50 Great Neil Young Covers

1. Cowboy Junkies "Powderfinger"
2. St. Etienne "Only Love Can Break Your Heart"

not sure there are 50 great ones honestly (the St. Etienne one is probably the best)

3. The Feelies - Sedan Delivery
4. Boney M - Heart Of Gold
5. Devo - Ohio

6. Lady Gaga - Out On The Weekend

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIeCrj_Gn6A&feature=player_embedded

stretching the definition of great there but had to get that in

7. Pixies - Winterlong
8. Pixies - I've Been Waiting For You

Nicolette Larson - Lotta Love

10. Sonic Youth "computer age"

11. Dinosaur Jr. - Lotta Love

i mean, the whole Bridge tribute CD is pretty decent, as far as tribute albums go ...

12. Ian Matthews - Tell Me Why

13. Built To Spill - Cortez The Killer

14. The Walkabouts - On the Beach

15. OP8 - round and round

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baz8W1dkPFQ

16. Feelies - Barstool Blues

17. low and dirty three - down by the river

18. Linda Ronstadt - Birds

that GaGa version is terrible she can't even keep the melody together wtf

19. Yung Wu - Powderfinger
20. Wooden Shjips - Vampire Blues

not the one in Rachel Getting Married

21. Phish - Albuquerque

(apparently their 1998 Farm Aid version of "Down By the River" was something to behold too, but I've nev er heard it)

22. Gillian Welch - Pocahontas

xp: There is a youtube of it, but I can't watch right now

I found a used copy of Borrowed Tunes II last week, and a I've got a vinyl copy of Headed for the Ditch: a Michigan Tribute to Neil Young on order. It's something of an obsession: I think I'm up to 350-400 cover versions, approximately 25 hours' worth. Hard to know where to begin, but three of the best (and perhaps most surprising) would be 23. Psychic TV's "Only Love Can Break Your Heart," 24. Francoise Hardy's "Till the Morning Comes," and 25. Bongwater's "Mr. Soul."

24. Francoise Hardy's "Till the Morning Comes" -- whoa, never heard this!

26. Byrds - See the Sky About To Rain

Emmylou Harris, "Wrecking Ball"

Francoise Hardy's "Till the Morning Comes"

i was gonna post that!

flaming lips - "after the goldrush"

"Everybody's Rockin" John Lee Hooker

"Mystery Train" Elvis Presley

"Oh Lonesome Me" Don Gibson

"Payola Blues" - ???

^^^ Albert Lee

The Isley Brothers - Ohio
Buddy Miles - Down By the River
Merry Clayton - Southern Man - righteous and mighty where the original is just pissy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4czTIjYwGlc

skullflower 'cortez the killer'

So weird - I was thinking of starting this exact thread yesterday when Walter Clevinger & The Dairy King's great cover of "Burned" came up on shuffle.

So that.

Radiohead did a nice "On the Beach:"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQARzXtc2ik

Radiohead has also done "Down by the River" and 'Cinnamon Girl."

I've heard Golden Smog do a great "Revolution Blues" before. Uncle Tupelo did "Cortez."

Wedding Present did an OK "Don't Cry No Tears."

Nick Cave's "Helpless" is really good. So is Roxy Music's OTT Latin-disco-rock "Like a Hurricane."

Sort of a hard act to cover! Are we still counting?

Cowboy Junkies- "Tired Eyes"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQAcJzIhSJ8

(From above) I was at this show and fell asleep listening to this.

In a good way.

47. Jack Logan - On The Beach

damn that merry clayton cover is fantastic, thanks dorian

That Merry Clayton cover is indeed fantastic. Anyway, a few more, though not all great by any means...

Neil Young cover versions

48. "Love is a Rose" by Linda Ronstadt

"Love is a nose, but you'd better not pick it..."

Buddy Miles - Down By the River

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LH9eFMvhOw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5KRVtjgMkM

49. The Pooh Sticks: "The Rhythm of Love"

50. Waylon Jennings - "Are You Ready For the Country?"

^^ surprised Ian didn't list that one tbqh imo!

51. Killdozer -" Cinnamon Girl"

52. Royal Trux - "Lookout Joe"

53. Slint - "Cortez the Killer"

^^ live only as far as i know

54. Valerie Carter "After The Gold Rush"
A very nice cover too. Someone else did a cover of this song, but I can't put my finger on it right now.

55. jackie deshannon - only love can break your heart

I have a weak spot for Jackie Deshannon. Which album is that cover from?

jackie, reissued a few years back by rhino as jackie...plus

Can I rep for Pearl Jam's 'Rockin In The Free World'...

56. Q and Not U - "Don't Let it Bring You Down"

57. Bettye LeVette- Heart of Gold

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4ixBuhQGsw

more soul and funk covers please

58. the meters - 'birds'

we did this:
Neil Young cover versions

New Peter Gabriel covers album will feature a Neil Young cover

Scratch My Back is due out on February 16 in North America via Real World/Universal Records:
1. “Heroes” (David Bowie cover)
2. “The Boy in the Bubble” (Paul Simon cover)
3. “Mirrorball” (Elbow cover)
4. “Flume” (Bon Iver cover)
5. “Listening Wind” (Talking Heads cover)
6. “The Power of the Heart” (Lou Reed cover)
7. “My Body Is a Cage” (Arcade Fire cover)
8. “The Book of Love” (Magnetic Fields cover)
9. “I Think It's Going to Rain Today” (Randy Newman cover)
10. “Après Moi” (Regina Spektor cover)
11. “Philadelphia” (Neil Young cover)
12. “Street Spirit” (Radiohead cover)

Cassandra Wilson - "Harvest Moon"

Since it wasn't mentioned on the earlier thread,
Michael Hedges - After the Gold Rush

yow i gotta track down some of these!

Not sure if anyone's made a similar request, but I'm looking for some help in tracking down a copy of Everybody Knows This is Norway. I've tried the internets, Soulseek, Amazon, etc., and haven't made any headway at all. I think it's the only Neil-tribute LP I haven't yet found (once a couple of CDs arrive in the mail shortly, I'll be up to 15). I'd like to obtain an actual copy on CD or vinyl, but would happily settle for a CD-R.

60. rainy day - flying on the ground is wrong

61. ida - everybody knows this is nowhere

62. The Church "Cortez The Killer"

Two threads and no Undisputed Truth.

Guess I'm staying gone.

17. low and dirty three - down by the river

― A™ machine (sic) (omar little), Saturday, 16 January 2010 08:53 (1 week ago) Bookmark

^^This.

63. Mercury Rev - Vampire Blues

Jeez, that Gaga video upthread is painful. Classic for the fat guy hanging out at the edge of the frame chewing gum, checking his mobile and generally looking crushed by boredom, though.

didn't giant Sand do a cover of Revolution Blues as well? is it any good? i haven't heard it (haven't heard any Giant Sand actually)

almost forgot:

64.) Annie Lennox - Don't Let it Bring You Down (hi there Mena Suvari)

And here's a great cover of "Whip My Hair" by Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen

just posted a second comp of neil young covers here: http://doomandgloomfromthetomb.tumblr.com/post/5867821093/hello-mr-soul-vol-ii-so-heres-the-hotly

Nice work!

The germ of Entwistle's "Cinnamon Girl" can be found near the end of "My Generation" here.

Fifteen months later, I'm still looking for a copy of this:

http://www.groove.no/anmeldelse/39136336/everybody-knows-this-is-norway-a-tribute-to-neil-young-diverse-artister

The website sums it up well: "Salvation Circus går helt opp til en signaturlåt, men versjonen av Cinnamoon Girl får ikke nytt liv denne gangen heller. Bedre versjoner er dessuten hørt tidligere, blant annet av The Dream Syndicate og Loop."

Four years ago, I did a piece on Neil covers for Stylus that they've been good (or negligent) enough to leave up. I've probably collected another five CDs and 60 or 70 covers since then, but I just can't seem to get my hands on the Norway album.

well, i know who should compile the next volume of my neil young covers series!

entwistle cover is kind of impressive in its rigid faithfulness to the original. i think they just slowed it down slightly. otherwise, an exact copy!

If you ever want, Tyler, everything I've got fits onto a 2GB USB. I'd be glad to send one out to you--I really enjoy all the Neil commentary you do on these threads.

even got the Type-O & Rheostatics covers in that article, clemenza; colour me f--king impressed!

i would not say no to a 2gb USB of neil young covers, that'd be awesome!
and yeah, some serious obscurities in that article!

entwistle cover is kind of impressive in its rigid faithfulness to the original. i think they just slowed it down slightly. otherwise, an exact copy!

I think it's in a different key; Neil used drop-D tuning for that, and it sounds like Entwistle's band (Cy Langston on guitar, and Humble Pie's Jerry Shirley on drums) does it in E. I kind of wish Entwistle had taken more liberties with it, though.

yeah, they even do the same handclaps during the solo.

The Rheostatics are a Toronto band, where I'm from, and I used to contribute to a local publication back in the '80s with one of the members. I was never a fan of their music--it was always kind of arty for my tastes--so I was surprised by how great their "Everybody Knows" is. (If you click on my username and follow the link, Tyler, you'll get my e-mail address and we can go from there.)

when my folks first got the Internet, I was a p big fan of Sloan (read a RIP magazine article on them, then picked up a couple of their albums on a HS band trip to Toronto) & was searching for stuff about them, and came across the Chart magazine top 100 Canadian albums list; Sloan's Twice Removed was #1, After the Gold Rush #2, and I think Rheostatics' Whale Music was #3 (actually #5)..later on in life I was able to pick up both Whale Music and Introducing Happiness at a used CD store close to where I lived...

mostly meh, though Whale Music is half-good; heard of but never heard the "Everybody Knows" cover, though intrigued by the fact that an orchestra got co-performer credit...

xxp Supposedly the adherence to Neil's version was why it was left off the album (Smash Your Head Against The Wall), so he wrote the not-dissimilar "My Size" to replace it.

did y'all see this? http://bigozine2.com/roio/?p=436
looks a little better on paper than it does in real life. alasdair roberts' number is my fave thing.

60. rainy day - flying on the ground is wrong
― hipster knight (electricsound), Friday, January 29, 2010

^^yes!

Green on Red has a great "Down By The River" on a live bootleg.

Roy Buchanan's "Down By The River" is great, too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLhdS-8-YS8

ooh that was awesome. thanks!

Just seen this thread for the first time, and it's a miracle that ctrl+f didn't come up with Hayden's Tell me why cover, from the 'Live at Convocation Hall' album, because it's fantastic.

Had no idea Sylvester covered "Southern Man":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAIcKuF3ZCo

Stumbled over this tonight when I was checking to see if I had something else. From 1979: quite bizarre.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtoYYvU5ktg

That Sylvester cover of Skynyrd is bad ass.

I really like this one from a few years back:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_37kdxtw8wY

Lee Ann Womack did a great version of "Out on the Weekend" last year on The Way I'm Livin'/ Govt Mule did a suitably epic (which doesn't just mean "long") version of "Cortez the Killer" on Live...With A Little Help From Our Friends in '99.

Merry Clayton - Southern Man - righteous and mighty where the original is just pissy

― Dorian (Dorianlynskey), Friday, January 15, 2010 7:34 PM (5 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

So, thanks to discovering this thread I've spent much of the evening listening to Neil Young covers, and this comment is as OTM as it gets. I never liked "Southern Man" for the very reason stated above, but Clayton's version feels earned. She can talk about this because she's lived it. For anyone else who missed it the first time, and doesn't feel like scrolling upthread, here it is again:

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/4czTIjYwGlc"; frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

aw shit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4czTIjYwGlc&list=LL_5EyVAJzOEw_Zp8NzDlZvQ&index=2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TBUH-9I_xA

ILM user ___________________ (I know his actual name, but his display name's all weird characters....) sent me a link for this:

http://www.philxmilstein.com/probe/index.htm

A few things in there I've never come across.

Another excellent roundup, passed on to me by cryptosicko:

http://coverlaydown.com/2018/03/recovered-in-folk-neil-young-44-redefining-tracks-from-a-decade-in-tribute/

I'm closing in on 700 Neil covers on my hard drive. Anyone know how to get in touch with, um, Neil Young? I think he should spend the next year securing all legal clearances and add a covers section to his archival website.

hmmm I find that collection surprisingly underwhelming, maybe it's the aesthetics, maybe Neil's hard to cover

I like the Built to Spill Cortez

I'm just hoarding at this point--I don't even listen to them anymore. I'd worked up an excellent mix-CD a few years ago.

haha, cool

can I see your mix cd tracklist?

Found it and put it on Google Docs:

http://docs.google.com/document/d/1-eBYRbX1QUe5iejXjCw7DamYmJRmOWajThfc0d9CmgQ/edit?usp=sharing

That goes back 10 years, when I probably had half of what I have now. So there'd be some changes, I'm sure. You can probably figure out what the Chris Farley excerpt is if you give it some thought.

nice, that's an interesting mix!

51. Killdozer -" Cinnamon Girl"

Don't miss that one ^^

While tagging songs from these last two links, discovered a couple of full-length albums I didn't know about: Blitzen Trapper's Live Harvest, a Record Store Day thing, and J. Tillman covering the whole Tonight's the Night LP.

http://phildellio.tripod.com/trapper.jpg http://phildellio.tripod.com/tillman.jpg

has this one been mentioned yet? i dig it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRBUAkOOMYE

Nobody's mentioned The Chromatics, Into The Black

Once you start down the rabbit hole..."Even Richard Cheney has got soul."

http://soundcloud.com/rfp86/campaigner-originally-by-neil-young

(If anybody can turn this into an mp3 for me, I'd be very appreciative.)

And this, the entirety of Decade (I probably have a lot of it already, but I can see some things that are new to me).

http://www.covermesongs.com/2012/10/full-albums-neil-youngs-decade-part-one.html

Seven years ago, when I picked "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" as my favourite song ever in a Facebook countdown, I called it "the most indestructible of Neil’s songs for anyone who tries to cover him." Rickie Lee Jones, whose version I'd never heard till today, walks right up to that line. The song sort of survives.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjYQ36lGIcY

I think the song makes it

btw clemenza, did you ever try clicking
https://www.klickaud.com/ or
https://9soundclouddownloader.com/

I haven't, thanks...they're okay? I'd only do it in really isolated instances like this.

I guess the legality would be disputable, but yeah, it works

something like this app would be more stable, customizable https://www.4kdownload.com/

My favourites

Chromatics - into the black
Tori Amos - Philadelphia
Annie Lennox - don't let it bring you down

Niels: had no problem, thanks again. (Will probably start searching for more Neil covers there...)

I don't think anyone saw this one coming:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77Ycxql63nY

lol yes! love how he hams it up during the one note solo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBIj2NxdbZE

I guess the original is either in a different key or slightly off key or Neil does smth weird with his voice because both this and the excellent Buddy Miles version has something off about the vocals (not necessarily in a bad way) particularly on the "when you could be taking me for a riiiiiide" line

KD Lang - Helpless
Neko Case - Dreaming man

Ida - Everyone Knows This Is Nowhere

Chris Forsyth - Don't Be Denied

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6dUriWmnh

https://chrisforsyth1.bandcamp.com/track/dont-be-denied

Roxy Music's "Like A Hurricane" is so incredible, it sounds like a Roxy song, even the lyrics ("Once I thought I saw you, in crowded, hazy bar") seem like Roxy lyrics.

That and Killdozer's "Cinnamon Girl", which points for having, some how, and even more inept rhythm section that the Horse

Does CSNY doing Down By The River at Balboa park in 1969 count as a cover? Never sure if the writer is on board.
Anyway 19 minutes of guitar burn including a hypnotically repetitive element from one of the players.
NOt sure if it is available anywhere legally yet but it does circulate on bootleg which is why i've heard it.

think Y is on that one

no what I meant was never sure if it counts as a cover if the writer/original artist is onboard i.e. later band with writer as central player or contemporary alternative band to the main one the artist is known for when artist is a permanent player in both bands.

Intuitive call: I probably wouldn't count that, but I would count Neil joining R.E.M. for their cover of "Ambulance Blues" (some fan-club record put out by R.E.M., with a great lyric change to accommodate Bill Clinton).

Definitely Tori Amos Philadelphia

was never sure if it counts as a cover if the writer/original artist is onboard

omg I got into an epic argument w my bass player years ago about this very subject when he insisted on calling Spiritualized's version of "Lord Can You Hear Me" a cover, because Spiritualized is ostensibly a "different" band than Spacemen 3, even though both feature Jason Pierce and it's his song

i mean, if you wrote a song and you are performing it, it's not a cover, right?

my point exactly

Yeah just never sure if you could cover yourself years later since you're going to be in a different context, chronologically at least and probably mentally. maybe in terms of style too. & playing style with different players in your band is likely to change a bit or at least the surroundings will.
So what word would you use to differentiate between different versions?

With CSN there's a lot more melodic guitar burn. I thought the version that's shown in the Big Sur film was really nice for that and the Balboa park version is much longer.

has the undisputed truth's "down by the river" hit this thread yet?

So what word would you use to differentiate between different versions?

performance

you're going to be in a different context, chronologically at least and probably mentally

this different context is happening continuously, from writing the song, to demoing it, to rehearsing it, to recording it, to touring it, etc. i would even argue there is no "original context" for a song outside the abstracting of an official record release, which is still a document of a single performance.

have we done simply red's 'mellow my mind' yet? i heard it in a hotel lobby while jetlagged out of my mind a few months ago and had something close to a psychotic break in response
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOfWPsFpuHY

really disappointing that mick chooses not to emulate neil's wobbly, off-key delivery of 'railroad traaaaaaaack' tbh

Boz Scaggs - On the Beach

oh nice, just released

very good, thanks

58. the meters - 'birds'

― jlgt, Saturday, January 16, 2010 7:21 AM (eight years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

just heard this for the first time, way prettier than anything i've heard from the meters. they did down by the river too if you're more into their usual funk:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SH9-1RV5j7s

i'm going to see eleventh dream day play ZUMA on saturday
can't wait!!!

that meters track sounds real quality. im really into the built 2 spill cortez the killer cover lately. i mean its just basically like 20 minutes of loud guitars whats not to like.

that eleventh dream day thang looks awesome.

in other news
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77Ycxql63nY&feature=youtu.be

hmmm
https://youtu.be/77Ycxql63nY

anyone done a Youtube playlist or similar of these? A project for the weekend maybe...

do it

work is p quiet at the moment, I'll have a look tomorrow...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBVkKcQJu5A

nice. one cover the length of 4 tony molina songs

hehe Neil is probably the one note guitar solo king

Meters cover is great - why are there so many good soul covers of Neil? doesn't seem like he was too into that scene?

New ones appear all the time, but I thought I knew pretty much every big-name Neil cover done before The Bridge, at least. Somehow this one slipped by me until I bought the album at a record show today:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7fxxJIm-A4

Not very good.

I think I actually prefer it to the original! An entire album of Neil songs in that style would get a bit much though.

Just Like Me, Nowadays Clancy Just Wants To Be (Close To You)

clemenza, have you heard this ?

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a3366656313_10.jpg

https://anonymouschoir.com/album/anonymous-choir-sings-neil-youngs-after-the-gold-rush

The original's not a favourite, so that figures in. I actually really like their "Ticket to Ride" cover (same album--it was originally released as Offering, then re-released a few months later as Ticket to Ride when that became a minor hit).

No! Thanks--will order that for sure.

Clancy's such a weird-ass song to have inspired so many period covers (I think like three or four besides the Carpenters one).

Including--I could be wrong--the first Neil cover ever, Fever Tree's version of "Clancy" in 1968.

Clancy fucking sucks wtf

there's also joni mitchell's 1967 radio recording of "sugar mountain" which is cool

featured here, along with many other covers mentioned itt: https://www.mixcloud.com/aquariumdrunkard/hello-mr-soul-neil-young-covers-1967-1978/

67? Wow that’s early. Maybe Neil “gave” it to her?

Maybe Fever Tree's was the first one to make it onto a record. If anyone knows one earlier (March 28, 1968), please post.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfeIk5XKnf8

The Sylvester links don't work upthread, so just adding. It's *so* good

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LS_dmViKZXI

A different take on After the Gold Rush

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2XcBL6kWn8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2suWODDn08&pbjreload=10&fbclid=IwAR1RfJ5JeLNDGfFq0YWXGoGveJEX8B8pc5XQG3Hyry-WclgHQws3juZsOsU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2suWODDn08

(I was trying to post a Facebook link.)

very nice. the singer's voice reminds of lou reed.

not a cover per se and not a neil song but just saw this for the first time

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIDzA0YDso8

Cover Me compiles a Harvest comp.

(yeah yeah, I know "compiles a comp." I'll shred my English degree now.)

my kids singing Emmylou Harris’s rendition of “Wrecking Ball”

i don't think we've had this yet, unless it's a broken youtube link upthread

John Morell - Old Man. I think it's awesome but it might not be for everyone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cv8PJimST6g

the vocals are making me want to revisit the Anonymous Choir record and absolutely kicking myself for letting go of my copy

Shelia Hylton - Lot of Love. Single and Dub Version

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziSzfxqog2o

John Muir Junior High- After the Gold Rush

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJJNiYzu6AQ

Haven't updated my massive Neil Young Covers file in a while, so I thought I'd check today to see if I've missed anything the past five years. Came across this, upcoming:

https://www.stereogum.com/2296121/fiona-apple-eddie-vedder-brandi-carlile-more-contribute-to-new-neil-young-tribute-album/music/

Kristin Hersh "Like A Hurricane"

Recent ex-SNL cast member Chloe Troast working in a verse from "Borrowed Tune" into a piano cover of "Walking After Midnight" on a insta New Year's video.

https://www.instagram.com/chloe_troast/reel/DETMg5SSMzq/?hl=en