Sometimes, an artist will cover his/her/their own song. Frank Sinatra, among others, did it quite a bit over his long career.
What are YOUR favorite songs by the same artist? I’m not going to get too strict here. If you want to pick Layla, originally done by Derek and the Dominoes then subsequently unplugged by Eric Clapton, that’d be acceptable, since Derek WAS Eric. Speaking of Clapton, I prefer the live version of I’m So Glad from Goodbye Cream to the studio version on Fresh Cream.
I had this cassette of Procol Harum’s greatest hits and it included a live version of Conquistador, with an orchestra. Years later, when I got a similar CD, it had the studio version; not nearly as impressive.
Listen to Crying by Roy Orbison, a fine song, but the version by Orbison with k.d. lang makes me, well, cry.
I always preferred the remix Mustapha Dance by The Clash to its antecedent, Rock the Casbah.
Just listened to a Ladysmith Black Mambazo album. They do a couple songs from Graceland, Homeless and Diamonds on the Souls of Her Shoes, sans Paul Simon, but with Sarah McLachlan and Melissa Etheridge, respectively. Can’t find these online, unfortunately.
I’m really struck by Lesley Gore’s remake of You Don’t Own Me (this is a live take, not the version I really wanted from the 2005 Ever Since album), recognizable as the same song as the classic original, but different.
Having loved Rock the Casbah since it was released and recently coming back to it realizing it was one of the greatest songs of the ’80s, I am amazed that I never knew there was a remixed version. I prefer the original for its musicality and structure, but I’m glad to know there’s more versions out there to be enjoyed.
OMGosh, so many are so good.
I can think of quite a few, like NIN’s remix of “The Hand That Feeds.” But I’m crazed for techno/trance remixes. One of my favorite-favorites is Sarah McLaughlin’s “Silence,” which has made me cry: http://youtu.be/d5Q-JjfD0Es
Leonard Cohen’s “Suzanne” when he was still a “kid” was great: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otJY2HvW3Bw But his more recent performances of it seem more poignant somehow: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAqraiQfnzU&feature=fvwrel (Like you, this is not the unplugged version I wanted, but it’s close.)
Also did NOT know that song was called “Mustapha Dance.” And KD Lang rocks. Never heard the album Ladysmith Black Mambazo, but from the description you’d love “No Alternative,” which was an awesome AIDS benefit CD.
It has Sarah McLaughlin’s best mix of “Hold On”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNXBU2w5uaw and “Take A Walk” by Urge Overkill, which strikes me as very “Johnny Cash”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJDgnPKoG7M
Also, FYI, some of your links are broken. The original “You Don’t Own Me” is on a closed-down YouTube site, and the remake links to the lyrics, not the song.
But cool post. Love getting exposed to new music.