Proud Mary
Tina Turner
1971

Is this the best cover that's better than the original?  Well no, we have at least a couple songs higher on the list than this.  But this one is great!  If you haven't noticed, I'm cutting Ike out of getting credit in the Top 100.  Ike was a bad hombre and we don't give credit for bad hombres in the Top 100.

But I love what Tina did here.  It's what a true cover should be -- making the song your own, not just doing the exact same thing as the original (I'm looking at you, Weezer covering Africa!).  Love that slowed-down tempo at the beginning of the song before working into a frenzy by the end.  And she tells us that at the beginning!  "But we're gonna take the beginning of this song / And do it easy / But then, we're gonna do the finish....rough."

The energy in this song is palpable, there is just power coming from this song.  May be a touch too high in terms of ranking, but this one's a classic.

Also a classic?  Check out the performance Jim gave us from this song.

Other Songs Considered:
I mean I like The Best, but it's no Proud Mary.