Post-1960 Songs of Which There Are At Least Three 5-star, All-Time, Stone-Cold Classic Recorded Versions

That's three versions by three different artists, and live versions don't count.

"I Heard it Through the Grapevine": Marvin Gaye, Gladys Knight & the Pips, The Slits.

(not to mention CCR, Smokey, and "Roger")

This one's sort of cheating, but technically it's still three different artists.

"I Shall Be Released": Dylan (on The Basement Tapes), The Band (on Big Pink), and Nina Simone.

Others? I'm finding it really tough. Is there a third classic recording of "The Weight" after the Band and Aretha (the version on Before the Flood doesn't count, surely).

does staples singers + the band from last waltz count?

I want to say Hallelujah comes close but I can’t think of a third – how about Chelsea Hotel? Leonard Cohen, Rufus Wainwright, Regina Spektor.

xpost don't think so, but the Staple Singers did do their own version, which is good, but it'd be a real stretch to call it a classic.

Is there a third great "We Can Work it Out" after the Beatles and Stevie? A third "Tainted Love"?

"My Way" - Sinatra, Presley, Vicious, Nina Simone

^pretty good

Going through Nina Simone's catalogue is probably not the worst way of finding these.

2 bad Screamin Jay's was '56 (?), because "I Put a Spell On You" covered by CCR & Nina Simone would otherwise qualify

heh xpost

A third "Tainted Love"?

Marilyn Manson, but that's kind of pushing the definition of "stone cold classic"

Leonard Cohen, Rufus Wainwright, Regina Spektor.

And Lloyd Cole.

Amsterdam - Brel, Walker, Bowie

"Dark End of the Street" -- James Carr, Percy Sledge, Flying Burrito Brothers

I'm not sure all three of these qualify as 5-star, but depending on tastes, you could substitute other versions (Diamanda Galas, maybe). There must be other soul standards that would fit in here.

'56 should count really--I only put post-1960, 'cause I'm less interested in obvious standards....

"Dark End" was surely from an earlier era tho

Satisfaction: Rolling Stones, Otis Redding, Devo

"Girl from Ipanema" certainly has more than three classic versions. Off the top of my head I can mention the version on Gilberto/Getz, the Portuguese version by João Gilberto, and versions by Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald. I guess many folks would call the version sang by Jobim himself a classic too, but I'm not fond of his singing. I really like the disco version done by Astrud Gilberto in the 1970s, but that's probably not considered a classic.

xpost
If '56 counts, then Wild Is The Wind (Mathis/Simone/Bowie)

'56 should count really

Oh good. Then "Do You Wanna Dance" (Bobby Freeman, Beach Boys, Ramones).

Dammit, I was just about to post satisfaction!

I think "Dark End" is early 60s -- Chips Moman and Dan Penn. They've got another song or two that might make the cut here.

shit, written in 1967, don't know what I was thinking

And Lloyd Cole.

Do you mean John Cale?

Eight Miles High: The Byrds, Roxy Music, Husker Du

Something - The Beatles, James Brown, Frank Sinatra
Always On My Mind - Elvis Presley, Willie Nelson, Pet Shop Boys

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carole_King#Hits_by_Goffin_and_King

"Locomotion" maybe? again, possibly stretching classic

And Lloyd Cole.

Do you mean John Cale?

― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Monday, 30 March 2009 15:16 (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I think they were talking "Chelsea Hotel"

"Ruby Baby" - Drifters, Dion, Donald Fagen

Interesting searchable database here...
http://www.coversproject.com/
I'd start with singer songwriters, ie, Neil Diamond. For example "Sweet Caroline", ND himself, Sinatra, Presley.
Actually I think that a lot of these are going to be Sinatra, Preskey, <someone_else>

Victoria: The Kinks, The Fall, The Kooks. oh wait..

"Twist and Shout": Isley Brothers, Beatles, Chaka Demus & Pliers

i imagine several leiber/stoller compositions as well

Do two totally different versions by the same performer count?

LOUIE LOUIE

I think they were talking "Chelsea Hotel"

Oh right.

Oh yeah, sorry, didn't read the title properly.

I want to say Hallelujah

Lennon's "Imagine" has a ton of cover versions. Most of them I imagine (ha!lol) recorded in 1981...

Tomorrow Is A Long Time: Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, Rod Stewart

Really? Rod Stewart?

Only Love Can Break Your Heart - Neil Young, St. Etienne... um Juliana Hatfield?

I know there are plenty of songs that have been covered lots, and covered by notable artists, but the thread idea was really prompted by just how high a standard those three "Grapevine" versions hold to. Man those are three perfect records.

Re: Imagine

most of them, I imagine, not classic.

Actually, name one.

xpost yeah, it's a good question.

Really? Rod Stewart?
Rod's version is on Every Picture Tells A Story.

Elvis's version is best of all though...

I thought about "Tomorrow Is A Long Time", but while Dylan wrote it, I wouldn't say his version is a stone-cold five star classic. The other two you mentioned, though, for sure.

How about Jackson Browne's "These Days"?

Pick three:

Jackson B.
Iain Matthews
Nico
Greg Allman
St. Vincent

so many others...

"Gentle on My Mind"

John Hartford
Glen Campbell
Elvis

I reckon there are three classic versions of ‘Gimme Shelter’ - Stones, Merry Clayton and Ruth Copeland - on certain days I think the Ruth Copeland version is the best.

"What Do You Want the Girl to Do?"

Allen Toussaint (the OG)
Bryan Hyland (subtle, smooth)
Lowell George (big groove)
Boz Scaggs (not my fave, but a classic)

This thread premise but written post-1980, when the notion of a unified pop songbook really breaks down? I can think of lots of great covers but not a lot of third versions, especially when singing contest hackery makes “Hallelujah” harder to stomach in any interpretation.

“When You Were Mine”

Prince
Cyndi Lauper
Dump

^^Mitch Ryder too

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1NLrpNhfRc

"Last Christmas" has a lot of notable cover versions but beyond Taylor Swift I dunno how great any of them are.

‘Head On”

JAMC
Pixies
Ducks LTD/Illuminati Hotties

Oh, and…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BlCKwpDX54

Is there a third good version of Shipbuilding?

There's gotta be three for "Mr. Tambourine Man" (even if you don't count Shatner).

The Beau Brummels had neat version that used the Byrds' arrangement, but using only the verses they cut.

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

I think "People Get Ready" has potential (Impressions, Dylan, Marley, Eva Cassidy)

"Angel From Montgomery" has been covered to death but I'll go with:

John Prine
Bonnie Raitt
Tanya Tucker

“When You Were Mine”

Prince
Cyndi Lauper
Dump

― JoeStork, Friday, 20 May 2022 22:37 (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

Also love the Cristina version

niche but I like all of these:

Lucio Battisti - Ancora Tu
Justine and the Victorian Punks - Still You
Róisín Murphy - Ancora Tu

“To Love Somebody”:

Nina Simone
Bee Gees
The Flying Burrito Brothers

'don't let me be misunderstood':

nina simone
animals
santa esmeralda
elvis costello
etc. etc.

“To Love Somebody”:

Nina Simone
Bee Gees
The Flying Burrito Brothers

“That’s How I Got to Memphis”
Tom T. Hall
Bobby Bare
Karl Blau
(and some more, I think)

Scott Walker and Joe Pernice, for starters.

Never heard either of those, thanks. Can’t even locate the Scott Walker one. But did find this:
https://americana-uk.com/versions-thats-how-i-got-to-memphis

Website mentions the Solomon Burke version which I had on my list as well but wanted to listen again before posting.

I still like the Sid Selvidge version as well. Might have been the first one I paid attention to.

Roseanne Cash version with her dad is fine but maybe not as must hear as some others.

Slim Slow Slider:

Van M
Peter Laughner
Sandy Dirt (The Pastels + Al Larsen of Some Velvet Sidewalk) - a very liberal interpretation, but it’s good and I needed a third

^good one!

Hang on, David Hasselhof did a Jesus and Mary Chain cover?

Gosh...

"Ball of Confusion"

Temptations
Tina Turner
Love and Rockets

"I Second that Emotion"
The Miracles
Diana Ross & The Supremes with The Temptations
Japan

"It's Too Late"

Carole King
The Isley Brothers
The Stylistics

"A Thin Line Between Love & Hate"

The Persuaders
The Pretenders
H-Town

Feel like there’s probably a bunch more with The Isleys, given the amount of covers they did.

"Whatever You Like"

T.I.
Anya Marina
Joan As Police Woman

"If I Were a Carpenter"

Tim Hardin
Four Tops
Bobby Darin
Johnny Cash & June Carter

(and a half dozen other contenders)

Tim Hardin also did a stone-cold classic rendition of "Moonshiner", a song mentioned upthread.

david hasselhoff, apply directly to the forehead

This thread premise but written post-1980, when the notion of a unified pop songbook really breaks down? I can think of lots of great covers but not a lot of third versions, especially when singing contest hackery makes “Hallelujah” harder to stomach in any interpretation.

― bendy

you know what music has sort of a unified songbook, video game music, pretty much all of which is post-1980. a lot of people grew up with this music and there's a pretty solid "canon" of songs that people remember as being exceptional, from songs everybody knows (koji kondo) to songs that were mainly done for shitty video games but are all-time bangers (tim follin). this does straddle the line i guess between "cover" and "remix" but a lot of them are flat-out covers. and a lot of them are shitty "metal" versions but there are some _really_ good people working in the field and so you can hear some pretty fantastic versions of songs from games as recent as, say, fez or shovel knight - disasterpeace and jake kaufman being particularly well-loved game composers.

‘Different Drum’, Stone Poneys, Lemonheads, Susanna Hoffs & Matthew Sweet.

Fascinating point rushomancy! I know very little about video game music, never having put in the time to acquire the ear worms.

Also complicating this is the rise of hip hop and dancehall and dance music, where a beat or a feel is providing the familiar point for the reinterpretation but the point is to create unique top line words or melody. It reverses the old notion of a cover where the rhythm and genre conventions provide the shift.

Umbrella: the Rihanna original, the Seamus Haji remix (huge hit in its own right & doesn’t share anything with the original), and the cover by The Baseballs (also a big hit).

Bring The Noise had three hit covers with the same vocals: the Public Enemy original, the remake with Anthrax, and the Grammy-winning Benny Benassi remix.

Xpost

I don’t think the Cat Power version is quite 5 stars but Rihanna’s original of ‘Stay’ and Low’s cover definitely are.

xps Pastels version of "Different Drum" is 5 star for me

"Diamonds and Rust": Joan Baez, Judas Priest, Ritchie Blackmore's Night

(cheating with the last, which is good but not 5 star good)

James Carr too!

Wow, NO idea why I’ve never heard this version before. And now I have a new favorite recording of “To Love Somebody.”

"Human Fly"
The Cramps
Nouvelle Vague
The Horse Flies

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVQQfTE2FHY

How to describe...bluegrass meets Steve Reich?

Halo of Flies did it too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uxii5GbQQ_o

bob hund did a pretty good version of human fly live too! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilfm8xQl3mg

"Landslide"

Fleetwood Mac
Smashing Pumpkins
The Dixie Chicks

“You’re No Good” (1961)

Dee Dee Warwick
Betty Everett
Linda Ronstadt

^^Also: Van Halen

“Cry to Me” (1962)

Solomon Burke
Betty Harris
Freddie Scott