This has been a very thought-provoking and in some cases, informative, thread....and it's gotten a few people a bit riled up. I'll throw out a few: "Dizzy Miss Lizzy"-the Plimsouls (from "One Night in America") "Getting Mighty Crowded"-Elvis Costello & the Attractions "Union Square"-Eric Ambel "Mistreated"-Rainbow "Feelin' Alright"-the Black Crowes "Gone, Gone, Gone"-Jason and the Scorchers
I did a search, but it seems that nobody has mentioned Sinead O'Connor's version of Nothing Compares 2 U, which I think is infinitely better than the original Family version, and better than the Prince demo too Steve
Just about every Beatles song John Lennon sung, but my top two choices would be: Twist And Shout (Beatles) Money (Beatles) The originals sound so tame next to what the Beatles do with these songs. As mentioned, John's lead vocals are great, but Paul and George also provide outstanding backup vocals (and Paul has a great scream on Twist And Shout)
No accounting for taste. The best thing I could say about Elton's version is that it's far better than William Shatner's.
Most of the Beatles covers, except for a few ("Anna", "Words of Love", "You Really Got A Hold On Me" are the only ones that spring to mind right now) Naturally, Hendrix's "All Along The Watchtower", though Dylan's isn't really a slouch either. Elvis Costello did a bunch of really good ones. Mostly on the Rhino bonus discs. "Peace Love And Understanding", "Good Year For The Roses", you know. Replacements - "Black Diamond". A little bit more unstructured, chaotic, less anthemic, and thus more serious and effective. no lol evry sgong they did live is soooooo much better then the first peoples recordings lolololol
Thanks for this, I didn't know. I saw them live in the 80s, I think it was. I always loved the cover versionof 'ATG'.
Although Gilbert O'Sullivan's original is great, there just something about Norman "Hurricane" Smith's that is simply better (although the arrangement of the song changes the meaning a bit):
YRGM (original) - there's nothing like it. As important a recording in the rock canon as there can be. But, I do like the Van Halen version, too. Just not as much. On the other hand, Van Halen's "Where Have All The Good Times Gone!" is a lot more energetic than the Kinks' original version. Not sure which one, I'd prefer over the other, though.
Woodstock is much better by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young than the Joni Mitchell original In fact Matthews Southern Comfort's version is better than Mitchell's as well. (though not as good as CSNY)
'Easy Come Easy Go' by George Strait. Dean Dillon wrote it, but his original version doesn't quite stack up George's.
It's an interesting attempt to combine doowop with rockabilly (Marty's Elvis imitations on the bridges -- lol), two genres that generally don't go together, but Dion is still the man with his more natural doo wop-country combination. Curiously, the demo was also more uptempo than Dion's version:
Look, I like the Beatles a lot but I wish that people would quit claiming they improved on most of the remakes they did. Really, their version of "Roll Over Beethoven" is better than Chuck Berry's, just to name one?
I suppose it depends which one you heard first. I'd only heard maybe one or two of these songs before the Beatles introduced me to them. I like both versions of "Roll Over Beethoven" but I feel the Beatles' version is a bit more rich and full musically. "Please Mister Postman" just has a more solid backbone to it once it was put into a more rock-n-roll-oriented structure. And as much as I love Chuck Berry, hearing McCartney rip out "Rock And Roll Music" is more entertaining, to me. The originals are by no means bad (and like I said, some are still better). It's not that they are definitively better - they just fit more into my music tastes.
That's fair. I do think which version you knew first can make a difference. I have read a few posts in the past where someone essentially stated if the Beatles did it, it must be better. That's the kind of thing that gives Beatles fans a bad name.
