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LongBeachArena72
On another thread I made the suggestion that the Stones are covered less frequently and less memorably than their status as songwriters might lead one to expect. I don't know if this is true and can't be bothered to even attempt to quantify it ... but it has always seemed to me that, for example, their peers Dylan and Lennon/McCartney are covered more often and to better result than are Jagger/Richards.

(This is not in any way to diminish The Glimmers as songwriters--they are clearly at or near the top of the heap in rock history as composers.)

One theory advanced in that other thread--not originally by me--was that the performance of Jagger/Richards songs by the band is so distinctive and idiosyncratic that replicating the quality of those versions ... or even digging into the compositions deeply enough to find a possible original variation ... are daunting propositions.

Is this a crock? Are The Stones in fact covered as often and as well as you might expect? Or is there something to this thesis?

I was listening to two wonderful covers this morning, of the same song, "Let's Spend the Night Together":

The Jerry Garcia Band (including the magical Nicky Hopkins), and

David Bowie

Both are "keepers," for very different reasons, of course. The JGB take 18 mins to slinkily unspool the magic of the riff, while DBowie blows the lid off the 60's in 3 hyperkinetic minutes. (The Bowie, for my money, might be the "greatest" of all Stones covers, for its sheer audacity.)

I don't prefer either to the perfection of the Stones' original take on the song; but both do provide fascinating insights into the composition itself.

What are your favorite covers? Do any of them surpass the band's original recording? Are they an 'easy' band to cover relatively well ... or are decent covers few and far between?

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Cristiano Radtke
Bob Dylan - Brown Sugar

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hopkins

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Cristiano Radtke
Bob Dylan - Brown Sugar

One of my all time favorite versions of this song by anybody. for all the great guitar; and for His Bobness kinda half making up mumbling words for half of it; classic!!!!!!!!!!!! just like i kneewwwww u wuuddun....gol sgoat wave she hounds the sally fields hold in the farkin dawn is coming swoon how cumm u danncnnccccc


my favorite part is when hes wondering wheres his seat on the bus for half a verse and doesen't even bother to try to sing....man this is classic....bob ought to do a mini set; angiiiiieeeee annnnnnnnnnig how come you stood for soooodddd angieeeeeee

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Hairball

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hopkins

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Cristiano Radtke
Bob Dylan - Brown Sugar

One of my all time favorite versions of this song by anybody. for all the great guitar; and for His Bobness kinda half making up mumbling words for half of it; classic!!!!!!!!!!!! just like i kneewwwww u wuuddun....gol sgoat wave she hounds the sally fields hold in the farkin dawn is coming swoon how cumm u danncnnccccc


my favorite part is when hes wondering wheres his seat on the bus for half a verse and doesen't even bother to try to sing....man this is classic....bob ought to do a mini set; angiiiiieeeee annnnnnnnnnig how come you stood for soooodddd angieeeeeee

I vividly remember that tour and saw him christen the newly refurbished Wiltern theater just prior to the Stones playing there. I saw all three shows from down in the pit, and one of the big highlights/surprises was Brown Sugar. I recall many on discussion boards as well as some critics claiming "Dylan and band outdid the Stones at their own game" with his version of Brown Sugar, and hard to argue against that considering the luke warm versions the Stones had been spewing out in the years prior to that. Obviously different vocals lol, but the band was tight...you should have heard him just around midnight! But this was the beginning of the Licks tour, and with many small club/theater performances by the Stones over the next couple of years, they reclaimed the throne as the masters of their own Brown Sugar. Dylan also did a great cover of Neil Young's Old Man at those shows, and while poignant and intense, no comparison to any superior version by Neil himself.

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Rockman
....'ere ya go suzie ....Dirtbombs - No Expectations


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Hairball
I know many can't stand it, but I've always enjoyed the quirkiness and goofiness of Devos Satisfaction.
Being in High school when it was released, and having seen them live at the Santa Monica Civic at the time, could have something to do with it.
They chew it up and spit it all out out resulting in something that's so far from the original there's a certain uniqueness to it that many covers lack.