Most Cover Tunes Suck, but...
 

There was a time when there were song writers and there were singers. Some song writers wrote great songs that might be sung by 10 different singers, all in wonderful ways. A song might be sung by Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra, and Diane Washington, and all sung in very different, yet wonderful ways.

Then music began to change. In the Rock and Roll era, most cover tunes really suck. And hip hop is even worse. The great art of interpreting lyrics seems to be completely dead in popular music, and, for me, there is no evidence more poignant than when the Fujees decimated "Killing Me Softly With His Song," originally popularized by Roberta Flack. She knew how to bring those lyrics to life.

So in the Rock and Roll era, I can think of three artists who have been excellent at cover tunes. They are Joe Cocker, Jimi Hendrix, and Stevie Ray Vaughn. If you want to count what Sam Cooke did as being part of the Rock and Roll era, then he deserves mention with the best of them.

Can anyone think of anyone else who can sing AND interpret lyrics, who is not from the Jazz tradition?

I'm not saying this just because they're my favorite, but I think U2 does awesome covers. You pretty much have to go on the internet to find them, but I like most of them as much if not better than the originals. To name a few, they've done "Everlasting Love," "Dancing Queen" (yes, they've done ABBA :p), "Unchained Melody," "Can't Help Falling in Love," and "Happy Christmas."

I am probably going to get my head bashed in for this, but-
I think Tori Amos puts an amazing amount of feeling and interpretation into her singing. She does a lot of cover songs, and they sound similar but feel totally different, if that makes any sense.

James Taylor's version of "You've Got a Friend" is great. I think Whitney Houston's version of "I Will Always Love You" is even better than the original Dolly Parton version.

R.E.M.

I've heard them perform several cover songs, like "Don't Fear the Reaper", "Toys in the Attic", etc. plus several U2 songs, and they always sound great. They also did an excellent (and very funny) interpretation of "Tom's Diner" that I found back in the Napster days (since I absolutely don't download music now! Oh nooooo! ;) )

Hmmm...seems to me that the musicians that do a good job with cover songs are the ones that are generally known for musical talent and insightful lyrics in their OWN music. Makes sense that the same talent (or lack thereof) would apply when they played other people's songs.

I totally agree! I absolutely adore her cover of 'Landslide,' among others.