P Diddy's version of I'll be missing you was huge at the time and so so different than the original.
I wouldn't really call that a cover as the lyrics in the chorus are slightly different to the original chorus lyrics and also the verses were re-written for P Diddy's. The song title isn't even the same. The Police original is called Every Breath You Take.
Amy Winehouse/Mark Ronson's version of Valerie was much more successful than the original by The Zuton's.
"You've Got the Love" by Florence + the Machine (2009) was a pretty big cover of "You got the love" originally by the Source in 1986.
Also there are a lot of songs which are really famous and probably part of "The Great American Songbook" which were originally from Broadway & Hollywood Musicals such as "The Way You Look Tonight", "I've Got You Under My Skin", "They Can't Take That Away From Me" but their covers by people like Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald in the 1950s and 60s are probably more well known and popular
Three great British songs... which the yanks did great covers (to the point they are erroneously thought to have written)
David Bowie - "The Man Who Sold The World" ...covered by Nirvana
Badfinger - "Without You" ...covered by Harry Nilsson, and Mariah Carey
Argent - "God Gave Rock n Roll to You" ...covered by KISS
The best example for me would have to be 'Mack The Knife.' Its history is a great story and worth reading but here's a brief version:
It originally started as a song 'Die Moritat von Mackie Messer' featured in a German stage drama/musical 'Die Dreigroschenoper.' This was translated into several other languages and performed in English as 'The Threepenny Opera.' There have been several English translations but the versions we all know and love of 'Mack the Knife' are ones that popularised the 1950s adaptation of 'The Threepenny Opera' by Marc Blitzstein, which was performed on Broadway.
Louis Armstrong released his version of 'Mack the Knife' in 1956, which is my joint favourite version. Louis' version is the first that mentions Lotte Lenya (who was an actress/singer that had performed and recorded 'Mack' in 1955) and it was certainly a big hit in the USA
However, Louis' version was overshadowed by Bobby Darin's cover in 1959, which topped the Billboard and UK charts.
Then of course you get Ella Fitzgerald's infamous live in Berlin cover, where she improvises after forgetting the lyrics and she's just awesome in doing so! She even name checks Bobby and Louis. Ella's version (rightly) went on to win a Grammy award.
Equally the song 'Beyond the Sea' has a good history with its music being lifted from the song 'La Mer.' Bobby Darin's cover, which is arguably the most successful, was not the first to reach the American Billboard charts.
I think Twist & Shout by The Beatles has to be up there with the most successful covers. And on that note also, Chains by The Beatles too, although Twist & Shout is obviously the more well-known of the two...
Both are superb covers and the originals are excellent too. When Radio 2 broadcast the interview that Johnnie Walker did with Carole King last year, they played 'Chains' by the Cookies (the original) and immediately followed it with The Beatles' version.
I like most of The Beatles' covers from their early albums. The best they did (for me) though was 'Till There Was You'.
Don McLean's 1980 cover version of "Crying" got to no. 1 while Roy Orbison's 1961 original version failed to chart in this country.
It may surprise you to know that Roy Orbison's version did chart in the UK in 1961. It 'peaked' at No. 25 according to (I think) the Record Retailer chart, which the OCC and Guinness used as their preferred source for 1960s charts. However, it's spot on to cite Don McLean's cover as being more successful than the original (at least in the UK!).
I must admit the original Monument recording by Roy is something special.
EDIT: Roy Orbison's 'Cryin' had quite a funny spell in the UK charts. It had actually started to fall in the charts before reaching its peak position but for weeks it stayed around the high 20s (it was No. 27 on the week ending 30/09/1961, then dropped to No. 28 the following week, then No. 29, before going up 4 places to peak at No. 25 and then drop again!)
From what I've read, the Record Retailer chart had only fairly recently started publishing a Top 50 singles chart when 'Cryin' was released.
Roy Orbison's 'Cryin' had quite a funny spell in the UK charts. It had actually started to fall in the charts before reaching its peak position but for weeks it stayed around the high 20s (it was No. 27 on the week ending 30/09/1961, then dropped to No. 28 the following week, then No. 29, before going up 4 places to peak at No. 25 and then drop again!)
I cannot help but laugh when I hear "Crying" as it always reminds me of the Only Fools and Horses episode when Del met Raquel and she was singing in a club with a bloke who could say his "Rs"! So funny to hear him sing "Cwying".
Boney M can be argued as having three of the most successful covers in the history of British singles though perhaps not surprising given that they were released in 1978, which was something of a record year for singles sales.
'Rivers of Babylon'/'Brown Girl in The Ring' sold 2,010,000 copies. The original version of 'Rivers of Babylon' by The Melodians (which was written by group members Brent Dowe and Trevor McNaughton) is featured on the soundtrack to 'The Harder They Come.' However, Boney M's version was a No. 1 in 1978. 'Brown Girl...' on the other hand is supposed to be a traditional West Indies song.
Boney M's 'Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord,' also released in 1978, is still one of the top best selling UK singles of all time having sold 1,825,000 copies. Harry Belafonte's version (the original) is also in the list of the best selling UK singles of all time.
I cannot help but laugh when I hear "Crying" as it always reminds me of the Only Fools and Horses episode when Del met Raquel and she was singing in a club with a bloke who could say his "Rs"! So funny to hear him sing "Cwying".
Naturally! They should have "weleased" a version of it really - it would have probably sold well. 'Stage Fright' is one of my favourite episodes of Only Fools and Horses.
I'd say I Will Always Love You too. You'll probabbly find that a lot of people don't even realise it's a cover since the Whitley version is so well known (yet vastly inferior imo )
That owns this thread. Completely disagree with the parentheses, though. Dolly Parton sounds like a mangled cat in the original. That was the joke of the movie as well which is why Whitney covered it. I love Dolly, but her singing that song makes my ears bleed.
I think some people have misconstrued my request in the first post. I asked which cover was the most successful, not which cover people liked the most!
That version gives me the shivers, I never cared for the original, or whatever came after it. It was always that version that did it for me.
Cyndi Lauper- Girls just Wanna Have Fun
The Fugees- Killing me Softly
Chaka Khan- I Feel For You
Sugababes- Freak Like Me
Gary Jules- Mad World
Santana- Black Magic Woman
The Sundays- Wild Horses
Shaft- Sway
All of these above, I chose because I prefer them over the originals.
Sinead O'Connor - Nothing Compares 2 U. I'm not sure if that counts as a more successful cover as I don't think the Prince original was ever released as a single, it may have been just an album track.
Comments
I prefer the k d lang cover although Jeff Buckleys version is great.
I wouldn't really call that a cover as the lyrics in the chorus are slightly different to the original chorus lyrics and also the verses were re-written for P Diddy's. The song title isn't even the same. The Police original is called Every Breath You Take.
Amy Winehouse/Mark Ronson's version of Valerie was much more successful than the original by The Zuton's.
Also there are a lot of songs which are really famous and probably part of "The Great American Songbook" which were originally from Broadway & Hollywood Musicals such as "The Way You Look Tonight", "I've Got You Under My Skin", "They Can't Take That Away From Me" but their covers by people like Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald in the 1950s and 60s are probably more well known and popular
David Bowie - "The Man Who Sold The World" ...covered by Nirvana
Badfinger - "Without You" ...covered by Harry Nilsson, and Mariah Carey
Argent - "God Gave Rock n Roll to You" ...covered by KISS
It originally started as a song 'Die Moritat von Mackie Messer' featured in a German stage drama/musical 'Die Dreigroschenoper.' This was translated into several other languages and performed in English as 'The Threepenny Opera.' There have been several English translations but the versions we all know and love of 'Mack the Knife' are ones that popularised the 1950s adaptation of 'The Threepenny Opera' by Marc Blitzstein, which was performed on Broadway.
Louis Armstrong released his version of 'Mack the Knife' in 1956, which is my joint favourite version. Louis' version is the first that mentions Lotte Lenya (who was an actress/singer that had performed and recorded 'Mack' in 1955) and it was certainly a big hit in the USA
However, Louis' version was overshadowed by Bobby Darin's cover in 1959, which topped the Billboard and UK charts.
Then of course you get Ella Fitzgerald's infamous live in Berlin cover, where she improvises after forgetting the lyrics and she's just awesome in doing so! She even name checks Bobby and Louis. Ella's version (rightly) went on to win a Grammy award.
Equally the song 'Beyond the Sea' has a good history with its music being lifted from the song 'La Mer.' Bobby Darin's cover, which is arguably the most successful, was not the first to reach the American Billboard charts.
Both are superb covers and the originals are excellent too. When Radio 2 broadcast the interview that Johnnie Walker did with Carole King last year, they played 'Chains' by the Cookies (the original) and immediately followed it with The Beatles' version.
I like most of The Beatles' covers from their early albums. The best they did (for me) though was 'Till There Was You'.
It may surprise you to know that Roy Orbison's version did chart in the UK in 1961. It 'peaked' at No. 25 according to (I think) the Record Retailer chart, which the OCC and Guinness used as their preferred source for 1960s charts. However, it's spot on to cite Don McLean's cover as being more successful than the original (at least in the UK!).
I must admit the original Monument recording by Roy is something special.
EDIT: Roy Orbison's 'Cryin' had quite a funny spell in the UK charts. It had actually started to fall in the charts before reaching its peak position but for weeks it stayed around the high 20s (it was No. 27 on the week ending 30/09/1961, then dropped to No. 28 the following week, then No. 29, before going up 4 places to peak at No. 25 and then drop again!)
From what I've read, the Record Retailer chart had only fairly recently started publishing a Top 50 singles chart when 'Cryin' was released.
I cannot help but laugh when I hear "Crying" as it always reminds me of the Only Fools and Horses episode when Del met Raquel and she was singing in a club with a bloke who could say his "Rs"! So funny to hear him sing "Cwying".
'Rivers of Babylon'/'Brown Girl in The Ring' sold 2,010,000 copies. The original version of 'Rivers of Babylon' by The Melodians (which was written by group members Brent Dowe and Trevor McNaughton) is featured on the soundtrack to 'The Harder They Come.' However, Boney M's version was a No. 1 in 1978. 'Brown Girl...' on the other hand is supposed to be a traditional West Indies song.
Boney M's 'Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord,' also released in 1978, is still one of the top best selling UK singles of all time having sold 1,825,000 copies. Harry Belafonte's version (the original) is also in the list of the best selling UK singles of all time.
Naturally! They should have "weleased" a version of it really - it would have probably sold well. 'Stage Fright' is one of my favourite episodes of Only Fools and Horses.
That owns this thread. Completely disagree with the parentheses, though. Dolly Parton sounds like a mangled cat in the original. That was the joke of the movie as well which is why Whitney covered it. I love Dolly, but her singing that song makes my ears bleed.
Sugababes' "Too Lost In You"
That version gives me the shivers, I never cared for the original, or whatever came after it. It was always that version that did it for me.
Cyndi Lauper- Girls just Wanna Have Fun
The Fugees- Killing me Softly
Chaka Khan- I Feel For You
Sugababes- Freak Like Me
Gary Jules- Mad World
Santana- Black Magic Woman
The Sundays- Wild Horses
Shaft- Sway
All of these above, I chose because I prefer them over the originals.
Yep, originally recorded by Bob Dylan