Song remakes better than original?

[tonksy]

Oh! Israel Kamakawiwoʻole's Somewhere Over The Rainbow is tons better than Kermit the Frog's.

 

[BlurOfSerenity]

how can anything anyone does be better than something my kermie did? *harumph*

lol

 

[Inkara1]

American Woman - Lenny Kravitz (orignal by The Guess Who)

I'm still pissed at Kravitz for fucking up that song. It's terrible. He took out the main guitar track that made "American Woman" unique.

As for remakes... Nilsson's remake of "Without You" is a lot better than the Badfinger version... but when Mariah Carey remade Nilsson's version... icky poo.

 

[BeardofPants]

Johnny Cash's cover of NIN's "Hurt"

 

[JJR512]

Train Kept A Rollin' - Aerosmith better than Johnny Burnette's Rock 'n' Roll Trio
Don't Be Cruel - Cheap Trick better than Elvis
Sea of Love - Honeydrippers better than Phil Phillips with The Twilights
It's Just A Matter of Time - Randy Travis better than Brook Benton
His Latest Flame - Scorpions better than Elvis
The Loco-Motion - Grand Funk Railroad better than Little Eva
Ring of Fire - Social Distortion better than Johnny Cash
Dancing In The Street - Van Halen better than Martha and the Vandellas
Hazy Shade of Winter - Bangles better than Simon and Garfunkel
You Keep Me Hangin' On - Kim Wilde better than The Supremes
Mony Mony - Billy Idol better than Tommy James and the Shondells
Cum On Feel The Noize - Quiet Riot much, much, MUCH better than Slade
Gold Dust Woman - Hole better than Fleetwood Mac
Cars - Fear Factory featuring Gary Numan better than Gary Numan's own original
Last Kiss - Pearl Jam better than J. Frank Wilson
I'm A Believer - The Monkees (and Smash Mouth, for that matter) better than Neil Diamond
You Really Got Me - Van Halen better than The Kinks

I actually have a playlist in my iTunes that has only originals followed by their covers. It has 171 songs for 9.6 hours. Not all covers are better than the originals, of course.

 

[chcr]

Oh! Israel Kamakawiwoʻole's Somewhere Over The Rainbow is tons better than Kermit the Frog's.

Wasn't there Judy Garland someone else Judy Garland that did it before Judy Garland Kermit?

Actually, I always thought Livingston Taylor's version was the best. Stanley Jordan's instrumental wasn't half bad either.
People don't run away screaming when I sing it either. Much.

Justin, I liked Van Halen's version fine but it was in no way better than the Kinks. "Hazy Shade of Winter" was a push.

 

[Gonz]

American Woman - Lenny Kravitz (orignal by The Guess Who)

There is no accounting for taste.

Not better but as good would be GnR's version of Sympathy for the Devil.

 

[Mirlyn]

Gold Dust Woman - Hole better than Fleetwood Mac

Sister Hazel tops 'em all, IMO.


Not necessarily better than the originals, but I do like Hootie and the Blowfish - Hey Hey What Can I Do, and Aerosmith - Come Together.

Aerosmith - Baby, Please Don't Go
Aerosmith - Love Me Two Times

Saw Collective Soul do Crazy Train live.

 

[Gonz]

Aerosmith-Baby please don't go? Huh? That's Ted's cover...

 

[Mirlyn]

From:

"Baby, Please Don't Go" is a blues song first recorded by Big Joe Williams in 1935. It is related to a group of early 20th century blues and work songs that include "Alabama Bound", "Another Man Done Gone", and "Don't Leave Me Here", and "Turn Your Lamp Down Low".[1]

It has become a blues and rock standard, and has been recorded by many artists (see list below).

 

[Mirlyn]

Heard Dylan do it too.

I like Aerosmith's rock style....fits really well with blues-y tracks to me.

 

[BlurOfSerenity]

Johnny Cash's cover of NIN's "Hurt"

see, for me, it's hard to compare the two because i feel that they're both great, but too different to compare, and each meaningful in their own way... i remember the first time i heard the cover i was like, "wtf??" but now i really like it.

just pisses me off that a lot of people don't realize it's a cover... that some people think nin ripped off cash! i like what trent said about it, though... that he was honored to have cash do this, stuff like that.

 

[tonksy]

Wasn't there Judy Garland someone else Judy Garland that did it before Judy Garland Kermit?

Yes, but it sounds more humorous when I say Kermit

I like GNR's version of Mama Kin better than Aerosmith's.

Oh! And Beck did a cover of Guitar Man by Bread that was genius. I still need to lay hands on that CD.

 

[chcr]

Yes, but it sounds more humorous when I say Kermit

Fair enough.

I like GNR's version of Mama Kin better than Aerosmith's.

AAAAUUUUUGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh! And Beck did a cover of Guitar Man by Bread that was genius. I still need to lay hands on that CD.

Never heard it. I'll keep an ear out.

Note that the Allmans did a good cover of "Baby Please Don't Go" as well. Of course, they covered most of the blues standards.

Have to agree with Ash/Blur, some of these are so different from the original that you can't really compare them. A lot of times I like more than one.

 

[tonksy]

AAAAUUUUUGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!

What? The recording quality was tons better. It's peppier too.

 

[MrBishop]

Johnny Cash's cover of NIN's "Hurt"

Damn good...but I like Sad Kermit's version more

 

[chcr]

What? The recording quality was tons better. It's peppier too.

I like Aerosmith, I don't like GNR.

 

[Inkara1]

Last Kiss - Pearl Jam better than J. Frank Wilson

I guess we're going to have to disrespectfully disagree on that one. Eddie Vedder whining totally ruined the song. The original gets the point across without sounding like some emo kid who's going to go listen to My Chemical Romance and cut himself while he cries in the corner.

 

[tonksy]

I like Aerosmith, I don't like GNR.

Fair enough.

Nirvana did a lovely version of David Bowie's The Man Who Sold The World.

 

[Mirlyn]

Kayla (Cam's youngest) loves Social Distortion's rendition of Ring of Fire. I put both it and the original Cash on her ipod so she can hear the difference in interpretation.