Recently on the radio, I've heard the original versions of "I Just Want to Have Something to Do", Save It For Later", and "I Believe in Miracles"... all for the first time. They all were excellent. Looking at some of the songs Pearl Jam has covered, I realize I've never heard the majority of the original versions.

My question for those of you who have heard some of the originals, which original version do you prefer to the pj cover version, or vice versa.

I included a list. (a lot of these are tags)

Rockin' in the Free World
Baba O'Riley
Last Kiss
Interstellar Overdrive
I Believe In Miracles
Fuckin' Up
American Girl
Crown of Thorns
Masters of War
Throw Your Hatred Down
Picture in a Frame
Kick Out the Jams
Outshined
All Along the Watchtower
Hawaii 78
MLK
No Woman, No Cry
I Got You
The Ship Song
Someday at X-Mas
I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts
Leavin' Here
Little Sister
So You Want to Be a Rock and Roll Star
Waiting on a Friend
You've Got To Hide Your Love Away
No Woman, No Cry
A Sort of Homecoming
Forever Young
Fortunate Son
Gimme Some Truth
Harvest Moon
Here's to The State of Mississippi
I Won't Back Down
Little Wing
My Sharona
So Lonely
The Boys Are Back In Town
Throw Your Arms Around Me
Modern Girl
Save It For Later
It's Okay
Androgynous Mind
Bleed For Me
Blitzkrieg Bop
I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend
Amerikan in Me
Litte Sister
All Along the Watchtower
Another Brick In the Wall (part II)
Atomic Dog
Driven To Tears
Dream Baby Dream
Eleanor Rigby
Fool In the Rain
Going to California
Hard Times Are Over
Money (That's What I Want)
Ruby Tuesday
Runnin' Back To Saskatoon
Sonic Reducer
Suck You Dry
Thank You
The Kids Are Alright
Yahweh
The New World
Masters of War
The Seeker
Act of Love
Cortez The Killer
I Am A Patriot
I've Got a Feeling
Lion's Share
Millworker
Timeless Melody
Know Your Rights
Soldier of Love
People Have the Power
Don't Be Shy
Give Peace a Chance
O Sole Mio
Growin Up
Blue Red and Grey
Everyday
Can't Help Falling in Love
Trouble
I've Been Tired
Cinammon Girl
Noise of Carpet
Beginning to See the Light
Hey Hey My My
Talk About the Passion
The KKK Took My Baby Away
Stuff and Nonsense
Walking the Cow
Dock of the Bay
Redemption Song
25 Minutes to Go
Suggestion
Baby Beluga
Bad
Across the Universe
Hey Hey, My My
Tearing
War
The Real Me
etc.

Sheesh..i was thinking of replying, but the size of the list intimidated me and now i'm all confused

The first few originals i can think of that are better than PJ's covers, are:

25 minutes to go,
Know Your Rights (you're not a punk, Eddie),
Modern Girl,
Picture In A Frame (Ed does it well, it's just no Tom Waits..)

Usually they get it right though, they're pretty solid at covers. The immediate great covers i can think of are:

Dock of the bay (maybe not better than the original, but surprisingly good)
Redemption Song (again, maybe not better, but surprisingly good)
Hawaii 78
Soldier of love
Little Wing

Pearl Jam is one of the best bands at covering songs. They make the song sound different without butchering it.

Eddie only sings one line of Modern Girl though. doesn't really count.

I agree.

I'll add that I like their live versions of BABA O'RILEY better than the Who's original. I like the guitars better than the synthesizer. I also like their version of LOVE, REIGN O'ER ME better than the Quadrophenia version.

I love it when they do TIMELESS MELODY, but I like the La's version better.

Maaan i haven't listened to The La's album in ages..

I love that album. I hear that another one might be on the way. I guess they've been saying that for 20 years.

haha I think they were actually back touring again last year...so tha's a step ni the right direction, eh..

It is such a strong album though...Me and a few friends completely played it to death over one summer, I can't sleep has possibly the best-simple chorus ever *ah sweet nostalgia*

PJ's RITFW>NY's, I think. But I haven't heard a live version of Young playing it, so I can't say for sure. I'd probably say the same for Baba.

The tags shouldn't count.

I also like their version of LITTLE SISTER. It's way better than Robert Plant's. Ed almost sounds like Elvis, and I like PJ backing better than Elvis' back-up band. Much less cheesy.

Seriously? I first heard it before I listened to PJ and was really into BM & The Wailers and couldn't believe how bad it was.

PJ Love Reign O'er Me>>>>>>>>>The Who Reign O'er Me

And I quite like The Who's version.

i remember joking with a friend when we went to the bridge school show (01) that when neil came out, we should just stand there and yell "PEARL JAM DOES YOUR SONGS BETTER THAN YOU!!!"
Of course I don't really believe that, except for Ritfw. And maybe Harvest Moon w/ sleater kinney- I really like that song.

Crown of Thorns is a toss up for me. I really like Andy's voice, but the PJ versions are pretty freakin' good. Especially the Las Vegas 00 one.

Fortunate Son, Driven To Tears, Kids Are Alright, and The Seeker should never have been done. All are either awful versions or not meant for PJ to cover.
The rest were either descent or really good. I thought the following were standout:
Timeless Melody, Rockin In The Free World, Kick Out The Jams, Lion's Share, Leavin Here, Save It For Later, Amerikan In Me, Sonic Reducer, I Got A Feeling, Act Of Love, Soldier Of Love, People Have The Power, and Trouble.

Also, you guys gotta be kidding with Love Reign O'er Me. I was embarrassed to shit when I first heard that.

wow, they've done a lot of covers.

I really hate that song DRIVEN TO TEARS. Pearl Jam's version is almost bearable, but I just can't listen to the Police doing it.

I've only heard "Harvest Moon" by Neil Young from MTV unplugged, but the cover version from Philadelphia is amazing, I give it the nod over Neil. It only works with Sleater Kinney though.

That is not even half of them. Like I said, many are just played as tags.
I would of included Crazy Mary, but I don't think that song was ever released until PJ recorded it.

'I've Got a Feeling' by the Beatles blows away PJ. But Ed did a real good job with "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away", an older Beatles tune.

I think PJ do great with these:

Fortunate Son
Baba
Hide Your Love Away
I Got You
(slow version of) I Believe in Miracles
Leavin' Here
I Won't Back Down
Masters of war
Soldier of Love
25 Minutes to Go and
Kick Out the Jams

I wish they'd leave these ones in the bag:

Know Your Rights
Throw Your Arms Around Me and
The Ship Song

But I do love the fact that they give so many covers a go. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and that they cover so many great tunes in their own style is the sign of a great band that respects their musical roots.