# How many of Linda Ronstadt hits are not covers? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 15, 2006, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-linda-ronstadt-hits-are-not-covers/348508 "2006-03-15T20:01:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-linda-ronstadt-hits-are-not-covers/348508/1 "2006-03-15T20:01:25Z")
I’m listening to an admittedly old Linda Ronstadt Greatests Hits CD and here’s the song list: You’re No Good Silver Threads and Golden Needles Desperado Love is a Rose That’ll Be The Day Long, Long Time Different Drum When Will I Be Loved Love Has No Pride Heatwave It Doesn’t Matter Anymore Tracks of My Tears Some of these songs I’ve never even heard before (they are quite country and I don’t know nuttin 'bout that) but of the ones I do know, I think only You’re No Good was sung by her originally. The question is: How many Top 100 songs in Linda’s career have been original hits? Does anyone know? ---
**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:** [March 15, 2006, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-linda-ronstadt-hits-are-not-covers/348508/2 "2006-03-15T20:08:20Z")
Ronstadt was never a songwriter, so she was always recording other people’s songs (she’s got a few songwriting credits, but they look like they’re always cowriting credits). However, she was the first (with the Stone Ponies) to record Michael Nesmith’s “Different Drum.” ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-linda-ronstadt-hits-are-not-covers/348508/3 "2006-03-15T20:16:02Z")
I’d say a majority of singers aren’t song writers but they don’t have a greatest hits collection of mostly covers. Not that I’m saying I don’t like her covers, it just seems that not too many artists have such a relatively long and distinguished careers singing other singers old hits. And I’m a little upset Blue Bayou isn’t on this CD (even though even that is a cover of a Roy Orbison hit.) ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-linda-ronstadt-hits-are-not-covers/348508/4 "2006-03-15T20:27:30Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > Some of these songs I’ve never even heard before (they are quite country and I don’t know nuttin 'bout that) but of the ones I do know, I think only You’re No Good was sung by her originally. “You’re No Good” was written by Clint Ballard Jr., and was first (?) recorded by Betty Everett in 1963. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-linda-ronstadt-hits-are-not-covers/348508/5 "2006-03-15T21:01:42Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > Some of these songs I’ve never even heard before (they are quite country and I don’t know nuttin 'bout that) but of the ones I do know, I think only You’re No Good was sung by her originally. Nope, not even that one. It was originally recorded by Dee Dee Warwick (Dionne’s sister), and then 2 other performers before Ronstadt’s version (Betty Everett had a minor hit with it in the 60s). > [@](#): > > [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47E17DC49A97220C7932B43C0A67FA458FE4AED81106E495AD1A930499F0563F240A6C6CCB4E577B479A9B32DAE5F0FD9CAE8469CA1&sql=33:b9821ud8zzpa](http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47E17DC49A97220C7932B43C0A67FA458FE4AED81106E495AD1A930499F0563F240A6C6CCB4E577B479A9B32DAE5F0FD9CAE8469CA1&sql=33:b9821ud8zzpa) > > The great majority of pop music listeners know “You’re No Good” only as a huge hit single for Linda Ronstadt in the mid-1970s. In fact, it had first been cut about a dozen years earlier, and been preceded by three notable other versions done in 1962-1964. [. . .] As first recorded by Dee Dee Warwick ( Dionne Warwick’s sister) in 1962 on a non-hit single, “You’re No Good” was absolutely arresting [. . .] It was too good a song to remain buried, and its potential was recognized when Betty Everett did a cover version in 1963 that became a moderate hit, reaching #51. . . It’s an interesting observation about here, though, that I hadn’t ever thought about before. Can you imagine a newcomer to today’s music scene rising to that kind of popularity pretty much only doing covers? ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-linda-ronstadt-hits-are-not-covers/348508/6 "2006-03-15T22:02:42Z")
About ten years ago, Rolling Stone ran a 20 Questions-type interview with Linda Ronstadt (The interviewer, unfortunately, had open and undisguised contempt for Ronstadt, 'cuz he was hip and edgy, I guess). She said that every song she ever recorded was something she grew up loving and listening to. The hip, edgy interviewer rattled off several obvious counterexamples written by Elvis Costello. Anyway, yeah, pretty much her whole catalogue is covers and she’s made no bones about it. In the 70s, a decade defined by Singer-Songwriters, she was just a really good singer. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-linda-ronstadt-hits-are-not-covers/348508/7 "2006-03-15T22:17:13Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > (The interviewer, unfortunately, had open and undisguised contempt for Ronstadt, 'cuz he was hip and edgy, I guess) Sounds like when Zonker’s Uncle Duke did interviews for them. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-linda-ronstadt-hits-are-not-covers/348508/8 "2006-03-15T22:56:29Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Ronstadt was never a songwriter, so she was always recording other people’s songs (she’s got a few songwriting credits, but they look like they’re always cowriting credits). > > However, she was the first (with the Stone Ponies) to record Michael Nesmith’s “Different Drum.” I didn’t know he wrote that! Nice piece of trivia! ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-linda-ronstadt-hits-are-not-covers/348508/9 "2006-03-15T23:48:31Z")
Here’s a list of the songs Linda Ronstadt has covered (and a list of five songs she did originally that someone else later covered): [http://www.coversproject.com/artist/linda%20ronstadt](http://www.coversproject.com/artist/linda%20ronstadt) ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-linda-ronstadt-hits-are-not-covers/348508/10 "2006-03-15T23:52:53Z")
> [@Wendell Wagner](#): > > Here’s a list of the songs Linda Ronstadt has covered (and a list of five songs she did originally that someone else later covered): > > [http://www.coversproject.com/artist/linda%20ronstadt](http://www.coversproject.com/artist/linda%20ronstadt) There really is a web page for _everything!_ Did you know I once asked how many times Darth Vader’s limbs got chopped off and someone posted a link to a webpage that goes over every severed limb in all the Star Wars movies? I dunno why I’m still surprised by these things. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-linda-ronstadt-hits-are-not-covers/348508/11 "2006-03-15T23:54:59Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > However, she was the first (with the Stone Ponies) to record Michael Nesmith’s “Different Drum.” Apparently not so. I went looking to see if I could find the Rolling Stones interview that **Krokodil** mentioned, and found [this one](http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/lindaronstadt/articles/story/5933743/ronstadt_sings_the_best), where she says (bolding mine). . . > [@](#): > > RS: I wanted to throw out a few songs that are on this compilation and get your first impressions or strongest memories of each. To start, [Mike Nesmith’s] “Different Drum.” > > Ronstadt: **I learned that from the Green Briar Boys version. John Herald is such a great singer, and I was doing my very best John Herald imitation** … But instead of mandolin and guitar, there was an orchestra and I was trying to figure out how to phrase it. I liked the song a lot at the time. I was trying to locate my singing style somewhere between Mexican music and bluegrass, so I tried to figure it out with that approach with the orchestra and all the things filling up space that hadn’t been there before. I felt like I’d been knocked down in my tracks. I was just trying to do my best, and I didn’t like the record when it was finished. I didn’t want to do it with an arrangement like that, but you know, it was a huge hit. Even [the review at allmusic](http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47E17DC49A97220C7932B43C0A67FA458FE4AED81106E495AD1A930499F0563F240A6C6CCB4E577B479A9B328AE5E0BD9CFE6469CA1&sql=33:2xkxu3qjan6k) says The Greenbriar Boys released it before the Stone Poneys’ first recording of it in 1967. . . > [@](#): > > . . . “Different Drum” itself was never recorded by the Monkees, though a prior version had appeared on a 1966 album by the bluegrass band the Greenbriar Boys. [. . .] **The Greenbriar Boys’ obscure original version, incidentally, is far more languid and countrified than Ronstadt’s cover** , with a more sorrowful tone than Ronstadt’s more serious, almost defiant interpretation of the lyrics. **Kenny Edwards of the Stone Poneys has recalled that the group’s initial attempt at recording the song was much closer to the Greenbriar Boys’ original** than the one used on the hit single, on which none of the Stone Poneys played. So nope, also a cover. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2006, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-linda-ronstadt-hits-are-not-covers/348508/12 "2006-03-16T00:06:11Z")
Someone once pointed out to me that Van Halen did a lot of covers, which was somewhat surprising since they didn’t seem like a cover band: [http://www.coversproject.com/artist/van%20halen](http://www.coversproject.com/artist/van%20halen) ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2006, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-linda-ronstadt-hits-are-not-covers/348508/13 "2006-03-16T00:51:01Z")
I used to have a big Linda Ronstadt poster in my dorm room (sigh). Anyway, Ronstadt’s non-covers, and their peak positions in the Top 40: _Different Drum_ (#13 in 1967) _Long Long Time_ (#25 in 1970) _How Do I Make You_ (#10 in 1980) _Get Closer_ (#29 in 1982) _I Knew You When_ (#37 in 1983) _Somewhere Out There_ (#2 in 1987) ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2006, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-linda-ronstadt-hits-are-not-covers/348508/14 "2006-03-16T00:56:00Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > I used to have a big Linda Ronstadt poster in my dorm room (sigh). Anyway, Ronstadt’s non-covers, and their peak positions in the Top 40: > > _Different Drum_ (#13 in 1967) Sorry, but Different Drum has been outed as a cover. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2006, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-linda-ronstadt-hits-are-not-covers/348508/15 "2006-03-16T00:56:38Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > I used to have a big Linda Ronstadt poster in my dorm room (sigh). Anyway, Ronstadt’s non-covers, and their peak positions in the Top 40: > > _Different Drum_ (#13 in 1967) > _Long Long Time_ (#25 in 1970) > _How Do I Make You_ (#10 in 1980) > _Get Closer_ (#29 in 1982) > _I Knew You When_ (#37 in 1983) > _Somewhere Out There_ (#2 in 1987) As mentioned (and cited) above, “Different Drum” is not original to Ronstadt, but a cover of The Greenbriar Boys. Also, “I Knew You When” was not original to Ronstadt, either. It was originally recorded by Billy Joe Royal in 1965 on his “Down in the Boondocks” album. [Cite.](http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47E17DC49A97220C7932B43C0A67FA458FE4AED81106E495AD1A930499F0563F240A6C6CCB4E577B479A9B329AE5B06D9CAEF469CA1&sql=17:702242~T00C) ---
**Author:** ![jasonh300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/46a35a/32.png) [@jasonh300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasonh300)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2006, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-linda-ronstadt-hits-are-not-covers/348508/16 "2006-03-16T01:15:09Z")
It seems that back in the 60s and 70s, songs were written and then recorded by various people in the hopes that one of the recordings would be a hit. In a lot of cases, most people never heard the unpopular version and never knew that someone had recorded the song before. But a few people might have had the single of the first version and then hear the popular version and immediately recognize it as a cover. Burt Bacharach and Hal David wrote hundreds of songs and they were performed by many different artists. A lot of Dionne Warwick’s songs were written by Bacharach and David. The Beatles even recorded a version of “Baby It’s You.” Do a Google search and there are a number of sites that talk about that. But you’re not likely to EVER hear anything actually recorded by the pair. They did release some albums of their songs, but the one that I heard was recorded by an orchestra. They were not performers. Andy Williams recorded 49 albums between 1956 and 2000. Every song on every album was a cover. He recorded songs by Paul Williams, Hank Williams and Mason Williams, not to mention a hundred other songwriters with names other than Williams, but only 14 were credited to Andy Williams (that I can find). He made a career out of recording other peoples songs. He had a popular version of MacArthur Park in 1972 which was previously recorded (and popular) by Richard Harris and also The Fifth Dimension. Williams recorded “Get Together with Andy Williams” in 1969 with covers of “Get Together” by the Youngbloods, “Aquarius” which was from the musical “Hair” and then recorded by The Fifth Dimension, “Good Morning Starshine” by Oliver, and “Sweet Caroline” by Neil Diamond plus a bunch more. I have a recording my Mother made off the radio around 1970 and in the course of an hour, they played two tracks off that album. If you look at [this link](http://www.andywilliams.com/discography/discography.htm#) you’ll see that in his discography, the album titles are all the names of songs that other people popularized. Tom Jones also did a lot of covers, including some recent cover albums of rock music. Allmusic has a pretty long “Performed songs by:” list. If you look at all the songs Elvis Presley ever recorded or performed, only 8 of them were actually written by Elvis and none of those were big hits. If you look on Allmusic and check out the songs that Elvis popularized (especially later in his life), many of them had notable previous recordings. It’s just that once Elvis sang them, everybody forgot about the older versions. I could go on and on, but anyone can go to [AllMusic.com](http://AllMusic.com) and research some of the big names from the 70s and 80s and see how many of them didn’t write their own music and how many of the big songs had previous recordings. (Anyone know what song Gloria Jones recorded in 1964?) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2006, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-linda-ronstadt-hits-are-not-covers/348508/17 "2006-03-16T04:44:20Z")
> [@](#): > > It’s an interesting observation about here, though, that I hadn’t ever thought about before. Can you imagine a newcomer to today’s music scene rising to that kind of popularity pretty much only doing covers? Kelly Clarkson? I know she’s listed as co-writer on some of her songs, but all of her major hits have been written by other people. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2006, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-linda-ronstadt-hits-are-not-covers/348508/18 "2006-03-16T05:54:53Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Ronstadt was never a songwriter, so she was always recording other people’s songs (she’s got a few songwriting credits, but they look like they’re always cowriting credits). > > However, she was the first (with the Stone Ponies) to record Michael Nesmith’s “Different Drum.” You mean besides Mike Nesmith’s version :wally ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2006, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-linda-ronstadt-hits-are-not-covers/348508/19 "2006-03-16T06:57:47Z")
> [@Shayna](#): > > Also, “I Knew You When” was not original to Ronstadt, either. It was originally recorded by Billy Joe Royal in 1965 on his “Down in the Boondocks” album. [Cite.](http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47E17DC49A97220C7932B43C0A67FA458FE4AED81106E495AD1A930499F0563F240A6C6CCB4E577B479A9B329AE5B06D9CAEF469CA1&sql=17:702242~T00C) Acording to Wendell Wagner’s cite, Royal is the one who did the cover. Several years ago I noticed the same thing that jasonh300 did and interrogated my father about the subject before doing some research of my own. There were tons of songs done back in the 60s that were recorded by everyone and his brother - and it seems as though some versions were released at nearly the same time, too. I have trouble imagining that happening now, although the Postal Service and Iron & Wine came pretty close with “Such Great Heights.” However, that’s probably only because the Postal Service version took a while to catch on despite the year and a half between the albums the song was released on. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2006, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-linda-ronstadt-hits-are-not-covers/348508/20 "2006-03-16T11:54:45Z")
The difference with Linda is how many of other people’s hits she covered. “Hits” being the operative word here. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-linda-ronstadt-hits-are-not-covers/348508.md?page=2)