But it’s a little complicated, because composers (Willie Nelson and Carole King, for example) often made a recording of their songs that was never meant to be released – it was just a demo to give to singers/band members/producers to get them to buy the song (and then record it for commercial release). Of course, years after “Crazy” became a hit for Patsy Cline, someone dug up Willie’s original demo recording, cleaned it up, and put it on an album (as is the case for lots of other demos, I’m sure).
So “Crazy” does or doesn’t qualify for the OP, but I think it certainly fits the spirit of the OP – the demo would never have been released if Patsy hadn’t made it a hit.
I’m not sure I buy the definition of already recorded. Many songs which are covered have demos done by the artist and not for release - for Dylan we now have an official copy of The Witmark demos, many of which got recorded by other people before Dylan recording them officially, even if only in concert. In fact the point of them was to sell them to people who would cover them because Dylan at the time was writing too much to record himself. At the beginning of the bootleg “I was young when I left home” Dylan says “If it not good for me it must be good for somebody.” (I don’t know if it is on the official bootleg or just the version of it I have back from 1971 or so.)
The Basement Tapes were never meant for release, so I don’t buy that appearing on them disqualifies a song. I suspect most artists record sessions even for songs that never get released.
Of course, being the OP I can come up with any old definition I want. I can give my justification, though… as you say, artists do demos all the time, and for that very reason, I chose to exclude cases where a composer’s demo was released after someone else released their own version. It’s an interesting category, but separate from what I was looking for.
I buy that - I was talking about when the composer releases a real version of the song after the demo and after someone covers the demo. Besides Dylan which composer would have demand for demos? Carole King might if she did them as opposed to just writing the music.
“Shipbuilding” was a song written by Elvis Costello and Clive Langer, given to Robert Wyatt who released it in 1982 as a single. The following year Costello recorded his own version for his Punch The Clock album, produced by Langer. I’m torn about which one I like better as I find Wyatt’s a little too sparse and Costello’s a little too bombastic.
KISS demoed a song called “It’s My Life” in 1982, and then gave the song to Wendy O. Williams for the W.O.W. album in 1984. KISS then recorded a proper version of it in 1998, but it got cut from their reunion album Psycho Circus. It did get released on a box set a few years later though.
Michael Bolton co-wrote “How Am I Supposed to Live Without You” with Doug James, and it was a No. 12 hit in the US for Laura Branigan in 1983. Bolton then released his own version in 1989, which hit No. 1.
Leslie West of Mountain wrote, recorded, and released a song called “Baby, I’m Down,” which was rearranged with different lyrics and recorded by Clutch 30 years later as “Immortal,” then Mountain covered Clutch’s version.
Sort of along the lines of the OP’s criteria, Ke$ha contributed heavily to the writing of Britney Spears’s “Till the World Ends.” Shortly after the song was released, there was a remix that featured vocals by Ke$ha, Britney, and Nikki Minaj.
I can give my justification, though… as you say, artists do demos all the time, and for that very reason, I chose to exclude cases where a composer’s demo was released after someone else released their own version. It’s an interesting category, but separate from what I was looking for.