# Songwriters who rarely get credit for the songs they wrote **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 6, 2008, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334 "2008-09-06T13:02:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334/21 "2008-09-06T19:39:44Z")
As indicated by a couple of posts upthread, you could get a decent thread on this topic even if you limited it to songs popularized or covered by Three Dog Night. Here’s the song listing on their 20th-C. Masters compilation: 1. Joy to the World [Hoyt Axton] 2. Shambala [Daniel Moore] 3. One [Harry Nilsson] 4. Black & White [David Arkin - Earl Robinson] 5. Mama Told Me Not To Come [Randy Newman] 6. An Old Fashioned Love Song [Paul Williams] 7. Never Been to Spain [Hoyt Axton] 8. Liar [Russ Ballard] 9. Eli’s Coming [Laura Nyro] 10. Easy to be Hard [Galt MacDermot - James Rado -Gerome Ragni] 11. Celebrate [Gary Bonner - Alan Gordon] 12. The Show Must Go On [Leo Sayer - Dave Courtney] A few others: “Strawberry Letter 23” [popularized by The Brothers Johnson; wr. & perf. by Shuggie Otis] “One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer” [pop. by George Thorogood; wr. by Amos Milburn and Rudy Toombs & perf. by Milburn] “Take Me To the River” [revived by Talking Heads; wr. & perf. by Al Green] – dunno if most people don’t really know who wrote that one, though “Alone Again Or” [revived in the 80’s by The Damned; wr. & perf. by Love in the '60’s] “Come And Get It” [given to Badfinger by Paul McCartney] I wonder how many teens and 20-somethings think that “Shadowplay” is by The Killers (instead of Joy Division)? ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334/22 "2008-09-06T20:19:30Z")
> [@The\_Scrivener](#): > > “Alone Again Or” [revived in the 80’s by The Damned; wr. & perf. by Love in the '60’s] Wow, I’ve actually never been aware of The Damned version- off to Youtube right now. P.S. Matthew Sweet and Susannah Hoffs put out a great album of 60’s covers a few years ago. They also covered this one. ---
**Author:** ![MisterThyristor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecccb3/32.png) [@MisterThyristor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MisterThyristor)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334/23 "2008-09-06T21:11:28Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > In [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=10158011#post10158011) 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? Some others by Tom Paxton that you could have mentioned: Bottle of Wine (fuit of the vine, when ya gonna let me get sober) (perrformed by many artists) The Marvelous Toy (perfomed by the Irish Rovers and others) Forest Lawn (performed by John Denver) Daddy’s Taking Us to the Zoo Tommorrow The Last Thing on My Mind (I’ve heard a couple of covers, but can’t remember who) Shel Silverstein is mostly known as a children’s author, but wrote the following: Boy Named Sue (Johhny Cash) Cover of the Rolling Stone (Dr. Hook) Sylvia’s Mother (Dr. Hook) The Unicorn (Irish Rovers) The Mermaid (Bobby Bare, Great Big Sea) Queen of the Silver Dollar (Emmylou Harris) and literally hundreds more. ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334/24 "2008-09-06T23:12:46Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > 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. > > … Especially when the person best known for singing the song is known to be a prolific songwriter themself. ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334/25 "2008-09-06T23:51:12Z")
Without Jim Steinman, there would be no Meatloaf. ---
**Author:** ![Cerowyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Cerowyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerowyn)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334/26 "2008-09-06T23:59:32Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > In that case Britney Spears/Avril Lavigne/Whoever didn’t actually do \ as is commonly believed The thread title has already been mentioned, but I’ll point out that you’re doing Avril Lavigne a disservice. Unlike Ms. Spears, Lavigne has the lone writer or a co-writer credit on virtually every song she’s recorded. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334/27 "2008-09-07T00:18:24Z")
> [@Cerowyn](#): > > The thread title has already been mentioned, but I’ll point out that you’re doing Avril Lavigne a disservice. Unlike Ms. Spears, Lavigne has the lone writer or a co-writer credit on virtually every song she’s recorded. Ah, okay, I was reading a lot of slam blogs on various topics lately and a few pointed out a lot of songs she didn’t. I stand corrected, sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334/28 "2008-09-07T01:20:41Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > But regardless, the Monkees performed it first didn’t they? Actually, they didn’t perform/record it first. Neil Diamond did. But that’s a really obscure (and irrelevant) little factoid. Neil Diamond wrote it and recorded it. I was in the can and ready to be released. IOW, it wasn’t a demo. It was done. The TBTB at the Monkees wanted the song, however, and offered Diamond lots of money for it. So he said “okey dokey” and didn’t release the song himself. So the Monkees did release it first, but they didn’t record it first. Not that this proves anything. The Monkees’ version is “the original.” But I just thought I’d share as long as we were on the subject. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334/29 "2008-09-07T01:39:01Z")
> [@The\_Scrivener](#): > > Joy to the World [Hoyt Axton] > > “Alone Again Or” [revived in the 80’s by The Damned; wr. & perf. by Love in the '60’s] Axton wrote _“The Pusher”_, known by many as a Steppenwolf Song. UFO did a nice version of "_Alone Again Or"_ on their 1977 album **Lights Out**. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334/30 "2008-09-07T01:43:19Z")
> [@Cerowyn](#): > > The thread title has already been mentioned, but I’ll point out that you’re doing Avril Lavigne a disservice. Unlike Ms. Spears, Lavigne has the lone writer or a co-writer credit on virtually every song she’s recorded. I really can’t claim to know much about Lavigne as a songwriter, but when she responded to the allegation that the chorus for her song “Girlfriend” was lifted from The Rubinoos’ “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend”, I was thinking that I really believed that she had never heard the Rubinoos song but at the same time I believed the two songs were _way_ too similar. This led me to the suspicion that she had someone ghostwriting for her: her ghostwriter lifted the chorus from the other song (possibly subconsciously), but since Lavigne took the writing credit she was placed in the position of having to defend it. Again, the above is only my suspicion- no proof. But I definitely believe her chorus had more than a coincidental resemblance to the older song, so if she wrote it I believe she lifted it BUT if she never heard the other song (not unlikely) I believe she had someone ghostwriting for her. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334/31 "2008-09-07T01:44:09Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > 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: Totally inadvertent, since they were another set of greats. I certainly meant to. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334/32 "2008-09-07T02:02:08Z")
Many people don’t realize that Linda Ronstat’s first his single (with the Stone Ponies), “Different Drum,” was written by Mike Nesmith of the Monkees. People also assume that any Beatles song was written by the Beatles. While that was true later on, in the beginning, they recorded songs by Goffin/King, Burt Bacharach, Smokey Robinson, Leiber/Stoller, Carl Perkins, Buddy Holly, and (perhaps most incongrously) Meredith Willson (from **The Music Man** ). There are many classic blues numbers that are more associated with people who covered them than the original artist. People like Willie Dixon and Louis Jordan have written many well-known songs but don’t get the same recognition (though it is much more traditional for blues musicians to mention who wrote the song they are covering). ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334/33 "2008-09-07T02:11:25Z")
Then there’s the guy who wrote: “Over the Rainbow” - lyrics by E.Y. Harburg “Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home” - lyrics by Johnny Mercer “A Sleepin’ Bee” - lyrics by Harold Arlen and Truman Capote “Ac-cent-tchu-ate the Positive” - lyrics by Johnny Mercer “Come Rain or Come Shine” - lyrics by Johnny Mercer “Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead” - lyrics by E.Y. Harburg “Get Happy” - lyrics by Ted Koehler “I Could Go On Singing” - lyrics by E.Y. Harburg “If I Only Had a Brain” - lyrics by E.Y. Harburg “If I Only Had a Heart” - lyrics by E.Y. Harburg “I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues” - lyrics by Ted Koehler “I’ve Got the World on a String” - lyrics by Ted Koehler “It’s Only a Paper Moon” - lyrics by E.Y. Harburg, Billy Rose “Let’s Fall in Love” - lyrics by Ted Koehler “One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)” - lyrics by Johnny Mercer “Stormy Weather” - lyrics by Ted Koehler “That Old Black Magic” - lyrics by Johnny Mercer “The Man That Got Away” [Harold\_Arlen](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Arlen) ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334/34 "2008-09-07T02:16:06Z")
[http://members.tripod.com/~CCarpentier/otherartists.htm](http://members.tripod.com/~CCarpentier/otherartists.htm) This is a page of Paul Williams songs including We’ve only Just begun Rainy Days and Mondays Etcetera ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334/35 "2008-09-07T03:03:07Z")
**Hallelujah** was written by Leonard Cohen, not Jeff Buckley. ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334/36 "2008-09-07T03:08:43Z")
I love Elvis Costello as a songwriter, but I like him even more as an interpreter, as my favorite two Costello songs are “(What’s So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding” and “She”. “WSFBPLAU” introduced me to the wonderful world of Nick Lowe, who wrote it. “She” introduced me to Charles Azvanour, who wrote that. ---
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334/37 "2008-09-07T03:12:33Z")
Although it’s a stretch to say “rarely” in his case because he was such a prolific and well known songwriter, if you went through a list you might be surprised at all the songs that have **Willie Nelson** as the writer. [List](http://home.mindspring.com/~cowpattiespub/williesongs.htm) ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334/38 "2008-09-07T03:16:07Z")
I’ve heard people attribute “City of New Orleans” to Arlo Guthrie. He did record the most famous version, but it was the late great Steve Goodman who wrote the song. ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334/39 "2008-09-07T03:21:13Z")
_Turn, Turn, Turn_ is often credited to **The Byrds**. It was written (the music any way) by **Pete Seeger**. ---
**Author:** ![Ichbin\_Dubist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/51bf81/32.png) [@Ichbin\_Dubist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ichbin_Dubist)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334/40 "2008-09-07T03:56:19Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Many people don’t realize that Linda Ronstat’s first his single (with the Stone Ponies), “Different Drum,” was written by Mike Nesmith of the Monkees. Nesmith also wrote “Papa Gene’s Blues,” “Sunny Girlfriend,” “The Girl I Knew Somewhere,” “Mary, Mary,” “Listen to the Band,” “You Just May Be The One,” “Can You Dig It,” “Circle Sky,” “Carlisle Wheeling,” and “Tapioca Tundra” and a few other Monkees tunes. I think most people assume they wrote nothing. I came in here to hype Harold Arlen. Great list, **don’t ask**. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334.md?page=3)