The most dynamic cover of any song may be Nazareth’s version of Joni Mitchell’s “This Flight Tonight” or even CSNY’s “Woodstock”
There’s also “Love Hurts” originally recorded by The Everly Brothers and then Roy Orbison then later by Nazareth Jim Capaldi and Cher.
More surprisingly, he wrote one of Barry Manilow’s biggest hits:
“I Write the Songs” was written by Bruce Johnston of the Beach Boys and originally recorded by The Captain & Tenielle. But it will always be associated with Barry Manilow.
A friend once said “Whiskey in the Jar is a Metallica song, but did you know it’s a cover of a Thin Lizzy song?” I replied “Thin Lizzy? Dude, it was the Dubliners in the 60s.”
Turns out, it’s been done since the 17th century! We were way off!
Cat Steven’s “Morning Has Broken” is actually a popular and well-known Christian hymn first published in 1931. It has words by English author Eleanor Farjeon and is set to a traditional Gaelic tune known as “Bunessan.” It also shares this tune with the 19th century Christmas Carol “Child in the Manger.”
This happens a lot- remember Taco, the Dutch New Wave singer who had a big hit with “Putting on the Ritz”?
He was constantly having to tell kids, “Uh, no, I didn’t write that one. Irving Berlin wrote it fifty years ago.”
Ah, damn you! God damn you all the hell!
Thanks for bringing that up, It’ll be stuck in my head all day! :eek:
This reminds me of several tunes that have Barry Manilow did where he rewrote lyrics to songs by Claude Francois (a very popular French singer of the 60’s and 70’s). Mandy is one; can’t recall Claude’s title. Also the song “Oh What a Night” is a rewrite of another Claude song called “Cette Anne La” (loosely translates as “That Year”). In both cases the Claude Francois song lyrics are less treachly than the covers…
Fannie Brice’s iconic rendition of My Man was a cover of Mistinguett’s song Mon Homme, first recorded in 1916.
Excuse Me? Oh What A Night was written by original Four Seasons keyboard player Bob Gaudio and his future wife Judy Parker, produced by Gaudio, and included on the group’s 1975 album, Who Loves You. The Claude song was a cover, and was further covered by Yannick in an absolutely astonishing rap version.
Once again, let’s verify who’s covering whom.
Wow! After doing some mindless surfing I discovered Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” was originally released by Robert Hazard, while IMHO superior to her version, still not my cup of tea.
It’s a cover of Van Morrison’s Gloria with a few lines from Patti Smith’s poem Oath added.
Yeah, I saw them in concert with Prieboy as the opener. He closed with Tomorrow Wendy which I thought he was just doing as an homage to Concrete Blonde about to come on stage. After the show I bought his CD and discovered he wrote it. His version is excellent.
There have been many Dylan written-songs covered that I had no idea he wrote. Coming to mind, All along the Watchtower (Hendrix) and Highway 61 (PJ Harvey).
“Nothing Compares 2 U” is a Sinead O’Connor cover of a tune that Prince wrote for The Family, a band he apparently had a hand in putting together and signed on his record label. Sinead’s version is highly superior to the original, IMHO.
I remember hearing Stevie Nicks with Fleetwood Mac singing “Landslide” and thinking she could be really famous if she kept the good work up. 
The Carpenters’ “Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft” (Youtube here) was a cover of the same song, written and recorded by Klaatu on the 3:47 EST album (Youtube here).
Peter Boyle and Gene Wilder weren’t the originals?
Reported.
Sparky812, “All The Young Dudes” as done by Mott The Hoople was written by David Bowie.
That’s true, but the Mott version was the first recorded and released version, making it the original. Bowie didn’t record a version until over a year later.