This was something I was unaware of for decades. But that’s probably because, round these parts, PP Arnold owned it. And, so far as I know, the PP Arnold version was the original, at least in terms of release.
Stevens made a demo recording of “The First Cut Is the Deepest” in 1965, while hoping to become a songwriter. He wrote the song earlier to promote his songs to other artists, but did not record it as his own performance until early October 1967 with guitarist Big Jim Sullivan, and it did not appear until his second album, New Masters, was released in December 1967. He sold the song for £30 to P. P. Arnold, and it became a huge hit for her.
“Bette Davis Eyes” - huge hit for Kim Carnes in 1981 was co-written by Jackie DeShannon and recorded by her in 1974. I must say the original’s production was totally ill-suited for the song.
Surely, now the this thread has degenerated to the level of showing, in succession, Peter Boyle, Valentina Hasan and Harry Nilsson all “singing”, it has outlived its purpose.
I just learned in the Charley Pride RIP thread that “Is Anybody Going To San Antone” was his original. I’ve always thought it was Doug Sahm’s song, because (as he states in the intro) it’s about Sahm’s hometown of San Antonio.
The Tommy James video clip reminds me that studio versions have often been very different than what the band played live. In that clip, you can see that what the band is doing is not what you are hearing – although the lip sync is dead on, nothing else matches. It makes me wonder what they sounded like live. A kind of ‘cover version’ right there.
“Make You Feel My Love” - I knew it first as what I thought was a country song done by Jo Harlow, Trisha Yearwood and Garth Brooks. Then Adele’s version. Finally learned to my surprise that is was Bob Dylan song with quite a history. Make You Feel My Love - Wikipedia
One of my mother’s favorite albums when I was growing up was Barbra Streisand’s Butterfly. She used to play it on the hi-fi in the living room, penny on the tone arm, smell of warm tubes in the air. Didn’t realize it at the time, but it had several covers on it, including “Grandma’s Hands,” and “Life on Mars”. I gave her a copy on CD for her birthday a couple of years ago:
I always thought “Try a Little Tenderness” was an Otis Redding original (or a songwriter associated with his label) and subsequently covered by that noted jazz fan Jack Webb of “Dragnet” fame. Actually Webb’s version is from the 1950s and the song itself is from 1932.
“From a Logical Point of View”; by ROBERT MITCHUM???