When a cover song is better than the original.

[Hepcat]

I agree! It's incredible how many really great tracks he released given how few were his LPs. Here are a few more of my favourites:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teBgI-I9WEA#

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DU-RuR-qO4Y#

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttEMYvpoR-k#

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

He's also reputed to have been a master stickman. It seems that half the women in Montréal like to brag that they were once Leonard Cohen's girlfriend.

[Mord]

He's also reputed to be a master stickman. It seems that half the women in Montréal like to brag that they were once Leonard Cohen's girlfriend.

Oh, at first I thought you meant he was a drummer. Ha, ha how najve of me. I guess that's why Scarlett Johansson did his video. Another song of his that I love is "Everybody Knows". They used it to great effect in the movie "Exotica". One of the very best.

[Hepcat]

Mony Mony by Tommy James and the Shondells was released in March 1968 and reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_OoEx9WOl8#

A cover by Billy Idol was released in 1981 and got to #7 on the Billboard Hot 100:

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

Idol then released a live version on 2 October 1987. This became a huge hit and reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYYAv-QW38Q#

[Hepcat]

Please Mr. Postman by the Marvelettes was released on 21 August 1961 and became the first Motown release to hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=425GpjTSlS4

A cover by the Beatles was released on 22 November 1963:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWj7EcjiI-M

The Beatles were a really good band in 1963 and I've always preferred their version.

[Hepcat]

Oh, at first I thought you meant he was a drummer. Ha, ha how najve of me. I guess that's why Scarlett Johansson did his video.

Maybe I should have said swordsman.

[Hepcat]

Ballads are apparently relatively easy to write. Accordingly Tell Me was one of the very earliest compositions of the songwriting team of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. The Stones' recording made its initial appearance on their self-titled debut LP  on 16 April 1964:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLVk0XgmjMU#

A cover was released by the Termites as a single in the U.K. in 1965:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUrSAF3Ypj4#

A cover by the Dead Boys was included on their LP We Have Come for Your Children which was released in June 1978:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M763WuRixhw#

I'm not entirely convinced though that either the Termites or the Dead Boys topped the Rolling Stones' original.

[Hepcat]

I Idolize You by Ike & Tina Turner was released in November 1960:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbcXTP7MNbs#

Now we all know that Ike & Tina Turner could rock. But check out this version by the Fabulous Wailers featuring Little Gail Harris from 1962:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzHP71oryMo#

Wow!

[Hepcat]

Season of the Witch by Donovan was included on his Sunshine Superman LP that was released on 25 September 1966:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GU35oCHGhJ0

Vanilla Fudge then took the track into uncharted ethereal territory with a cover found on their Renaissance LP released on 14 June 1968:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EnDfTScFzU

[Hepcat]

Fleetwood Mac's electrifying recording of Peter Green's Black Magic Woman was released on 29 March 1968:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbKREkuDh3s

Santana's cover was released in 1970:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyQUCYl-ocs

While not as striking, Santana's cover may be smoother and more melodic. Take your pick.

[Hepcat]

Torch singer Big Mama Thornton wrote and released Ball and Chain in 1968:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jXM1OEP5os#

It was Big Brother & the Holding Company though who took the song into the stratosphere with their live renditions. This one recorded on 8 March 1968 at the Fillmore West was included in their Cheap Thrills LP released on 12 August 1968:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrF_nM9pknU#

But this one from 16 August 1968 may be the best, at least technically:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCB2eDF3jBM#

[Hepcat]

My Back Pages was included on the LP Another Side of Bob Dylan that was released on 8 August 1964. It was a recording only a hardcore Bob Dylan fan could love:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92cF_KCH7TU

A cover by the Byrds was included on their Younger Than Yesterday LP which was released on 6 February 1967:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h80l4XIPJC4

[Hepcat]

Long Tall Sally by Little Richard was released in March 1956:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFFgbc5Vcbw

A cover by the Beatles was released on an EP with the same title on 19 June 1964:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c31X4muVRms

I might like the Beatles' cover "better" but neither is really to my taste.

[Hepcat]

Good Golly, Miss Molly by Little Richard was released in January 1958 and reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100:

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

An equally frantic cover by Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels was released in 1966 as part of a medley with Devil With a Blue Dress On and also reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMPDA7L2lCc

Both sensational!

[Hepcat]

Silhouettes by the Rays was released in 1957 and reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6uq49ueugg#

A cover by Herman's Hermits was released in 1965. It reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100, #3 in the United Kingdom and #1 in Canada:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4S7PLeFycqU#

[Hepcat]

After they first got going in early 1964, the tandem of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards quickly became prolific songwriters and were soon penning tunes for other artists. One of the very first was As Tears Go By for Marianne Faithfull which was released in June 1964:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_phZZgkT1Jk

The Rolling Stones themselves released a cover on 18 December 1965:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1VD59WV4eA

I think the Stones' version was better because the song was actually Marianne Faithfull's first recording as a seventeen year old and she couldn't sing or emote worth a damn at the time.