Regular readers know that I have an ongoing obsession with the cover song. I was pleased, then, to read that the Daily Telegraph music critics had created a list of the 50 best cover versions ever recorded. It’s a pretty British and pop-centric list, but food for thought. Here are the top five:
1. All Along the Watchtower – Jimi Hendrix Experience, 1968
2. You Were Always on My Mind – Pet Shop Boys, 1987
3. My Way – Sid Vicious, 1979
4. Hallelujah – Jeff Buckley, 1993
5. Respect – Aretha Franklin, 1967
I don’t know about the Pet Shop Boys at #2, but I’ll grant them the rest of the top five. I was pleased to see the Cowboy Junkies get recognized for their seminal “Sweet Jane” at #19. I downloaded a few of the songs I hadn’t heard before:
- 9. Comfortably Numb – Scissor Sisters – Truly an awful song. Why are they trying to resurrect disco?
- 15. Wild Horses – The Flying Burrito Bros, 1971 – Not a great departure from the original, but with a natural counry twang.
- 21. Only Love Can Break Your Heart – St Etienne, 1990 – I couldn’t get this song off the file-sharing networks. Does anybody have it? I already have four or five other covers of this song.
- 25. Wonderwall – Ryan Adams, 2004 – Charming and sparse, if a little too ironic.
I have no idea how the incredible Cassandra Wilson (check the sweet Geocities fan page) didn’t make it on this list. I could make a top-ten list out of her covers alone.
DarrenBarefoot.com 
an addition:
Pocahontas by Crash Vegas is a delicious cover of the Neil Young tune.
How about Joe Cocker? His Leon Russell-produced versions of “Feelin’ Alright,” “With a Little Help From My Friends” (featuring Jimmy Page on guitar), and “She Came in Through the Bathroom Window” are arguably better than the already-fab originals.
I’d put in a vote for Big Sugar’s “Dear Mr. Fantasy” too.
Cassandra might have not gotten a mention because she is a jazz artist. It seems to me that people don’t acknowledge jazz or blues covers, just rock ones. I think covers are more expected in jazz and blues.
If you haven’t already heard of the podcast “Coverville”;
http://www.coverville.com/
All covers, all the time…
Lisa: Indeed, that’s an exceptional cover.
Derek: Indeed–in particular, “Bathroom Window”.
Alexis: I thought of that, but they did include Joss Stone and John Coltrane.
Richard: That’s excellent, I’m listening to an episode right now.
Hmmm… I would have thought that Talking Heads’ Take Me To The River, or Black Crowes ‘Hard to Handle’ would have placed on that list.
I can’t give that list too much credibility. Look at their discussion of the “Comfortably Numb” cover:
“At once cold, sexy and relentlessly danceable, it far outshines the original in both concept and execution.”
I’m sorry, but outdoing Pink Floyd for concept and execution? I think not. It’s like covering a Nirvana song and saying “This version is much better than the original at featuring incoherant lyrics.” Pink Floyd released 4 concept albums in the same decade, and basically invented the idea.
“where the streets have no name” was incredible .. PSB deserve to be on there for one thing or another.
I loathe the Uncle Kracker version of Drift Away. Geez it’s a song about Rock n’ Roll, the original is awesome, it did not need a generic country-western take.
Blind Boys of Alabama “Amazing Grace” not sure if it qualifies as a cover, but it’s done to the music of “House of the Rising Sun”
Joan Osbourne “Man in the Long Black Coat”
Luther Wright and the Wrongs “The Wall” that’s the album, the whole shebang, done bluegrass. Great live band.
Los Lobos “Hotel California” from the OST for “The Big Lebowski.” In spanish, except for the chorus, done at about four times the speed of the original.
I’m surprised Cake didn’t get the nod for “Perhaps Perhaps Perhaps” or “I Will Survive”. Then again, maybe they’re not everybody’s cup of tea.
One other cover band I forgot to mention…
Hayseed Dixie. Hell’s Bells sounds SOOO much different like that.
I much prefer Rufus Wainwright’s cover of Hallelujah to Jeff Buckley’s.
Johnny Cash – Rusty Cage
Pearl Jam – Masters of War
Van Morrison and Ray Charles “Tura Lura Lura”
No argument about Jimi Hendrix, but I prefer Sammy Davis Jr’s version of My Way. The cover of Only Love Can Break Your Heart is a classic and well worth hunting down.
I sort of wish that I had included it in the top 10 cover versions list that I recently compiled.
Not that I’d expect a Canadian indie band to make the list but the Rheostatics version of The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald belongs on any list of greatest covers (even if the authors never heard it).
Also didn’t see Bittersweet Symphony? Was it there? Brit-pop centric ought to think of that one.
Rock el Casbah is really cool.
I don’t know what happen in Europe and USA but here in South America the brazilian singer Rita Lee has published two amazing cover albums. “Bossa’n Rock” and “Bossa’n Beatles”
Both has great cover versions and were on top of the charts for many months.
The best: ‘Every breath you take’ from The Police and ‘All my loving’ from The Beatles
Have you got the (selftitled) CD by the Barefoot? They’ve done (possibly) the best version of Underworld’s Born Slippy among other 11 covers including Run DMC’s It’s like That, X-Press 2’s Lazy & Grandmaster Flash’s White Lines. Check them out on their website at http://www.barefootbarefoot.com We’ve been playing this CD at our shop non-stop and everybody wants to know who it’s by!
Johnny cash cover of one is awesome but his cover of personal jesus is incredible it wasn’t even in the list when it should have ranked above one!
Not being a big fan of covers i only like live versions!!
Shawn Colvin
Viva Las Vegas
You won’t believe it.
Yes Jeff Buckleys version of Hallelujah is amazing but he should’ve had two songs on that list his version of Nina Simones ‘Lilac Wine’ is possibly as emotionally taxing as Hallelujah.