music – The Boring Old Man

It’s been a while now since I’ve written about any music stuff, but I wasn’t feeling terribly inspired for a particular “Flashback Friday” installment. Then out if the blue I heard a cover song done by a band – out of Romania of all places – that was pretty great, and it got me to thinking about some of the great cover songs that have been done over the years.

I’m case you’re not familiar with the term, a “cover” is a re-make of a song done by somebody else. You’ll often find cover bands in bars and at wedding receptions and such, where the paying customer wants the band playing music most everyone is familiar with. A true cover band will play all kinds of things, from a variety of artists, as opposed to a “tribute” band that will play only the songs of ONE artist, often dressing the part and doing their best to mimic the original band. From what I understand, tribute bands are where the money is at, but as a musician I can’t imagine doing such a thing. But I digress…

Now, I’ve been in cover bands and I’ve also been in bands that played 99% original music, with a cover or two thrown in the live set just for fun. In my case it was always a song from the past, something we as a group were inspired by, or just a song we really loved, not just some Top 40 hit for the sake of playing a hit song for an audience. And we always tried to put our own spin on it, it was never a straight up imitation. Did any of those bands play a cover that was better than the original? I couldn’t say. But for us it was just for fun and the love of a particular song.

All that being said, every now and again a known band will release a cover song that in my opinion outshines the original. The songs listed below meet that criteria, again in MY opinion.

Born to Run- Frankie Goes To Hollywood

I wouldn’t have guessed in a million years these guys would play a Bruce Springsteen song, but they did and it’s an awesome rendition!

Stop Your Sobbing – Pretenders

Originally released by the Kinks – another band I always loved – and produced by Nick Lowe, the Pretenders put their spin on it and knocked it out of the park!

Higher Ground – RHCP

It takes a lot of guts to cover a legendary musican like Stevie Wonder, but in my opinion the Peppers took a great song and made it 10x greater!

I’ve Done Everything For You – Rick Springfield

Written and originally recorded by Sammy Hagar, this version by Rick Springfield leaves Sammy’s version in the dust. Even Sammy himself liked Rick’s version better!

Only The Young – Scandal

I LOVED this song when it was released, it wasn’t until a few years later I learned it was actually written and released by Journey. I like the Journey version, but Patty and the boys took it to another level!

Sorry – the Three O’clock

I’ve been a fan of the Three O’clock since about 1982, and this was one of my favorite songs of theirs and it took me FOREVER to find a copy back in the day! Imagine my chagrin when I learned only ABOUT 2 YEARS AGO that it was a cover! Originally written and performed by Australian band the Easybeats, featuring George Young, older brother of Malcom and Angus Young of AC/DC

HONORABLE MENTION:

Wasted Years – Damone

Damone is (was?) a GREAT band and their debut album floored me. This wasn’t my favorite track on the album, but I liked it a lot. I later learned from a friend of mine more familiar with Heavy Metal that this was an Iron Maiden song! I can’t say Damone’s is better, it doesn’t really resemble the Maiden version at all. They certainly put their own spin on it and did a fantastic job of it.

Got the Time – Anthrax

I really, really like this version of the Joe Jackson classic. But is it BETTER than Joe’s version? Absolutely not. Just different and fun.

I think it’s a big deal to record a cover as opposed to recording a song simply written by someone else that’s never been out for public consumption. It’s a risky endeavor, especially if the song being covered was a hit when originally released. It takes an exceptional talent to take an already great song, and make it sound like your band rather than the band that originally wrote the song. No small feat! And don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of straight up CRINGE covers out there, but if you look and listen every once in a while a diamond shines through!

I could have easily added another half dozen covers to this list, if not more, I think are better than the original versions, but I’d love to hear from my readers. Tell me a song you think is better than the original version, I’m all ears.

Thanks for stopping by!

Tag: music

Even Better Than The Real Thing?