Our Top Favorite Cover Songs of All Time!

Posted by myPPK™ - Power Press Kits™ on Wednesday, August 3, 2022

If you are like our team, you love a great cover song. There's nothing like the feeling of stepping into a small, unassuming bar or coffee room to enjoy a beverage and some local entertainment and then hearing them crank out one of the most jaw-dropping covers you've ever heard. We'll never forget when we first went to see one of our Power Press Kits long-time customers play at a small club on the East coast of the U.S. and they absolutely killed a crazy rock compilation of 'All Along the Watchtower' (Dave Matthews Band version (Bob Dylan)), and 'Babe I'm Gonna Leave You' (Led Zepplin), and 'Halloween' (Dave Matthews Band)!! Similar and complementary chord progression between all three by the way, for those of you who want to try your own arrangement. Wish we had a recording. They only ever performed it live (15-25 minutes long depending on the night and the crowd) and no videos have ever been posted that we've found. Every time they performed this mashup, it brought the house down and got the attention of everyone in the room and the parking lot! 

Another acoustic duo customer did an amazing cover of  'For What It's Worth' (Buffalo Springfield), and a crazy-awesome mashup version of Zepplin's 'Babe I'm Gonna Leave You' along with 'Watchtower'. We've been fortunate to see so many amazing performances over our decades of helping thousands of artists promote their madd skills to the world and we are honored and grateful! On this list, we intentionally avoid the obvious 'softball' songs of some of the biggest artists covering other biggest artists. We may have some of those but we really love the breakthrough artists promoting their own originals by leveraging a great cover arrangement.

We're not throwing out the softball songs of major signed artists and their endeavors (i.e. DMB covering 'Watchtower'). Although we love those too, we lean more toward supporting great unsigned artists.

Below we share several of our favorite cover songs of all time that you may not have heard. This is a growing, ever-evolving list because great music is always growing and evolving. We encourage your input! If you have a favorite that is not here, send us a link and tell us why you love it. Maybe it's even your own cover. That's great! We'll certainly give it a listen and run it past our panel for consideration to include on this blog! These are in no particular order. We're certainly not poised to say what's 'best' among them. We are simply saying, they absolutely deserve a place on this list! For the many independent artists on this list, we strongly encourage you to follow and support them including their original music where applicable!

Jimmy Wayne - "Sara Smile" (Live on CabaRay Nashville)

Jimmy is performing his cover version of the Hall & Oates song "Sara Smile" live on CabaRay Nashville. Jimmy released his version of this song in 2009 with the duo and it reached up to 31 on the Country Billboard chart. It is a beautiful song, hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

All Along The Watchtower: You've Never Heard It Like This #10!

"This is such a classic and a real favorite of mine. I have performed this songs more times than I can remember. I am using my RC-30 Loop Pedal in this one too, just to add something a bit different. I hope you enjoy it!"

Home Free - Go Rest High On That Mountain (Acapella Cover) // The Church Sessions

Home Free sings a cover of Vince Gill's 'Go Rest High On That Mountain' a capella at The Nashville Vineyard Church in Tennessee.

RADIOHEAD - KARMA POLICE (COVER BY LENA HALL)

A raw, stripped-down version of a 90's classic! "Karma Police" is a song by the English alternative rock band Radiohead, released as the second single from their third studio album, OK Computer, on 25 August 1997.

Daughtry - Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) Featuring Lzzy Hale

Daughtry - Separate Ways (Worlds Apart). Live from the Royal Albert Hall in London featuring Lzzy Hale (Halestorm).

Best of You - Foo Fighters (Emily Hearn Cover)

Emily Hearn + band travel up to Flat Rock, NC to film a series of one-take acoustic videos. "Best of You" Foo Fighters Cover. "Best of You" is a song by American alternative rock band Foo Fighters, released as the lead single from the band's fifth studio album, In Your Honor.

Led Zeppelin cover of Babe I'm Gonna Leave You by John Taylor

The John Taylor Band play the Led Zeppelin track "Babe I'm Gonna Leave you" live in Oran Mor on the 5th September 2014 at the launch of John Taylor's new album Demons and Angels.

The Prayer - Celine Dion & Andrea Bocelli - Lucy & Martha Thomas Cover

The Prayer - By sisters Lucy & Martha Thomas | Cover made famous by Celine Dion & Andrea Bocelli.

Whole Lotta Folsom - The Surreal McCoys Official Music Video

We think this is one of the greatest mash-ups ever! Whole Lotta Folsom by The Surreal McCoys is one of the most brilliant concoctions we've ever laid ears on. Filmed and produced by Stacie Huckeba from the album "The Howl & The Growl" which was produced by Eric Ambel.

Alannah Myles - Black Velvet (cover by Sershen & Zaritskaya)

This group nails the original with respect and flair! Canadian singer-songwriter Alannah Myles has won both a Grammy and a Juno Award for the song "Black Velvet". The song was a top-ten hit in Canada; it was also a number one hit on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1990.

"Hemorrhage" - Fuel (Cover) by Blacktop Mojo

"Hemorrhage" is a song by American rock band Fuel. It was released in September 2000 as the lead single from their second studio album Something Like Human. It hit number two on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, also their highest-charting single on the chart.

Creep - Vintage Postmodern Jukebox Radiohead Cover ft. Haley Reinhart

When New York City pianist Scott Bradlee created Postmodern Jukebox out of a basement in Queens in 2011, his goal was simple: to remake the pop hits of today into the classic sounds of the legends of yesterday. To date they have established themselves as the quintessential eclectic cover band. This song features Haley Reinhart who performed this track in the 10th season of American Idol.

Teddy Swims - What's Going On (Marvin Gaye Cover)

Don't judge a book by it's cover! Teddy Swims has one of the best voices in music, and knows how to kill a cover and make it entirely his own. Teddy is a singer-songwriter renowned for his hit songs "Broke," "My Bad," "Picky," and "Night Off." He worked with artists like Thomas Rhett, Augie Bello and Kevo Muney — amassing a following of millions and garnering critical acclaim.

Fleetwood Mac - Dreams (Andie Case Cover)

With more than 1.4M subscribers on YouTube, it's safe to say that Andie Case is a cover-song savant! In the US, "Dreams" sold more than one million copies and reached the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100,[3] the band's only number-one single in the country. In Canada, "Dreams" also reached number one on the RPM Top 100 Singles chart.

Superstition -- Stevie Wonder cover

Performed at Flatirons Community Church, February 2015 Cover of Superstition - Original by Stevie Wonder, Available on the CD “Number 1’s: Stevie Wonder” from Motown Records

If I Ain't Got You - Alicia Keys (Cover By: Davina Michelle)

When Pink’s response to Davina Michelle’s YouTube cover of “What About Us” went viral in 2017, the Dutch singer had no idea that she would eventually perform as the American superstar’s opening act. At the time, Pink exclaimed “Now I know how it’s supposed to sound,” and “Is she a recording artist?” Just three years but many milestones later, Davina is now releasing her debut album.

Rhiannon - (Fleetwood Mac) Cover by The Running Mates

The Running Mates are a duo made up of husband and wife Spencer and Julie Broschard. The pair met in 2008 while attending Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts where their chemistry quickly became apparent. They are most well known for their popular YouTube channel with over 130k subscribers and more than ten million views. They also have several original albums and EP's available everywhere music is streamed.

High and Dry - Radiohead (Acoustic Cover by Megan Davies & Jonah Baker)

Hi friends! Here's a new cover for you featuring the wonderful Jonah Baker. The song is Radiohead’s “High and Dry.” Originally released in 1995. So it’s a throwback! I’ve had a love obsession with Radiohead ever since I came across “In Rainbows” in high school. Rediscovering this song was refreshing. It’s what I need from music lately. Thankful Jonah Baker was down to tackle it with me. We did another cover for his channel too that will be out in the near future so keep an eye out! ALSO shout to my friend Steve who joined us on cajon. You might recognize him from some of my shows. Steve Lane. Look up him and his band Ghost Town Remedy. He rocks!

The Power Of Love - Brother Maven (Huey Lewis & The News cover video)

"We hope you dig one of our favorite tunes from the ‘80s. This one’s an all-time classic - we hope we did it justice." 'The Power of Love' is a 1985 single by Huey Lewis and the News, written for the soundtrack of the 1985 blockbuster film Back to the Future. The song became the band's first number-one hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and their second number-one hit on the U.S. Mainstream Rock chart.

'THE CHAIN' (FLEETWOOD MAC) Cover by The HSCC

'THE CHAIN' (FLEETWOOD MAC) Performed by The Hindley Street Country Club featuring Dusty Lee Stephensen & The HSCC Bad Girls

Fleetwood Mac - Landslide (Cover) w/ Sierra Eagleson

This track has more than 4.3M views on YouTube and rightfully so. Chase and Sierra nail this classic cover with acoustic Americana awesomeness!

"Sunglasses At Night" - Corey Hart (Cover by First to Eleven)

This original Corey Hart track is a guilty pleasure for us so we had to find a great cover to include it in this blog. Rock band First to Eleven from Erie, PA fit the bill.

Lzzy Hale & Halestorm "Gold Dust Woman" (acoustic) 101 WRIF Detroit

Lzzy Hale and Halestorm played acoustic at Cadillac Jacks in Warren, MI covering the Stevie Nicks iconic "Gold Dust Woman".

For What It's Worth - Buffalo Springfield

This balcony band pays honest homage to a timeless classic in a very traditional manner, chillin' and strummin' where palm trees abound. Well done!

Home Free - God Bless the U.S.A. (featuring Lee Greenwood and The United States Air Force Band)

Categories: Music

Tagged: Music, Cover Songs