And there are bound to be many of them. For the purposes of the thread, this is not intended to be a debate as to whether the cover was GOOD or not. Likewise, I want to stay away from public domain songs, and that sort of thing.
Let me give an example:
The song “Hard to Handle.” Most people would tell you that it’s done by The Black Crowes (which is true). But it’s been around for quite a while before they recorded it.
Any others?
Nine Inch Nails’ Hurt. Everyone thinks Johnny Cash wrote it.
Aretha Franklin’s version of “R-E-S-P-E-C-T”, first done by Otis Redding (IIRC)
Some Guys Have All the Luck by Rod Stewart is more well known that the original by Robert Palmer
Joe Cocker, the king of covers, has a few like that. Ones that come to mind are With a Little Help from My Friends (The Beatles) and The Letter (Box Tops). I also suspect that You Can Leave Your Hat On was originally by Tom Jones – someone else can hopefully confirm that.
Soft Cell’s Tainted Love was a cover. I don’t remember who wrote it.
:dubious: Who thinks that?
Anyway, Jimi Hendrix doing Dylan’s All Along the Watchtower. Dylan had a number of songs made famous by other people…what’s the Byrd’s one I’m trying to think of?
And Elvis’ Hound Dog counts as a cover I think. There must be a lot from the blue/r&B to rock’n’roll crossover.
No, it was originally done by Randy Newman. Also, Jones’ version came after Cocker’s.
Mr. Tambourine Man.
David Bowie has said he often has younger people come up to him and tell him how awesome he is for covering Nirvana’s Man Who Sold the World. :rolleyes:
And I think this happens to poor Otis often - along with** R.E.S.P.E.C.T** and Hard To Handle, I know people who think Pearl Jam wrote Dock of the Bay.
It really pisses me off when people go on and on about the great beat some stupid rap song has, and how creative rappers really are, when it was really stolen (sorry, “sampled”) from an old R&B or disco song. Dumbasses.
‘Blinded by the Light’ - Manfred Mann’s version is the one that’s most well known (original by Bruce Springsteen)
‘Suzy Q’ - Creedence Clearwater Revival’s version is best known (original by Dale Hawkins).
‘Turn! Turn! Turn!’ - The Byrds’ version is best known (original by Pete Seeger; Also, some of the lyrics were taken directly from the Book of Ecclesiastes in The Bible).
‘Hey Joe’ - Jimi Hendrix’s version is the best known among many cover versions but it is an old traditional song.
‘House of the Rising Sun’ - The Animals’ version is the best known. From the SDSTAFF report about the song:
‘Tainted Love’ was written by Edward Cobb; Gloria Jones sang the original version released in 1976.
Marvin Gaye’s version of Heard It through the Grapevine or maybe Creedence’s version or even Gladys Knight and the Pips’ version (although it was the first released) but then the original by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles was never released.
The more popular early Rock ‘n’ Roll songs were covers of R&B and Blues things that had either been recorded for the “Race” market or were lying fallow after being recorded by black artists or groups. Little Richard was among those whose work was ripped off before he became famous enough to have his stuff make the hits charts. Elvis is probably most guilty of elevating those songs to popularity. My guess is that at least half of his early work was covers. Pat Boone was another.
It’s interesting to check the composer/songwriter credits on those early things. Before Lieber & Stoller, Carole King, Neil Diamond, Paul Anka and that crowd, lots of music we associate with some particular artist or group was written for somebody else.
I don’t think the same logic applies to people like Sinatra since the song market in the earlier years was less for a specific artist. Some artists just did better (read that more popular) jobs of selling them. That’s one of the main reasons shows like Your Hit Parade began to die off after R&R came on the scene. Pop music became much more artist-related.
You have to be joking.
Blowin’ in the Wind - originally by Dylan best known by Joan Baez probably.
Renegades of Funk - Rage Against the Machine, originally by Afrika Bambaataa IIRC
Personally, I still prefer not to acknowledge that “Say Hello, Wave Goodbye” was written by Soft Cell (IIRC) and not David Gray.
Whiskey in the Jar sometimes gets accredited to the Grateful Dead, as does Long Black Veil to the Dave Matthews Band.
“Memphis,” by Johnny Rivers. Written & originally performed by the great Chuck Berry. (Slight nitpick…I think Berry may have titled it “Memphis, Tennesee,” but am not sure about this)
“Hot Rod Lincoln.” Best known as done by Johnny Bond in 1959, it was also re-covered by Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen in 1972. It was originally performed by Charlie Ryan in 1955 (released in 1957). See here for more info and another, still later cover as well.
“I Will Always Love You,” done by Whitney Houston. It was a big hit in 1993, and I think is far better known than Dolly Parton’s original which was released in 1974. Interestingly, Parton’s version was also a hit…I think it was #1 in the C & W category.
Janis Joplin’s two biggest hits are seldom heard in their original versions: “Piece of my Heart” (Erma Franklin) and “Me and Bobbie McGee” (Kris Kristofferson).
The Beatles’ version of “Twist and Shout” is usually cited as a cover of an Isley Brothers song, but even the Isleys version was a cover of the original by the Topnotes.
The Rolling Stones’ “It’s All Over Now” easily eclipsed the Valentinos’ original.
I’ll have to do the research on who did the covers later, but I do know that my favorite Joni Mitchell songs have rarely been sung by her (I do like her “Free Man in Paris”).
At least on Berry’s The Great Twenty-Eight LP it’s listed simply as “Memphis.”
You’re probably thinking of the Judy Collins version of “Both Sides Now.” Or maybe the CSNY version of “Woodstock.” Both are much better known than the Joni versions.
Barrett Strong’s original version of “Money” topped out at #23 in 1959, but the cover by the Flying Lizards rose to #5 on the U.K. charts in 1979 and was used on the soundtracks of “The Wedding Singer” and “Charlie’s Angels.” The Beatles’ 1963 cover also is well known, although it doesn’t seem to have been issued as a single, according to a couple of websites I checked.
Dave Edmunds had a minor hit with “Almost Saturday Night” on his 1981 album Twangin’; the original version by John Fogerty, who wrote the song, had appeared six years earlier.
On the same album, Edmunds also covered “Singing the Blues,” although I think it’s safe to say that Marty Robbins (13 weeks at #1 on the country charts in 1956) and Guy Mitchell (10 weeks at #1 in the pop charts) had more success with their versions. (The song was written by Melvin Endsley.)