Covers that are better than the original...

[Lousy Pint]

I didn't say that Bob Dylan didn't write brilliant songs, just that he didn't have the best voice to carry them. To suggest that Eleanor Rigby is not up there regarding it's words is for the birds. Probably one of the greatest "pop ballad, s" ever surely!!.

And there's the difference - 'pop ballad' - Dylan wrote music.
Anyway, I'm not getting into an argument about the Beatles because I know a lot of people like them, for some reason
They were just never my cup of tea.

 

[Quinny]

I didn't say that Bob Dylan didn't write brilliant songs, just that he didn't have the best voice to carry them.

It's not unfair to say that Dylan wasn't a great singer, but that's not what he's about really. He'd probably consider himself a songwriter or a poet first who tried to put his words to music, and his gruff half-spoken / half-sung technique made him different and stand out against his peers back in the 60s. To be honest I have a similar opinion of Leonard Cohen who wrote brilliant songs which were sung a lot better by other artists.

 

[Quinny]

As a slight tangent - almost on topic but not quite - I've been listening to Jason Molina and his various groups (Songs: Ohia and Magnolia Electric Co.) a lot recently. He kind of straddles various genres from indie rock through to Americana and alt-country ... and is/was very good (he died in 2013 at the age of 39). But when you listen to him, he does - at times - have a slight Neil Young-ish sound about him. That in itself isn't unremarkable, but one album in particular - a live one called Trials and Errors (under his Magnolia Electric moniker) - was intentionally done in the style of Neil Young and Crazy Horse a la Rust Never Sleeps era. Not outright copying Neil Young, not a pastiche, but more an homage to Young (a couple of snippets of Young tracks slipped into some of Molina's set here, and Neil Young was indirectly credited too).

Give this a listen:

edit: the studio album the above track came from - confusingly called The Magnolia Electric Co while under his 'Songs: Ohia' moniker - is also bloody good, produced by the late, great Steve Albini.

 

[Lousy Pint]

Another great cover for you:
"Woodstock" by the wonderful Ninet Tayeb

 

[smudja]

Bowie did a far better version of China Girl than Iggy

 

[Sainghin Green]

'Stop in the name of love' - 1983 version by the Hollies - less raunchy but great harmonies.

 

[unhinched]

Tough to know which one is best :
Bruce Hornsby- "That's the Way it is" 1986
Tupac - " Changes" 1998
Polo G - "Wishing For a Hero" 2020

I love them all, but just Polo G the most:

 

[Martin Brock]

It's not unfair to say that Dylan wasn't a great singer, but that's not what he's about really. He'd probably consider himself a songwriter or a poet first who tried to put his words to music, and his gruff half-spoken / half-sung technique made him different and stand out against his peers back in the 60s. To be honest I have a similar opinion of Leonard Cohen who wrote brilliant songs which were sung a lot better by other artists.

I have the same opinion of Prince. He wrote some great songs but is a dreadful singer in my book. Car radio gets turned over if he ever comes on 6Music.

M