Covers

[shadedpain42]

Last weekend i went through my Itunes and sectioned off any songs that were covers. They had to be actual covers, hymns and traditional songs didn't count. I also kept the quality pretty high, so most live covers from bootlegs didn't make the cut.

With that criteria, i still ended up with 586 cover songs. A little more than i expected. I'm gonna try and narrow it down to my top 35 or or so and make a nice little 2 disc mix.

But before i do that, i figure I'm missing a *ton* of good covers....

So, my Northern friends. What are your favorite covers? What should i be adding to my collection before i go any further. I'll take as many suggestions as you can think of =)

[Nakedprey]

Off the top of my head, some covers I enjoy...

"Electric Eye" The Mother Truckers (original by Judas Priest)
"Play it All Night Long" Drive-By Truckers (original by Warren Zevon)
"Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth" Martin Gore (original by Sparks)
"Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth" Neko Case (original by Sparks)
"Over Under Sideways Down" The 77s (original by The Yardbirds)
"Running Up That Hill" Placebo (original by Kate Bush)
"Renaissance Man" The Ocean Blue (original by The 77s)
"Shotgun Angel" The 77s (original by Daniel Amos)
"Wild Horses" The Sundays (original by The Rolling Stones)
"Helter Skelter" U2 (original by The Beatles)
"Across the Universe" Fiona Apple (original by The Beatles)
"Dead Souls" Nine Inch Nails (original by Joy Division)
"Molly's Lips" Nirvana (original by The Vaselines)

[Canuck Monk]

I can't think of too any covers I have off the top of my head but I think Buddy Miller's cover of "Worry Too Much" might be the only Mark Heard song that's better than the original.

[grimaudjr]

good thread idea shadedpain!

im sure im missing some more (lots of blues & pretty much the entire this mortal coil material since about 99% of their material was all covers)

adam again "aint no sunshine" originally done by bill withers
bauhaus "severence" originally done by dead can dance
bauhaus "third uncle" originally done by brian eno
bauhaus "ziggy stardust" originally done by david bowie
bauhaus "telegram sam" originally done by t-rex
placebo "20th centruy boy" originally done by t-rex
placebo "running up that hill" originally done by kate bush
brian setzer "sleepwalk" originally done by santo & johnny (i believe)
cat power "ramblin (wo)man" originally done by hank williams
the cure "purple haze" (the version from the jimi hendrix tribute cd) originally done by jimi hendrix
the damned "alone again or" originally done by love
concrete blonde "everybody knows" originally done by leonard cohen
concrete blonde "little wing" originally done by jimi hendrix
daniel lanois "amazing grace"
emmy lou harris "goodbye" originally done by steve earle (man does this one nail me through the heart)
johnny cash "the mercy seat" originally done by nick cave & the bad seeds
johnny cash "hurt" originally done by NIN (this version will always sit with me due do it being playing @ my friends funeral)
antony hegarty (from antony & the johnsons) "perfect day" originally done by lou reed
love & rockets "ball of confusion" originally done by the temptations
the mission uk "like a hurricane" originally done by neil young
the sisters of mercy "gimmie shelter" originally done by the rolling stones
this mortal coil "16 days & gathering dust" originally done by modern english
this mortal coil "song to siren" originally done by tim buckley
van halen "you really got me" originally done by the kinks
the venus furs "baby's on fire" originally done by brian eno
zeke "shout it out loud" originally done by kiss
the hope blister "dagger" originally done by slowdive
revolting cocks "do you think im sexy" originally done by rod stewart

[mykel]

herb and nakedprey took a number of my favs, too. but i'll add these:

inner city blues - adam again (marvin gaye)
unconditional love - altar boys (donna summer)
space age love song - the bomb (flock of seagulls)
happiness is a warm gun - the breeders (the beatles)
eve of destruction - crashdog (barry mcguire)
viva las vegas - the dead kennedys (elvis?)
these days - denison witmer (jackson browne)
just like heaven - dinosaur jr (the cure)
true - duvall (spandau ballet)
(what's so funny 'bout) peace, love & understanding - elvis costello & the attractions (nick lowe)
freddie's dead - fishbone (curtis mayfield)
set you free - frightened rabbit (N-trance?)
rock&roll - jane's addiction (the rolling stones)
hallelujah - jeff buckley (leonard cohen)
what a wonderful world - joey ramone (louis armstrong?)
gold start for robot boy - jon auer (guided by voices)
green eyes - jon auer (husker du)
mrs. robinson - lemonheads (simon and garfunkel)
luka - lemonheads (suzanne vega)
round-n-round - lou barlow (ratt)
don't think twice - mike ness (bob dylan)
burnin' for you - mike watt (blue oyster cult)
voices carry - morella's forest (til tuesday)
suspect device - naked raygun (stiff little fingers)
nine inch nails - dead souls (joy division)
metal heart - pedro the lion (cat power)
political science - pedro the lion (randy newman)
i turned into a martian - phantasmic (misfits)
head on - pixies (jesus and mary chain)
strange - REM (wire)
higher ground - RHCP (stevie wonder)
black diamond - the replacements (kiss)
it don't matter to the sun - rosie thomas (chris gaines...ie garth brooks)
pure imagination - smoking popes (charlie and the choc factory movie)
ring of fire - social distortion (june carter)
under my thumb - social d (the rolling stones)
pressure drop - the specials (toots & the maytals)
99 red balloons - 7seconds (nina)

[Religious Burp]

I reckon the best covers are the ones that give a different feel to the original. That said, I second the Lemonheads version of "Mrs Robinson" (originally Simon & Garfunkle), and add Jimi Hendrix's version of "All along the Watchtower" (originally Bob Dylan).

I really dig RHCP doing "Higher Ground" too.

I've always wanted to do a cover of tpc's "Worm" but switching the male & female vocal parts. I'd also love to see a choir do a cover of "Love is Noise" by the Verve.

[mykel]

another one to add is husker du's "8 miles high" (originally by the byrds). i forgot it because i don't own that single. but it's definitely a different take on the song than the original.

i always wished the choir recorded their version of "have you ever seen the rain?" (CCR), which i saw them perform live several times.