It's a hard question to answer because there are so many "hidden" covers.
Like the fact that "My Way" is actually a cover.
Jayne: 'Cause I don't know these folks. Don't much care to. Mal: They're whores. Jayne: I'm in.
'Heart Of Gold'
Buffista Music 4: Needs More Cowbell!
There's a lady plays her fav'rite records/On the jukebox ev'ry day/All day long she plays the same old songs/And she believes the things that they say/She sings along with all the saddest songs/And she believes the stories are real/She lets the music dictate the way that she feels.
megan walker - Aug 20, 2010 8:47:07 am PDT #3361 of 6436
"What kind of magical sunshine and lollipop world do you live in? Because you need to be medicated."-SFist
Spidra Webster - Aug 20, 2010 8:54:11 am PDT #3362 of 6436
I wish I could just go somewhere to get flensed but none of the whaling ships near me take Medicare.
My cousin lives very close by so I'll be walking there.
Is it really super-crowded stadium concert kinda crowds? How early do people arrive? Are people fenced in even though it's free or is it open?
DavidS - Aug 20, 2010 9:00:49 am PDT #3363 of 6436
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
Is it really super-crowded stadium concert kinda crowds? How early do people arrive? Are people fenced in even though it's free or is it open?
It's families and friends on big blankets, not shoulder to shoulder. People get there early to setup and have a good view of the stage. You're not fenced in.
tommyrot - Aug 20, 2010 9:05:39 am PDT #3364 of 6436
Sir, it's not an offence to let your cat eat your bacon. Okay? And we don't arrest cats, I'm very sorry.
Thanks, Hec - both the Kate Bush cover of "Rocketman" and the Futureheads cover of "Hounds of Love" are awesome!
Several times a year I create an iTunes playlist of the songs I'm currently obsessed with - I added both these songs to the current obsession playlist....
JZ - Aug 20, 2010 9:05:53 am PDT #3365 of 6436
See? I gave everybody here an opportunity to tell me what a bad person I am and nobody did, because I fuckin' rule.
Hec already mentioned my favorite better-cover-than-the-original, Skee-Lo's "Mister Morton." Others...hmmm...
It pains me to say that anyone is ever better than Louis Prima at anything, but Los Lobos' cover of "I Wan'na Be Like You" from The Jungle Book swings, stomps and rocks like almost nothing else I've ever heard (eta: and that's just the studio version from the original Disney covers album - the live versions are a glorious swing-gone-wild riot). Melissa Etheridge's cover of "Maggie May" is utterly awesome. And, considerably more obscurely, Ferron's cover of "Where Is Maria?" on the Greg Brown cover album Going Driftless isn't quite better than the original, but God, it's fantastic.
Dana - Aug 20, 2010 9:07:42 am PDT #3366 of 6436
I'm terrifically busy with my ennui.
Oh, I thought of one. Richard Shindell's version of "Calling the Moon" is better than Dar Williams'.
Spidra Webster - Aug 20, 2010 9:11:54 am PDT #3367 of 6436
I wish I could just go somewhere to get flensed but none of the whaling ships near me take Medicare.
Thanks, David.
Frankenbuddha - Aug 20, 2010 9:22:23 am PDT #3368 of 6436
"We are the Goon Squad and we're coming to town...Beep! Beep!" - David Bowie, "Fashion"
"Twist and Shout" by the Beatles.
Also? Their version of "Money".
Fred Pete - Aug 20, 2010 9:29:29 am PDT #3369 of 6436
Ann, that's a ferret.
Ike and Tina Turner, "Proud Mary." CCR's version is pretty good on its own merits (and their remake of "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" is brilliant). But only Tina thought of "We nevah. Evah! Do nuthin'! Nice! and Eeeeeeeasy."
Hayden - Aug 20, 2010 9:34:36 am PDT #3370 of 6436
aka "The artist formerly known as Corwood Industries."
Oh, I prefer Del McCoury's bluegrass cover of "1952 Vincent Black Lightning."
Fightin' words!
Here's a few off the top of my head:
Dinosaur Jr's "Just Like Heaven" is beloved by Robert Smith because it is awesome.
Mike Watt's "Big Train" is better than the Kinman brothers' version.
There's no better version of "The Red And The Black" than fIREHOSE's, and that includes BOC's original and the Minutemen's version.
Any song that Jerry Lee Lewis performs is by definition better than the original.
Any Daniel Johnston song performed by another artist is also better than the original, especially if that artist is Kathy McCarthy or Vic Chesnutt.