SECTION TWO: WHEN ROCK MUSICIANS REINVENTED GREAT SONGS

11. “Twist and Shout” — The Beatles

Original: The Top Notes, 1961
Cover: The Beatles, 1963

The Top Notes’ original is almost unrecognizable compared with the Beatles’ version.

The Beatles slowed the approach slightly and turned it into a raw, explosive performance.

John Lennon’s voice is the key.

He sounds exhausted, hoarse and almost physically incapable of singing another note.

That exhaustion became part of the magic.

The recording was made near the end of a marathon session, and Lennon reportedly had very little voice left.

That may have been exactly what the song needed.

The Beatles’ version became the classic.

The original is historically interesting.

The Beatles’ version is culturally immortal.

Popularity: The Beatles’ recording became one of their best-known live and party songs, despite not being released as a major single in the United States.

Verdict: Beatles by a mile.

12. “You Really Got Me” — Van Halen

Original: The Kinks, 1964
Cover: Van Halen, 1978

The Kinks’ original essentially invented a new guitar vocabulary.

Distortion.

Power chords.

Aggression.

It was revolutionary.

So this isn’t a case where Van Halen discovered a bad song.

They discovered a great song and made it heavier.

Eddie Van Halen’s guitar playing turns the riff into a hard-rock weapon.

The Kinks sound rebellious.

Van Halen sounds dangerous.

Popularity: The Kinks reached the Top 10 with the original. Van Halen’s version also became a major hit, reaching the Top 40.

Verdict: Kinks win historically; Van Halen wins explosiveness.

13. “House of the Rising Sun” — The Animals

Original: Traditional
Cover: The Animals, 1964

The original is impossible to assign to one performer because “House of the Rising Sun” is a traditional song with a long history.

The Animals transformed it into a dramatic rock epic.

Eric Burdon’s vocal sounds haunted.

Alan Price’s organ creates a dark atmosphere.

The guitar builds tension.

The arrangement turns a folk song into something enormous.

Popularity: The Animals’ version reached No. 1 in the United Kingdom and United States.

Verdict: The Animals made the definitive recording.

14. “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” — The Animals

Original: Nina Simone, 1964
Cover: The Animals, 1965

Nina Simone’s original is elegant and soulful.

The Animals made it urgent.

Eric Burdon sounds like a young man desperately trying to explain himself.

The guitar-driven arrangement turns Simone’s sophisticated soul song into British blues rock.

Popularity: The Animals’ version became a major international hit and reached the Top 20 in the United States.

Verdict: Different purposes, but the Animals win for rock impact.

15. “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” — Vanilla Fudge

Original: The Supremes, 1966
Cover: Vanilla Fudge, 1967

The Supremes’ version is almost the definition of Motown precision.

Vanilla Fudge did the opposite.

They slowed it down dramatically.

The song became psychedelic, heavy and hypnotic.

The transformation helped establish a template for later hard rock.

Popularity: The Supremes’ version was a major Top 10 hit. Vanilla Fudge also reached the Top 40.

Verdict: Supremes win as pop; Vanilla Fudge win as reinvention.

16. “Piece of My Heart” — Janis Joplin

Original: Erma Franklin, 1967
Cover: Big Brother and the Holding Company featuring Janis Joplin, 1968

Erma Franklin’s original is excellent soul.

Joplin’s version is barely restrained.

Her vocal sounds as if she’s tearing herself apart.

The arrangement is louder and rougher.

It became one of the defining performances of psychedelic-era rock.

Popularity: Franklin’s original was a minor U.S. hit; Joplin’s version reached the Top 20 and became vastly more famous.

Verdict: Joplin wins decisively.

17. “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” — Marvin Gaye

Original: Gladys Knight & the Pips, 1967
Cover: Marvin Gaye, 1968

Gladys Knight’s version is powerful.

Gaye’s is haunted.

His vocal is quieter and more tortured, while the production creates a darker atmosphere.

The result feels less like a piece of Motown entertainment and more like a private emotional crisis.

Popularity: Knight’s version reached the Top 10. Gaye’s became a No. 1 hit and one of Motown’s signature recordings.

Verdict: Gaye wins.

18. “California Dreamin'” — The Mamas & the Papas

Original: Barry McGuire, 1965
Cover: The Mamas & the Papas, 1965

Barry McGuire recorded the song first.

But The Mamas & the Papas found the magic.

The harmonies transform it.

The arrangement adds atmosphere.

The song becomes both melancholy and beautiful.

Popularity: McGuire’s version was not the major hit. The Mamas & the Papas’ version reached the Top 10 and became one of the defining songs of the 1960s.

Verdict: The Mamas & the Papas win easily.

19. “Turn! Turn! Turn!” — The Byrds

Original: Pete Seeger, 1959
Cover: The Byrds, 1965

Seeger’s original is folk music.

The Byrds added electric guitars and their trademark harmonies.

Suddenly, a traditional folk idea became modern rock.

The twelve-string guitar became particularly influential.

Popularity: The Byrds took the song to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Verdict: The Byrds win commercially and stylistically.

20. “Mr. Tambourine Man” — The Byrds

Original: Bob Dylan, 1965
Cover: The Byrds, 1965

Dylan’s original is expansive and hypnotic.

The Byrds compressed it into a concise pop song.

Their harmonies and twelve-string guitar gave it a jangly sound that would influence generations of rock bands.

Dylan wrote the masterpiece.

The Byrds created the hit.

Popularity: The Byrds’ version reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Verdict: The Byrds win as a pop recording; Dylan wins as the songwriter.