008

Ooh ooh . . . Fine Young Cannibals "Suspicious Minds"

Sent by mikey | 12:21 AM ET | 02-20-2008

ahh, this is my one of my FAVORITE things to talk about. I used to have mixed feelings about covers but then I had a moment of clarity which you worded for me, thank you.
"The most remarkable thing about these covers is that when they were released they sounded brand new, and that's about the biggest tribute one can pay to a song."

some favorites:
cibo mato - about a girl
the cardigans - walking the cow
nirvana - molly's lips
saturday looks good to me - listen to my heart
jens lekman - you can call me al
camera obsura - super trouper

oh gosh theres so many more...i will stop because i'm up way past my bedtime.

Sent by esme | 12:35 AM ET | 02-20-2008

I tend to automatically dislike cover songs. Especially after the Don Henley "Boys Of Summer" cover by The Ataris. Most of the time I think that covers, good and bad, should just be left to the karaoke gods and REAL artists need to find their own sound and song.
But I encountered a cover, just a few years ago, that did sway my ideas about covers. The artist would be Feist covering The Bee Gees' "LOVE YOU INSIDE AND OUT." Of course, on her 2004 album "LET IT DIE", it was called "INSIDE AND OUT."
For those who did not grow up during The Bee Gees era, or those who did not have a mother that was infatuated with Barry Gibb, it would be believable that this was a true blue Feist piece. Then again, being a solid Feist fan, I believe she could cover just about any song and make it her own.

Sent by brittani | 12:43 AM ET | 02-20-2008

I love French, Frith, Kaiser and Thompson's rendition of The Beach Boy's "Surfin' USA". Funny thing, Chuck Berry wrote the melody of the song. In the same vein os a song being deconstructed, there is Dinosaur covering The Cure's "Just Like Heaven".

One of my favorite albums is all covers. "Givin It Back" by The Isley Brothers.

Sent by Janine | 12:48 AM ET | 02-20-2008

Would it be trite and overly trendy for me to mention the bare-bones covers that Johnny Cash put out in the last years of his life? there's one in particular, a nick cave cover--the mercy seat, on american iii. also a will oldham cover on the same album, "i see a darkness". amazing stuff.

Sent by mernlar | 12:57 AM ET | 02-20-2008

gillian welch - black star

yael naim - toxic; she makes this song sound so earnest

madeleine peyroux - between the bars

Sent by rae | 1:40 AM ET | 02-20-2008

I don't mind covers; I just hate it when a band promotes/sells a song they've covered as a single. Or, when the cover obscures the brilliance of the original. Nothing gets me angrier than hearing Nirvana's version of "The Man Who Sold The World" get more radio airplay than Bowie's amazing original.

Anyone here of Nouvelle Vague? They're a french band that does bossa nova covers of non-bossanova songs...I discovered them when I heard they're odd rendition of Dead Kennedy's "Too Drunk to F***" on Robert Rodriguez's Planet Terror film. Check them out...it's quite interesting.

Sent by Asia | 2:02 AM ET | 02-20-2008

I don't think it's been recorded, but Mirah does an enchanting version of Kate Bush's "Cloudbusting."

Also, Joel R.L. Phelps & the Downer Trio play "Our Mother, the Mountain" by Townes Van Zandt, and it is a REVELATION.

Sent by Jenn | 2:21 AM ET | 02-20-2008

i think the best cover of "desperado" was by the jess roden band - track it down, you won't be disappointed!

i'm fascinated by the beatles songs covered in the movie "across the universe". i feel like their songs are notoriously difficult to cover but the film did an excellent job of finding the right voice for each song and letting the visuals illuminate the meanings of those lyrics. hearing dana fuch's raspy cover of "helter skelter" gives me chills.

Sent by makyo | 8:41 AM ET | 02-20-2008

For me, the king of cover versions is Al Green, for the way he always redefines a song in his inimitable style... like finding a beautiful used suit, then having it tailored to fit him perfectly. His very first single for Hi Records was a stunning rendition of "I Want to Hold Your Hand" from 1969... my nomination for the greatest Beatles cover of all time, exploding with a sexy confidence that makes the Fab Four sound almost lightweight. He's followed that with brilliant takes on such varied classics as "The Letter" (Box Tops), "Light My Fire" (The Doors), "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" (Hank Williams), "To Sir With Love" (Lulu), "I Can't Get Next To You" (Temptations), "Oh, Pretty Woman" (Roy Orbison), "I've Never Found a Girl" (Eddie Floyd), "Funny How Times Slips Away" (Willie Nelson) and many more.

The worst cover version of all time? I'd stump for Dave Matthews' hatchet job on Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower"... a song that's pretty damned hard to ruin, but Dave pulls it off effortlessly.

Sent by conumbdrum | 9:02 AM ET | 02-20-2008

The 13th Floor Elevators' cover of Bob Dylan's "It's all over now, Baby Blue"

Sent by Elena | 9:14 AM ET | 02-20-2008

I've always loved The Replacements cover of the KISS song "Black Diamond." You can't realize how good it acutally is until you listen to the painfully lame KISS version.

Another great one is TV on the Radio's acapella version of the Pixies song "Mr. Grieves." It really is way more engaging than the original.

Sent by Jake | 10:31 AM ET | 02-20-2008

Great topic! I've been really fascinated with covers lately. Even the origin of the term 'cover song' is fascinating (definitely rooted in all those white artists in the 1950s lifting material from black artists--a point that is never trite). It's so fun to discover that a song you like is actually a cover and then seek out the original, or, vice versa; to find that a song you love has been covered and hear a new interpretation of a favorite.

Recently I've been trying to collect as many versions of the song "Stagger Lee" as I can, and this search has a lot of historical elements to it that are intriguing. After tracing the song's development straight through the 20th century-- from it's origins as a 1910 blues murder ballad (nonfiction too), to a raucous 1950s call & response pop song, to a version by The Clash with a completely different title, sound, and narrative perspective-- I feel so weirdly connected to the song. I also feel more connected to those genres of music, and through this one song, I've learned a lot about the evolution of rock music and have discovered a lot of other performers along the way I might not have found otherwise.

My current top 5 covers (every original version is fantastic too):

Divine Comedy - With Whom To Dance
Ronnie Spector - You Can't Put Your Arms Around A Memory
Bangs - Southern Girls
Johnny Thunders - Great Big Kiss
Blondie - Hanging On The Telephone

God, I love talking about covers, but my posts are way too long as it is so I'll stop here.

Sent by nikki | 10:32 AM ET | 02-20-2008

Favorites not mentioned : Yo La Tengo doing "You Tore Me Down" (Flamin' Groovies)& "Nuclear War??? (Sun Ra) - anyway, they're one of the great cover bands around, as an added bonus to their own greatness.
Just about cover by Nick Cave

And thanks for your blog, always perceptive, smart and funny. It's too late for Valentine's Day, still... you rock, whether as a writer or musician

Sent by Thierry | 10:46 AM ET | 02-20-2008

Check out the disc "Where the Pyramid Meets the Eye"... it's a tribute album full of interesting covers of Roky Erickson and 13th Floor Elevators songs. Probably the best collection of covers evar.

Sent by joe | 11:20 AM ET | 02-20-2008

One of my favorite cover versions of all time is Bryan Ferry's warped version of A Hard Rain's a Gonna Fall. It must be heard to be believed, it has this Vegas Apocalypse feel that makes the end of the world sound like an absolute blast.

Not to be a brown -oser, but Sleater-Kinney's version of my favorite Springsteen song, The Promised Land, is fairly epic.

Others: Eddie Vedder & Supersuckers take on X's Poor Girl, very faithful to original but with more urgency. Guns n' Roses were seemingly born to play the New York Dolls' Human Being.

Last but not least, David Bowie's verion of Tom Verlaine's Kingdom Come.

Sent by Rick | 11:28 AM ET | 02-20-2008

What about the ironic cover song - when an indie band covers a ridiculously mainstream pop song? The first example I can think of is Travis' cover of "Baby...One More Time." I think it's interesting that some bands can successfully take a crappy song and inject it with some soul.

Sent by JJ Hellgate | 11:49 AM ET | 02-20-2008

i found a cover of helmet doing bjork's 'army of me' that somehow worked in a strange and twisted way.

personal favorites:

kristin hersh - pennyroyal tea
otis redding - satisfaction
ella fitzgerald - sunshine of your love
queens of the stone age - white wedding
flunk - blue monday
twilight singers - live with me (massive attack)
the clash - police on my back

Sent by beth | 12:32 PM ET | 02-20-2008

Great post and kudos for mentioning the weird and wonderful Langley Schools Music Project.

Seems strange not to mention Cat Power though. I mean, maybe it's just me. But in some ways for me she has reinvented the entire idea of the cover song and I don't ever want to go back.

Sent by Elizabeth | 1:06 PM ET | 02-20-2008

I'm no fan of of Montreal, but their cover of Harvest Moon is amazing. Yo La Tengo and Grateful Dead, two greatest cover bands ever.

Sent by Erik | 1:25 PM ET | 02-20-2008

Hey Carrie,

I always liked James McNew's Prince covers - "That Skinny Motherf*cker with the High Voice"

http://www.gadflyonline.com/lastweek/MUSICREVIEW7-10.html

The Pixies cover of "Honeypie" by the Beatles hit me one day while listening to the Pixies.I must have listened to it a 1000 times before it registered as a Beatles song.

Cowboy Junkies cover of Sweet Jane. I read that Lou Reed said it was better than the original. How's that for a compliment?

Sent by HONEYPIIIIEEEE!!!! | 2:03 PM ET | 02-20-2008

I'm not a big Pete Yorn fan (especially anything after the first album), but he does some excellent covers.

His studio acoustic versions of Springsteen's New York City Serenade and Dancing In The Dark are great. He also does Panic, China Girl, Friend of the Devil, and Splendid Isolation.

Sent by Jeremy | 2:29 PM ET | 02-20-2008

The guitarist Marc Ribot--formerly with Tom Waits--has a number of solo albums which feature cover songs. Ribot is a master of disassembling a song and bringing something new to the table. Check out the Ellington and Beatles tunes: the punk rock rumble of "Caravan," the unhinged free-jazz of "Mood Indigo," and the bizzare abstraction of "Happiness Is A Warm Gun." There's also a weird, lurching version of "The Wind Cries Mary" that either would have done Hendrix proud or has him rolling in his grave.

Sent by Vortex | 3:31 PM ET | 02-20-2008

Cake does a fine transmogrification of "I Will Survive"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvsI3jc4pPA

Sent by mikey | 4:29 PM ET | 02-20-2008

I seriously can't believe no one has mentioned Jimi Hendrix's cover of Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower". One of the best covers of all time. Here are a few others:
Slumber Party-"Love Will Tear Us Apart"
Pearl Jam-"Sonic Reducer"
The Ramones-"California Sun"
Neko Case-"Wayfaring Stranger"
Cat Power-"I Found a Reason"
My Morning Jacket-"White Rabbit"
R.E.M.-"Pale Blue Eyes"
David Bowie-"Wild is the Wind"

Sent by Jack | 4:43 PM ET | 02-20-2008

Sleater-Kinney's take on "Fortunate Son." Of course. :-)

Sent by Tim | 5:01 PM ET | 02-20-2008

I have never posted on anything before but I had to mention Jeff Buckley's cover of Leonard Cohen's song "Hallelujah", its just beautiful.

Sent by Lauren | 5:10 PM ET | 02-20-2008

When I think of covers that improve on/make me forget about the original I always think of these songs:

"Eleanor Rigby" by Aretha Franklin
"Happiness is a Warm Gun" by The Breeders
"I Shall Be Released" by Nina Simone
"Venus" by Bananarama

I just think they take those songs to much more exciting places than the originals, even though I know it's blasphemous to say so since it's the Beatles and Dylan. The fourth is Bananarama and I don't think they're taken all that seriously and, from what I know, neither were The Shocking Blue.

Also, I used to never have a problem with Soft Cell's "Tainted Love" as a kid but when I discovered the Gloria Jones original as an adult it made me retroactively despise the SC version.

Sent by chriso | 5:40 PM ET | 02-20-2008

My fav. all time song, oddly enough, is a cover...
Elvis's version of Tony Joe Whites "Polk Salad Annie" simply saved me from a life of DJ'ing when i heard that great bass riff... (Circa 72 Elvis version)

Really, Elvis had apx 5 versions of the song... the 1970 spoken intro, very close to the original version, the 72 Bass Solo version, 74 it got funky with a guitar solo, 75 had a heavy distorted bass early in the year, and by the end, TONS of wah wah with an extended ending for his Karate demos (which the band would simply ROCK out on, up to 77 when it became a wall of sound...

But I do agree, the best covers, are ones you dont realize are covers...
songs, that seem to be that bands own song...

Jimi Hendrix : Hey Joe
The Animals : House of the Rising Sun
or even Aretha Franklins versoin of Respect... a song written and originally done, by Mr Otis Redding... turned into a womans anthem...

A couple others id like to mention...
The White Stripes version of Jolene, is indeed awesome... as is Jacks other band (The Raconteurs) version of Bang Bang...
Sleater-Kinney's version of Danzigs Mother (featuring members of Pearl Jam) from a show in Philadelphia 2005... is jaw droping awesome...
and lastly...

Pearl Jam doing Neil Youngs Rockin In the Free World live... is something everyone should experience in person.

Sent by Kramer | 6:28 PM ET | 02-20-2008

No discussion of cover songs is complete without mentioning Yo La Tengo. Their skills at taking songs and making them uniquely their own is unsurpassed. The entire Fakebook album is filled with brilliant covers, and they usually throw on at least one cover song per album. But that is only the tip of the iceberg. I have seen them cover dozens and dozens of songs live which have never been released (even as B-sides or on EP's). And if that were not enough, they take cover requests every year to raise funds for WFMU. If there were an award for best cover band, YLT would win hands down, PLUS they write great music as well.
On the flip side,
The award for worst cover songs has to go to David Bowie's version of Velvet Underground songs (Waiting for my Man, White Light/White Heat). Although good in theory, very bad in practice.

Sent by BTH | 6:56 PM ET | 02-20-2008

I always thought the Cowboy Junkies' "Sweet Jane" was pretty awesome. Also, the Pretenders' "I Go To Sleep" by The Kinks, which is arguably better than the original.

Sent by Simone | 7:20 PM ET | 02-20-2008

I was standing in the shower thinking about what makes a cover song. Willie Nelson wrote "Crazy", but if Im not mistaken, Billy Holiday recorded it first. So does that make Willie's version the cover?

PS> Janes Addiction's cover of "Ripple"

Sent by honeypiehoneypiehoneypiehoneypie | 8:34 PM ET | 02-20-2008

I have to admit to still loving St. Etienne's cover of Neil Young's "Only Love Can Break Your Heart."

Sent by Fran | 8:46 PM ET | 02-20-2008

Lotta nice suggestions on here...David G. (above) has outdone any list I could suggest. Maybe add "Green Eyed Lady" (Sugarloaf) as done by Thinking Fellers Union Local 282?

Sent by Doug W. | 9:41 PM ET | 02-20-2008

i really liked cat power's "i found a reason" cover. that one was way different from the og version. some other faves:

electrelane "i'm on fire" (bruce)
veruca salt "bodies" (the sex pistols)
daniel rossen (grizzly bear) "too little too late" (jo jo)
quasi - "do you love me now?" (breeders) (janet's voice is so sweet one this one)
the thermals - ballad of big nothing (elliott smith)
nouvelle vague "in a manner of speaking" (tuxedomoon) -- or anything by nouvelle vague

Sent by Lauren | 10:50 PM ET | 02-20-2008

Scout Niblett has an absolutely amazing cover of "Just What I Needed", one very much in "Gloria"-type cover vein described in the actual entry. But it seems like such Gloria covers should be more notable if not just as a deconstruction of the original but if it sounds like the coverer is themselves transformed - not artist B making artist A sound like them, or artist B trying to sound like artist A, but rather B bending and altering A and, thanks to their own close reading of the song, actually reconfiguring the sound of their own work to create something new.
/bloviation

Sent by Yossarian | 2:57 AM ET | 02-21-2008

Oh, SO much to say! But I shall try to limit myself!

Carrying on the Dylan theme...I'd love to know, Carrie, what your take is on 'All Along The Watchtower'...a great song, but surely the seminal version is Hendrix's cover? (Actually, I see upon reading the comments above me that Jack agrees with me on this one!).

Sonic Youth have also been mentioned; what about their excellent cover of The Carpernters' 'Superstar'. Johnny Cash is another one people have name-checked...and, certainly for me, his version of Nine Inch Nails 'Hurt' surpasses the original in immeasurable ways. It was a good song already, but with the Cash version it is all about the context too. And the video is just fantastic. Nouvelle Vague have also been talked about further up, but not their cover of 'Teenage Kicks', which is not better than the original (would that be possible?), but is very different and is lovely.

Also, have you heard a band called Iron Horse? They have an album called 'Fade To Bluegrass'...an entire album of Metallica songs done in a bluegrass style! It is excellent...and so much fun!

You're so right to mention 'Gloria', but don't forget other older-school stuff, like Aretha and Carole King and 'Natural Woman'. And kudos to whoever mentioned The Cowboy Junkies and 'Sweet Jane'...beautiful!

Lately I've been really getting into Jeffrey Lewis, and his album '12 Crass Songs' is beyond brilliant. I love Crass, so this could have been disastrous, however he has really reworked each of the songs into his own style...what they lose in urgency, they gain in giving you the space to reflect on the thought-provoking lyrics.

I've really said enough eh? Before I sign of, I shall just give a passing mention to Petra Haden's cover of 'God Only Knows' and Le Tigre's version of 'Cars That Go Boom'...the latter is great, tongue very firmly in cheek, fun.

I bloomin' love this blog!

Sent by Divinyl | 8:05 AM ET | 02-21-2008

tender forever covering justin timberlake!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZb3QquSYw0

Sent by k | 8:37 AM ET | 02-21-2008

I forgot The Sunday's cover "Wild Horses" by The Rolling Stones. Love that one!

Sent by Jaryn | 10:24 AM ET | 02-21-2008

Patti Smith's "Hey Joe" always blew my mind. She took a blues song popularized by Jimi Hendrix and added a whole new section about Patti Hearst being kidnapped to completely change the song's intent. Totally creative and fresh. And, really, is that a cover, or a reinterpretation?

Sent by Gina V. | 10:25 AM ET | 02-21-2008

I think the Minutemen versions of "Ain't Talkin Bout Love" and "Dr Wu" rank right up there among the greatest covers ever.

Sent by Mike T | 10:44 AM ET | 02-21-2008

The Brothers Johnson's cover of Shuggie Otis' "Strawberry Letter 23" is in my running for the top cover of all time. (Battling it out with the aforementioned Manfred Mann's "Blinded by the Light" and Patti Smith's "Gloria".)

Some other notable covers that come to mind are:

Feelies' cover of "Paint it Black" (Stones)
Minor Threat's cover of "Steppin' Stone" (Monkees)
Camper Van Beethoven's cover of "Pictures of Matchstick Men" (Status Quo)
REM's cover of "Crazy" (Pylon)

Sent by East Coast Terry | 12:59 PM ET | 02-21-2008

le tigre - i'm so excited!
cat power - sea of love

Sent by esme | 1:14 PM ET | 02-21-2008

Jim White's version of Roger Miller's "King of the Road".

It is the perfect deconstruction of a classic song.

You can sample it on his myspace page:
http://www.myspace.com/officialjimwhite

Sent by Steve | 1:34 PM ET | 02-21-2008

did someone already mention petra haden's petra haden sings the who sell out?

Sent by lea | 2:47 PM ET | 02-21-2008

this is from wikipedia:

"In the Boston Globe on 13 March 2005, The Who frontman Pete Townshend had this to say about Haden's version of the record:
??? I was a little embarrassed to realize I was enjoying my own music so much, for in a way it was like hearing it for the first time. What Petra does with her voice, which is not so easy to do, is challenge the entire rock framework ... When she does depart from the original music she does it purely to bring a little piece of herself -- and when she appears she is so very welcome. I felt like I'd received something better than a Grammy."

Sent by lea | 3:02 PM ET | 02-21-2008

Without possibly overthinking it, the best covers that come to mind are "Changes" by Zumpano (The Zombies) and "Dub Will Tear Us Apart" by Jah Division ("Love Will Tear Us Apart" by Joy Division). The former is a clever send-up of '60s pop music, the latter spaced-out to smoked-filled oblivion.

Sent by Lars | 5:30 PM ET | 02-21-2008

I love realizing something is a cover long after I SHOULD have known. Case in point: Boss Hog's wonderfully woozy, buzzy "I Idolize You" is even better now that I own Ike and Tina Turner's version from three decades earlier. And some covers are so natural they work great; saw the Drive-By Truckers do Tom Petty's "Rebels" last night, and it KILLED.

Sent by dan | 7:17 PM ET | 02-21-2008

I think the best covers are the ones that take an original take on it.

My current favorite cover is The Bird And The Bee's of How Deep Is Love by the Bee Gees.

And I love songs that were made written by Tom Waits such Ole 55 and Downtown Train which were made popular by the Eagles and Rod Steward.

Sent by xavie | 9:58 PM ET | 02-21-2008

Where to begin? Well, I scrolled through my iPod and came up with some faves:

Thee Milkshakes - Who'll Be Next in Line (Kinks)
Robbie Fulks - Believe (Cher)
Mekons - You Wear it Well (Rod Stewart or Faces?)
REM - I Am Superman - (no idea)
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - I Just Dropped in (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)
Black Keys - She Said, She Said (The Beatles)
Dwight Yoakam - Crazy Little Thing Called Love (Queen)
The Feelies - Everybody's Got Something To Hide (Except For Me and My Monkey) (The Beatles)

I know there are many others, a shout out to those who've mentioned the Swans version of Love Will Tear Us Apart, and the Minutemen's doing Ain't Talkin Bout Love in @ 30 seconds!

One cover that is more famous than the original, but in my humble opinion not as good is Bonnie Raitt's cover of Thing Called Love. I prefer the original by John Hiatt, much swampier!

And if you haven't checked out the new Shelby Lynne CD, shame on you!

Sent by Glenn | 11:34 PM ET | 02-21-2008

Cover songs are the bane and breadth of my existence. Have you heard about what the Dirty Projectors have done to Black Flag's "Damaged"? I am in awe of Longstreth's reworking of this classic material, apparently from memory and instant inspiration in the studio (assuming the urban legend has tied itself around the real story a bit). Black Flag's tension and poetry with Longstreth's jaundiced sense of tonality and you have true vision. Transcends "cover" completely.

Sent by Jason | 2:00 AM ET | 02-22-2008

Talk about deconstruction: I do love Devo's cover of "(Can't get no) Satisfaction" from "Q: Are we not men? A: We are Devo!"

Sent by Zoe | 11:21 AM ET | 02-22-2008

"This Town Ain't Big Enough for the Both of Us", orginally by Sparks, covered by King Cobra is excellent, as is "Hey That's No Way to Say Goodbye", originally Leonard Cohen, covered by Tara Jane O' Neil.

Sent by Sarah | 1:03 PM ET | 02-22-2008

Husker Du's cover of 8 Miles High.

There's nothing else i have to say really...

Sent by Ryan | 3:13 PM ET | 02-24-2008

Isn't a cover not so much when the "cover" version becomes associated with the artist doing the "covering" but when one is "covering" a song highly associated with someone who "originally" wrote or performed it. I.e. if you cover "Mr. Tambourine Man" whether you're The Byrds (and your version becomes as famous as Dylan's) or a bar band, you're "covering" a song associated with Dylan. If you do a song by the Gershwins or Cole Porter, I'd say you're not "covering" anyone's particular tune even if a Frank Sinatra or Ella Fitzgerald version might be considered a superior version of the song.

Sent by Ken | 4:39 PM ET | 02-28-2008

I hate that my first comment on Carrie's blog is of a negative nature (ain't that a double negative, eh), but I gotta say that the WORST covers I've ever heard have been done by actors:

Robert Downey, Jr. - "River" (Joni Mitchell)
Juliette Lewis - "Hardly Wait" (PJ Harvey)
Kevin Spacey - "Mind Games" (John Lennon)

Truly unacceptable performances. To the fiery pits with all three of 'em.

Sent by The Soup Nazi | 8:05 PM ET | 02-28-2008

Al Green recorded "How Do You Mend a Broken Heart" and transformed such a sappy Bee Gees song. I was driving through the rural Midwest once when the original came on the radio, and I wondered who was doing such a crappy version of Al's song.

Sent by Tom | 10:16 PM ET | 03-01-2008

Sonic Youth's 'Schitzophrenic'...by Young at Heart (via Bob M.): https://www.kungfunation.com/ is appropriately surreal. Thanks in part to their Julian Schnabel-y conductor.

The above-mentioned 8 mi. Highhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeqyCwAeT3I

Bjork and PJ 'Satisfaction' (a little slow, but still...worth a stop if you're going to Youtube)

Sent by NSF | 9:55 AM ET | 03-03-2008

Bonfire Madigan's cover of Cyndi Lauper & Prince's "When You Were Mine"

Sent by Mia Joon | 5:39 PM ET | 03-04-2008

lou reed covering the grifters on lost highway soundtrack...yes you know THIS MAGIC MOMENT...It's like hey man look ! it's cinema and you can cry your tears now boy .Oh I do like the grifters original but it was definitely meant for lou(one of his early influences indeed)

Sent by jules | 4:15 AM ET | 03-05-2008

12XU by Minor Threat! Originally a Wire song.

Sent by Jenn | 12:15 PM ET | 03-07-2008

Might be a little late, but 'd like to throw the Cure's version of Foxy Lady off of the debut album, Three Imaginary Boys, into the ring. Took a couple background listens to how i knew this song. Nice cover indeed.

Sent by anderson | 8:36 PM ET | 05-25-2008

It always bugged me that Ike and Tina Turner inserted an "I was" between the phases "And I never lost one minute of sleepin'/Worryin bout the way things might have been." That totally flipped what Fogerty was trying to say - and rendered the line senseless.
As for great covers of songs by artists I never thought could be improved upon:
"Got To Get You Into My Life" by Earth Wind and Fire and "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" by Diana Ross turned tunes by the Beatles and Marvin Gaye, respectively, into totally unique creations - no easy feat. Aretha Franklin did the same with "Bridge Over Troubled Waters" and (of course) "Respect."

Sent by Jimmy | 3:32 PM ET | 09-13-2008