# I didn't know that song was a cover **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 20, 2010, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-that-song-was-a-cover/533163 "2010-03-20T19:33:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-that-song-was-a-cover/533163/101 "2010-03-24T01:39:54Z")
> [@HoboStew](#): > > But Snoop says so at the very beginning of the song… Nah. If you were a kid that didn’t know Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh, you’d just think it was a shout out to a homey or a producer or something, like many rappers do. Pissed me off, because I really feel like Slick Rick deserved full credit, right there in the song. Otherwise, in hip-hop culture, it’s considered ‘biting’, and it’s very bad. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-that-song-was-a-cover/533163/102 "2010-03-24T02:02:57Z")
Surprised nobody mentioned it, but much of Led Zeppelin 1 and Led Zeppelin 2 were covers. Also, [Ken Lee](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RgL2MKfWTo) was actually done by Mariah Carey originally. ---
**Author:** ![ScatteredFrog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8c91f0/32.png) [@ScatteredFrog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ScatteredFrog)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-that-song-was-a-cover/533163/103 "2010-03-24T02:26:32Z")
> [@Cosmic Relief](#): > > Surprised nobody mentioned it, but much of Led Zeppelin 1 and Led Zeppelin 2 were covers. “You Shook Me” is basically a very slow remake of Slim Harpo’s “Buzz Me, Babe”…or “I’m A King Bee”… ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-that-song-was-a-cover/533163/104 "2010-03-24T02:45:22Z")
I listen to a weekly radio show called “Crap from the Past,” hosted by Ron “Boogiemonster” Gerber at a community-run station in Minneapolis. He bills it as a graduate-level course in pop music, because he plays all sorts of obscurities. He devoted a couple episodes to this very topic. Many of the songs he played have already been listed in this thread. Here are those episodes (complete with playlists): ---
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-that-song-was-a-cover/533163/105 "2010-03-24T02:48:31Z")
> [@cactus\_waltz](#): > > I don’t get the Bodyguard confusion. Whitney’s character is literally listening to “I will always love you” on the jukebox before she sings it herself. My guess is the vast majority of people that know the song did not see the movie. ---
**Author:** ![HoboStew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f17d59/32.png) [@HoboStew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoboStew)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-that-song-was-a-cover/533163/106 "2010-03-24T03:24:30Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > Nah. If you were a kid that didn’t know Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh, you’d just think it was a shout out to a homey or a producer or something, like many rappers do. Pissed me off, because I really feel like Slick Rick deserved full credit, right there in the song. Otherwise, in hip-hop culture, it’s considered ‘biting’, and it’s very bad. I can’t, off the top of my head, think of a rap cover (or any cover for that matter) that was more explicit in giving credit to the original composer within the song itself. Usually you have to check the liner notes. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-that-song-was-a-cover/533163/107 "2010-03-24T04:42:57Z")
> [@Labdad](#): > > OK, I’m probably being whooshed here in the worst way, but just in case… > > A long time ago, the was this fellow named [Otis Redding…](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZxN9iQM7OY) I didn’t mean to woosh you that bad. I’ve known who Otis Redding was before I knew who Tom Jones was and before the Black Crowes began to exist. I just didn’t know he was the originator of that song. I’m clueless, but good god! - there are limits. Thanks for the link to the Otis Redding version of it, too. It’s laid back. I’d say the Black Crowes probably are covering the Tom Jones version of it, since they’re using the drum part that he used (heck, he even says that he’s doing an Otis Redding cover on this one: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRkdf992H58](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRkdf992H58) ---
**Author:** ![Perciful](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b38774/32.png) [@Perciful](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Perciful)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-that-song-was-a-cover/533163/108 "2010-03-24T13:04:44Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > I didn’t mean to woosh you that bad. I’ve known who Otis Redding was before I knew who Tom Jones was and before the Black Crowes began to exist. I just didn’t know he was the originator of that song. I’m clueless, but good god! - there are limits. > > Thanks for the link to the Otis Redding version of it, too. It’s laid back. I’d say the Black Crowes probably are covering the Tom Jones version of it, since they’re using the drum part that he used (heck, he even says that he’s doing an Otis Redding cover on this one: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRkdf992H58](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRkdf992H58) Wow, I thought that was written by the Black Crowes! Great song! ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-that-song-was-a-cover/533163/109 "2010-03-24T13:15:47Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > Nah. If you were a kid that didn’t know Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh, you’d just think it was a shout out to a homey or a producer or something, like many rappers do. Pissed me off, because I really feel like Slick Rick deserved full credit, right there in the song. Otherwise, in hip-hop culture, it’s considered ‘biting’, and it’s very bad. I doubt Slick Rick complained much about the royalties. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-that-song-was-a-cover/533163/110 "2010-03-24T13:38:16Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > Nah. If you were a kid that didn’t know Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh, you’d just think it was a shout out to a homey or a producer or something, like many rappers do. Pissed me off, because I really feel like Slick Rick deserved full credit, right there in the song. Otherwise, in hip-hop culture, it’s considered ‘biting’, and it’s very bad. I know that’s a big deal in the new music scene where creativity is everything and stealing original material is a serious offense, but is it really possible to “bite” a 30-year-old rhyme that is a foundational piece of rap history? This type of shit happens every day. ---
**Author:** ![In\_Winnipeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a8b319/32.png) [@In\_Winnipeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/In_Winnipeg)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-that-song-was-a-cover/533163/111 "2010-03-24T14:05:47Z")
> [@](#): > > I listen to a weekly radio show called “Crap from the Past,” Wow! Thanks for the link. This sounds interesting, and I’ll have to check out some of the other shows too. One thing jumped out at me from the first link you posted: THE TIDE IS HIGH - The Paragons (1968) Interesting, especially since I seem to remember seeing an interview with Debbie Harry where she claims that someone in Blondie wrote the song, but in it’s original version it was faster and then they got the idea of slowing it down and making it more “calypso-sounding”. Anyone else remember seeing this interview? ---
**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 24, 2010, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-that-song-was-a-cover/533163/112 "2010-03-24T14:29:12Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > I listen to a weekly radio show called “Crap from the Past,” Thanks, those lists were quite interesting. I had no idea that “(They Long to Be) Close to You” predated the Carpenters, let alone by seven years. (I also didn’t remember it was a Bacharach-David; for some reason I thought Paul Williams wrote that one.) ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-that-song-was-a-cover/533163/113 "2010-03-24T16:29:03Z")
> [@HoboStew](#): > > I can’t, off the top of my head, think of a rap cover (or any cover for that matter) that was more explicit in giving credit to the original composer within the song itself. Usually you have to check the liner notes. Very rarely (I’m tempted to say NEVER) has a hip-hop artists entirely covered a hip-hop song. That takes biting to a whole nutha level. So, while you may find credit for samples in the liner notes, I don’t think there is any real precedent of hip-hop artists covering entire hip hop songs. Reall Not All That Bright, I don’t weep for Slick Rick’s bank account. I’m sure he enjoys his royalties. I just don’t respect biting to that extent. Period. If it was meant as a tribute, I wish he would have been explicit about that in the song. That lil’ shout out to Rick in the beginning was not unlike all kinds of shout outs to homies in all kinds of rap songs, and was not clear in giving credit. In my opinion. Cosmic, I guess you are right, though, after all. I woke up around 10 o’clock in the morning, gave myself a stretch and reread this thread and gave it some more thought. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-that-song-was-a-cover/533163/114 "2010-03-24T16:35:43Z")
The most well known and highest charted version of “I Fought the Law” is the one by the Bobby Fuller Four, but that version is a cover of the original by Sonny Curtis and the Crickets. ---
**Author:** ![BigNik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/73ab20/32.png) [@BigNik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigNik)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-that-song-was-a-cover/533163/115 "2010-03-24T23:48:43Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > I listen to a weekly radio show called “Crap from the Past,”… He devoted a couple episodes to this very topic. In that case it’s probably time to haul out [Coverville’s](http://coverville.com/) “Originalville” episodes - note that the host’s hit rate as to identifying the original artist isn’t always 100%, but it’s not bad. Many other episodes (especially those devoted to a single artist who had an hit song with a cover) will also include an original that’s not as well known as the cover. [#57 - Going Undercover with Originalville](http://coverville.com/archives/2005/03/coverville-57-going-undercover-withoriginalville/) [#201 - Revenge of the Originalville](http://coverville.com/archives/2006/05/coverville-201-revenge-of-the-originalville/) [#241 - The Elvis Presley Originalville](http://coverville.com/archives/2006/09/coverville-241-the-elvis-presley-originalville/) [#291 - Battle for the Planet of Originalville](http://coverville.com/archives/2007/02/coverville-291-battle-for-the-planet-of-originalville/) [#355 - Return to Originalville Mountain](http://coverville.com/archives/2007/08/coverville-355-return-to-originalville-mountain/) [#394 - Originalville and the Secret of the Ooze](http://coverville.com/archives/2007/12/coverville-394-originalville-and-the-secret-of-the-ooze/) [#430 - Quantum of Originalville](http://coverville.com/archives/2008/02/coverville-430-quantum-of-originalville/) [#488 - Snakes on an Originalville](http://coverville.com/archives/2008/07/coverville-488-snakes-on-an-originalville/) [#556 - The Curious Case of Originalville](http://coverville.com/archives/2009/03/coverville-556-the-curious-case-of-originalville/) or alternately: [#194 - Beneath the Planet of Originalville](http://coverville.com/archives/2006/03/coverville-194-beneath-the-planet-of-originalville/) **Warning - May twist panties of those who aren’t too bright. If you do not comprehend irony, please do not listen as it may cause you to post something embarrassing on an online forum.** ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-that-song-was-a-cover/533163/116 "2010-03-25T00:10:51Z")
The fucking _Safety Dance_ was a cover? Who thought _that_ song needed a second chance? ---
**Author:** ![BigNik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/73ab20/32.png) [@BigNik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigNik)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-that-song-was-a-cover/533163/117 "2010-03-25T00:12:46Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > The fucking _Safety Dance_ was a cover? Who thought _that_ song needed a second chance? Well played, sir. Well played. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-that-song-was-a-cover/533163/118 "2010-03-25T02:55:05Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > I had no idea that “(They Long to Be) Close to You” predated the Carpenters, let alone by seven years. (I also didn’t remember it was a Bacharach-David; for some reason I thought Paul Williams wrote that one.) And to complete the Carpenters trilogy, \*\*Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft \*\*was a [Klaatu](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klaatu_%28band%29) song from the previous year - they were fast movers. ---
**Author:** ![enomaj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/59ef9b/32.png) [@enomaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enomaj)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-that-song-was-a-cover/533163/119 "2010-03-25T03:50:44Z")
**With a Little Help From My Friends**. First heard the Joe Cocker version as the theme song to **The Wonder Years**. Didn’t know about the Beatles’ version 'til much later. ---
**Author:** ![Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harvey_The_Heavy)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-that-song-was-a-cover/533163/120 "2010-03-25T05:14:04Z")
I think it got to the point where Ray Davies would introduce **You Really Got Me** as a Van Halen cover. And I wonder how many people think that Hendrix wrote **Wild Thing** and **All Along The Watchtower**? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-that-song-was-a-cover/533163.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-that-song-was-a-cover/533163.md?page=7)