Who Did It Better???

[FNG]

 

[GGJaguar]

Elvis and Mac are about the same for me. Beatles for the win.

 

[Bernie]

I liked Mona Lisa Twins better : I haven't seen them 2000 times, the girls are cute, guitars too (Gretsch, Rickenbaker and Hofner) and they have a nice song too (I think if one of them two had told me what they say, I would have obeyed)...
(and they changed 'him' into 'her' within the song, which means they've got some brain too )

 

[davismanLV]

I'm gonna go Mona Lisa Twins by a small margin. It's very close.

 

[walrus]

Stones!

walrus

 

[davismanLV]

I swear. The search function on this site.... is

Here's a good one if I hasn't already been done... (I don't recall) but Motown was having trouble with Mary Wells. They'd fallen out and she's just recorded this song.... and they canned her. So this one sorta got some play but then they found Brenda Holloway as their new "golden girl" and released this other version. What's your take? Who did it best???



Or Brenda??

 

[GGJaguar]

Tough choice on that one, but I'm going with Mary Wells. It's smoother and not as over-produced as the Brenda Holloway version. Both are a pleasant listen.

 

[Midnight Toker]

I'd say at least put a live version against a live version ...and then...no contest by a big ol'country mile.



Just filter out the screaming girls w/ your ears and focus on the performing. Yep, no contest. Not even close. (Even though I greatly appreciate their cover! )

 

[Brucebubs]

I haven't read all the posts so excuse me if this comparison has already been suggested.
'Black Magic Woman'
The original by Peter Green era Fleetwood Mac ... or the Santana version?

 

[JohnW63]

I think that one got covered, Bruce.

 

[Teleguy61]

Big points to the Twins for a very spunky version, and I like the slightly slower tempo.
But--Beatles at their most basic--two guitars, and very distinct lead and rhythm parts, John sounds pisser on rhythm--and George's solo
is an absolute classic, one of his all time best.
Beatles for me.
Points to the Twins, but Beatles.

 

[Teleguy61]

I swear. The search function on this site.... is

Here's a good one if I hasn't already been done... (I don't recall) but Motown was having trouble with Mary Wells. They'd fallen out and she's just recorded this song.... and they canned her. So this one sorta got some play but then they found Brenda Holloway as their new "golden girl" and released this other version. What's your take? Who did it best???



Or Brenda??

Mary Wells all the way--she was very cool.

 

[Teleguy61]

I'd say at least put a live version against a live version ...and then...no contest by a big ol'country mile.



Just filter out the screaming girls w/ your ears and focus on the performing. Yep, no contest. Not even close. (Even though I greatly appreciate their cover! )

I agree 100% sir!
They were in fact a very exciting live band.

 

[WaltW]

Tons of contention in our household over this one.... WHY??

Killing the Blues



And then...



This one is SOOOO easy for me....

Tom,
You have answered a question that I've asked myself, about you, whether you were a fan' of Shawn Colvin. I became an immediate follower of hers when I saw her live at Newport FF in 1991. I had never heard of her until that day.
I'm also a big fan' of MCC.....esp. in her early days when she was less commercial and I know how you feel about Nanci Griffith.
Thank you again for the introduction to Valerie Carter's version of Whistle Down the Wind; it gets me every time I listen to it.

Walt in CT

 

[tonepoet]

Lou Reed's song "Rock 'n' Roll" covered by the band Detroit featuring Mitch Ryder on vocals from about 1971.

Legend has it that Lou Reed heard this and it was the reason Reed he hired their guitarist Steve Hunter to join his band.

As a teenager, I was lucky enough to see Detroit do this live in a high school gym in suburban Detroit. It is one of those concerts I'll never forget. Enjoy.

 

[tonepoet]

Johnny Winter's 1969 cover of Bob Dylan's "Highway 61 Revisited" brings the energy level of the tune up a notch or two. Enjoy.

 

[tonepoet]

Tom Waits' song "Downtown Train" first performed by Tom Waits himself.

Then, as the story goes, Bob Seger ran into Rod Stewart in an airport in London and played him a tape of a cover he was doing of it. Rod Stewart then went into a studio and cut his cover and got it out onto the airwaves before Seger got his version out.

 

[WaltW]

For this guy, again, no one can can express the words of this song better than Tom Waits. I can still see him in the video from the 1980s dancing on the poorly lit sidewalk twirling his hat, always in b&w. Many of his songs strike me as personal experiences or at least personal thoughts that evoked something in him to write it down. I know that he has had a lot to do with the underclass and homeless throughout his career which imho enables him to see life in a different way than most of us.
There is nothing unique about Seger's delivery or arrangement. He even rasps his voice a few times....just a copy.
The only thing I will say about Rod Stewart is..............I wish he had chosen soccer as a profession.

 

[GGJaguar]

Tom Waits for the win.

 

[davismanLV]

Well Tom Waits can write a killer song, for sure. I just can't with his voice. Bob Seger does a decent version, very similar with a better voice. Rod Stewart is nothing, I just can't listen. So let's try it with these two!!



Or this one:


As much as I love MCC the songs needs some more grit. And I think Patty Smyth does a good, yet 80's pop-ish version. I'll take Patty on this one.