I Like the Cover More Than the Original

[Koala]

Among other things,I prefer the cover from Cat's in the Cradle by Ugly Kid Joe,
Easy from Faith no More Instead of the original from The Commodores.

[EaglesKiwi]

This may be heresy... I really like Leonard Cohen as a songwriter, but not so much as a singer. So I like k.d.Lang's version of "Hallelujah" much better. In particular, the live performance on the night LC was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYiMJ2bC65A[/ame]

And, not surprisingly, I just LOVE Don Henley's version of "Everybody Knows".

[EaglesKiwi]

I wouldn't say I like it "better" than the original, but I do like it equally: the Roy Orbison /kd Lang duet of Crying.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-EiKPrAOHA[/ame]

There's a lovely version of kd doing it live/solo on YouTube too.

[WalshFan88]

Trying to think of them all, because there is a lot.

Little Wing - Stevie Ray Vaughan (original by Jimi Hendrix)
All Along The Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix (original by Bob Dylan)
Knockin' On Heaven's Door - Guns N' Roses (original by Bob Dylan)
Come Together - Aerosmith (original by Beatles)
Live And Let Die - Guns N' Roses (original by Wings)
You Really Got Me - Van Halen (original by Kinks)
Cocaine - Eric Clapton (original by JJ Cale)
Crossroads - Cream (original by Robert Johnson)
I Just Want To Make Love To You - Foghat (original by Muddy Waters)
Hurt - Johnny Cash (original by Nine Inch Nails)

[Prettymaid]

Sticking with the Leonard Cohen theme, I like this

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkamRumVXn4[/ame]

much better than this.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snMOmHzgssk[/ame]

Suzanne is a beautiful song. I've always loved it and appreciate LC's writing skills much more than his singing skills.

[Freypower]

Trying to think of them all, because there is a lot.

Little Wing - Stevie Ray Vaughan (original by Jimi Hendrix)
All Along The Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix (original by Bob Dylan)
Knockin' On Heaven's Door - Guns N' Roses (original by Bob Dylan)
Come Together - Aerosmith (original by Beatles)
Live And Let Die - Guns N' Roses (original by Wings)
You Really Got Me - Van Halen (original by Kinks)
Cocaine - Eric Clapton (original by JJ Cale)
Crossroads - Cream (original by Robert Johnson)
I Just Want To Make Love To You - Foghat (original by Muddy Waters)
Hurt - Johnny Cash (original by Nine Inch Nails)

I agree with some of those - All Along The Watchtower. Cocaine, Crossroads & Hurt, but the covers of the Beatles, Wings & Knockin' On Heaven's Door I'm afraid I just shake my head. I don't get those, KOHD especially. The song requires subtlety. As for You Really Got Me I can sort of see that because the original is very basic.

[Freypower]

I forgot how hard this swings. It's incredible. Near the end when Frank points I had a very pleasant memory of a recent event.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ga6yhFiKuk[/ame]

I'm not saying this is better, but I have always adored it. This man is an Australian singer-songwriter who my uncle met a couple of times.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yajwZgtMZU[/ame]

[WalshFan88]

I agree with some of those - All Along The Watchtower. Cocaine, Crossroads & Hurt, but the covers of the Beatles, Wings & Knockin' On Heaven's Door I'm afraid I just shake my head. I don't get those, KOHD especially. The song requires subtlety. As for You Really Got Me I can sort of see that because the original is very basic.

I'm a big GNR fan and I guess I just like the rockier version.

I love Bob Dylan's songwriting but I cannot personally stand to listen to his voice. So I love it when other artists do his songs because they are GREAT songs, but don't have that voice that I don't care for. Like when the Rolling Stones cover "Like A Rolling Stone".

[Freypower]

The Stones' version of LARS is OK. They leave out the 'jugglers & the clowns' verse.

I never know what to say to the apparently endless numbers of people who can't stand Dylan's voice. I have never felt that way. I can't try & convince them otherwise.

[Jonny Come Lately]

Thought it might be timely to revive this thread after reading about Nickelback covering Dirty Laundry - there are probably not many that I can think of off the top of my head, but I'll give it a go... here's a few for starters.

Most of the ones that come straight to my mind are Eagles songs. I prefer their versions of Train Leaves Here This Morning and Ol' 55 to the originals. Tom Waits wasn't a great fan of their take on his song, but they made it their own - the combination of Glenn and Don's vocals with the piano and pedal steel is beautiful. The biggest one for me though is How Long because, to me, it's an Eagles song. As much as I like and respect J.D., it just sounds so right with them doing it. It sounded right in 1973 and it sounded right in 2007, and it does it for me every time. I've not heard David Blue's Outlaw Man, and most of the other non-Eagles penned songs such as Peaceful Easy Feeling are not really covers IMO.

Another cover that I definitely prefer is Don's version of Here Come Those Tears Again to Jackson's. I love how he 'countrified' the song. It's weird, because those lyrics are so personal to Jackson, but Don sings them like they are his own. I've not heard the original versions of his other Cass County covers.

With regards to other artists, I think Jimi Hendrix's All Along The Watchtower edges Dylan's original as it is musically superior. It does lose some of the menace of the more stripped back original, although this is made up for by Hendrix's delivery - compare how he sings 'and the wind began to HOWL!' to Dylan's more restrained vocal. Dylan approaches the song as a storyteller whereas Hendrix approaches it as a performer.

There are quite a few other covers I enjoy, but they are mostly songs where I have not heard the original versions, such as Fleetwood Mac's Blue Letter and Neil Young's Oh Lonesome Me. However, I can also come up with quite a few songs where I think the original is clearly unsurpassed!