Manfred Mann’s Blinded by the Light. Now, I’m a big Bruce Springsteen fan but his original is completely unlistenable.
Mann took a piece of shit, made it a hit and the royalty cheques roll over to Springsteen. Not bad for a song that was immediately forgotten when originally recorded.
Hurt by Johnny Cash, that’s a great version, better than Trent’s.
Honorable mention: Toronto’s The Rheostatics would never record it but would play their version of Neil Young’s Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere occasionally at their gigs. Spectacular version, would always bring the house down at the horseshoe tavern. Fuck I miss the 90’s Canadian Indie.