Santana Abraxas
My Favorite Cover Songs
by Any Artist or Group
It's very common for major singers or groups to cover songs written and/or sung by previous famous artists. After doing some research, I've come up with my Top 10 covers - some of which I didn't even realize were covers.
1. "Black Magic Woman," by Fleetwood Mac, covered by Santana. Both versions are excellent, but Carlos Santana's guitar and hispanic version is a slight step up.
2. "I Heard it Through the Grapevine," by Gladys Knight & the Pips, covered by Marvin Gaye and also Credence Clearwater Revival. All three are great in their individual ways.
3. "American Woman," by the Guess Who, covered by Lenny Kravitz. As with many of these, both versions are good. I like the original a little better, but Lenny can rock.
4. "Big Yellow Taxi," by Joni Mitchell, covered by Counting Crows, featuring Vanessa Carlton. The cover is very creative, with Carlton's backup vocals. But it's bittersweet because of its 2003 timing.
5. "The First Cut is the Deepest," by Cat Stevens, covered by Rod Stewart. I never heard Stevens' version but loved Stewart's.
6. "Stand By Me," by Ben E. King, covered by John Lennon. Kris gave me a CD of Lennon's covers of old songs
and this was by far my favorite.
7. "Red, Red Wine," by Neil Diamond, covered by UB40. A great reggae version of the old Diamond classic.
8. "Love Hurts," by the Everly Brothers, covered by Nazareth. There is no WAY the Everly Brothers sang this anywhere
near the way Nazareth did.
9. "Hard to Handle," by Otis Redding, covered by the Black Crows. Again, never heard the original, but the hard-rock cover was awesome.
10. "Take Me to the River," by Al Green, covered by the Talking Heads. I must find Green's version as these two artists
are a couple of my favorites.
Honorable mention: "Statesboro Blues," by Blind Willie McTell, covered by the Allman Brothers. This is an HM because McTell's original version came out way back in 1928!
See a related blog on Jan. 6
You skew musically younger than your actual years.
ReplyDeleteI'd add:
"Black Coffee" Not sure if Peggy Lee sang it before Sarah Vaughan...just know I enjoy both versions.
"Someone to Watch Over Me," Gertrude Lawrence, then later by many others including Blossom Dearie and Amy Winehouse.
"Unforgettable" as done by Nat King Cole and by Dinah Washington.
"September Song" done originally by Walter Huston, as well as Jimmy Durante, Willie Nelson, Chet Baker, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, and Eartha Kitt.
"Somewhere Over the Rainbow" Judy Garland, first, then add to that the Eva Cassidy and Israel Kamakawiwo'ole versions.
UB40 didn't even know they were covering Neil Diamond. They covered "Red Red Wine" in homage to an earlier reggae version by Tony Tribe.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwO_on4CZw0