It's a slow day, and I could use a musical interlude. How about you?
I thought it would be fun to list your favorite remakes of somebody else's song. If a musician is going to remake a song that belongs to someone else, and was perhaps even a hit in it's original version, they had better bring something new to the table. If the original wasn't a hit, then perhaps it isn't so important to rework it...but I still prefer remakes that almost rebrand the song as one's own.
Here are some of my favorites.
Originally recorded in 1968 by Fleetwood Mac, Black Magic Woman enjoyed minor success until 2 years later, when Carlos Santana completely made the song his own.
In 1958 an obscure Australian rock and roll band named Johnny O'Keefe and the Dee Jays released a song called "Wild One" In 1986 Iggy Pop remade it in his own image.
I have to admit, I was one of the "Disco Sucks" rockers in the 70's...but it was hard not to like Donna Summers' "I Will Survive"... I'm not sure Cake improved it, but they did make it a different song.
How do you take a Country & Western song...a Hank Williams song...and turn it into rock? Just ask New Jersey's George Thorogood & the Destroyers.
Ever heard of Screamin' Jay Hawkins? This being DKos, you probably have. But a lot of people have not. Most of his albums went straight from release to the cut out bins in record stores. Creedence Clearwater took one of his gems, though, and I never knew it wasn't theirs until much later. This was from the first album I ever bought for myself:
The last one I'll single out is Talking Heads quirky, classic remake of Al Green's "Take Me To The River." Still love it...
Those are just a few of many. How about yours?