On Tuesday night, I was at a Pennsylvania Hilton Garden Inn eating dinner at the bar. Behind me was a one-man band playing cover songs. He wasn’t bad. He wasn’t very good, either. However, he played All for You by Sister Hazel, and that was cool to me. Sister Hazel formed in Gainesville, FL as I was graduating from the University of Florida. There is a loyalty many of the students from that era have for them. So, it was fun to hear some guy in PA cover one of their songs 20+ years later.
Unfortunately, it’s tough to cover All for You as a one-man band, and his performance wasn’t the best. That got me thinking – what are some great cover songs? Who has produced previously recorded records that sound better than the original? So, I came up with my list of the top 5.
- All Along the Watchtower, Jimi Hendrix (original artist: Bob Dylan). You thought this was an original Jimi Hendrix, didn’t you? When U2 remade Watchtower in 1988, many people referred to it as “that Hendrix cover”. Even Dylan conceded. When asked by a journalist what he thought about Hendrix covering his song, Dylan responded with: “That’s not my song any more. From now on, that’s a Jimi Hendrix song.”
- Radar Love, White Lion (original artist: Golden Earring). Ok, admit it. If it this song wasn’t covered in 1989 by a hair band, you’d agree with me. Go ahead and admit it – you’ll feel so liberated! All kidding aside, White Lion does a great with this song … much better than the original.
- Make You Feel My Love, Adele (original artist: Bob Dylan). Bob Dylan must be an amazing songwriter because two of his songs are on my list (or maybe he’s just a bad singer?). I thought this was an Adele song, even though I knew the Dylan version. That’s how much she’s made this song her own.
- Turn the Page, Metallica (original artist: Bob Seger). Drums – that’s the difference between these two versions. The power of percussion that Metallica brings to this song makes a huge difference. This was a hard one for me because I love how good the remake it, but I’m not sold that it’s better than the original – which was pretty darn good.
- Hurt, Johnny Cash (original artist: Nine Inch Nails). Trent Reznor, singer and songwriter of Hurt by the Nine Inch Nails, described his reaction to first hearing Cash’s version of Hurt: “I felt like I just lost my girlfriend because that song isn’t mine anymore.” Johnny Cash covering a NIN song is awesome to begin with, but wow – the legend kills it.
What do you think? After I built my list, I searched online and found an article on Paste about the top 50 cover songs of all time. Only two on my list made their top 50, but they were the top two - number one and two on the Paste list were Hurt and Along the Watchtower, respectively.
