# Solo artists who re-recorded a song from the group they were in **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 2, 2005, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solo-artists-who-re-recorded-a-song-from-the-group-they-were-in/302142 "2005-05-02T22:21:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2005, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solo-artists-who-re-recorded-a-song-from-the-group-they-were-in/302142/41 "2005-05-03T13:33:15Z")
Regarding the Nazz: I meant no disrespect to the band, but they never had a song in the Billboard Top 40, never had a gold album, and never sold many records outside of Philadelphia. That doesn’t make them a bad band- just an unlucky one. Perhaps it’s an injustice they never became very popular, but the fact remains, they DIDN’T. P.S. I’m kicking myself for not remembering “Shapes of Things.” Perhaps that’s because I didn’t really think of Beck as a “solo” artist. Even though “Truth” was released under the name Jeff Beck, I always thought of that album as a group effort. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2005, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solo-artists-who-re-recorded-a-song-from-the-group-they-were-in/302142/42 "2005-05-03T13:36:30Z")
Ozzy rerecorded _Black Sabbath_ after he started his solo career. ---
**Author:** ![Ivan-Osokin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/4491bb/32.png) [@Ivan-Osokin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ivan-Osokin)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2005, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solo-artists-who-re-recorded-a-song-from-the-group-they-were-in/302142/43 "2005-05-03T20:44:16Z")
Another relatively obscure one, but Mark Gardner of Ride semi-fame rerecorded a version of Ride’s “Dreams Burn Down” on a solo ep within the last few years. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2005, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solo-artists-who-re-recorded-a-song-from-the-group-they-were-in/302142/44 "2005-05-04T00:15:31Z")
I think Colin Blunstone recorded at least one Zombies tune as a solo project after the band split up. ---
**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:** [May 4, 2005, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solo-artists-who-re-recorded-a-song-from-the-group-they-were-in/302142/45 "2005-05-04T01:20:32Z")
> [@gatopescado](#): > > I think Colin Blunstone recorded at least one Zombies tune as a solo project after the band split up. …under a pseudonym. I have his re-recording of “She’s Not There” on a single, credited to Neil MacArthur. ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2005, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solo-artists-who-re-recorded-a-song-from-the-group-they-were-in/302142/46 "2005-05-04T02:06:16Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > **Smile** was a beach boys project, and they eventually recorded one single from it - **Good Vibrations**. Last year, Brian Wilson finally finished the album and released it as a solo work, including a re-recording of **Good Vibrations** without any of the Beach Boys in it. Brian has re-recorded bona fide, released Beach Boys songs on his own studio albums, including “Let Him Run Wild.” > [@fishbicycle](#): > > _Smile_ was what Brian had been working on for months when he heard a pre-release acetate of “A Day In The Life.” At this point, he panicked and figured there was no way to top _this_. Combined with the massive intake of drugs at the time, his precarious mental and emotional state and other problems within The Beach Boys, namely Mike Love, Brian abandoned his album project. I hypothesize that The Beatles came no closer to the awareness of _Smile_ than being fans of The Beach Boys like the rest of us, and hearing it reported that it was coming out. The Beatles knew a great deal more about _Smile_ than that. Paul McCartney visited Brian in LA while the _Smile_ sessions were going on, heard some acetates, and contributed some chomping to “Vega-Tables.” Supposedly, he also sat at the studio piano and played “She’s Leaving Home,” teasing Brian by saying, “You’d better hurry up!”. Brian kept at through April of '67, and possibly into May as well before giving up. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2005, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solo-artists-who-re-recorded-a-song-from-the-group-they-were-in/302142/47 "2005-05-04T13:10:31Z")
Brian Setzer rerecorded the Stray Cats’ rockabilly anthem “Rock This Town” with his big swing band backing him up, the Brian Setzer Orchestra. I’m reasonably sure Bryan Ferry has since rerecorded a few Roxy Music songs, and while Morrissey hasn’t redone any Smiths songs for his albums, he performed several of them when I saw him in concert last fall. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solo-artists-who-re-recorded-a-song-from-the-group-they-were-in/302142.md?page=2)