Cover Songs Featuring Highly Skilled Musicians

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One of of those albums you put on when you have a new female friend over and you've poured some wine, fired one up and hoping to get lucky.

 
I've been fortunate to hear The King's Singers (often regarded as the finest a capella singing group) in concert many times over the years, and while I have never heard the American group Home Free in concert, to my ears they have produced about the best ever recorded all-vocal cover song, one that was brought back to huge popularity by the Coen Brothers' film Oh Brother, Where Art Thou. And oh yes, every sound here is their voices.

 
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Here's another from them, but not sure it's fully a cover, given the original artist participates (?). I've always liked the combination of surreal, jokey and nostalgic lyrics in this strangely captivating song.

 
grimes70 said:
So after going down a Persuasions rabbit hole a bit (thx) this popped up. Not a cover song. But on rainy day like today, 16 minutes of some interesting and funny video of a 1963 Zappa is worth watching.

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Zappa was wearing a suit. LOL. I guess that was before he discovered acid.
 
Holy Cow! The Annie Lennox stuff on the other music thread made me realize we've been criminally negligent in letting this thread get to thirteen pages without talking about what might be the greatest cover album of all time. Annie Lennox's Medusa.

Hard to pick just one to link, but here's A Whiter Shade of Pale...


I won't link every song on the album, but she covers Neil's Don't Let It Bring You Down, Simon's Something So Right, Marley's Waiting in Vain and more.
 
Ddseddse said:
Another song so good it almost doesn't matter who covers it... but how about Bowie's Life on Mars? done as a circus waltz... Even if it's not your cup of tea give it till the 45-60 seconds mark or so, it might grow on you.


ETA: This is what I think the very best covers do. They A) Put their own 100% authoritative stamp on the song and take it in a new direction, but at the same time they B) somehow paradoxically retain 100% of what made the original great. Most covers either manage one of A or B. Very few covers can manage both A & B at the same time and that's what raises them above all the others.
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outstanding
 
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