Snakester's 10 BEST covers

10. Whiskey in the Jar - Metallica (The Dubliners): Good adaptation of an old Irish drinking song, always a solid premise for a metal band. Plus I just really liked the song, it came across in a good time in my life.

9. Jolene - The White Stripes (Dolly Parton): The lyrics may be a little odd with a man begging a woman to stay away from his man, or maybe not? Still the minimalism of the White Stripes works well on this song and the passion Jack puts into the vocals makes you believe that he really means it.

8. Proud Mary - Tina & Ike Turner (CCR): I like the original, this has nothing to do with it being 'better'. This launched a career, she put a good style into the song and Ike's deep "Rolling, Rolling" backing makes for a good balance.

7. In My Life - Johnny Cash (The Beatles): Alright, this should probably be 'Hurt' but I am stubborn and wanna shed light on something different. I have heard many of versions of this song (most suck), but none ever seemed as good a fit as this. The lyrics give a ton of perspective on life and make much more sense coming from a legend in the twilight of his life. You can just see him sitting there singing to June "But of all these friends & lovers, there is no one compares with you." Hurt makes me cry for just the shear sadness and truth of his version. 'In My Life' makes me cry because of the love he puts into the lyrics and the sense of saying goodbye to all of us.

6. Babe I'm Gonna Leave You - Led Zeppeln (Joan Baez): This was the essence of Led Zeppelin, taking folk and old R&B songs and giving them this rare power. It just worked all around on this one, Robert's vocal, Jon pounding those drums and Jimmy's unique guitar playing.
This whole style of the song really personifies what Led Zeppelin came to be, a real mix of folk, rock & blues.

5. Twist & Shout - The Beatles (Top Notes): This is a prime example, make something your own and so good that it becomes yours and no one remembers who did the original (I had to Google it myself). The fact that John was losing his voice just added to raw sound and the dancing party atmosphere they created. This helped create the hysteria that was Beatlemania.

4. Crossroads - Cream (Robert Johnson): The label said Cream but it was all Clapton. Bringing his blues hero to the masses. Classic Slow Hand improvising on solid blues framing. Still remains probably his best work.

3. With A Little Help From My Friends - Joe Cocker (The Beatles): Joe made a career out of covering songs and this was his crown jewel. Joe took the lyrics and made it a classic that kind of became an anthem for a generation as well as a TV show. I still don't really know what it is, just that somehow he made it have a deeper meaning.

2. Hound Dog - Elvis Presley (Big Mama Thornton): Controversial at the time for the way he danced and covering this 'black' song. Elvis put his showmanship into the cover and made it his own. It helped launch his career and build his legend. You could say he introduced the masses to this style of music.

1. All Along the Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix (Bob Dylan): Plenty of artists have covered Bob with good success. With that fact in mind, I think it speaks volumes when Dylan says that your cover is his favorite of all of them. This was the beginning of Jimi and his legend. He somehow puts more heart and emotion into the song then Dylan's version. Then unloads with his unprecedented guitar playing. Truly the greatest.