I don't mean to piggy-back off of Kit's occasional "The List" feature. But if you've known me for a while, you may be aware that I have a bit of a list problem myself.
The following is one that I have been mulling for awhile.
The list is of popular songs of which a cover version is seemingly more famous or beloved (EDIT 2/19 8:39PM: Not necessarily "better"...) than its original recording. I am going for performances with reasonable separation of time or style, so a "What Hurts the Most" wouldn't be on my list. I will begin the list by naming (to the best of my ability) the song, the original artist, and the cover artist.
- "Hound Dog" - Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton; Elvis Presley
- "Hard to Handle" - Otis Redding; The Black Crowes
- "I Swear" - John Michael Montgomery; All-4-One
- "I Can Love You Like That" - John Michael Montgomery; All-4-One
- "Bless the Broken Road" - The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band; Rascal Flatts
- "Callin' Baton Rouge" - New Grass Revival; Garth Brooks
- "Shameless" - Billy Joel; Garth Brooks
- "To Make You Feel My Love" - Bob Dylan, Garth Brooks (see a trend?)
- "Hurt" - Nine Inch Nails; Johnny Cash
- "I Will Always Love You" - Dolly Parton; Whitney Houston
- "On Broadway" - The Drifters; George Benson
- "Blueberry Hill" - Gene Autry or Glenn Miller; Fats Domino
- "Wind Beneath My Wings" - Roger Whittaker (!!!); Bette Midler
You can add to the list if you like by commenting, but for the love of God don't blow it.
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"All Along the Watchtower" - Bob Dylan; Jimi Hendrix
Damn... charles beat me to Watchtower...
"Little Wing" - Jimi Hendrix; Stevie Ray Vaughan
Arguable, I know, since both versions are very famous, but the style difference I thought was significant.
"Landslide"- Fleetwood Mac, Dixie Chicks.
I absolutely love the Dixie Chicks version. So glad I stopped boycotting them after I realized how much of a moron Dubya really was.
Incidentally, it seems like Bob Dylan wrote a lot of songs that other people made famous.
Mr. Tambourine Man, My Back Pages, Knocking on Heaven's Door, etc.
@moose-tipping
I'm still boycotting them. Not so much because they don't like dubya, they're certainly justified there, but because they waited until they were overseas to say anything about it. It was cowardly and whiny in my opinion. Add that to their being less talented than they think they are, and being about as "dixie" as Jessica Simpson in the Dukes of Hazard movie.... I'm not coming back. But to each their own.
Hooray free market economics in the music industry :)
Watchtower was also covered by DMB and I like that one better than both of the others.
And Jessica Simpson in the Dukes movie was HOT.
Sorry, you actually had listed the first one I was going to mention.
My second entry:
"Blinded by the Light" - Bruce Springsteen; Manfred Mann's Earth Band
@bdg
Jessica was indeed hot.. but the horribly fake southern accent just killed it for me... oh well.
Also...
"Sunday Morning Coming Down" - Kris Kristoffersen; Johnny Cash; Shawn Mullins
"Cold Cold Heart" - Hank Williams; Norah Jones
I actually prefer Dolly Parton to Whitney on "I Will Always Love You". Whitney's version has too much R&B vocal fluff for me... Dolly seems more real. (And trust me, they're real.)
I have an extreme aversion to Bette Midler doing anything - that being said, if her recording is better then the original must REALLY suck.
Cry by Angie Aparo and then Faith Hill.
Dixie Chicken, (Taking a guess) Little Feat and later Garth Brooks.
I Fought the Law - Sonny Curtis; The Clash
"Mad World" - Tears For Fears; Gary Jules with Michael Andrews
I'm having way too much fun with this:
Proud Mary - CCR; Tina Turner
"Every Time You Go Away" - Daryl Hall and John Oates; Paul Young.
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