# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334/41 "2008-09-07T04:14:42Z")
> [@Frostillicus](#): > > **Hallelujah** was written by Leonard Cohen, not Jeff Buckley. I came in here to post about Leonard Cohen. When I mention his name to other people they often say they’ve never heard of him, to which my usual response is “Maybe not, but I can practically guarantee you’ve heard one of his songs.” “Hallelujah” has been so widely covered that people probably attribute it to any number of other artists. “Suzanne” has also been covered a LOT, but I think it’s best known as a Judy Collins song. “Bird On a Wire” also has a lot of covers out there. The Concrete Blonde and Don Henley versions of “Everybody Knows” get a fair amount of radio airplay and also pop up on soundtracks. I’m blanking on the artist, but I know I’ve often heard a cover of “So Long, Marianne” on the radio too. There must be lots of people who have no idea all the above songs were written by the same man. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334/42 "2008-09-07T04:21:15Z")
Too many songs, with too many covers to type out, so I’ll just link to the Wiki page, [Holland–Dozier–Holland](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holland%E2%80%93Dozier%E2%80%93Holland). CMC +fnord! ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334/43 "2008-09-07T04:21:27Z")
Two more: Joe Cocker didn’t write “Up Where We Belong”. The music was by Jack Nitzsche and Buffy Sainte-Marie, lyrics by Will Jennings. (Buffy Sainte-Marie is sometimes incorrectly given full credit for the song.) Most people probably don’t have any idea who wrote disco hit “It’s Raining Men”, and if asked to guess would probably never hit the right answer: Paul Shaffer (of _The Late Show with David Letterman_ fame) and Paul Jabara. ---
**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, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334/44 "2008-09-07T04:28:55Z")
> [@Ichbin\_Dubist](#): > > 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. With the Monkees songs, you can almost assume that if Nesmith sang it, he wrote it. This was almost always the case, so it’s fitting for this Thread to note songs like “The Door Into Summer” and “What Am I Doing Hanging 'Round?” which Nesmith sang but _didn’t_ write. Also there were some songs _performed by_ the Monkees, _written by_ Nesmith, but _not sung by_ Nesmith: your list already includes “The Girl I Knew Somewhere” and “Mary, Mary”, both sung by Micky Dolenz (“Mary Mary” had previously been recorded by the Paul Butterfield Blues Band), I’ll add “Daily/Nightly” also sung by Micky Dolenz. Peter Tork also wrote a handful of Monkees tunes, notably “For Pete’s Sake”- the season two closing credits song, sung by Micky Dolenz, as well as “Long Title: Do I Have To Do This All Over Again”, which he sang himself, and “Can You Dig It?”, sung by Micky Dolenz- both prominently featured in the movie _Head_. Davy Jones had a co-write or two, one half-way decent (but far from great) song, “You and I” features Neil Young on lead guitar- admittedly Young’s contribution is about the only thing that makes the song half-way decent. Micky Dolenz didn’t write much (though more than Jones) but the songs he did write were quite good: the bizarre and subversive “Mommy and Daddy” as well as, easily one of the best songs from the Monkees catalog, “Randy Scouse Git”. ---
**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, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334/45 "2008-09-07T04:35:35Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > Too many songs, with too many covers to type out, so I’ll just link to the Wiki page, [Holland–Dozier–Holland](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holland%E2%80%93Dozier%E2%80%93Holland). > > CMC +fnord! I’d bet more people can name Holland–Dozier–Holland than can name most of the Brill Building folks- except maybe Goffin/King. Seems to me folks with a passing knowledge of pop history connect Motown to HDH, especially since the documentary _Standing in the Shadows of Motown_, which was about the Motown session guys. Anyway, I know I’ve heard Oldies Radio DJs mention HDH before/after playing their songs. But yeah, most people wouldn’t know them- but I think people with a passing knowledge of pop history would. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334/46 "2008-09-07T05:50:24Z")
Paul Shaffer wrote “It’s raining Men.” ---
**Author:** ![Hometownboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5e9695/32.png) [@Hometownboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hometownboy)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334/47 "2008-09-07T08:06:39Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > Axton wrote _“The Pusher”_, known by many as a Steppenwolf Song. Particularly since their 1969 album “Early Steppenwolf,” which covered some stuff done as The Sparrows, carries this quote prominently on the cover right under the big type that says it was recorded live at The Matrix in San Francisco on May 14, 1967: “…improvising, jamming, squeezing and shaping a musical thing which lasted for 20 minutes and broke finally into ‘The Pusher.’” For years, I thought that meant they’d jammed their way into a song that became The Pusher, and were just lucky enough that it had been taped. I’m so naive sometimes… ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334/48 "2008-09-07T15:37:47Z")
Although it seems like a bazillion people\* have recorded _Wind Beneath My Wings_, the guy who wrote is practically unknown- Jeff Silbar. I remember the first time I heard it- his little brother sang it at the 1984 NHHS graduation ceremony. I thought it had a shot at radio… 🙂 \*Well, at least a few (from Wiki)- > [@](#): > > … the song was first offered to Kenny Rogers who turned it down (but later recorded a version on his “Love Songs” album in 1997). Incidentally, it was Rogers who presented Midler’s Grammy for the song. > > The song has also been recorded by Lou Rawls, Sheena Easton, B.J. Thomas, Perry Como, Gary Morris, Lee Greenwood, Willie Nelson, Kiki Carter, Nana Mouskouri, Sonata Arctica, Judy Collins, Colleen Hewett, Kris Shay and many others. It was performed by Peggy Lee in Atlantic City as early as 1984. It was performed on season three of the Fox television show American Idol by semi-finalist Marque Lynche, and again on season five by finalist Paris Bennett, who was criticized for the choice by judge Simon Cowell as “sounding too old for [her] age”. It was also performed by Nicola Roberts during Popstars: The Rivals, and sung by actor Will Ferrell to actress and long-time Midler fan Megan Mullally. > > Although the song has become primarily associated with Bette Midler, other versions of the song were released to the public years before Midler’s. Sheena Easton (on her album Madness, Money and Music) and Roger Whittaker both released versions of the song in 1982,[2] though neither had a hit with it. The song entered various U.S. charts the following year in versions by Gary Morris, Gladys Knight & the Pips (their version was released under the title “Hero”), and Lou Rawls (whose version was a top ten Adult Contemporary hit). ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334/49 "2008-09-07T16:44:14Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Often the person who gets best known for singing the song is assumed to have written it. There’s a strong case for Robbie Krieger having written _Light My Fire_ in its entirety rather than just the first verse as stated by Wikipedia. My source, alongside information from several websites and half-remembered other books, is _Jim Morrison: Life, Death, Legend_ by Stephen Davis. If a student of The Doors can confirm this I’d be happy (I am merely a fanatic). ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334/50 "2008-09-07T17:02:45Z")
> [@Chez\_Guevara](#): > > There’s a strong case for Robbie Krieger having written _Light My Fire_ in its entirety rather than just the first verse as stated by Wikipedia. > > My source, alongside information from several websites and half-remembered other books, is _Jim Morrison: Life, Death, Legend_ by Stephen Davis. If a student of The Doors can confirm this I’d be happy (I am merely a fanatic). I’ve never heard that version of events; I always thought the song was entirely Krieger’s (except for Manzarek’s contribution of the intro lick). Judging by the songs he wrote on _The Soft Parade_ (one of the two albums where Morrison and Krieger took individual songwriting credits rather than crediting everything collectively to “The Doors”), Krieger was perfectly adept at coming up with Doors-type song lyrics. Ironically, the one song on that album where he collaborated with Morrison, “Do It,” barely has any lyrics at all. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334/51 "2008-09-07T17:09:50Z")
Dammit, I missed the edit window. I take it all back. Manzarek himself says in his book that Morrison wrote the second verse lyrics to “Light My Fire.” ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334/52 "2008-09-07T19:33:25Z")
I really liked Karen Carpenter’s haunting rendition of [Superstar](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWkOryYF6CI) The tune was written by Leon Russell ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334/53 "2008-09-08T02:17:07Z")
I actually called a radio station once to correct a DJ who announced that Ringo Starr had written “Act Naturally.” When I told him that it was Johnny Russell, he pretty much said “yeah, whatever” and hung up on me. I listened for a while to see if he followed up with the right information, but he never did. Yeah, whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334/54 "2008-09-08T12:22:21Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > 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. Sedaka & Cody also wrote the English lyrics to “Ring Ring”–one of only two songs ABBA recorded that wasn’t written by members Benny Andersson & Bjorn Ulvaeus and (sometimes) their manager Stig Anderson. The other was a folk song medley. I once had a talk with Rudolph Isley about touring with the Beatles back in the early 1960’s. He was amazed that I actually knew that the Isley Brothers wrote “Twist & Shout.” ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334/55 "2008-09-08T12:33:49Z")
I’ll give a plug to a guy many Americans have never heard of (I imagine he’s much better known in England): Graham Gouldman, one of the best songwriters of the British Invasion era. Among his songs: “Heart Full of Soul” and “For Your Love,” the only top ten hits the Yardbirds ever had in the U.S. “Bus Stop” and “Look Through any Window” by the Hollies He was later a co-founder of the band 10cc, and wrote or co-wrote many of their hits. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334/56 "2008-09-08T12:39:52Z")
> [@Ataraxy](#): > > Without Jim Steinman, there would be no Meatloaf. I think everybody knows that Steinman writes the songs that Meatloaf sings. He also wrote “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” made famous by Bonnie Tyler. And he wrote the lyrics for “Whistle Down The Wind,” with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, which didn’t go very far, and “Tanz der Vampyr,” which was a megahit in Germany, and brought it to Broadway as “Dance of the Vampire,” starring Michael Crawford as Count Von Krolock , which bombed! When Crawford later played Count Fusco in ALW’s “The Woman in White,” a person I know who hates him wrote “Why does Crawford always play c\*unts (Oh. Did my finger slip?)” ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334/57 "2008-09-08T12:44:46Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I once had a talk with Rudolph Isley about touring with the Beatles back in the early 1960’s. He was amazed that I actually knew that the Isley Brothers wrote “Twist & Shout.” Contrary to popular belief, the Isley Brothers’ version was not the original. The first recording of “Twist and Shout” was by the Top Notes, produced by Phil Spector. The songwriters were Phil Medley and Bert Russell. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334/58 "2008-09-08T12:55:44Z")
Jake Hooker wrote Joan Jett’s signature song, “I Love Rock and Roll,” while he was with a band called the Arrows ---
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334/59 "2008-09-11T06:22:14Z")
“Reason to Believe” and “If I Were a Carpenter” have more or less become pop-rock standards, but not many people have heard the original versions by their writer, Tim Hardin. Likewise, I doubt too many people know that Jackie DeShannon (of “Put a Little Love in Your Heart” and “What the World Needs Now” fame) wrote and performed the original version of “Bette Davis Eyes.” ---
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334/60 "2008-09-11T06:36:46Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I think everybody knows that Steinman writes the songs that Meatloaf sings. He also wrote “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” made famous by Bonnie Tyler. And he wrote the lyrics for “Whistle Down The Wind,” with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, which didn’t go very far, and “Tanz der Vampyr,” which was a megahit in Germany, and brought it to Broadway as “Dance of the Vampire,” starring Michael Crawford as Count Von Krolock , which bombed! > > When Crawford later played Count Fusco in ALW’s “The Woman in White,” a person I know who hates him wrote “Why does Crawford always play c\*unts (Oh. Did my finger slip?)” Ah, but you neglected to mention that “Total Eclipse of the Heart” is _from_ “Tanz der Vampyr”, so the original version of the song was in German. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334.md?page=4)