[Freo-1]

No one could emote quite like Janis..

Summertime

Ball and Chain

Man, I can taste the whiskey already...

[sbrtoy]

I enjoy the Bird and the Bee doing the Bee Gees How Deep is Your Love....I never liked the original so I guess it must be a darn good cover...

[dcktr]

Cowboy Junkies  - Sweet Jane (Lou Reed)
Emmy Lou Harris - Icy Blue Heart (John Hiatt)
Sinead O'Connor - Nothing Compares 2U (Prince)
Eva Cassidy - Bridge Over Troubled Water (Simon and Garfunkel) and many more by Eva
Christine Aguilera - Mother (John Lennon)  not much by her that I listen to, but this is the best cover on Saving Dafur disc

[nathanm]

Tori Amos "Raining Blood" (Slayer)
The Dresden Dolls "War Pigs" (Black Sabbath)  This cover alone sold me on them.
Tenacious D "Beatles Medley" (Beatles)
Susanna & The Magic Orchestra "Love Will Tear Us Apart" (I forgot...) [Thanks Imperial] You've got to put this and "Love Will Keep Us Together" by the Carpenters on Shuffle and let them fight it out.
Agony Column "Mississippi Queen" (Mountain)
Jello Biafra & Mojo Nixon "Love Me, I'm A Liberal" (Phl Ochs)

Entire albums:
Metallica "Garage Days Re-Revisited"
Slayer "Undisputed Attitude"
Both accomplish the same goal: bringing disparate and potentially inaccesible NWOBHM and punk songs to a thrash metal audience.

Fantomas "The Director's Cut"

[sabes]

a few more to add to the list:

Indigo Girls: "Uncle John's Band" (The Dead)
Eva Cassidy: "People Get Ready" (The Impressions)
Allman Brothers Band: "Statesboro Blues" (Blind Willie McTell)
and another vote for TBP "Smells Like Teen Spirit"

[rockadanny]

Some I like better while others are at least as good as but done entirely differently ...

Cat Power - Stones', "Satisfaction".
Omar and the Howlers - Beatles', "She's a Woman"
Robben Ford -Nina Simone's, "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood"
Otis Redding - "Down in the Valley"
Big Sugar - Billy Boy Arnold's, "Come Back Baby"
Rahsaan Roland Kirk - David Gates', "Make it With You"

[rockadanny]

Will think of more while trying to avoid the obvious such as John Coltrane doing "Favorite Things" or Miles doing "Surrey with the Fringe on Top".

[zybar]

You want cover songs huh? How about cover albums?

Phish, one of my favorite bands, would often cover an entire album during their live halloween shows. Cool concept right? I have a four disc set of one show where they covered the White Album in its entirety in addition to two discs-worth of their own material. I have a similar four disc set where they covered The Who's Quadrophenia in it's entirety.

I also like most covers of All Along the Watch Tower simply because it's a great song.

When you go see Phish a good 1/4 or more of the set list is compromised of covers.   

Some of my personal favorites include:

"Frankenstein", "Boogie on Reggae Woman", "Johnny B. Goode", "Suzy Greenburg", "Quinn the Eskimo", and "Sabatoge".

George

[PhilNYC]

"In Your Eyes" covered by Geoffrey Gaines (original by Peter Gabriel)
"She's a Woman" covered by Jeff Beck (original by the Beatles)
"Goodbye Porkpie Hat" covered by Jeff Beck (original by Charlie Mingus)
"Little Wing" covered by Stevie Ray Vaughn (original by Jimi Hendrix)
"I Drove All Night" covered by Cyndi Lauper (original by Roy Orbison)
"A Little Help From My Friends" covered by Joe Cocker (original by the Beatles)
"You Really Got Me" covered by Van Halen (original by the Kinks)
"LA Woman" covered by Billy Idol (original by the Doors)
"Satisfaction" covered by DEVO (original by the Rolling Stones)

[Scottdazzle]

The best, I add my vote to the others, All along the Watchtower (Dylan) by Hendrix.

The worst ever, The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (The Band) as destroyed by Joan Baez.  A complete mismatch of artist and song.  No punishment is too severe.

[BradJudy]

Sinead O'Connor - Nothing Compares 2U (Prince)

While Prince wrote this song, it was originally done be a band called The Family.  Prince only started performing it himself after Sinead made it popular.  It could be considered Sinead covering The Family, or perhaps Prince covering Sinead on a song he wrote. 

[S Clark]

"Over the Rainbow"- This classic has been completely owned by the incomparable Judy Garland for decades.  Various artist tried to make it theirs and suffer in comparison-- until Eva Cassidy. This is my pick for best cover simply because it took soooooooo long before anyone else did it well.  Also, by the same artist, who would ever have thought that the Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young "Woodstock" could be a haunting lullaby. 
 
Lastly, Dave Wilcox does a beautiful, slow version of Tina Turner's "Missing You".

[zybar]

A couple that I have heard live that left an imprint in my brain:

Dave Matthews, Tim Reynolds, John Popper, Stefan Lessard, and Boyd Tinsley (all acoustic) playing Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower".

Dave Matthews Band playing John Prine's "Angel from Montgomery".

Tori Amos singing Bruce Springsteen's "I'm on Fire".

Tori Amos singing the Rolling Stone's "Angie"

Natalie Merchant singing the Rolling Stone's "Sympathy for the Devil"

Big Head Todd and the Monsters playing Led Zep's "Tangerine"

George

[amadeus916]

Where Did You Sleep Last Night - Nirvana

On a quick bit of research, I could not find the original writer of this song. A quick wiki peak says that it's an older traditional American folk song, and that the author is unknown. I guess it's been covered many a time. Nirvana's owns though...

Jealous Guy - Elliott Smith cover of John Lennon

The Wigmaster - Why? cover of Xiu Xiu

[Don_S]

I have a request.  Please also include the title of the CD or album.  Trying to find a specific song from an artist with a deep catalog is hard.  And just searching Borders for a song title can yield pages of responses.

For instance I can't find the Tori Amos cover of "I'm of Fire".

Thank you.  I am sure your fellow members will appreciate it.  I know I will.

[Brad W.]

This is a good thread.  I've enjoyed listening to a lot of your suggestions.

Here's a couple of oddball ones that I like:

Squeezebox by LynnMarie  http://youtube.com/watch?v=8-ApyDK0uKM

That's Amore, also by LynnMarie  http://www.rhapsody.com/lynnmarie/lynnmarietheboxhounds

[aerius]

Tori Amos does excellent covers of Nirvana's "Teen Spirit" and "Angie" by the Stones.

If you're real lucky, you'll hear her perform "Daniel" and "Candle in the Wind" in concert.

Chantal Kreviazuk does a killer version of Our Lady Peace's "Bring Back the Sun", you might hear it in concert if you're lucky.  She also does a great job with "One" by U2.

The Cowboy Junkies do a nice version of The Grateful Dead's "To Lay Me Down", the live and CD versions are both really good, but quite different.  Their live versions of various Townes Van Zandt songs are also superb.

[zybar]

I have a request.  Please also include the title of the CD or album.  Trying to find a specific song from an artist with a deep catalog is hard.  And just searching Borders for a song title can yield pages of responses.

For instance I can't find the Tori Amos cover of "I'm of Fire".

Thank you.  I am sure your fellow members will appreciate it.  I know I will.

It is on the VH1 Crossroads cd from the mid 1990's.  I am not sure if it is in print anymore.

In the meantime, you can listen to this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3k83xsEAFig

George

[Len_Dreyer]

I have a request.  Please also include the title of the CD or album.  Trying to find a specific song from an artist with a deep catalog is hard.  And just searching Borders for a song title can yield pages of responses.

For instance I can't find the Tori Amos cover of "I'm of Fire".

Thank you.  I am sure your fellow members will appreciate it.  I know I will.

It is on the VH1 Crossroads cd from the mid 1990's.  I am not sure if it is in print anymore.

In the meantime, you can listen to this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3k83xsEAFig

George

For what it's worth, Allmusic.com makes finding this info pretty easy.

[Don_S]

Thanks guys.