# Where the well known version of a song is a cover **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 3, 2013, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-well-known-version-of-a-song-is-a-cover/651895 "2013-03-03T05:18:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MentalGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/439d5e/32.png) [@MentalGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MentalGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2013, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-well-known-version-of-a-song-is-a-cover/651895/1 "2013-03-03T05:18:47Z")
I listen to our local “classic hits” station in the mornings on the way to work. Each morning the DJ will have a “lost classic hit” that is usually some song that charted fairly high, but doesn’t get much play nowadays. This week, though, he was going to be filling in for the Saturday morning host who does an “oldies” show where they play some of the older music and often give some info about it. So he had been kind of researching some of the songs that he wanted to play. So for his “lost classic hit” a couple of days he played alternate versions of songs that are more well-known from later versions. One day he played _Love Hurts_. I was familiar with the version by [Nazareth](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soDZBW-1P04), but it was originally by the [Everly Brothers](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFE2SnliiV0) (though they never charted with it), and also was recorded by [Roy Orbison](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_J9aC7HM3k) who had a top 5 hit in Australia with it. Another day he played _Louie Louie_. Of course, everyone now is familiar with the [Kingsmen](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RZJ4ESU52U) version. But apparently on the same day that they recorded their version, in the same studio, [Paul Revere and The Raiders](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiiDbB-Ur8c) recorded the song also. The original was by [Richard Berry](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pT42ya13y4Q) from a few years earlier. I don’t normally get to hear the Saturday morning oldies show, but I heard a little bit of it this morning. On the show he played _Respect_, which immediately makes you think of [Aretha Franklin](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FOUqQt3Kg0). He played the original version by [Otis Redding](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JGJXmpKGXY), though. Anyway, I just found this interesting. What other well-known songs are actually covers of previously commercially released songs? Well, besides [Patsy Cline’s _Crazy_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OVtpnpCOKM), which I think is fairly well known as a cover of [Willie Nelson’s original](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwS6FL_WgoI). ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2013, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-well-known-version-of-a-song-is-a-cover/651895/2 "2013-03-03T05:31:18Z")
_Blinded by the Light_ was written and originally recorded by Bruce Springsteen, but all you ever hear on the radio is that awful Manfred Mann version. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2013, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-well-known-version-of-a-song-is-a-cover/651895/3 "2013-03-03T05:40:07Z")
Neil Diamond wrote “I’m a Believer,” “Lookout, Here Comes Tomorrow,” “A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You,”. The versions performed by The Monkees are what gets the play. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2013, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-well-known-version-of-a-song-is-a-cover/651895/4 "2013-03-03T05:48:28Z")
Well, how about “I Will Always Love You” written and sung by Dolly Parton about former singing partner and mentor, Porter Wagoner. The Whitney Houston version is what most people are familiar with. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2013, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-well-known-version-of-a-song-is-a-cover/651895/5 "2013-03-03T05:53:34Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > Neil Diamond wrote “I’m a Believer,” “Lookout, Here Comes Tomorrow,” “A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You,”. The versions performed by The Monkees are what gets the play. “A Little Bit Me…” was never recorded by Diamond, so isn’t really a cover, even though he wrote the song. IIRC, he did record versions of the other two songs before the Monkey’s did. Anyways, the obvious examples: **All Along the Watchtower** : originally a Dylan song, but Hendrix’s cover is so popular that Dylan’s later performances of the song sound more like Hendrix then like his own original recording. (we could probably do a whole thread of songs written by Bob Dylan that are better known through cover versions). **Nothing Compares 2 U** everyone seems to know this is oringinally Prince song, but the O’Connor cover is so popular that I don’t think I’ve ever heard the original Prince version. Doesn’t appear to be on Youtube. **Hallelujah** by Lenord Cohen has been covered to death, but pretty much all of the versions out there are pretty clearly going off the Jeff Buckley cover instead of the original. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2013, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-well-known-version-of-a-song-is-a-cover/651895/6 "2013-03-03T06:02:19Z")
Todd Rundgren and Utopia had a song that [should have been a huge hit](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPDQUp_audU). It was, [for someone else.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QZjJU-mtFU). [This is probably](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIb6AZdTr-A) the most [extreme example](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aLNwOxPsjg). ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2013, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-well-known-version-of-a-song-is-a-cover/651895/7 "2013-03-03T06:04:38Z")
Not hugely popular, I’m sure there are a few other They Might Be Giants fans around here. TMBG’s version of _New York City_ was a cover; the [original](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFKThNh5Vqk) was by a cuddlecore punk trio from Vancouver called Cub. (I saw Cub open for TMBG once and they rocked. They broke up about six months later, but I managed to track down most of their released recordings, back when doing so took actual legwork.) ---
**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:** [March 3, 2013, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-well-known-version-of-a-song-is-a-cover/651895/8 "2013-03-03T06:19:16Z")
“Piece of My Heart” is so inextricably associated with Janis Joplin (even though the actual credited artist was Big Brother and the Holding Company) that few realize that Erma Franklin recorded it first. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2013, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-well-known-version-of-a-song-is-a-cover/651895/9 "2013-03-03T06:20:03Z")
I listen to a weekly radio show called “Crap from the Past,” hosted by Ron “Boogiemonster” Gerber at a community-run station in Minneapolis. He bills it as a graduate-level course in pop music, because he plays all sorts of obscurities. He devoted a couple episodes to this very topic. Here are those episodes (complete with playlists): ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2013, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-well-known-version-of-a-song-is-a-cover/651895/10 "2013-03-03T06:23:16Z")
Pete Ham and Tom Evans of Badfinger wrote Without You and [Badfinger recorded it](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnb5JeK1hOo). But, the [cover by Harry Nilsson](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATg8CdRD68E) is the one we remember. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2013, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-well-known-version-of-a-song-is-a-cover/651895/11 "2013-03-03T06:38:17Z")
I’m surprised it hasn’t been mentioned yet, but, as we all know, I Shot The Sheriff is a Bob Marley song. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2013, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-well-known-version-of-a-song-is-a-cover/651895/12 "2013-03-03T06:40:16Z")
_Crossroads_ (or _Cross Road Blues_) by Robert Johnson and covered by Cream. _Twist and Shout_ written by Phil Medley and Bertrand Russell Berns, covered by a few bands but obviously The Beatles version is the most famous. I think it’s safe to say that _Alabama Song_ by The Doors is more famous than Weill’s and Brecht’s version in the 1930 opera Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny. I’m way more familiar with CCR’s version of _Heard it Through the Grapevine_ than I am with Marvin Gaye’s version, although it was written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong and also recorded by other artists. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2013, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-well-known-version-of-a-song-is-a-cover/651895/13 "2013-03-03T06:40:51Z")
Randy Newman had more hits by other people than by himself. [Three Dog Night - Mama Told Me (Not To Come)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkM7uWBjUrI) [Joe Cocker - You Can Leave Your Hat On](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMTu86K-IhI) ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2013, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-well-known-version-of-a-song-is-a-cover/651895/14 "2013-03-03T06:44:03Z")
From Wikipedia _[Mah Nà Mah Nà](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mah_N%C3%A0_Mah_N%C3%A0)" is a popular song written by Piero Umiliani. It originally appeared in the Italian film Sweden: Heaven and Hell (Svezia, Inferno E Paradiso). It was a minor radio hit in the U.S. and in Britain, but became better known in English-speaking countries from its use in the 14th episode of Sesame Street,[1] the first episode of The Muppet Show, and also from its consistent use as the primary silent comedy sketch scene music for The Benny Hill Show._ ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2013, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-well-known-version-of-a-song-is-a-cover/651895/15 "2013-03-03T06:45:18Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > “Piece of My Heart” is so inextricably associated with Janis Joplin (even though the actual credited artist was Big Brother and the Holding Company) that few realize that Erma Franklin recorded it first. Likewise, _Me and Bobby McGee_ was written and performed by Kris Kristopherson. Tina Turner’s\* Proud Mary\* is a Creedence Clearwater Revival cover. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2013, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-well-known-version-of-a-song-is-a-cover/651895/16 "2013-03-03T06:46:41Z")
Here’s the original version of [I Think We’re Alone Now](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkMFLUXTEwM). ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2013, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-well-known-version-of-a-song-is-a-cover/651895/17 "2013-03-03T06:47:40Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > From Wikipedia > > _[Mah Nà Mah Nà](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mah_N%C3%A0_Mah_N%C3%A0)" is a popular song written by Piero Umiliani. It originally appeared in the Italian film Sweden: Heaven and Hell (Svezia, Inferno E Paradiso). It was a minor radio hit in the U.S. and in Britain, but became better known in English-speaking countries from its use in the 14th episode of Sesame Street,[1] the first episode of The Muppet Show, and also from its consistent use as the primary silent comedy sketch scene music for The Benny Hill Show._ My brain has never connected this as the same song used by Benny Hill and by The Muppets, although I certainly get it now. Weird. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2013, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-well-known-version-of-a-song-is-a-cover/651895/18 "2013-03-03T06:59:05Z")
“Tainted Love” was originally recorded by [Gloria Jones](http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x80k9j_gloria-jones-tainted-love-1964_music#.UTL0JzdOIZ4) in 1964. It didn’t really go anywhere until Soft Cell covered it in 1981. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2013, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-well-known-version-of-a-song-is-a-cover/651895/19 "2013-03-03T07:15:28Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > “Tainted Love” was originally recorded by [Gloria Jones](http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x80k9j_gloria-jones-tainted-love-1964_music#.UTL0JzdOIZ4) in 1964. It didn’t really go anywhere until Soft Cell covered it in 1981. Wow. Just wow. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2013, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-well-known-version-of-a-song-is-a-cover/651895/20 "2013-03-03T07:19:12Z")
Linda Ronstadt’s version of Warren Zevon’s “Poor Poor Pitiful Me” is much better known than the original. Technically, “Tomorrow, Wendy” by Concrete Blonde is a cover of an Andy Prieboy song but Concrete Blonde’s version was released first. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-well-known-version-of-a-song-is-a-cover/651895.md?page=2)