[johnto]

Kentucky Woman, Hush and Help by Deep Purple killer versions.

[ctviggen]

I like:

Janis Joplin's "Me and Bobby McGee" better than Kris Kristofferson‎'s version.

Jamie Cullum's "The Wind Cries Mary" better than Jimi Hendrix's version.

Some of these are tough:  Frank Sinatra or Ella Fitzgerald for "The Lady is a Tramp"?

So many people do "It was a very good year", too.

[S Clark]

John Waite's "Missing You" was a better version than Tina Turner's bigger hit.  But the best is this acoustic version by David Wilcox from his very good "Big Horizon" lp.  It brings a tear on many days, including this one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IWP4T3qEX0

[Wind Chaser]

Elton John’s version of “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”.

[putz]

Most anything by the Vanilla Fudge.

[ohenry]

Check out Tesla's reel to reel.  They do a fine job covering numerous songs.  Also, they employed vintage tube electronics in the recordings.  Get the two cd package. 

These guys have the chops and talent.   

[dB Cooper]

I like:

Janis Joplin's "Me and Bobby McGee" better than Kris Kristofferson‎'s version.

Oh hell yeah. No comparison.

[putz]

Been playing the RSD 2018 "The Smithereens Play Tommy" LP and it's a lot of fun. They used to cover Sparks when they played live and it was awesome.

RIP Pat.

Here's Pat singing "Days" by The Kinks sitting on a bench somewhere in Jersey.

https://youtu.be/LVKvev0k-Ss

[SoCalWJS]

SRV Little Wing over Jimi 

[Early B.]

Whitney's, "I Will Always Love You" (original is Dolly Parton)

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

[ohenry]

Check this out...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69EcnxJmnd4

[won ton on]

season of the witch...........Brian Auger
oye como va....................Santana
mustang Sally..................Buddy Guy
a day in the life................Jeff Beck
America...........................Yes
I can't get no satisfaction...John Scofield

[Wind Chaser]

Check this out...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69EcnxJmnd4

Yeah, that was a good step up from the original alright!

[Larkston Zinaspic]

Never recorded for the studio but I always got a kick out of Zep covering "Blueberry Hill" as an encore once.

https://youtu.be/J54NapjjbZY

[ctviggen]

Got this idea from a FB thread... What cover versions of songs can you think of that were better than the original?

Here are two nominees:

• Black Magic Woman (Santana) (originally Peter Green/Fleetwood Mac)
• Hurt (Johnny Cash) (Originally Nine Inch Nails)

I know there's gotta be a lot more. The above are obviously Rock tunes but the intention is genre-agnostic, so rock, country, whatever- all aboard.

Just stumbled upon Johnny Cash's video of Hurt (in my system, it's marked as something else, and I played it to see what it was).  It really is great, especially given his age.  Johnny Cash had a sense of musical timing and enunciation that was great.  Speaking of this:

Johnny Cash's version of "The Wanderer" is much better I think than U2's. You can actually tell what the lyrics are. 

[guf]

Ryan Adams covering T-Swift's 1989