When a cover song is better than the original.

[Hepcat]

Rockabilly star Dale Hawkins' recording of Susie Q reached #27 on the Billboard charts in 1957:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmrETlIXzLg

Bayou rockers Creedence Clearwater Revival recorded an even funkier version of Suzie Q for their debut LP in 1968:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bs99a-5vgA0

[Hepcat]

Back in 1963 John Lennon and Paul McCartney penned a tune for an up and coming British band they liked:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbTtP6j-oyg#

With Brian Jones' great guitar licks, the Stones made iI Wanna be Your Man sound like an Elmore James original. The Stones released it as a single on 1 November 1963.

The Beatles then recorded their own take on the song and included it on their With the Beatles LP which was released on 22 November 1963:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOXIX4akKKs#

While the Beatles were indeed the better band in late 1963, I'm not so sure that the Beatles' version of the track was the better one.

[Hepcat]

Sound of Silence was first released on 19 October 1964 as a track on Simon & Garfunkel's Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. LP:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7McpVPlidc#

The album was a commercial flop. Seeing the track's potential, Columbia producer Tom Wilson took the previously recorded tape and overdubbed electric guitar and drums onto it. Columbia then re-released the new version of Sound of Silence as a single in September 1965:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ukmjBSQY-c#

Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel knew nothing about Columbia's actions until they heard the new version of their song on the radio while in Europe. Paul Simon hated it immediately but it became their signature number and one of the top hit songs of all time.

Disturbed released a very different cover version on 7 December 2015:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9Dg-g7t2l4#

It also went to #1 on the Billboard charts. Which version is better can be debated.

[Mord]

 I have to admit, I prefer Tom Wilson's take (though, I hated what he did to Velvet Underground's "Sunday Morning"). The increased volume makes it a lot more dynamic. Disturbed, I can do without.

[Hepcat]

Them released Gloria on the flip side of Baby, Please Don't Go in November 1964:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RII_Uhfw2Wg

The Shadows of Knight released a less vocally frantic but more instrumentally punctuated cover in December 1965:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdAezc-RX-o

I give a slight edge to the take by the Shadows of Knight.

[Hepcat]

Nina Simone's soulful but heavily orchestrated version of Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood was released in November 1964:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ckv6-yhnIY

The Animals released a blues-rock cover on 29 January 1965 which absolutely destroyed the original:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bw7RTUEZMyg

[Doh!]

Thanks for posting that -- never heard the Nina Simone version before.

[Hepcat]

Well then you might also be interested in this other cover by the Animals from the same Animal Tracks LP. Bring It on Home to Me by Sam Cooke was released on 8 May 1962:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3ncYwtsQWY#

Cooke's version was very smooth, but I prefer the version the Animals released as a single on 20 March 1965:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cplBfvFrzRc#

I'd say the Animals' take was more intense.

[marsattacks666]

The Syndicate Sound-Little Girl. Good song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xA8tUUrSTIw&t=13s


The Dead Boys make the song shiver and shake. Way better version.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nsk45zobw4Q

[Hepcat]

I saw the Dead Boys in concert at the New Yorker Cinema on Yonge Street in late 1977 or early 1978. Little Girl was among the songs they played.



I still prefer the Syndicate of Sound's version though.

[Doh!]

That's a tough call, Hepcat -- I love Sam Cooke, but that Animals version is pretty solid, too.

[marsattacks666]

I saw the Dead Boys in concert at the New Yorker Cinema on Yonge Street in late 1977 or early 1978. Little Girl was among the songs they played.



I still prefer the Syndicate of Sound's version though.

Unfortunately, I was never able to see the Dead Boys with Stiv Bators.( R.I.P.)

[Hepcat]

Johnny Rivers was great at taking old rockabilly or R&B classics and turning them into top charting hits with Seventh Son being particularly noteworthy. Willie Mabon's very jazzy original version was released as a single in October 1955:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EphtWmrlXg#

Johnny Rivers though made it rock when he recorded it for his Meanwhile Back at the Whisky A Go Go LP in 1965:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZoY102X9cM#

Despite the name of the LP, Rivers made the recording in the studio. Crowd noise was then dubbed onto the track.

[Doh!]

Oh, yes -- Johny Rivers for sure!

I really like The Who's version of "Pinball Wizard"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xZzGtDW2p4


...but like Elton John's even moreso:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joxyFDmh_LY

[Hepcat]

Oh, yes -- Johny Rivers for sure!

Johnny Rivers could certainly rock with the very best! Chuck Berry's Memphis, Tennesee was released in 1959:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5ezeUM6c74

It got to #6 in the U.K, but not until 1963!

Johnny Rivers' great cover hit record stores in May 1964 and got to #2 on the Billboard charts:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAc0FKyBgks