Cover Versions better than the original

[Deleted]

Dec 21, 2021 8:53:41 GMT @61666 said:

Man who sold the world - Lulu (Bowie)
This flight tonight - Nazareth (Joni)
Wild World - Jimmy Cliff (Cat Stevens)
Morning has broken - Cat Stevens (no idea, but Rick Wakeman plays piano on it)
America - The Nice (West Side Story)
America - Yes (Paul Simon). Just stunning, especially Chris Squire's bass.
Blinded by the Light - Manfred Mann (Springsteen): just what was he on when he wrote those lyrics?
Joybringer - Manfred Mann (Holtz)
You shook me - Led Zeppelin (Willie Dixon, I think)

Jose Feliciano's Light My Fire and the Doors version are radically different equals and Joni Mitchell's Woodstock and the CSNY version in the same category.

Now need to seek and play all these, some of them VERY loud.

I'd certainly take issue with you over Lulu's version of man who sold the world. It's decent, but better than the original?

Morning has broken wasn't strictly speaking a cover. It was a modern arrangement of a traditional song.

[Deleted]

Dec 22, 2021 9:44:28 GMT daveu said:

Dec 22, 2021 8:40:30 GMT @61666 said:

Sabre Dance - Love Sculpture (Khachaturian)

Dave Edmunds' finest hour.

Apparently Jose Feliciano's party piece was doing The Flight of the Bumble Bee on guitar, which must have been impressive.
While not a cover version, Babe I'm Gonna Leave You, from LZ1 is very close to being Flamenco, which I also love, for reasons I can't quite explain. Robert Plant is doing Tracks of my Years on Ken Bruce this week and has so far chosen Cilla Black, Rod Stewart, Love and Etta James.