What's your favorite cover version of a song? This can be a recorded version, a live version, or whatever you like. If you can, mention the original artist along with the cover-er. Related topic: favorite covers record, either by one artist ("The Spaghetti Incident" is an example) or the more general "tribute" record.

A few:

Bob Mould band (circa 1989/1990): "Surrender" (originally by Cheap Trick). The set closer of the first Bob Mould band tour. An ear-bleeder.

The Replacements/Paul Westerberg: "Another Girl, Another Planet" (originally by the Only Ones). The 'Mats played this live, but you can get a Westerberg version on a b-side to one of the singles from "14 Songs".

Son Volt: "Last Time Around" (originally by the Del-Vetts). Son Volt used to blast this one as a set closer. You can get the original version on the 1st Nuggets box set. No recorded Son Volt version that i know of, but I do have some nice bootleg versions.

Star Collector: "Things We Do For Love" (originally by 10cc). Star Collector was an excellent Atlanta power pop band who did an amazing version of this nugget. They are, sadly, now defunct. They were a great live group, pulling off Jellyfish-esque vocal harmonies live (with a singing drummer!) and balancing four singer-songwriters. They also do an amazing cover of McCartney's "My Brave Face" on a PMac tribute record from a few years back.

Owsley: "Won't Get Fooled Again" (originally by the Who). Live, set closer from around '99 or 2000. The drummer was FULL-ON in Moon mode. Saw them try this one again at an outdoor festival with much less success. But, in a tiny Atlanta club, this was a rager.

The Divine Comedy: "Johnny Mathis' Feet" (originally by American Music Club). On the bonus disc of "Casanova" and also on the b-sides disc from the "Secret History" best-of. A great AMC song gets a great reading by Neil Hannon and company.

I was having a conversation with a friend in Austin earlier this year not only about favorite covers, but covers are actually superior to the originals. My short list includes:

"With A Little Help From My Friends" Joe Cocker (The Beatles) - Ironic that Paul originally wanted to make his fortune writing songs for other people only to scare most artists off by recorded definitive version. In this case, though Joe edges out the original by a hair.

"You Ain't Goin' Nowhere" The Byrds (Bob Dylan) - Dylan would likely punch me in the nose as he hated this version, but I think it's superior to the original in a walk.

"Jump" Aztec Camera (Van Halen) - The original was fun and all, but lacked the irreverance of Aztec Camera's. Besides Van Halen's cheezy synth hasn't aged as well as some of the decade's other cheezy synths.

"A Hazy Shade of Winter" The Bangles (Simon & Garfunkel) - It's a shame for S&G that one of the closest things to rock 'n' roll that they ever recorded should be so thoroughly owned by The Bangles. That's how I see it anyway, but then I wanted to marry the whole band in 1984.

"Pancho & Lefty" Willie Nelson & Merle Haggard (Townes Van Zandt) - It's kind of cheating to describe any cover of a Townes Van Zandt song as superior to the original. For all of his genius, the man himself was such a mess that he never really made a recording that did his own material justice. Willie and Merle nailed this one in the 80s, though.

"Jersey Girl" Bruce Springsteen (Tom Waits) - For all that I love anybody covering Tom Waits material, nobody ever surpasses him, except in this instance. Springsteen made the song his own and his it remains.

"All Along the Watchtower" Jimi Hendrix (Bob Dylan) - The definitive cover. When Dylan says, "Yeah, that's how it should have been done in the first place." You know you've created something for the ages.

Now Playing: Not a thing. It's storming like mad tonight, so the stereo is unplugged. I'd be more than happy for the insurance company to buy me a new PC, though.

I'm a Toriphile so I'll say most of the songs in her cover album, StrangeLittleGirls

But the best ones are:
New Age - Lou Reed/Velvet Underground - she makes it so palpable, so vivid

97 Bonnie and Clyde - Eminem - the other side of the story, creepy yes

Heart of Gold - Neil Young - you can feel the desperation for the search for a heart of gold, one good messy song

Happiness is a Warm Gun - Beatles - not so much for her version but for its significance in the record, being an all-male cover record and gun violence and violence in general being the sub-theme

Marilyn Manson-Sweet Dreams
CCR-I Put A Spell On You/Suzy Q
Primus-Have A Cigar
Voivod-Astronomy Domine
Luther Wright & the Wrongs-Rebuild the Wall
Aretha Franklin-You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman
Run DMC-Walk This Way
Alicia Keys-How Come You Don't Call Me
Red Hot Chili Peppers-Higher Ground + I Found Out + Love Rollercoaster + If You Want Me To Stay
Blondie-The Tide is High
William Shatner-Mr.Tambourine Man
Tori Amos-Raining Blood
Peter Tosh-Johnny B.Goode
Johnny Cash-Ghost Riders in the Sky
The White Stripes-I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself
Nine Inch Nails-Memorabilia
Led Zeppelin-I Can't Quit You Baby
Love and Rockets-Ball of Confusion
Mr.Bungle-Working For The Weekend(live in Vancouver!)
Quiet Riot-Cum On Feel Tha Noize
Jimmy Cliff-Rivers of Babylon
Nirvana-The Man who Sold the World
Bob Marley-I Shot the Sheriff
Megadeth-Anarchy in the U.K.
Oranj Symphonette-Plays Mancini
Destiny's Child-Emotion
The Clash-Police & Thieves
Dead Kennedys-Rawhide + Viva Las Vegas
Jello Biafra/DOA-We Gotta Get Out of This Place
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds-Black Betty
Otis Redding-Satisfaction
The Vandals-Summer Lovin'
Exit 13-When I Get Low I Get High
Fantomas-Director's Cut
Any cover by Ween

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Gwen Guthrie did an amazing version of Carpenters "(They Long To Be) Close To You" in 1985, taking it into great mid tempo soul territory in the process.
I did like James Ingram's version of "Natural Woman" (appropiatly entitled "Natural Man") as well.

Hey K-Bee
"Close to You" is a Bacharach/David composition, not a Carpenters' orginal.
Glad you like it tho' (but Burt did the definitive version of course)

My favorite cover song of all time is "Wild Horses" (Rolling Stones) by the Sundays.

I also like

"Telegram Sam" (T.Rex) and "Ziggy Stardust" by Bauhaus

"Cemetry Gates" by the Frank and Walters, and "Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others" by Supergrass from The Smiths is Dead cover album

I'm not much of a Tori Amos fan, but I did like her cover of "Landslide," as well as the Smashing Pumpkins cover of it. (Fleetwood Mac) Maybe I just like that song.

"Song of a Baker" (Small Faces) by Ocean Colour Scene

"Seasons in the Sun" (Terry Jacks) by Black Box Recorder

"The Wasteland" (The Jam) by Gene

"Gin & Juice" (Snoop Dogg) by Sissy Bar

Also, I liked the cover of "All is Full of Love" (Bjork) Death Cab has been doing in their encores and the cover of "Jolene" (Dolly Parton) that the White Stripes did in their show.

Finally, for sheer humor, a friend of mine put a cover of "Institutionalized" done by a group called Black Velvet Flag on a mix tape that was pretty funny, and Marty and Elayne's cover of "Black Hole Sun" never fails to put a smile on my face. They do it so seriously and dramatically.

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Originally posted by LinnTate:

"A Hazy Shade of Winter" The Bangles (Simon & Garfunkel) - It's a shame for S&G that one of the closest things to rock 'n' roll that they ever recorded should be so thoroughly owned by The Bangles. That's how I see it anyway, but then I wanted to marry the whole band in 1984.

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That's a great one. The Bangles also took over Kimberly Rew's great "Going Down to Liverpool", originally done by Katrina and the Waves, and made it theirs.

And Aztec Camera's version of "Jump" reminds me of a few other radical revisions:

"I Am A Rock" by Red House Painters (Paul Simon)
RHP did a few others like this (Yes' "Runaround", McCartney's "Silly Love Songs", KISS' "Shock Me")

"If You Want Blood..." by Mark Kozelek (AC/DC) from his album of AC/DC covers. Radically different from the originals.

"Cruella De Ville" by the Replacements (from Disney's 101 Dalmations)

"Winterlong" by the Pixies (Neil Young).

"Digging Your Scene" by Ivy (The Blow Monkeys) from Ivy's covers album.

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Originally posted by philosopherEric:

That's a great one. The Bangles also took over Kimberly Rew's great "Going Down to Liverpool", originally done by Katrina and the Waves, and made it theirs.

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That's exactly right. In fact, the more I think about it, the more I remember what a great cover band the Bangles were. "If She Knew What She Wants" was a winner as well, maybe better than Jules Shear's original. They also did a great version of "September Gurls," but I'm afraid it can't touch Big Star.

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Originally posted by philosopherEric:

"Cruella De Ville" by the Replacements (from Disney's 101 Dalmations)

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Oh, man. That is SUCH a great track. I love the Hal Wilner tribute collections. Do you know his Kurt Weil tribute Lost in the Stars? Stan Ridgway does a great version of "The Canon Song" on that one.

Now Playing: My St. Louis Cardinals up 8 to 3 on the Pittsburgh Pirates in the bottom of the 8th on ESPN.

My all time favourite cover is "May This Be Love" from Me'shell Ndegeocello, originally by Jimi Hendrix.
Other covers I adore are "It's My Life" from No Doubt, originally by Talk Talk, "Time" by Tori Amos, originally by Tom Waits, and of course Marilyn Manson's version of "Sweet Dreams."

Some good picks on here already (especially Aztec Camera's "Jump"--I love that version!), but here are a few more:

Bigod 20: "Like a Prayer"
Cabaret Voltaire: "Theme From Shaft"
The Clash: "Police and Thieves"
The Damned: "Alone Again Or"
The English Beat: "Tears Of A Clown"
Happy Mondays: "Step On"
Locust: "Master and Servant"
Luna: "Bonnie and Clyde"
Negativland: "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"
Red House Painters: "Shock Me"
Scala: "Heart Of Glass"
Talking Heads: "Take Me To The River"
They Might Be Giants: "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)"
TV On The Radio: "Mr. Grieves"
The Wedding Present: "Box Elder" or "Falling"
Yo La Tengo: "Speeding Motorcycle" or "Andalucia"

Cat Power - "I Found a Reason" (Velvet Underground)
Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash - "Girl From the North Country" (Bob Dylan)
The Byrds - "You Ain't Going Nowhere" (Bob Dylan)
Jeff Buckley - "Hallelujah" (Leonard Cohen)
Pixies - "Honey Pie" (Beatles)
Rufus Wainwright - "Across the Universe" (Beatles)
Yo La Tengo - "Little Honda" (Beach Boys)
Johnny Cash - "I See a Darkness" (Bonnie "Prince" Billy)

Also, though I'm a little ashamed to admit it, John Mayer's acoustic version of Radiohead's "Kid A" is pretty damn cool. Hearing the song rendered w/just one acoustic guitar really allowed me to appreciate it more on the album.

It's all about "Mr. Grieves" (TV on the Radio, covering the Pixies) for me. I'm not usually a fan of cover songs at all.

"Minor Threat" (Minor Threat) by Sublime
"Werewolves of London" (Warren Zevon) by the Greatful Dead
"The KKK Took My Baby Away" (Ramones) by Pearl Jam
"The Lemon Song" (Loosely by Robert Johnson) by Led Zeppelin
"Love in Vain" (Robert Johnson) by The Rolling Stones
"Wild Horses" (Rolling Stones) by Guns 'N Roses
"Raining Blood" (Slayer) by S.O.D.
"Moist Vagina" (Nirvana) by Sonic Youth
"Waiting Room" (Fugazi) by The Red Hot Chili Peppers
"Ripple" (Grateful Dead) by Jane's Addiction
"Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers" (ZZ Top) by Van Halen
"You Stupid Asshole" (Angry Samoans) by Mudhoney
"Keep on Loving You" (R.E.O. Speedwagon) by The Donnas
"The Rover" (Led Zeppelin) by Van Halen
"Last Caress" (Misfits) by NOFX and by Metallica
"California Girls" (Beach Boys) by Oingo Boingo
"Foggy Mountain Breakdown (Traditional) by Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs

Johnny Cash's version of "I See a Darkness" (original: Bonnie Prince Billy) is amazing.

Also, Thom Yorke from Radiohead once did a solo show where he played "After the Goldrush" by Neil Young, and his rendition was pretty much flawless. That's one of my favourite songs, and Radiohead are my favourite band, so my head nigh-on exploded when I first heard it. Brilliant.

I know I'm missing a few great covers, but I will limit myself to just five:

Incredibly, three of my favorites are all from the same movie: "Honeymoon in Vegas"

1. Love Me Tender - Amy Grant (originally Elvis Presley) - All I can say is you have to listen to how beautiful this interpretation is before you think I'm crazy. I always thought the Elvis version was kind of campy in its delivery. Amy sings this song with such astonishing tenderness that it gave me a new, and deeper appreciation for this song. Which is the ultimate compliment that I feel you can give to any cover song.

2. Burnin' Love - Travis Tritt (originally Elvis Presley)

3. Viva Las Vegas - Bruce Springsteen (originally Elvis Presley) - Interestingly, this is NOT on the soundtrack album. I believe this was a 12 inch single that was only released to radio stations at the time of the movie release. Thankfully, I found this on a site a few years ago and was able to download.

As to the remaining two:

4. Pinball Wizard - Elton John (originally The Who)

5. (Tie) For You and Blinded By the Light - Both covered by Manfred Mann, both originally performed by Bruce Springsteen.

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Originally posted by asc85:

5. (Tie) For You and Blinded By the Light - Both covered by Manfred Mann, both originally performed by Bruce Springsteen.

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You just reminded me about Manfred Mann's version of Dylan's "The Mighty Quinn." That, in turn, reminds me of Hendrix's cover of Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower."

Now maybe these are more sacrilegious: XTC's cover of "All Along the Watchtower", Radio Stars' cover of Beatles' "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)" and Feelies' cover of Beatles' "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey."

From this year, Grant-Lee Phillips' cover of Gram Parsons' "Hickory Wind" is excellent.

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Midnight Oil's "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda." (Don't remember the original artist.)

Soundgarden, "Big Bottom" (Spinal Tap).

Kula Shaker, "Govinda" (traditional).

MXPX, "Take on Me" (a-ha).

Dope, "You Spin Me Round" (Dead or Alive).

Worst cover ever: Limp Bizkit's "Behind Blue Eyes." Stinks like microwaved shit.

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I got a few:

"Hurt" by Johnny Cash (originally by Nine Inch Nails)
It surprises me that some Nine Inch Nails fans actually think Cash's cover of "Hurt" sucks. To me, it's more sincere and meaningful than Trent Reznor ever was.

"Head On" by The Pixies (originally by The Jesus and Mary Chain)
I just think that The Pixies attack the song with such energy and strength that it kicks the original version's ass bloody. The Pixies even make a wall of sound; what else would you call all those roarin' geetars?

I'll post some less well-known ones when they come to me.

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Originally posted by Monheim:
I got a few:

_"Hurt" by Johnny Cash (originally by Nine Inch Nails)_
It surprises me that some Nine Inch Nails fans actually think Cash's cover of "Hurt" sucks. To me, it's more sincere and meaningful than Trent Reznor ever was.

_"Head On" by The Pixies (originally by The Jesus and Mary Chain)_
I just think that The Pixies attack the song with such energy and strength that it kicks the original version's ass bloody. The Pixies even make a wall of sound; what else would you call all those roarin' geetars?

I'll post some less well-known ones when they come to me.

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Those are both excellent choices, Monheim. Most of the NiN fans who don't like Johnny's version, in my experience, are simply so young and musically inexperienced that they can't relate to the Man in Black. But you're totally right...Johnny does that song better than Trent Reznor EVER could.

NiN fans, like Nirvana fans and (some) Smashing Pumpkins fans tend to be quite myopic in their appreciation of anything other than those favorites. This generalization stems from my personal experience with them, working in a record store for a few years, but it's not an indictment of ALL NiN, Nirvana, or Pumpkins fans...