Cover songs that are better than the originals.

To me there aren't that many covers I like better than originals, I posted a few a ways back. Perhaps those few are because I am more familiar with the cover than the original but for songs where  I am fairly familiar with the original I find I can enjoy covers but very rarely prefer them. I think it has to do with when I listen to the cover in my mind I still "hear" the original if that makes any sense. 

I often initially prefer which ever version I hear first and am most familiar with. The Baez version of "The Night....." was the first version I heard of that song. It got a lot of radio air time. The Band's version got zero air time. The first time I heard the Band version was in high school home room where our nutty teacher was trying to convince us all that the Band was the best band of all time. I hated the Band version of the song. But that only lasted until I got into the Band. After that I'd turn the radio off if the Baez version came on.

@n80, have you seen The Band's performance of the song on Saturday Night Live? Astoundingly great, their best. It was late in The Band's original run, maybe in 1976. While SNL always gave the musical guest time for only one song, Lorne Michaels gave them time for three, the only time I've seen that. THAT'S how much respect The Band commanded from other artists. They had the horn section they later had at The Last Waltz, playing the parts heard in the studio version, absolutely essential to the song. Those horn parts not being in Baez's version renders it unacceptable imo.

I have never seen that footage and in my youth and ignorance probably would have flipped to another channel when they were on SNL. That's right about the time my homeroom teacher was trying to improve the tastes of a room full of Philistines, preppies and Saturday Night Fever wannabes who thought he was nuts. For me it was all Zep, Who, Kinks, etc.

I will see if I can find that footage on YouTube. Would love to see it.

Warren Haynes - One