For as long as we can remember (and longer!), the charts have been full of hits made by recycling songs by other artists. After all, it wasn’t until the 1960s that the idea of a performing artist also being a songwriter became established in the wake of The Beatles.
But the key to a great cover generally lies in giving an old song a new lease of life, by bringing something new to it. And that’s exactly what these 21 artists did, putting their own inimitable spin of records they loved by others.
Cover us – we’re going in!
The 21 greatest covers
21. 'China Girl' – David Bowie
Can a song you co-wrote still be classed as a cover version? We think so, especially if the original came out years earlier, as is the case with ‘China Girl’. Originally written by Bowie with his friend Iggy Pop, it was released on Pop’s striking 1977 album The Idiot. But in 1983, Bowie made it his own with a slick and funky take on his Let’s Dance album. Released as a single, it became a global hit for the chameleon of pop.
20. 'Tainted Love' – Soft Cell
The Queen of Northern Soul, Gloria Jones was an American singer whose 1964 recording of ‘Tainted Love’ became a cult classic in the 70s. Jones was the girlfriend of Marc Bolan, and driver of the car when he suffered his fatal accident.
The English electronic duo Soft Cell picked the song up, selling over a million copies of it in 1981. A 12” remix medleyed it with their version of The Supremes’ ‘Where Did Our Love Go’, to make two covers in one.
19. 'Valerie' – Mark Ronson ft. Amy Winehouse
Taken from Mark Ronson’s Version (2007), on which the producer and musician recreated a number of his favourite songs in a style reminiscent of Stax or Motown, ‘Valerie’ was a number two single for Ronson with Amy Winehouse. The original was by Liverpool indie rock band The Zutons, who included it on their second studio album, Tired of Hanging Around (2006).
18. 'Venus' – Bananarama
When Shocking Blue took ‘Venus’ to the top of the Billboard charts in 1970 they became the first Dutch act to have a US number one. Fast forward to 1986, and the song would be given a dance workover by the English/Irish girl group Bananarama, whose upbeat cover topped charts around the globe.
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17. 'Always On My Mind' – Willie Nelson, Elvis Presley and the Pet Shop Boys
Some songs are so universal that no matter who approaches it and in what style, they become a hit. And so it is for ‘Always On My Mind’, which became a Christmas number one hit for Pet Shop Boys in 1987.
Their synth-pop version was a long way from the Willie Nelson recording that had been a huge hit for the country star in 1982, 10 years after Elvis Presley’s moving version in the wake of his separation from wife Priscilla. But even that doesn’t get to the original.
For that, take your pick between Gwen McRae or Brenda Lee. Lee recorded it first, while McRae’s was released first. Take your pick – we’ve never heard a bad version.
Absolutely killer video, too:
16. 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun' – Cyndi Lauper
Considering the feminist attitude that oozes from Cyndi Lauper’s 1983 smash hit, it may come as a surprise to learn that it was original recorded by a man, its composer, Philadelphia rock musician Robert Hazard. But Lauper’s tweaks reinvented the song, which became her breakthrough hit.
15. 'I Fought The Law' – The Clash
It’s easy to see why this rebel song would fit with punk rockers The Clash and their outsider image. After all, the lyrics of being beaten by the system go along with the London band’s outlaw image.
But although it feels like a punk anthem, the song actually dates to 1960, when it was recorded by The Crickets, as they tried to find a new way to exist following Buddy Holly’s tragic fatal accident the year before. But it was more likely the 1966 version by The Bobby Fuller Four that inspired The Clash. Either way, it was a great pick!
14. 'Without You' – Harry Nilsson
Poor old Badfinger. They should have been huge – despite selling 14 million records, they still feel like nearly men, after their career crumbled in a series of financial and legal problems.
Signed by The Beatles to their Apple label, they had Paul McCartney gift them a song (‘Come And Get It’) – not that they needed it. In Pete Ham and Tom Evans, they had very capable songwriters, as ‘Without You’ testifies. But even then, it was Harry Nilsson who made it a smash hit, when he recorded his phenomenal version in 1971.
13. 'With A Little Help From My Friends' – Joe Cocker
The theme music from The Wonder Years will always strike a chord with those of a particular age, while older listeners will know it as the Woodstock anthem that defined an era. Of course, the Sheffield singer’s version bears little resemblance to the original, from The Beatles’ Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967), but then, with all due respect to the original singer, Ringo Starr was no Joe Cocker.
12. 'Blueberry Hill' – Fats Domino
Most people found their thrill thanks to New Orleans piano supremo Fats Domino, whose 1956 single sold by the bucketload. But the song itself was first recorded in 1940 by Sammy Kaye, while the Glenn Miller Orchestra had great success with it that same year. But it was most likely to be fellow New Orleans musician Louis Armstrong’s 1949 recording that inspired Domino.
11. 'Hurt' – Johnny Cash
Towards the end of his career, the Man in Black made a series of albums with producer Rick Rubin, on which the legendary singer returned to basics, singing with sparse arrangement.
What was the unexpected star of this run of albums was his breathtaking version of the Nine Inch Nails song ‘Hurt’, which was accompanied by a startling video showing Cash both young and old, as well as decayed remnants from his past. A suitably blown-away Nine Inch Nails singer Trent Reznor commented, "That song isn't mine any more."
10. 'Got My Mind Set On You' – George Harrison
The Beatle known as the quiet one had been out of the public glare – not to mention the singles charts – for a number of years when his 1987 album Cloud Nine became his most successful album both critically and commercially for well over a decade, spawning the internation smash hit ‘Got My Mind Set On You’.
The song was nothing new, however, having been written by Rudy Clark and recorded by James Ray in 1962. It wasn’t the only Rudy Clark song to have an unexpected rebirth, with a version of his ‘The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)’ by Cher becoming a UK number one in 1990.
9. 'Hound Dog' – Elvis Presley
The jumping rockabilly of Elvis Presley’s 1956 version of this Lieber and Stoller classic saw him perform the song on national TV in a tailcoat, singing to a top-hat-wearing basset hound, as the US establishment tried (in vain) to circumvent his sexually charged performances.
The song had first been recorded by r&b singer Big Mama Thornton in 1952, although it was more likely to have been Freddie Bell and the Bellboys' 1955 take on the song that inspired Elvis’ reading.
8. 'Unchained Melody' – Righteous Brothers
With over 1,500 versions recorded so far, ‘Unchained Melody’ is one of the most-covered songs of all time, and yet if you asked most people who did the original, they would turn to the Righteous Brothers 1965 classic recording. But the song predates this by a decade, as the theme song from a 1955 prison movie called Unchained. In fact, three separate version hit the Billboard Hot 100 in 1955 alone.
7. 'I Feel For You' – Chaka Khan
With a pair of Grammy Awards to its name, Chaka Khan’s 1984 global smash saw the American r&b singer pair up with rapper Melle Mel of the pioneering hip-hop group Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. But while the song opens with Chaka Khan’s name repeated rhythmically, the original song featured on composer Prince’s 1979 eponymous album.
6. 'The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face' – Roberta Flack
When the British folk singer Ewan MacColl wrote ‘The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face’ for American singer-songwriter Peggy Seeger in 1957, he was still married to his second wife. It was subsequently covered endlessly, although MacColl supposedly hated every version, keeping them all in a section of his record collection he called ‘the chamber of horrors’.
But it wasn’t until Roberta Flack took it to the top of the charts in 1972 – three years after its initial release – that it became one of the best-loved songs of the century.
5. 'Mr Tambourine Man' – The Byrds
When Bob Dylan heard The Byrds’ version of his ‘Mr Tambourine Man’, he remarked "Wow, you can dance to that!". Having heard an advance copy of Dylan’s song, the fledgling Byrds changed the time signature, edited the lyrics and gave it a rock sound, with chiming Rickenbacker guitars and driving bass and drums, and in doing so invented folk-rock.
That their version followed Dylan’s by a matter of weeks makes it all the more remarkable.
4. 'Nothing Compares 2U' – Sinead O'Connor
One of the most powerful recordings of 1990, Sinead O’Connor’s stunning ‘Nothing Compares 2U’ was accompanied by a powerful video, in which the Irish singer cries while staring at the camera.
Yet despite the tangible pain in her voice, this wasn’t an original, but a version of a Prince song that had gone otherwise largely unnoticed when his funk project The Family released it on their eponymous 1985 album. This is one example where the cover far outweighs the original.
3. 'All Along The Watchtower' – Jimi Hendrix
When it comes to reinvention, Jimi Hendrix is the undisputed master, and his reinterpretation of Bob Dylan’s ‘All Along The Watchtower’ is perhaps the finest example.
The original, as recorded on Dylan’s 1967 John Wesley Harding album, relays the conversion between a joker and a thief as they ride towards the watchtower. In Hendrix’s version, the song becomes a foretelling of the apocalypse, his howling guitar giving the song an otherworldly quality.
2. 'Respect' – Aretha Franklin
When Otis Redding heard Aretha Franklin’s version of his 1965 soul classic ‘Respect’, he called it the song "that a girl took away from me."
On Redding’s original, the song is about the traditional relationship dynamic of the day, the working man coming home and expecting to be given the respect he deserves from his wife. But in Franklin’s hands, that whole ethic was flipped to make it a feminist anthem, as well as chiming with the ongoing Civil Rights movement.
1. 'Twist And Shout' – The Beatles
Their 1963 debut album, Please Please Me, finishes with two minutes and thirty-five seconds of throat shredding, frenzied rock’n’roll that whipped up the mania that would follow them around the world for the rest of the decade.
And yet while ‘Twist And Shout’ is one of The Beatles’ most identifiable sounds, it wasn’t actually a Lennon/McCartney original, but a cover quite unlike the original. In fact, it wasn’t even a cover of the original.
Let us explain.
Written by Phil Medley and Bert Burns (aka Bert Russell) ‘Twist And Shout’ was originally recorded by The Top Notes in 1961, but that wasn’t the version that inspired the Fab Four. As John Lennon explained, it was The Isley Brothers’ 1962 take on the song that The Beatles covered, making it their own.
All photos Getty Images
Top image Jimi Hendrix
