10 Best Cover Songs In Classic Rock

It's always a bit tricky when trying to find a song to cover. What can you as a musician bring to this song that hasn't been done better in the original recording? If you're not careful, the cover could even become a mockery of the song you're trying to pay tribute to.

When rock was first starting out, many artists put their heart and soul into creating some of the greatest covers the world had ever seen. Whether the song had come from folk, blues, or just plain pop music, these artists took the original composition and injected it with a healthy dose of adrenaline. Even the more subdued cuts to come from these artists still hold up as beautiful stopgaps in between the heaviness of their other tracks.

Some of these renditions ended up being so successful that they have even managed to eclipse the original in terms of sales or just mainstream consciousness. Even if the songs were a bit obscure, they were made legendary when put into the hands of these technicians. Regardless of when the tune was written, these songs were put through the lens of the first rockers and become the soundtrack to a new generation of music fans.

The Rolling Stones have come a long way from their humble beginnings in the R&B clubs of London in the early 60's. The band have gone on to define rock's longevity, from their eclectic mix of styles to Keith Richard's prolific nature of writing guitar riffs. Although the band have dabbled in various styles over the years, it all comes back to the blues in the end.

With all of their cover material comprising a good portion of their album cuts, there could pretty much be a whole separate list of great blues standards the band have covered, but their performance of Robert Johnson's "Love In Vain" is something particularly special. Johnson was an early hero for Richards along with being the model for the modern day rock outlaw.

Instead of turning this song into a bluesy shuffle, the feel is very understated, with the band using acoustic guitars to tell this man's tale of woe. The way that Mick Jagger croaks out these lyrics comes off like a man who has just had the world crumble to pieces in front of him. While most 70's rock can come off as cheesy nowadays, "Love In Vain" proves that the heartache of the blues is something that will never go out of style.