Of course, but he got the song radio play and exposure that the original had no chance of getting in the 1950s. Pat Boone singlehandedly did as much to bring Rock n Roll into the mainstream as the British Invasion did to do the same for the Blues. And (unlike many of the British blues groups) it wasn’t flat out appropriation; Boone put a real WASP spin on his versions.
And let’s not forget the infinite pre-Kingsmen versions of “Louie Louie”
Of course not, but there is a large discography to choose from. I was primarily referring to the “lounging” of truly soulful songs, sort of like turning “Amazing Grace” into a “Hey, how’s everybody doin’ tonight?” number.
Hmm - here’s the original version of Delilah:
Apparently not the singer’s favourite:
Here’s the hit version we all love:
Yeah, there was also a version by some Welsh fella, but it wasn’t much different from the original.
j
Far better than the drivel that became a huge hit.
Emmy Lou does every cover best. She has a wonderful cover of Willie’s “Crazy” and Delbert’s “Two More Bottles of Wine” among others
Anita Carter was one of the greatest country singers, up there with Patsy, Tammy, and Dolly. I never understood why she is almost an unknown. Maybe it’s because she is seen as just one of the Carter Family.
The Everly Brothers didn’t have a hit with it, but…
And I didn’t know Peter McCann (Do You Wanna Make Love?) wrote this:
In 1978, each of the four members of Kiss released eponymous solo albums on the same date. Ace Frehley (at that time, the band’s lead guitarist) hit #13 on the US Billboard chart with a song from his album, “New York Groove.” It was a cover of a 1975 release by English glam-rock group Hello; the original was a top-10 hit in England, but didn’t chart in the U.S.
Thanks for posting that link. I’ve known for a long time that someone named Steve Goodman wrote “City of New Orleans” but I didn’t know much about him (except that he died young) and I don’t think I’ve ever actually heard his version of it before.
The original “Twist and Shout” has a bit of a Surf Rock vibe.
I saw him live, at a concert in the park in college. Great show.
I had no idea at the time how influential he was.
The song “Love Of The Common People” has an interesting history and became kind of a standard, covered by acts like the Everly Brothers, Wayne Newton, Waylon Jennings and many others. The biggest hit version (at least in Europe, in the US it only reached #45) was by Paul Young in 1982, also the first version that I became famiiar with.
But the first release was as early as from 1967 by the Four Preps:
My favorite version is by the Stiff Little Fingers, recorded in the same year as the Paul Young version, which was accidental.
I was not even aware that had been any other version of this song than the Hello one.
This has lots of echoes of Ritchie Valens
The first two recordings of “The Gambler”, the second is by the songwriter.
I first knew the Nicky Thomas version - here it is:
Included for completeness and because I always assumed (and wiki kinda suggests) that the Paul Young version was inspired by it.
I never heard the original before - thank you for that - and was really surprised at how similar to it the Nicky Thomas version was.
j
…and on the subject of Pop Reggae Classics, the original version of Red Red Wine was only a very minor hit:
The worldwide hit being by UB40:
But that was actually a cover of what UB40 thought was the original, by Tony Tribe. A true Pop Reggae Classic (and one I’ve posted before):
j
It should be noted that several artists did versions of Joni Mitchell songs before she herself had ever recorded a note. Her reputation as a songwriter had people - Judy Collins, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Tom Rush, Dave Van Ronk - scrambling to do her material, and when Joni finally got into a studio she didn’t tape any of her more famous songs - Both Sides Now, The Circle Game, Chelsea Morning, Tin Angel, Urge for Going - she did those later, so you might say her versions were the covers.
Boz wrote it:
I didn’t know Frankie Valli covered it.
Rita Coolidge’s version is still best IMO.