# Artists/Bands who covered it each other

**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-bands-who-covered-it-each-other/974766
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Tags:** music
**Created:** [November 11, 2022, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-bands-who-covered-it-each-other/974766 "2022-11-11T20:44:40Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)
#### Post date: [November 11, 2022, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-bands-who-covered-it-each-other/974766/1 "2022-11-11T20:44:40Z")

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Title tells it all. The Stones did Otis Redding’s “That’s How Strong My Love Is”, and Otis answered a short time later with his famous cover of “Satisfaction”.

[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/rc_xw2PnqJc/maxresdefault.jpg "That's How Strong My Love Is (Remastered 2002)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rc_xw2PnqJc)

[![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/gmnZRBTPzg0/hqdefault.jpg "Otis Redding - (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmnZRBTPzg0)

Bob Dylan, early in his career, covered Elvis Presley’s “That’s All Right, Mama”. ELvis returned the favor with his version of “Tomorrow Is A Long Time”. Dylan was very proud of that cover.

[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/-g_S1y3KICk/maxresdefault.jpg "Bob Dylan - That's Alright Mama (with Band) - 1962") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-g_S1y3KICk)

[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/j7GCw5v3HI8/maxresdefault.jpg "Tomorrow Is a Long Time") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7GCw5v3HI8)

What have you?

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### Author: ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)
#### Post date: [November 11, 2022, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-bands-who-covered-it-each-other/974766/2 "2022-11-11T20:51:19Z")

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Steve Earle and the Supersuckers made a record together where they covered each others songs. Does that count?  
(That record also featured Steve with the Supersuckers covering the Sones’ Walk Before They Make Me Run. Not what you were looking for, but I want to point it out because it’s a goodie.)  
Looks like Steve released one of those on one of his own records:

[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Qe12Jt4zRTw/maxresdefault.jpg "Creepy Jackalope Eye") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qe12Jt4zRTw)

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### Author: ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)
#### Post date: [November 11, 2022, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-bands-who-covered-it-each-other/974766/3 "2022-11-11T20:55:46Z")

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> [@bobot](#):
>
> Steve Earle and the Supersuckers made a record together where they covered each others songs. Does that count?

I know that album, it doesn’t really count because it’s a collaboration, essentially Steve Earle with the Supersuckers as his backup band. But great album!

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### Author: ![Jaycat.again](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat.again/32/11525_2.png) [@Jaycat.again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaycat.again)
#### Post date: [November 11, 2022, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-bands-who-covered-it-each-other/974766/4 "2022-11-11T22:38:12Z")

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Except the original of That’s How Strong My Love Is was by O.V. Wright.

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### Author: ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)
#### Post date: [November 11, 2022, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-bands-who-covered-it-each-other/974766/5 "2022-11-11T22:43:21Z")

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Well, “That’s All Right, Mama” also wasn’t an Elvis original but a Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup song, but I think in both cases the cited versions were the crucial ones.

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### Author: ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)
#### Post date: [November 11, 2022, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-bands-who-covered-it-each-other/974766/6 "2022-11-11T22:57:17Z")

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Probably not quite what you’re looking for, but when I took Mrs. solost to see Sting and Peter Gabriel on their Rock Paper Scissors tour in 2016 (jeez, I think the last time I was at a concert) they covered a couple of each other’s songs.

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### Author: ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)
#### Post date: [November 11, 2022, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-bands-who-covered-it-each-other/974766/7 "2022-11-11T23:22:58Z")

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Speaking of Peter Gabriel, back around 2010 he was putting together a project called Scratch My Back/I’ll Scratch Yours, which was intended to be a pair of albums, one where Gabriel did covers of various other artists’ songs, and the other where they would do covers of his songs. Unfortunately several of the other artists dropped out of the project and never got around to doing their Gabriel covers. I think both albums were eventually released but it wasn’t quite the way Gabriel had originally envisioned it.

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### Author: ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)
#### Post date: [November 11, 2022, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-bands-who-covered-it-each-other/974766/8 "2022-11-11T23:40:46Z")

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At Desert Trip in 2016, the Rolling Stones did an impressive cover of **Come Together**. The next night, Paul McCartney reciprocated by performing a “Stone’s song”… **I Wanna Be Your Man**.

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### Author: ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)
#### Post date: [November 11, 2022, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-bands-who-covered-it-each-other/974766/9 "2022-11-11T23:41:59Z")

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Well that’s cool as hell!

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### Author: ![Keith1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6de8d8/32.png) [@Keith1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keith1)
#### Post date: [November 12, 2022, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-bands-who-covered-it-each-other/974766/10 "2022-11-12T03:10:37Z")

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> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#):
>
> Paul McCartney reciprocated by performing a “Stone’s song”… **I Wanna Be Your Man**.

Actually that’s a Lennon/McCartney song that The Stones covered.

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### Author: ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)
#### Post date: [November 12, 2022, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-bands-who-covered-it-each-other/974766/11 "2022-11-12T03:30:05Z")

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I saw that in Boston…also the last time i was at a concert

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### Author: ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)
#### Post date: [November 12, 2022, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-bands-who-covered-it-each-other/974766/12 "2022-11-12T03:34:40Z")

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> [@Keith1](#):
>
> Actually that’s a Lennon/McCartney song that The Stones covered.

They wrote it for the Stones who recorded it first so the Beatles technically covered it. McCartney could have picked any number of Jagger/Richards tunes, but he kinda pulled a dick move by choosing a Stones song that he himself wrote.

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### Author: ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)
#### Post date: [November 12, 2022, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-bands-who-covered-it-each-other/974766/13 "2022-11-12T03:56:02Z")

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The Move covered _“Open My Eyes”_ by The Nazz / Todd Rundgren’s Utopia returned the favor by covering _“Do Ya”_.

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### Author: ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)
#### Post date: [November 12, 2022, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-bands-who-covered-it-each-other/974766/14 "2022-11-12T05:19:34Z")

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Elton John covered “Pinball Wizard” for the film of Tommy, and slipped a bit of “I Can’t Explain” into the outeo on the soundtrack album. 17 years later, the Who reciprocated by covering “Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting” with “Take Me To the Pilot” in the outro.

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### Author: ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [November 12, 2022, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-bands-who-covered-it-each-other/974766/15 "2022-11-12T15:04:34Z")

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In live performances when they toured together, Elton John played “I Love You Just the Way You Are” and Billy Joel played “Your Song” to open the concert.

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### Author: ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)
#### Post date: [November 13, 2022, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-bands-who-covered-it-each-other/974766/16 "2022-11-13T19:42:04Z")

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Just for you, EH:

[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/OJVLnNsuJRs/maxresdefault.jpg "The Times They Are A-Changin'") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJVLnNsuJRs)

[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/4IgRDmdR-Ls/maxresdefault.jpg "The Boxer") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IgRDmdR-Ls)

I’m sure I read some critic or other claiming that Dylan’s version of _The Boxer_ was revenge for what S&G did to _Times_. I guess it’s plausible. But (if you accept that it was never intended to be serious) I rather like Dylan doing _The Boxer_.

j

ETA - I know you know their work far better than I do, so: did the Stones ever cover a Gram Parsons song?

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### Author: ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)
#### Post date: [November 13, 2022, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-bands-who-covered-it-each-other/974766/17 "2022-11-13T20:20:17Z")

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> [@Treppenwitz](#):
>
> Just for you, EH:

That’s mighty sweet of you, and I’m embarrassed at the same time I didn’t think of it myself.

> [@Treppenwitz](#):
>
> ETA - I know you know their work far better than I do, so: did the Stones ever cover a Gram Parsons song?

None that I know of, nothing officially at least. Maybe somewhere there’s a bootleg cassette with home recordings that has Keith strumming and singing a Gram Parsons song, but I’ve never heard of any.

ETA: for the uninitiated, what @Treppenwitz is alluding to: Gram Parsons and Keith Richards were big buddies. The Stones recorded “White Horses” in 1969 at a legendary session at Muscle Shoals that spawned the nucleus of what was to become “Sticky Fingers”, but the final recordings and release of the album got delayed by label politics (they changed labels) until 1971. So the Flying Burrito Brothers released their cover of “Wild Horses” a good half year before the Stones in 1970 on their second album “Burrito Deluxe”, with the approval of the Stones, a rare case of a cover released before the original recording.

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### Author: ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)
#### Post date: [November 13, 2022, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-bands-who-covered-it-each-other/974766/18 "2022-11-13T20:57:09Z")

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This is a difficult game! Now, does this count?

James Taylor sings You’ve Got A Friend by Carole King

[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/nKaWQxlTsRM/maxresdefault.jpg "James Taylor - You've Got A Friend (Official Audio)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKaWQxlTsRM)

James Taylor’s Sweet Baby James sung by Carole King…er…and mostly James Taylor

[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/9j4QXgPkBCA/maxresdefault.jpg "Sweet Baby James (Live At The Troubadour / 2007)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9j4QXgPkBCA)

(Live At The Troubadour is King and Taylor going through both their back catalogues)

j

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### Author: ![Chad\_Sudan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chad_sudan/32/4509_2.png) [@Chad\_Sudan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chad_Sudan)
#### Post date: [November 13, 2022, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-bands-who-covered-it-each-other/974766/19 "2022-11-13T23:04:16Z")

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What a great question!

**Elvis Costello** covered “A Good Year for the Roses,” first recorded (but not written) by **George Jones**.

**George Jones** recorded an album of duets with other artists. On it, he and Elvis Costello sing “Stranger in the House,” which was written and first recorded by **Costello**.

* * *

I wonder if there are some Motown acts who covered each other? Certainly a fair number of Motown hits were passed from group to group.

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### Author: ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)
#### Post date: [November 13, 2022, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-bands-who-covered-it-each-other/974766/20 "2022-11-13T23:10:01Z")

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> [@Chad\_Sudan](#):
>
> **Elvis Costello** covered “A Good Year for the Roses,” first recorded (but not written) by **George Jones**.
> 
> **George Jones** recorded an album of duets with other artists. On it, he and Elvis Costello sing “Stranger in the House,” which was written and first recorded by **Costello**.

That’s a great example I’ll count for this thread. I have to check out this duet album.

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