Neil Sedaka with “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do.” He did it dowop in the early '60s then as a ballad in the late '60s.
I thought of that one, too. But his 60s original wasn’t previously recorded by a different artist first, so it really doesn’t fit with the subject of the O.P.
Todd Rundgren did a wonderful album called With a Twist…, where he covered his own songs in Bossa Nova style. They carried it to the tour. From the Wikipedia article:
Prince wrote “Nothing Compares 2 U” for The Family, Sinead O’Connor covers it and becomes a huge star briefly, and he then does a live version of the song which gets released on his greatest hits album.
duplicate.
“Crazy” was written by Willie Nelson, but recorded and made a hit by Patsy Cline. Nelson recorded it later in his career.
Not sure if this counts. Jackson Browne recorded Take It Easy in 1973, about a year after the Eagles released it in 1972. Browne wrote the song, but Glenn Frey finished the second verse, and so got a co-writing credit.
There is alot of songs like this I think.
Jackson Browne gave Nico “These Days.” He would later record it himself.
Bowie also cowrote “China Girl” with Iggy Pop who recorded it first for The Idiot. Bowie later recorded it for Let’s Dance. The version on the Idiot is awesome… but I think this is a Bowie song through and through.
With Stevie Ray Vaughn on guitar.
Wow. Somehow, I never knew that.
David Crosby’s “Triad” was not released by the Byrds (who he wrote it for). The Jefferson Airplane released it first, in 1968. Crosby released it (with Stills, Nash, and Young (live)) in 1971.
Released in '67 by Dylan. Covered by Hendrix in a posthumous release in '71 (recorded in '70). How does that come close to the OP’s parameters?
Sorry. Recorded in '68 on Electric Ladyland. Still a full year after John Wesley Harding. Doesn’t fit the OP at all.
The Jagger/Richards tune “As Tears Go By” wasn’t recorded by the Stones until a year after Marianne Faithful had a hit with it.
There are other Carole King/Gerry Goffin songs that apply here.
‘(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman’ was recorded by Aretha Franklin in '67 and then recorded by King for her Tapestry album released in '71.
The original Little Eva version of ‘The Loco-Motion’ was recorded and released in '62. Carole King later covered this song in numerous concert performances including a live album.
‘That Means a Lot’ was written and recorded by Lennon-McCartney in '65, but not released until the Anthology 2 album 30 years later. P.J. Proby’s cover version was released in '65.
The Beatles songs ‘Like Dreamers Do’ and ‘Hello Little Girl’ were also not released until Anthology 1 after being covered many years earlier
I can’t really tell Rick Derringer’s version of “Rock and Roll Hoochie-Koo” from Johnny Winter’s version, but according to Wiki, Derringer wrote it and Winter released it first. Derringer played on both versions.
“Without You” is worth mentioning. Badfinger wrote it and released it first, but it wasn’t really a hit until Harry Nilsson covered it. Speaking of Nilsson, did George Harrison ever record “Shannon”? He wrote it.
I think both of these fall into the “Basement Tapes” category (i.e., the composers recorded it first but didn’t release that recording until after someone else did), which I excluded in the OP. Another example is “I’ll Be On My Way”, a version of which was recorded by the Beatles at the BBC on April 4, 1963 but not officially released until the 1994 Live at the BBC; Billy J. Kramer released a version on April 26.
However, the Mitchell composition “Both Sides Now” was originally recorded by Judy Collins in late '67 (hit the top ten in early '68), before Joni recorded her own version of the song as a B-side for the “Chelsea Morning” single.
Gram Parsons released Wild Horses before the Stones did.
His band the Flying Burrito Brothers, actually, on Burrito Deluxe.