• You've Got A Friend - James Taylor (originally by Carole King)
• Respect - Aretha Franklin (originally by Otis Redding)
• Blue Suede Shoes - Elvis (originally by Carl Perkins)
• How Sweet It Is - James Taylor (originally by Marvin Gaye)
• You Make Me Feel (Like a Natural Woman) - Aretha Franklin (originally by Carole King)
• Twist and Shout - The Beatles (originally by The Isley Brothers)
• All Along the Watchtower - Hendrix (originally by Bob Dylan)

• Everybody Plays the Fool - Aaron Neville (originally by Main Ingredient) and I can't believe I forgot
• Me and Bobby McGee - Janis Joplin (originally by Kris Kristofferson)

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Then we played Neil Diamond's original version of Red Red Wine from the '70s. We immediately got flooded with calls, and every single one of them guessed UB40. We laughed and laughed.

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Originally posted by Dagonee:
Did Kris ever perform the song? I thought he wrote it for Janis to perform.

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It's the Righteous Brothers and I think the original is much more definitive than the Hall and Oates version (I'm not sure I've even heard their version).

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And nobody guessed Marley? That's sad.

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but Ike and Tina's version of Proud Mary is much more well-known than the original Creedence version.

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What planet are you from?
 

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Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
 
Killing Me Softly, by the Fugees,original by Roberta Flack

Not exactally a cover, but I really like I'll Be Missing You, but it isn't a cover because it has Sting sampling Every Breath You Take in the background with them singing/rapping over it.
 

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Posted by El JT de Spang (Member # 7742) on :
 
Kwea, those were two that I thought of this morning, although the I'll Be Missing You I don't think would qualify.

I also thought of:

Wild Nights - John Mellencamp (by Van Morrison)
With A Little Help From My Friends - Joe Cocker (by the Beatles)
 

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Posted by Glenn Arnold (Member # 3192) on :
 

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Originally posted by Frisco:
[QB]

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And nobody guessed Marley? That's sad.

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Sad? That nobody guessed the wrong answer?

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The Fugees made a real nice cover of Killing Me Softly, but Roberta Flack still holds the definitive title. (I will admit that when I listen to Roberta Flack, I'm waiting for the singing improv the fugees do and the "one time" beat thing.)

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I think the fact that you expect to hear Wyclef calling "One time!" tells you that the Fugees have the definitive version. I think it's just because it's a lot more recent than the Roberta Flack one. I personally love that one, but I don't think it was as popular, even in its time, as the Fugees version.
 

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Posted by Dr. Evil (Member # 8095) on :
 
"You Really Got Me" Van Halen (original by The Kinks)
 

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Posted by Katarain (Member # 6659) on :
 
I guess I can't get over the memory of sitting in the car when I was a kid, listening to this song and my mom singing along...and wondering what in the world it was about...but loving it all the same. My mom had already told me by that time that Janis (sp?) Joplin had cut her face into ribbons when she committed suicide--so the line "strumming my pain with his fingers" became "strumming my face with his fingers" and I associated it with Janis Joplin, especially with the Killing Me Softly line.

So nothing, for me, can overshadow the Roberta Flack version...but maybe you're right. Maybe the Fugees really did take it over... I do like it better..

Darnit.
 

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Posted by Paul Goldner (Member # 1910) on :
 
Thank you Katarin... I can't believe anyone thinks that any version other then the Simon and Garfunkel Mrs Robinson could POSSIBLY be definitive. Not for another 40 years at least. Ditto on Walk This Way. That is CLEARLY an Aerosmith song. Run DMC just happened to get in on that bag of tricks.
 

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Posted by Katarain (Member # 6659) on :
 
Dr. Evil, which group did the "You Really Got Me" in the commercial? I think it had barbies or something in it... with a toy car... or maybe it was a commercial with an operation in it...

wow... those are two totally different images... I'm lost.
 

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Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
 

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I personally love that one, but I don't think it was as popular, even in its time, as the Fugees version.

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*blink* You're living on another planet, right? Because I guarantee you that "Killing Me Softly" is, to the vast majority of people on this planet, a Roberta Flack song.
 

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Posted by El JT de Spang (Member # 7742) on :
 
As with everything, it has a lot to do with context. If the vast majority you're talking about are baby boomers who listen to classic rock all day, then yes, I'm sure they have no idea who the Fugees are.

But if by vast majority you mean people from the ages of 3-30, most of them don't even know that the song was a cover. The same argument could be made for most of the songs in this thread. For most, the definitive version is the one they first heard, or the one the grew up listening to.

But, since you guaranteed me....

The one grand slam on this list, I think, is All Along the Watchtower. But I'm sure that someone will swear that it's a travesty, and only the Dylan version will stand the test of time. Half the fun of threads like this is arguing about which is the definitive version.
 

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Posted by calaban (Member # 2516) on :
 
everyone does All Along the Watchtower my favorite is the Dave Matthews Band version.
 

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Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
 
"Lean on Me" is another song that was hugely popular the second time around. However, I can't remember either the remake artist or the original artist.
 

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Posted by Glenn Arnold (Member # 3192) on :
 
Lean on Me - I'm pretty sure was Bill Withers.
 

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Posted by Dr. Evil (Member # 8095) on :
 

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Originally posted by Katarain:
Dr. Evil, which group did the "You Really Got Me" in the commercial? I think it had barbies or something in it... with a toy car... or maybe it was a commercial with an operation in it...

wow... those are two totally different images... I'm lost.

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Originally posted by adam613:
All Along The Watchtower is a Hendrix song. I like the Indigo Girls version better though.

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Originally posted by Dr. Evil:

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Originally posted by Katarain:
Dr. Evil, which group did the "You Really Got Me" in the commercial? I think it had barbies or something in it... with a toy car... or maybe it was a commercial with an operation in it...

wow... those are two totally different images... I'm lost.

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That was the Van Halen version. From their first album which was released in 1978.

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Originally posted by TomDavidson:

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I personally love that one, but I don't think it was as popular, even in its time, as the Fugees version.

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*blink* You're living on another planet, right? Because I guarantee you that "Killing Me Softly" is, to the vast majority of people on this planet, a Roberta Flack song.

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Most people under 35-40 don't know, or care, who she was, but everyone who listens to the radio knows the Fugee's version.

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You realize I'm 30, right, and still haven't heard the Fugees version because I have musical taste?

Edit: And having quickly looked it up online, I don't regret that decision.

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Strumming dub plates with our fingers,
Eliminate sounds with our song,
Killing a sound boy with this sound,
Killing a sound boy with this sound,
Taking sound boys’ lives with this dub,
Killing him softly with this sound.

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*shudder* It's ghastly.
 

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Posted by El JT de Spang (Member # 7742) on :
 
Everyone has taste. Whether or not it's good, well, I guess that's not for me to judge. If you have good taste, you should throw out your preconceived notions and give the Fugees a listen. They made some really good music.

EDIT: Where's that quote supposed to be from? I don't think those lyrics appear anywhere in their version. The lyrics are the same.
 

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Posted by Speed (Member # 5162) on :
 
I realize that taste is subjective, and that there will never be a definitive standard for art. But for what it's worth, I have a friend who has a Ph.D. in music and is currently a professor at a university who has, among many other things, taught a full semester class on the history of rap. And in his opinion the Fugees album The Score that "Killing Him Softly" was on is one of the five best hip-hop albums ever made.

So it's fine if, based upon what you've looked up on the internet, you don't think that version is worthy of the original. But don't pretend that it's due to superior taste.
 

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Posted by El JT de Spang (Member # 7742) on :
 
I like your friend. I don't have a Ph.D. in anything, but I definitely agree with him on the top five status.
 

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Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
 
What exactly do you see in the track? I've listened to it, now, and it seems almost completely meritless.
 

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Posted by El JT de Spang (Member # 7742) on :
 
The thing I like about the Fugees version, off the top of my head - the beat. Anytime a song causes my head to bob unbeknownst to me, it's a good thing. This is a symptom of listening to too much Michael Jackson during my formative years. I love a good beat.

I also think Lauryn Hill's voice has phenomenal depth and tone. So the main difference to me between the original and this one is it seems to mean a lot more when Hill sings the words.

I like the vocal adlibs at the end, probably because I have vivid memories of being in a car full of people, everyone singing along to that at the top of their lungs.

But if you listen to it for the first time ever on your computer, already convinced it's no good, it's no surprise you find you're right. I think psychology calls that a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The only things I prefer in the original is how clean it is, and the fact that she does all three verses.
 

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Posted by hugh57 (Member # 5527) on :
 
City of New Orleans - Arlo Guthrie (origial: Steve Goodman)
 

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Posted by solo (Member # 3148) on :
 

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I don't see how you can possibly not have heard this version. Were you alive during the eighties?

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Yes, but I was in elementary school and the only music I really listened to back then was Kiss, Motley Crue, Bon Jovi, Young MC, MC Hammer, and weekly top 40 radio.
 

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Posted by kmbboots (Member # 8576) on :
 
Gotta I'm with Tom on "Killing Me Softly".
 

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Posted by Speed (Member # 5162) on :
 
I was going to try to explain why I like the Fugees version of "Killing Me Softly". As I formulated my thoughts, I was reminded of the time that I tried to explain to my wife why I'm such a big fan of the movie Doctor Strangelove.

Strangelove is one of my all time favorite movies. The acting, the writing, the directing, the cinematography, the satire, the characterizations, the way Peter Sellers plays his different characters, the way George C. Scott parodies his own onscreen persona, Slim Pickens' earnestly goofy fighter pilot... there isn't a single element of that film that isn't absolutely brilliant. So when I was introducing my wife to my favorite pieces of classic American culture, I couldn't wait to show her this. Imagine my disappointment when she never laughed once, and fell asleep halfway through.

She wanted me to explain to her why I loved this movie so much. And I tried--lord help me, how I tried. But the fact is, I can see it from her point of view. When I watch it, I can understand how she can see this brilliant piece of cinema as two hours of dry, pointless black-and-white footage of stupid people doing inane and worthless things. I still adore Strangelove, and the vast majority of scholars and film buffs agree with me, but I've surrendered to the inevitable fact that my wife, intelligent and tasteful as she is, will never share that adoration.

Trying to explain why I like The Fugees' version of "Killing Me Softly" is very much like that. I can see Tom's point of view, and in this case there aren't many hard facts I can use to back up mine. Listening to it from his point of view, I can hear a dry version of a song he likes, with a simple drum and bass line and some perfunctory rapped ejaculations from Wycleffe. I still love it. Yes, it works better in the context of the album (IMHO) than as a single, but even as a single, I think it's pretty damn great. And, from what I can tell, most scholars and music historians share this point of view. But that's not going to change Tom's mind. Nor should it.

Everyone in the world can find some ways their artistic tastes differ from established norms. I don't think Nirvana is as great as most people in the biz. My wife thinks Doctor Strangelove is overrated. And Tom doesn't like The Fugees. So what? That's what makes us human. Tom may never get why JT and I like The Fugees, and that's fine. As long as we're both judging with open minds, and neither of us decide that our arbitrary way of thinking somehow makes us more intelligent, cultured or tasteful than the other, I'm okay with his opinions. I may as well be... I'm not going to change them anyway.
 

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Posted by El JT de Spang (Member # 7742) on :
 
In fact, what you said is one of the reasons I love music so much. Everybody likes what they like, and they don't like certain other stuff. And for the most part it's totally arbitrary. You can't change people's minds about music because it's so subjective.

That's why I decided long ago, never to walk in anyone's shadow. No wait, that's not what I decided.

I decided never to criticize anyone's taste in music. Even if I don't like an artist, it's alright with me if people do like them.

Except for Blink 182.
 

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Posted by Speed (Member # 5162) on :
 

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Originally posted by El JT de Spang:
I decided never to criticize anyone's taste in music. Even if I don't like an artist, it's alright with me if people do like them.

Except for Blink 182.

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Right on!
 

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Posted by Speed (Member # 5162) on :
 
Not to re-rail the thread, but here're some more definitive covers:

Santana's version of Oye Como Va
They Might Be Giants' version of Istanbul (Not Constantinopol)
And I may get some crap for this one, but I'll always consider Cowboy Junkies' version of Sweet Jane to be definitive.
 

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Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
 
No, I think you're right. The CJ version of Sweet Jane has almost completely displaced the original in my mind.

TMBG has a lot of covers of source material so obscure that people think they wrote the song.
 

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Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :
 

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but Ike and Tina's version of Proud Mary is much more well-known than the original Creedence version.

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All Along The Watchtower is a Hendrix song. I like the Indigo Girls version better though.

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Celine Dion's version of The Power Of Love is far better-known than the original by Laura Brannigan, due to it being one of the top tracks of 1994.

That is so wrong on so many levels.

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I agree with you, but Laura Brannigan's remake is apparently better known than the earlier remake by Air Supply--not to mention the original by some chick whose name escapes me.

-o-

And speaking of Laura Brannigan, Michael Bolton's cover of "her" song "How Am I Supposed To Live Without You?" which he actually wrote, was a bigger hit than her hit version.
 

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Posted by Dr. Evil (Member # 8095) on :
 

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Originally posted by Speed:
They Might Be Giants' version of Istanbul (Not Constantinopol)

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