It’s the perfect conversation starter: What’s the best cover version of all time?
Now, Total Guitar looks to have put the ever-raging debate to bed once and for all, having extended that very question via a poll to its readers in a bid to crown the greatest cover version of all time – one that overshadows and outshines the original.
The tell-all results can be found in the latest issue of the magazine, which details the top 100 cover tracks and the stories behind their creations.
There are some notable omissions from the top 10, with Muse’s epic retelling of Feeling Good, Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged classic The Man Who Sold The World, and Lenny Kravitz’s famed take on American Woman all falling short. But there's no arguing a rightful winner was crowned.
The top spot has been given to Jimi Hendrix's incendiary and virtuosic reimagining of Bob Dylan's All Along The Watchtower, with Total Guitar noting: “Bob Dylan wrote the song. Hendrix made it a work of genius.”
The song is taken from Dylan's 1967 album John Wesley Harding, and Total Guitar reports that: “Hendrix spotted the track's potential immediately, and the basic track for his version was recorded less than three weeks later.
“He had always felt a kinship with Dylan, and his father, Al Hendrix suggested that Dylan's limited vocal abilities gave Jimi the confidence to try singing himself.”
But it's not Hendrix's vocal abilities that make the song so great. As TG explains, the track features four guitar solos that find Hendrix at his very best, “all of which are contenders for the greatest solo ever played”.
“The opening is everything a melodic guitar intro should be: simple, infectious, and setting the scene for what’s to come. The second solo is equally singable while including a climactic blues lick that gets developed later on.
“The third is a tour of Hendrix’s strengths, opening with his most lyrical string bending. Then comes the slide portion, allegedly recorded with a Zippo lighter when nothing else provided the right tone.
“And then there’s the wah section. Hendrix had already used the effect on Burning Of The Midnight Lamp, but this solo showed his mastery of the pedal.”
Hendrix takes the honors having narrowly beaten Johnny Cash’s Hurt, a cover so good that many people don’t even know it’s a cover. The rest of the top 10 makes for exceptional listening, proving that, even if an original song is an instant classic, the best musicians can always put themselves into the best music.
Head to Magazines Direct to pick up the latest issue of Total Guitar.
Top 10
- Jimi Hendrix - All Along The Watchtower
- Johnny Cash - Hurt
- Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah
- Van Halen - You Really Got Me
- Santana - Black Magic Woman
- Stevie Ray Vaughan - Voodoo Child (Slight Return)
- Aretha Franklin - Respect
- Cream - Crossroads
- The Beatles - Twist and Shout
- Guns N' Roses - Knockin' on Heaven's Door
