R&P- can you recall an album where the best song on it was a cover song (hard one, I know)?

Question

BQ 2. What is it in your opinion that makes a song coverable (i think i made that term uo just now) :)

BQ. How do you feel when one of your favourite artists do a cover of someone else's song?

Answer 1

I tried to make myself easier by trying to recall albums where more than one best song were covers. That narrows the choice. 



Eric Clapton - 461 Ocean Boulevard - (at least) 2 best

Motherless Children (trad)

I Shot the Sheriff (Bob Marley) 

imo Clapton's own "Let It Grow" is No.3 with another cover - Willie and the Hand Jive (Johnny Otis) - 4th best,



Joan Jett - I Love Rock 'N' Roll - 2 best songs

Crimson and Clover (Tommy James & The Shondells )

I Love Rock 'N' Roll (The Arrows)

exactly in this order, I never particularly liked the latter but it was unavoidable in 1980s.



Santana - Abraxas - 2 best songs are covers

Black Magic Woman (Peter Green)

Oye Como Va (Tito Puente)



Bonnie Raitt - Streetlights - (at least) 3 best songs are covers

That Song About The Midway (Joni Mitchell)

What Is Success (Allen Toussaint)

Angel from Montgomery (John Prine)

actually I learned about this album only recently when I followed a lead from the Toussaint's original (I love that piano riff). I went from Dr.John⇒ Professor Longhair⇒ Toussaint⇒ this album.



UB40 - Labour of Love - a virtually whole album

Red, Red Wine (Neil Diamond)

Please Don't Make Me Cry (Winston "Groovy" Tucker)

Cherry Oh Baby (Eric Donaldson)

Many Rivers To Cross (Jimmy Cliff)

Keep on Moving (Bob Marley)

and so on........

a nice cover album actually, not exactly my cup of tea but it brings me back nicely



and now, the dessert 🥞

Cowboy Junkies - The Trinity Session - 2½ best

Sweet Jane (Lou Reed)

I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry (Hank Williams)

tied in 3rd place:

Mining for Gold (trad) and Misguided Angel (Cowboys' original)



Edit:

About being surprised, I could make a list of songs I thought were originals, but that would be off topic. This one is to all the kids who think Metallica's "Whiskey in the Jar" is the original. You googled a little and found about Thin Lizzy, right? That places the song well in this topic because it is arguably one of the best songs from "Garage, Inc. " album and it is a cover.

Well, Thin Lizzy (1972 single) version is actually a cover of Irish traditional. I was therefore not much surprised when I heard The Dubliners version (1967). Tracing back I learned that the first known recording was by Lena Bourne Fish in 1941. Lena was an elderly lady then, who died in 1945 and the song is released posthumously in 1951. You can find her version on YT titled Gilgarrah Mountain. And the biggest surprise for me was yet to follow because I stumbled upon a version by Joe Dassin titled "Mâche ta chique" (1965). It is 7 years before Thin Lizzy and in French 😮.



Edit2:

BQ2 - Coverable song. Difficult question.

Sometimes it's obvious - good catchy songs that laid forgotten for some time. Think instrumentals like Green Onions or Egyptian Reggae.

Sometimes it's exactly the opposite - musicians that rely on improvisation, like in jazz - they like to cover tunes everybody knows because the twist they bring in is more obvious than in an unknown tune. It's like when somebody makes a witty remark referring to a line from a popular movie. It's pointless if those who listen haven't seen a movie.

Sometimes a good coverable song is the one seemingly uncoverable. A sing-along song nobody can sing. But we would like we can. How many times we heard "no one can sing (play) that like...". Yet some people try and succeed. Or fail.

Example: Little Wing, Hendrix. A song we all know, few can play and sing. A dreamlike atmosphere. And dreams can be happy dreams or nightmares. Ambiguous psychedelic lyrics. Who is Little Wing? We only know from Hendrix it's "she". And there you have space for various interpretations - Clapton (painful), Sting (jazzy), Vaughan (instrumental blues)... Currently, my favorite version is a piano instrumental by Wayne Kelso (YT).



BQ - I don't mind. It's up to them.

Answer 2

I generally prefer Stevie Ray Vaughan's Hendrix covers to his originals so for example Couldn't Stand The Weather, which had his cover of Voodoo Chile (Straight Return).



I do like his originals Lenny and Riviera Paradise a lot though. Shame he never did anything like that with vocals.

Answer 3

This is a hard one to answer simply, so bear with me.



Main question (best song on album):

Album: AWAKEN THE FIRE by Like A Storm cover of "Gangsta's Paradise" originally by Coolio

And, not sure if this counts, but here we go:

VAMPIRE DIARIES SOUNDTRACK (album)

"Running Up That Hill"  covered by Placebo (originally done by Kate Bush)



BQ2:The song either has to be SO amazing you could listen to it done a 100 different ways.

Example: David Bowie's "Heroes"

OR

The song falls just short /leaves you wanting more - so someone adds a twist, amps it up/tempo change - and you're like "YES! That's what that song needed all along."

Example: "Lose You To Love Me by Selena Gomez (not a fan of her - don't hate her - just not for me), but when I heard this song, I'm like "great potential, but not quite there." Since then, come across some faster and heavier covers that I'm like "Yes. That is so much better."

HURT by Nine Inch Nails is another that has had some great/better covers.



BQ: Actually, one of my used-to-be favorite bands (30 Seconds To Mars - don't laugh at me - loved their punk/alt rock) covered several songs and they gave me a spectrum of feelings. So, depends on the composition of the song and how it's remastered ; also, whether an artist should cover said song (just because an artist can sing/perform music and love a song, doesn't mean it's a song THEY should cover - they need to choose WISELY for their style/vocal capabilities.)



The covers I'm picking are:

MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE by the Police - nearly hated their cover - tolerated it, but didn't really enjoy it.



WHERE THE STREETS HAVE NO NAME by U2 - I thought they did the song justice - NO ONE will ever do it as well as U2, but 30STM certainly didn't ruin it or (in my opinion) insult the original version.



STAY by Rihanna - I actually strongly preferred 30STM's version.

Answer 4

Aloha Livin’!



Libertad by Velvet Revolver.



Their cover of ELO’s “Can’t Get It Out of My Head” is easily the best song on the album.



BQ1:  I don’t know.  I like it best when I hear a cover of a song that I wouldn’t have expected any artist to cover.



BQ2:  I usually like it when my favorite artists do cover songs.  A few of my favorite bands have done entire albums of covers...Deftones, Rush, Guns N’ Roses.  I enjoy those albums.

Answer 5

About the only artist I know who can do cover versions which were better than, or as good as, the original, though many have tried, is Bryan Ferry.



I would check out Roxy Music and Bryan Ferry albums for good cover versions.

Answer 6

Hey Livin', another cover of a King Crimson song, and definitely the best song on the album.

April Wine - 21st Century Schizoid Man

Cheers

Answer 7

Easy, this one. =)



Mariah Carey - Fantasy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qq09UkPRdFY



I like it when the cover really add something new, give it new angle, a twist, change of genre or whatever. Just like for example Mariahs version of Tom Tom Clubs song, or Gary Jules version of Tears for Fears Mad World.



BA: Well, I don't mind as long as it makes good music.



BA 2: Any song is coverable, imho, but like I said. I really like when they add something new to it.

Answer 8

Very hard.



Evoken - Rotting Misery 7inch



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UdEGeFv1nw

Answer 9

Decidedly "Mad World" by Tears for Fears, coverized by Gary Jules in "Trading Snakeoil for Wolftickets"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4N3N1MlvVc4



BQ2: basically, me too think that any song is coverable, however a couple of precautions that I don't mind are: that the chosen song is not too well known and famous, and that there are not too many degrees of separation between the covered artist and the interpreter (the same "Mad World" proposed by Harakiri for the Sky, is not bad, but it surprises me and I like it much less, to give a clear example)



BQ: I feel calm, normal, I'm happy for them :)

I may be intrigued by the fact that in this way they reveal a particular openness towards a particular artist, or a particular cheekiness, depending on the meaning that the cover has for them.

Answer 10

More detailed criteria would help. Also there are plenty of albums that are exclusively cover tunes. Hearing a favorite guitar player covering a Hendrix original is common. What they do with it matters. The Hendrix cover of "All Along the Watchtower" is prime example. Devo's covering "Satisfaction" was the first song I heard from that band.



I’ll wait to see what others say.

Answer 11

That’s too easy. Basically every album by Michael Bolton. Has he ever sung a song that wasn’t a cover. 



When a man lives a woman - Percy sledge

Sitting on the dock of the bay - Otis Redding

Answer 12

Many bands have done cover songs with great success, but there's one that remains my all-time favorite, Harvest For The World, originally recorded by the primarily R&B, Soul, Funk band The Isley Brothers in 1976, but covered by the Rock Supergroup The Power Station in 1985. 



Harvest For The World is a soulful song about world peace, and The Isley Brothers perform it magnificently with a lot of feeling, though it's not a slow song, but one with a quick tempo. Its guitar sound is a combination of acoustic and electric guitar with a soft, smooth beat. The song was the title track of the album. 



The Power Station was a supergroup formed by Blue-Eyed Soul, Rock, Pop singer Robert Palmer, Tony Thompson of the R&B, Disco, Funk band Chic, and Andy and John Taylor from New Wave, Rock band Duran Duran. The Power Station version of Harvest For The World has no softness whatsoever--it's a muscular, forceful guitar attack, but done with a great beat and a great vocal duet by Robert Palmer and Andy Taylor. John Taylor shines with strong bass, as does Tony Thompson with strong drum sound. Again, it's just a very muscular sound. A friend of mine is still trying to copy Andy Taylor's guitar riffs, but still can't quite nail them. 



While Harvest For The World was never released as a single, and many have no idea this version exists, I still consider it the best song on the debut self-titled album. Three other released singles, Some Like It Hot, Get It On (Bang a Gong)--another cover song originally recorded by T-Rex, and Communication may have gotten more airplay, but Harvest For The World is the crown jewel. 



BQ 2: I don't see why any song can't be covered, but it's those special versions that distinguish it from the original. In the case of Harvest For The World, the lyrics alone make it attractive, though world peace isn't always a fun subject to sing about. A great melody also provides a good place to start too. 



The Power Station did something unique in that they didn't sing the song word for word. They not only changed some of the lyrics, they also changed the chorus and dropped a verse (paragraph) of the song. 



Something else I felt in one version, I didn't feel in the other: Harvest For The World in The Isley Brothers version sounds like feeding food to a hungry world, while The Power Station version sounds like fields of cocaine feeding an addicted world. 



BQ: Many of my favorite bands and singers have covered other artists' songs. It may not always work, but in some cases I like the cover version better. That is the case in Harvest For The World, which was covered at least two other times by other artists. Some feel it's like stealing a song from another writer, but some songs just beg to be covered, even if they remain the better version. How many singers have successfully covered Tom Jones' biggest hits? You can try to cover his songs, but you will never be introduced with "This is Tom Jones!" 

Answer 13

The “Wheels Of Fire” album from Cream.  “Crossroads” is a compilation of two Robert Johnson songs - Crossroads and Travelling Riverside Blues.

Answer 14

"Twist & Shout", the N. American version of The Beatles "Please Please Me" album.  The U.K. album was released on 22 Mar.'63, the N. American version on 3 Feb. '64.  It may not have been the best track on the album, but was quite good & certainly the best-known in N. America at the time.  

ANY song can be covered.  It depends on the energy that can be brought to the song.  Some covers exceed the original.  

I usually have no problem with someone doing a cover.  It tends to show the regard held for the previous artist.  

Answer 15

Sympathy for the Devil (guns n roses)

Sympathy for the Devil

Answer 16

I think possibly Roxy Music and their covers of Jealous Guy and A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall.



Jealous Guy appeared on the Street Life best of Album so not sure if that counts as a best of but it was certainly a massive hit when it was released as a single and probably their biggest hit.



A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall was on These Foolish Things, 1973.



If the song is arranged well and if it works then it works as Snow Patrol might say. 

Answer 17

"Thunder and Fire" - Jason and The Scorchers



"My Kingdom for a Car" - originally by Phil Ochs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmZZW9fDHI8

Answer 18

First Band On The Moon-The Cardigans

The best track by a mile is their cover of Black Sabbath's-Iron Man

I like it better when an artist covers a song by my favourite artist.

I can't stand Karaoke though.



Complete change of subject I saw Kermit on TV and now I understand what you meant by collar It's more of a fringe(it looks a bit like the leaves under the rose in my photo) I have never noticed that before and yeah Robin hasn't got one yet(haha).



Great Q as always from 'The Don'. Sorry for going off piste in the middle there.

Answer 19

Long time, no see, Livin'! Or maybe it just feels that way :-)



Skinny Love by Birdy from her self-titled album (original: Bon Iver). I think there is only one original song on this album of hers. There are a couple other really good covers on it.



BQ 2: I suppose any song is coverable if a singer/band finds it relatable.



BQ: If the cover isn't that great, I feel a bit disappointed. Not only because I know they are capable of so much better, but also because I know that some people not familiar with the band's other work will judge them solely based on the cover. But if the cover is good, it makes me sooo happy. I love hearing a different version/interpretation, and sometimes it's nice for an older song to have some hip, new life brought to it.

Answer 20

Hi Livin', great question had to think about this one.



Happy Mondays - Step On (from Pills, Thrills & Bellyaches)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFBQ0PH5rM4

Great album but this has to be the highlight, a cover of a song from John Kongos from the early 70's.



BQ2:  It's not that the original is so great, it's what they did with it, completely made it their own.



BQ: I love cover versions but not straight copies, I don't really see the point of that, more like Karaoke, no I love it when they turn the song upside down, almost making it unrecogniseable from the original.