Covers

Yesterday as I was mindlessly scrolling on Threads, I came across one of those fun (but, ultimately, they're just tedious engagement begging) posts. You know the ones where
the person (could it be a bot?):

• posts images of bands/performers/what-have-you and asks which is superior to the other
• asks people to caption a strange pic
• the poster ends a statement or hot take with “do you agree?”
• posts a meme and directs you to repost if you agree
  

Generally, I find these annoying but occasionally these can be fun. The one I saw yesterday asked what’s the ‘best’ cover of a popular song. Normally, I would have just scrolled the myriad answers but hardly anyone had chimed in so I did with a link to Jimi Hendrix covering Dylan’s All Along the Watchtower. Someone responded with “I’ll see you and raise you a Bear McCreary” and posted a link. Awesome! Yeah, I can’t hear it BUT the dude mentioned there’s a lot of bass and percussion so maybe I could feel it (I’ll try later).

Picking just one beloved cover is impossible—there are so many brilliant ones out there.

Here are some of my favorites though. This list is far from a complete—it’s just off the top of my head and in no special order.

Marianne Faithfull—Working Class Hero (John Lennon)
Joe Cocker—With a Little Help From My Friends (Beatles)
Hendrix—All Along the Watchtower (Dylan) links to both versions above
Eddie Vedder—Masters of War (Dylan)
George Harrison—If Not for You  (Dylan)
The Band—I Shall Be Released  (Dylan)
Talking Heads—Take Me to the River (Al Green)
Heart—Battle of Evermore (Led Zeppelin)
Hüsker Dü—8 Miles High (the Byrds)
Tom Jones—Kiss (Prince)
Soft Cell—Tainted Love (Gloria Jones)
Aretha Franklin—Respect (Otis Redding)
Tina Turner—Proud Mary (Creedence Clearwater Revival)
Jeff Buckley—Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen)
Janis Joplin—Me and Bobby McGee (Kris Kristofferson)
Devo—Satisfaction (Rolling Stones)
The Clash—I Fought the Law (The Crickets)
Otis Redding—Stand By Me (Ben E. King)
Cyndi Lauper—Girls Just Want to Have Fun (Robert Hazard)
Sid Vicious—My Way (Frank Sinatra)

And here are some covers that I dearly wish I could hear but can’t (deaf for nearly 20 years now, don’cha know):

The Man Who Sold the World—Nirvana (Bowie) Yes, this came out before my sound system shit the bed BUT I didn’t catch it.
Slippery People—Staples Singers (Talking Heads)
Hotel California—Gipsy Kings (Eagles)
Season of the Witch—Lou Rawls (Donovan)
Iron Man—Bad Plus (Back Sabbath done by a jazz quartet and I SO want to hear this!)
Benny and the Jets—Biz Markie and the Beastie Boys (a rap version of Elton John? DAMN, I’m there!)

Do you have any favorite covers? What are they?