The Best Who Covers Ever

Head back to the beginning.

20. Suzanne Vega — Behind Blue Eyes

Pete Townshend always had to make his songs play to the strengths of the other members of The Who. Playing sensitive acoustic music was not among their strengths. Anyway, Townshend had to appease stadiums full of mostly male fans, and those kids weren’t all right with folkie simplicity—not with Keith Moon in the house. So the main songwriter for The Who was in these ways fated to telling mostly lies. “Behind Blue Eyes” must be about that tension, at least in part.

Suzanne Vega was free to get to the song’s depths. Her performance is what The Who might have done if they’d hooked up to the “MTV Unplugged” machine in the ’90s. She replaces Townshend’s wind-milling volatility with her steely coolness, and she substitutes Roger Daltrey’s sweaty theatrics with her quietly riveting composure. In her restrained arrangement, she gets to a truth within the song. In moments her cover feels less thrilling and pretty than the original, but that’s kind of the beauty of it. When you have something honest to say from the heart, with no hidden agenda, you say it directly and without frills. – Tom McDonald

19. Merry Clayton — The Acid Queen

Okay, let’s start by acknowledging the elephant DIVA in the room. Once Tina Turner took hold of “The Acid Queen” vocally and visually in the 1975 film version of Tommy, in the eyes of the world, it belonged to her. But there are in fact two officially fabulous “Acid Queens.” See, Tina was not the first gritty soul diva to play the fierce and fiery role. No, that distinction belongs to the one and only Merry Clayton. Her 1973 recording was part of the London Symphony Orchestra’s 1973 recording of Tommy, and it is not the manic rock firestorm that Tina’s is. No, this Merry “Acid Queen” is a seriously soulful, subtly sinister, oddly Xmas-flavored show tune. The arrangement is dignified, yet nuts, and good lord, Clayton freakin’ crushes it. – Hope Silverman

18. The Waco Brothers — Baba O’Riley

One of The Who’s most iconic songs, with a title seemingly unrelated to the lyrics (if only they had called it “Teenage Wasteland”….), it was written for Lifehouse, the ultimately scrapped rock opera follow up to Tommy. The song ended up on 1971’s Who’s Next (edited down from its original thirty-minute length). It opens with an unforgettable repeating synthesizer pattern, and the song’s power and swagger has turned it into an anthem of youthful rebellion and self-determination. And it has a violin solo. The Waco Brothers, a Chicago-based Americana band fronted by Welshman and founding Mekon Jon Langford, takes the bluster of the original and transforms it into a loping, rollicking country-rock romp. – Jordan Becker

17. Plainsong — I Can’t Explain

One of two in this list that feature the high, light and pure vocals of Iain Matthews. Always more an interpreter than a writer, Matthews has, over the course of fifty years, provided alternate listening pleasure through his gift of a voice. Plainsong was the vehicle for the ex-Fairport Convention man, after his first “solo” project, Matthews’ Southern Comfort, folded, and, usually in cahoots with Andy Roberts and an otherwise changing cast, still gets wheeled out today. This Capella version came out on their 1996 album, Sister Flute, with the preliminary doo-doos the spit of Crosby, Stills and Nash, ahead a very Daltrey-esque lead vocal, perhaps from Roberts. Elements of a Beach Boys type arrangement filter in and it both complements and contrasts the original. – Seuras Og

16. Pussy Riot — Won’t Get Fooled Again

It is difficult to live sixty years in the public gaze and not come up with a few moments where you may have “let yourselves down.” This is a particular risk for rock stars. All the original members of The Who had those moments, and there are things about Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend where the most generous interpretation of their motives and outcomes suggests extreme naïveté, at best. They have both had cause to reflect on the topic of one of their most famous songs. Pussy Riot were cleareyed about Vladimir Putin when many people were willing to give him the benefit of the doubt as a member of the “harsh but fair” school of Statesmanship. They suffered the consequences of a loud disavowal of him. This typically rambunctious and chaotic reading of the song has real poignancy. – Mike Tobyn

15. Laura Cortese & the Dance Cards — Blue Red and Grey

The bittersweet ‘n’ breezy “Blue Red and Grey” is one beautiful, idiosyncratic, eccentric flower of a song. It is sadly self-aware yet optimistic, a weathered and cynical sonic cousin to Quadrophenia‘s classic “I’m One.” This be-stringed tear-jerkingly gorgeous cover by Laura Cortese & the Dance Cards oozes warmth and hope from its every pore, every minute of the day. – Hope Silverman

14. Joy Oladokun — Who Are You

Joy Oladokun brings confidence to this cover. Even with her slightly slower groove, she doesn’t mess with the quintessential “who are you” question paired with the repeated owl-like “who who, who who.” Even in this abbreviated version there is still room for an instrumental interlude, with syncopated percussion and an electric guitar call and response. It’s almost as if the guitar is valiantly trying to answer Oladokun and assert who it is, but we can’t quite speak guitar. This cover is reminiscent enough of the original for you to feel the nostalgia yet distinctive enough to have you bobbing your head in line with the slightly sassier mood that the blend of the rich vocals and the new backbeat produce. – Sara Stoudt

13. Pearl Jam — Love, Reign O’er Me

One of the truly epic and anthemic songs of the classic rock period is reborn and remade decades later in all its glory. And you can’t deny the glory. At the helm is Pearl Jam, a powerhouse band from the ’90s (and beyond) still in their prime on this 2008 tribute. Add to that a full-on real-deal string orchestra (no string synthesizers) who seem to play with every bit of the heart and the heat the Vedder and company bring to the proceedings. This is not just one of the best covers of the Who, but a candidate for one of the best rock covers of any band. – Tom McDonald

12. Matthews Southern Comfort — My Generation

We actually reviewed this, um, unusual album, wherein Ian Matthews revived the name of his ’70s band for a parade of Woodstock covers. “My Generation” is definitely one of the album’s relative highlights. Matthews, his voice more ragged than memory might define, slows down and pares back the song. It becomes a song more of regret, with hindsight, than the bluster of Townshend’s 1960s statement of intent. Given the current duo left standing of the Who still sing this, having failed to die before they get old, it would be good to hear them take this more measured approach. Matthews, who has retired from performing on several occasions, continues to tour his immaculate back catalog of mainly covers; if you catch him, ask for this one! – Seuras Og

11. Sugar — Armenia City in the Sky

“Armenia City in the Sky,” from 1967’s The Who Sell Out, appears to be the only song recorded by the band specifically written for them by a non-band member, John “Speedy” Keen, a friend of (and driver for) Townshend, who later would write “Something In The Air” for Thunderclap Newman. Apparently about an acid trip, it’s a psychedelic sci-fi adventure, but may also be a parody of the genre, considering the tongue-in-cheek nature of the Sell Out album and The Who’s general rejection of psychedelic rock. Bob Mould’s band Sugar released a live version of the song in 1992 as the B-side of a single from their debut album Copper Blue, and it appeared on the 1995 compilation disc Besides. Mould’s previous band, Hüsker Dü, was the loudest concert that I’ve ever been to, and listening to the cover, I can imagine that seeing Sugar live would have been at least as loud. It’s a powerful, driving take, and the only nod to the original’s psychedelia, maybe, is the swirling, distorted guitars. – Jordan Becker

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