In this thread, a post mentions * Washn’t That a Party* by the Irish Rovers. I pointed out that they covered it (and a marvelous cover it was), but it was written by folk singer Tom Paxton, who also wrote Whose Garden Was This?, always assumed to be written by John Denver.
Tom Paxton gets this unrecognition a lot, to the point of many many people thinking Rambling Boy is a “Traditional Folk Song.” He is philosophical about it, and thinks that having people think a song of yours is a traditional song is the highest compliment a folk song writer can be paid.
What other song writers rarely get credit where credit is due?
I’m A Believer is widely thought to be a Smash Mouth song, probably due to the popularity it got and the presence of that version in Shrek. However it is indeed a song by The Monkees.
I’m certain many people realize this, but there are still a very large pool who think Smash Mouth was the first while in truth you could probably throw a dart at a board filled with random artists and find a cover of it.
Edit: Oops, misread the question. But there are a lot of ‘60s boy bands/rock groups that get miscredited as the Beatles all the time, for example a lot of songs by The Turtles (what’s with all the freakin’ animal names anyway?) such as Happy Together are credited as The Beatles on occasion. Even when they never performed the song in question.
Man, I must be getting old. I thought it was common knowledge that the Monkees performed “I’m a Believer” and that Smashmouth’s version was just a lame cover. What’s obviously less well-known is that it was written by Neil Diamond.
But regardless, the Monkees performed it first didn’t they? Bah, I didn’t know we were counting who was WRITING the things now! In that case Britney Spears/Avril Lavigne/Whoever didn’t actually do <random song A> as is commonly believed, all credit goes to <pop industry slave #2784>. Or are we changing the rules just 'cause it’s Neil?
Edit: That sounded snarky, I apologize, I mean that with utmost um… unsnark.
To clarify my post: Yes, I am talking about who writes the songs, not who sings the songs. Like “I Write the Songs That Make The Whole World Sing” is not a Manilow composition, and “Jersey Girl” is not Springsteen’s. Often the person who gets best known for singing the song is assumed to have written it.
My Boss once asked me to get the lyrics for Whitney’s Houston “And I Will Always Love You.” She got snarky when I gave her “Dolly Parton’s version.”
Dream a Little Dream of Me wasn’t written by any of the Mamas & the Papas. It was by Wilbur Schwandt, a piano player from Milwaukee, and was actually a sizable hit when it came out in - wait for it - 1930.
Cyndi Lauper’s first hit Girls Just Want to Have Fun was written and recorded years before by Robert Hazard. The lyric originally made sense from a male point of view but Lauper made minor changes with Hazard’s permission.
Laura Nyro was a great singer/songwriter whose albums were plundered for hits by everyone who was working at the time.
From wiki:
And that’s a good point in that the 1950s “Brill Building” songwriters like Goffin/King, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman, Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry, Burt Bacharach and Hal David, and Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield, probably wrote a thousand hits among them, lots of which are still being covered today. A few of us old-timers know to look for their names but not too many others do unless they are really into music history.
Kris Kristofferson wrote Me and Bobby McGee(Janis Joplin)
John Denver wrote Leavin’ on a Jet Plane(Peter,Paul & Mary,been in arguments over this one)
I see Dolly Parton already mentioned for I Will Always Love You(Whitney Houston)
Not sure if he rarely gets credit but freddie Mercury Wrote Crazy Little Thing Called Love which many people I’ve met thought was an Elvis song who never wrote many(if any) songs anyhow.
June Carter wrote Ring of Fire (Johhny Cash)
Otis Redding-Respect(Aretha Franklin)
Randy Newman wrote Mama Told Me(Not to Come)(Three Dog Night)
Rod Stewart wrote That’s What Friends Are For(Dionne Warwick & Friends)
Paul Pena’s song “Jet Airliner” was a hit for Steve Miller, even though Pena’s 1973 version wasn’t released until 2000.
Sometimes an artist does such a definitive cover song that everyone just assumes they wrote it. I was once “corrected” on the attribution of “With A Little Help From My Friends” by someone who though Joe Cocker wrote it.
One of the greatest songwriters of the 30s, with his songs still being recorded, and many of his song titles entering the vernacular (though he didn’t write lyrics). But no one knows his name. When they did a Broadway musical of his music, his name was practically left off the credits (just in fine print). And, despite the dates of the songs, you know some of his titles:
Shuffle Off to Buffalo
Lullabye of Broadway
That’s Amore
Chattanooga Choo Choo
On the Atcheson, Topeka, and Santa Fe
Forty-Second Street
I Only Have Eyes for You
Jeepers Creepers
We’re in the Money
You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby
You’re also probably quite familar with his music – Warren was a staff songwriter at Warner Brothers, so WB cartoons often used his music for background.
Harry Nilsson wrote a lot of songs that were recorded by other artists like The Yardbirds, Glen Campbell, and The Shangri-Las. Best known were probably “One”, a big hit for Three Dog Night, and “Cuddly Toy”, a minor hit for The Monkees. He also wrote and recorded “Best Friend”, the theme song from The Courtship Of Eddie’s Father.
Ironically, his biggest hits as a vocalist were “Everybody’s Talkin’” from Midnight Cowboy and “Without You”, neither of which he wrote.
And in a strange coindence, Lavigne co-wrote Kelly Clarkson’s single Breakaway.
As he often boasts (in song, no less), Barry Manilow writes the songs the whole world sings- which includes the theme to American Bandstand and the Dr Pepper “Be A Pepper” jingle.
We could easily fill a “Name Your Favorite Brill Building Song” Thread- that is, if there are enough Dopers who know that so many of their favorite early pop songs were written between clocking in at 9 and clocking out at 5 Monday through Friday at the Brill Building in New York.
I’m surprised you forgot to mention the team of Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil:
“We Gotta Get Out of this Place” by the Animals
“On Broadway” by the Drifters
“You’ve lost that Lovin’ Feeling” by the Righteous Brothers
“Don’t Know Much” most popularly by Linda Ronstadt and Aaron Neville
Taking a similar career path as the Brill Building writers, but doing it in a different city, I’ll mention the team of Felice and Boudleaux Bryant:
“Bye Bye Love”, and many other songs, for The Everly Brothers
“Love Hurts”, recorded by scores of artists from Country Gram Parsons to early Glam Rockers Nazareth
I can see how the use of the word “Songwriter” in the Thread title must have been confusing. (meant with the utmost “unsnark”)
Actually, churning out hits for pop stars these days is very much a producer’s medium. Yes, there are songwriters contributing to these artists, but the labels aren’t mining great songwriters for hit songs, as was the case at the aforementioned Brill Building, the labels are mining great producers for hit songs.
In fact, you’ll notice the producers often having co-writing credits. They even coax the young pop stars to make some contribution on as many songs as possible so that the star can be promoted as more “legit”. Remember, co-writing credits tell you nothing about the significance of the contribution made- only way to know that is to be in the room when the song is being written.
So, you’re right, there are nameless faceless songwriters making contributions to todays teen pop stars but the current formula behind pop hits is founded more on the producer and the writers are almost incidental.
Now, Country Music on the other hand is a little different. Nashville is a town where songwriters go into work every morning at 9, clock in, write some songs, then clock out at 5- very much the way things worked at the Brill Building in the 50s and 60s.
Neil Sedaka was mentioned earlier upthread. He and Howard Greenfield co-wrote “Love Will Keep Us Together” which became a smash hit for the Captain and Tennille. Toni Tennile even gave him acknowledgement in the song by ad-libbing “Sedaka is back” in the fade-out, as Sedaka himself was making a musical comeback with the U.S. released “Sedaka’s Back.”
Sedaka also wrote the song “Solitaire” with Phil Cody, which became a hit for the Carpenters and for Andy Williams.
(meant with the utmost “unsnark”)