Weird case of the Amish Paradise Parody of Gangsta’s Paradise which was actually a reworking of Stevie Wonder 's 1976 song " Pastime Paradise ".
Hootie & the Blowfish’s “I Go Blind” was originally recorded by a Canadian band called 54-40.
Here’s the chronology of “God Gave Rock’n’Roll To You.”
That song was originally written and recorded by Argent (best known for “Hold Your Head Up”), and when the Christian band Petra wished to remake it, they wanted to change several words in the lyrics, and Argent gave them permission to do so. The best known version, by KISS, is the original Argent song.
I actually know the Argent version the best. It is the one I own on Tape & then CD. I don’t own any KISS music.
I was surprised to find out that George Harrison’s Got My Mind Set On You was a cover. So many possibilities, why did he pick that dumb song?
The first recording was by James Ray in 1963.
I never knew that. And really, it’s the dumbest song he ever recorded, so why?
Speaking of Dolly, it was several years before I found out that her 1983 “Save the Last Dance for Me” was a cover of a 1960 Drifters song.
I don’t think either of these have been mentioned yet:
The second one, Whatta Man by Linda Lyndell was released (25 years prior to the version you probably know) and then shelved and she withdrew from the music business after getting death threats for being a white woman doing R&B music. Also, I realize that Salt n Pepa technically sampled the song, but as far as I’m concerned it’s close enough to be considered a cover.
Because It’s Only Six Words Long?
Well even I who has never written a song can write a six word song on the spot (and George Harrison wrote fucking “Here Comes The Sun” and “Something”):
“I’ve got my eggs on the stove. So fry 'em, fry 'em, fry 'em…” (ad nauseam)
I only recently found out that “1985” by Bowling for Soup is a cover. Mitch Allan, the song’s writer and original singer, appears in the video as the guy walking down the street who sneers at the band.
Academic question…if a song is written by one artist. Licensed to one band to sing it, where it receives little acclaim, and then re-licensed to a second band to sing it where it is a hit, is that truly a cover?
In my mind, a cover is an homage to to a previously recorded and well known song. And when a song is not written by the singer/band that gains fame for it, it’s a much more of an IP/licensing question than anything else. Those songwriters are in the business of shopping their songs around to the band that can gain them the largest royalty. That’s not a “cover” in my head-canon.
In the brass-centric rock bands thread, that song got linked to as a great example. A mid-70s version by Bill Chase’s band… Chase.
Yeah, i assumed it was a Rod Stewart cover (by the way, I first heard the Rod Stewart version in England, came home to the States and couldn’t find it. Had to wait for an album to be released with that on it.)
The first Specials album (1979) is one I’ve listened to many times. But I never caught on that several tracks are covers or adaptations of Jamaican ska songs from the 1960s.
Thus this original version took me by surprise:
Dandy Livingstone - Rudy, A Message to You
That one surprised me too! (And it is a dumb song!)
There’s a great biography of George Harrison called “Behind the Locked Door.” It says that for all his experimentation with sitars and mellotrons, Harrison’s personal musical tastes remained firmly fixed in the music of his youth. (For him, no one could beat Carl Perkins.) “Got My Mind Set on You” was on a record he’d bought during his first visit to the US.
(at the risk of sounding like the barroom knowitall)
Originally. . .
a cover was a version of a song that was put out at the same time as the original, or very near to it. For example: an R&B hit might be covered by a big band or an MOR crooner. These were put out to try and expand a popular song into other genres. The most famous examples would be the Pat Boone covers of Little Richard’s “colored” music hits. Such as:
Of course, times change and the term changed with it. True cover versions of songs are rare today and the term now means a remake of a song. Usually, tho not always, with the new band putting their own spin on the original.
“Queen of Hearts” was written by Hank DeVito (pedal steel guitarist for Emmylou Harris), and first recorded by Welsh singer/guitarist Dave Edmunds in 1979. It was a top 20 hit in the UK and Ireland, but didn’t chart in America.
Two years later, Juice Newton covered it, and made the top 20 on both the pop and country charts in the U.S. As I was a teenager in the U.S. at that time, and was unfamiliar with Dave Edmunds, I had no idea it was a cover until years later, when I started listening to Edmunds’ stuff.
On the Dope…naw.
I didn’t know that Eric Carmens songs in Dirty Dancing were covers.
Let’s not ignore the obvious possibility that Harrison may have recognized the song’s commercial potential. It was one of the biggest hits on his solo career.