20. Dr. Feelgood – Been Down So Long
Sometimes a great cover feels like someone hit the “magic wand” button editing their blurry photo. Suddenly everything pops, the colors are brighter, the lines are crisper. Maybe it’s a little oversaturated now or doesn’t exactly reflect the reality of the captured moment, but it brings out something essential that was missing. Dr. Feelgood’s cover of “Been Down So Long” pulls back any nuance of the Doors original in favor of pure juke joint blues dazzle. Lee Brilleaux’s vocals, just slightly more gravelly than Morrison’s and just less than Tom Waits, are crisp and resonant. Backed by a straightforward money beat and growling rhythm guitar, Brilleaux’s voice is countered by the high pitch of the lead guitar snaking in and out. The licks are sweet and the straightforward solo gives way to a slide guitar solo that would fit right in on a Junior Kimbrough set. Dr. Feelgood sound crisp, clean, and like they’re playing live in the bar, which is a great combination. – Mike Misch
19. Patti Smith — Soul Kitchen
Other covers got more attention from Patti’s 2007 covers album Twelve, like the hushed banjo-fied “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” But her mesmerizing midtempo “Soul Kitchen” is just as good, with Smith inhabiting every lyric as her veteran backing band builds a delectable groove. – Ray Padgett
18. Echo and the Bunnymen — People Are Strange
Although “People Are Strange” was originally recorded by The Doors in 1967, many movie fans first discovered it through Echo & the Bunnymen’s haunting cover for the 1987 vampire classic The Lost Boys. Produced by Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek, the remake replaced much of the original’s psychedelic edge with a darker, dreamlike sound that perfectly matched the film’s gothic atmosphere.
The connection ran deeper than the soundtrack. Director Joel Schumacher viewed The Doors as the spiritual band of The Lost Boys, drawing on Jim Morrison’s blend of poetry, sensuality, rebellion, and fascination with death to shape the film’s vampires. Morrison’s influence appears throughout the movie, from the poster in the Lost Boys’ cave to David’s wardrobe. An Echo & the Bunnymen poster in Sam’s bedroom provides a subtle nod to the band that introduced the song to a new generation. Nearly 60 years after The Doors first recorded it, “People Are Strange” remains as haunting and timeless as ever. Proof that, like the vampires in The Lost Boys, some legends never die. – Eric Taylor
17. The King — L.A. Woman
There are spoofs and there are spoofs, but Jim Brown, sometime Belfast postal delivery man, elevates any such idea beyond that, such is the unerring aim he takes. His schtick, across two albums, one a double, is to present the songs of a celestial congregation of deceased artists, sung by one of their most celebrated, Elvis Presley. An Elvis singing all the songs you’d love to hear the man take a crack at, with an appropriately hot band behind him. Brown channels Elvis into Morrison’s leather pants with aplomb, and the version is tight, accurate and affectionate, every mannerism, uh-huh, present and correct. I think they’d get on. – Seuras Og
16. Soap&Skin — The End
Soap&Skin is Austrian singer, songwriter, producer Anja Plaschg. She made our year-end list way back in 2013 with a wild orchestral-electronica take on Robert Johnson. Much more recently, though, she covered “The End” on her 2024 album Torso (it came, naturally, at the end). It’s a much simpler production, just her and the piano, at first. But she reverbs it out to sound haunted and terrifying, even at low volume. When she reaches the climactic lines—you know the ones—she practically whispers them. It’s all the more effective. – Ray Padgett
15. Beastie Boys feat. Miho Hatori — Light My Fire
Completing the journey from enfants terrible to elder statesman is not something open to those that fall at the vulnerable (for pop stars) age of 27. Perhaps Jim Morrison would be making well-received albums now. Perhaps he would be selling vitamin supplements on his podcasts. A map for those beyond the pale might be provided by the Beastie Boys. Initially they cultivated a bad-boy image, putting in some extra work to make parents’ panic seem justified. Eventually, though, their true selves showed through. Collaborating with newer musicians in the ever-fertile New York music scene, sharing the billing with the talent, and producing thoughtful, real instrument, jazz-based covers of The Doors. Helping others reach their considerable potential. Perhaps a side order of eminence grises? – Mike Tobyn
14. The Cure — Hello, I Love You
Originally featured on Rubaiyat, a compilation celebrating the 40th anniversary of Elektra Records’ founding, The Cure’s take on “Hello, I Love You” is an upbeat celebration that is in keeping with the spirit of the original. Seemingly written with the idea to invoke sing-alongs, Robert Smith and the rest of the band indulge in that mood, perfectly capturing the feeling of love. Were The Doors an early goth band? (Critic John Stickney first used the term “goth” to describe a Doors concert.) It really doesn’t matter. The band is having as much fun as the listener. – Luke Poling
13. Essra Mohawk — Riders on the Storm
Who knew that, lurking within the gothic majesty of “Riders on the Storm,” there was a contagious pop banger, capable of retaining all the grandeur yet at the same time allowing a frothy and bubbly commercialism to filter out from the desert widescreen. Her name sounding like a Gen Z disco crossover diva, Essra Mohawk was in fact from older stock, a peer of Frank Zappa, and, briefly, in the Mothers of Invention, ahead embarking upon a 12 album solo career. Had she turned up in time for her planned spot at Woodstock, the chances are we would know her name better. – Seuras Og
12. Erma Franklin — Light My Fire
Aretha’s older sister Erma Franklin’s music career had its successes, but it was obscured by a combination of bad luck and her sister’s enormous shadow. In fact, after recording her first album and touring with Lloyd Price, Erma left the music business to work as an executive at IBM. But after Aretha’s career took off, Erma slowly returned to music, at first while still holding down the IBM gig. While she never became a huge star, her music is worth checking out (including the original recording of “Piece of My Heart.”) Her version of “Light My Fire” is a wonderful example of late-1960s soul music, with a funky bass line and horns, but the highlight is Franklin’s voice and delivery. – Jordan Becker
11. Nils Landgren Funk Unit — Riders on the Storm
This is not your father’s or grandfather’s Doors interpretation. Maybe not yours either, despite its 21st century provenance. Everyone’s mileage will vary depending on how open they are to Nils Landren’s eclectic gumbo (and how much they like to dance). It’s all thrusting and slapping funk bass, purring Fender Rhodes, hip-hop and electronica samplings, a short rap, and Landgren’s very free jazz trumpeting to round it off. Funky as it claims to be, it draws from a lot of musical vocabularies and funk idioms, all delivered with the accent of enthusiasm. It’s the only cover of this song I’m aware of that ignores the gloom and menace in Morrison’s lyrics and just gets into the groove of it. – Tom McDonald
The list is superb; I would only add the Apocalypse Now opening credits as an essential Doors cover. That aside, I’m bewildered and somewhat put off by why Cover Me editors would open with calling out derisive and insulting comments about the band, continue this thread through some of the accompanying song choices copy, yet go through the exercise of compiling 40 cover versions,. Why do that with this bias, editorializing them mostly with comments about the covers and not the power of the originals. Take a stand, Personally, I think the band deserves all the accolades: their music was revolutionary in the beginning, constantly captivating, composed and played by spectacularly competent musicians, and immaculately produced. As to Morrison’s shtick, it is no less outrageous and perhaps manufactured as what has been applied by countless others in every genre of music for the last 70 years; why single Morrison out as iconically shameless and shameful? (And why not give him the street credit for dying as a tortured artist in exile, assume it wasn’t all artificial?) Anybody can have an opinion about any music, whether they’re just a fan or a self-important critic. But to casually, cruelly, and completely dismiss the impact of this band, in its time and for all these years, seems to indicate these are indeed some curated salacious opinions, in the minority and undeserving of the slant of this article. If 40 artists have managed to find deep and enduring meaning in this band’s music and this man’s image — let’s go with that. Or don’t offer the playlist in the first place. Whatever, but don’t be agnostic or lopsidedly critical on a site all about the passionate love of music.
Stan –
It’s a fair cop, but society’s to blame.
Our readers and commenters are very often passionate about their subjects. More than once they’ve lit into us when their confirmation bias is not supported. When I chose the Doors for this month’s Best Covers Ever artist, quite frankly, I didn’t want to deal with that.
So I made a number of preemptive strikes. Like Eminem at the rap battle in 8 Mile, I acknowledged the bad things that could be said before the other guy could say them. After nuclear disarmament had been accomplished, I said that there were twice as many good things that could be said, and gave a good lengthy example.
Now, could I have given four “not only do the Doors not suck, they’re great” quotes? Yes, I could have. But I felt like we had forty good examples of their greatness and proceeded accordingly. If my accentuating the positive didn’t match my eliminating the negative, that’s on me.
In the end, I don’t feel like my quoting others sullies the band’s legacy, which is already intricate enough without my two cents. What matters is the music, which will last long after you and I are gone.
Thank you for commenting, and for your appreciation of what we selected.
Patrick, thanks for your thoughtful response. Looking at it this way–that you chose to feature Doors’ covers and that 40 artists were represented, some obscure and still worthy but many of them better known and respected–is a hefty counterweight to the argument that the Doors were all veneer, no depth. Passion about music inevitably leads to “your band sucks” arguments. Considering all the things that polarize the world today, it’s a pretty benign argument. But not a meaningless one. Music has meaning, possibly now more than in a long time. So thanks for all you and yours are doing to make this site happen.