Songs where the famous version is a cover

[roadman65]

Mariah Carey did Nilsson's Without You and did well with it.  Her voice can carry all the octaves in that song to make it great.

On another cover song hit, Carey also did well with the Jackson Five's I'll Be There with Trevon.

[spooky]

Mariah Carey did Nilsson's Without You and did well with it.  Her voice can carry all the octaves in that song to make it great.

On another cover song hit, Carey also did well with the Jackson Five's I'll Be There with Trevon.

Trevon?

[Dr Frankenstein]

There seems to be a lot of people who think that The Man Who Sold The World is from Nirvana and not David Bowie.

Rascal Flatts' version of Life Is A Highway seems to get a lot of play on some stations ever since it came out with the Cars movie in 2006, compared to the original by Tom Cochrane.

Also, here's a list. http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CoveredUp

[Pete from Boston]

The Toni Basil song "Mickey" is well known, but it's less well known that it's a cover of "Kitty" by Racey, from a few years before:

http://youtu.be/aLDr5bdAhkc

Listening to the original, it makes much more sense stylistically as British New Wave.  It just sounds more... right. 

[SteveG1988]

Here is an odd one, a cover that is really just the original recording interpolated with covers of songs from the studio's library done in the same style.

Baroque Hoedown, 1967. Jean-Jacques Perrey and Gershon Kingsley

1972, Walt Disney's Main Street Electrical Parade.

[Pete from Boston]

I heard Talk Talk's "It's My Life" on the radio the other day and immediately thought of this thread.  While they were both hits, I think No Doubt's 2003 cover version has probably superseded it in airplay and the collective consciousness. 

[Stephane Dumas]

"Love Hurts" writen by Boudleaux Bryant and it was first recorded by the Everly Brothers in 1961 was completely eclipsed by the cover made in rock ballad by Nazareth.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFE2SnliiV0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soDZBW-1P04

[Pete from Boston]

Good one.  I didn't know that until Phil Everly died and there were tons of retrospectives on the radio.

[hm insulators]

One of my favorite Judas Priest songs is their live version of a Joan Baez song called "Diamonds and Rust."

Speaking of Joan Baez, her hit version of "The Night They Drove ol' Dixie Down" was a remake of a song by The Band. I was nine when that song was a hit in 1971 and it used to puzzle me why the hell Joan Baez was singing about her "wife from Tennessee."

[jwolfer]

Dolly parton makes a ton of money off the Whitney Houston version

[jwolfer]

"Wagon wheel" was originally done by Old Crow Medicine Show I like it much better than Darius Rucker. DR version is to country poppy, not horrible. The DR version had much more commercial success. But OCMS is much better IMO.

Bob Dylan wrote the chorus for a movie in 1968, Keith Secor from OCMS wrote the lyrics around it. Thats why writing credit is Dylan and Secoe

[amroad17]

I heard Talk Talk's "It's My Life" on the radio the other day and immediately thought of this thread.  While they were both hits, I think No Doubt's 2003 cover version has probably superseded it in airplay and the collective consciousness.

I actually prefer Talk Talk's version.

[Stephane Dumas]

"Come and get your love" who was a one-hit wonder from Redbone was covered in eurodance version by the Real McCoys who had reached #1 at the Billboard dance chart. Note then the original version got a new breath in popularity thanks of being part of the soundtrack of the movie "Guardians of the Galaxy".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7eloXr2iak
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kctlBvsaFuE

[roadman65]

Rod Stewart made many successes doing other people's songs.  I said it once before, but Robbie Robertson's Broken Arrow was not only made a hit, but noticed as well by Mr. Stewart as Robertson's version was one of those "other' albums songs that was not created on the album to be a hit.

There is We're Having A Party as well, done before which I would like to say Southside Johnny did first, but I believe it might of been done even before the Jersey artist. 

[Pete from Boston]

Sam Cooke's original of "Having a Party" is arguably better known than Southside's version.   

[hbelkins]

Just wondering: Did anyone ever record Shel Silverstein's "A Boy Named Sue" before Johnny Cash made it famous?

[US71]

Elvis's "It's Now of Never" on a technicality: I think the words may have been changed.

[hbelkins]

"Black Betty" was not an original composition of any of the members of Ram Jam. It's been recorded many times by many artists, yet their 1977 version is the biggest hit and is the only one I've ever heard.

[Stephane Dumas]

Richard Harris, peformed the song "MacArthur Park" who was written by Jimmy Webb but it was completely eclipsed by the disco version of Donna Summer. However, the original version was parodied by Weird Al Yankovic under the title "Jurrasic Park"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPMpeNDIGdk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6H0BD2eWIww
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gh4zvQfDhi0

[Pete from Boston]

Funny, I think of Richard Harris when I think of this song.  His is the only version I hear.

[ARMOURERERIC]

"Blinded by the Light," by Manfred Mann. Originally by Bruce Springsteen.

*shrug* As a Springsteen fan, that's debatable to me. I was raised on the original, and never heard Manfred Mann's version until I was into my 20s. Although I realize that's anecdata and doesn't actually speak to which one's more famous.

On the opposite side, "Jersey Girl". Written by Tom Waits, but in my eyes, has to be a considered Springsteen song.

I like Springsteen's better as well.

[roadman65]

Sam Cooke's original of "Having a Party" is arguably better known than Southside's version.   

Southside only got exposure in NY - NJ among the now defunct WNEW, the original WPLJ when it was Rock, and I believe other regional stations mostly because Southside was from the NY Metro Area.

You know something really interesting, when I first heard The Righteous Brothers doing You've Lost That Lovin  on Howard Stern when he actually was a DJ on the now defunct 66 WNBC, I actually thought that Mr. Stern was actually playing Hall & Oates version of the song as a slow speed.  Remember, the old turntables with its variable speeds, where if you played a 45 RPM record at 33 RPM (the 12 Inch disc speed)? It sounded like a man with a deep voice as it was in slow motion sound.  Being that Howard Stern has his sense of humor that got him famous, I though he was doing it to be funny.  Then I learned that Bill Medley has a deep slow motion type of voice  along with the song being done at a slower speed than the Philly duo played it at ,and that Hall & Oates actually covered the song.  I guess Hall and Oates made famous once again the original version that Stern decided to play it as he must of took his job somewhat seriously at first.

Also another interesting story is when Mellencamp first came out with I Need A Lover, I was unsure who was singing it.  So I askied my friend Frank who sung that song being a DJ at a skating rink he would know the song.  His reply was " Pat Benetar" in which I though he was nuts at the time.  I said yeah whatever" to him and later found out it was Mellencamp when he was Cougar and that also Pat Benetar also did the song as a cover which would make sense to why Frank responded with "Pat Benetar" at the time.  He, no doubt, knew that it was indeed a cover.

I believe that Pat Benetar did not go well with her version as it to this day is never played, or at least in these markets over on the east coast.

[1995hoo]

Funny, I heard Pat Benatar's version on the radio last week. I only listened briefly before saying "Mellencamp's is better" and changing the station.

[webfil]

Does the Bee Gees' "If I can't Have You" version count if they wrote it, but recorded it after Yvone Elliman had published hers?

[Jardine]

Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes recorded 'Don't Leave Me This Way' before Thelma Houston did.  But I'm not sure Harold's version is actually first.

Thelma had the far greater hit with the material, but I have to say, I enjoy both versions.


Maynard Ferguson did very well with his take on Theme From Rocky over the Bill Conti version.

I heard Bill Donaldson and the Heywoods do MacArthur Park before Donna Summer, but I don't know if it there version was released. (I heard them perform it on, IIRC, The Merv Griffin Show)  As for the Harris or Summer version being a bigger hit, Idunno, the Harris version was a very big hit at the time, but so was the Summer version.