Songs where the famous version is a cover

Started by SteveG1988, October 06, 2014, 12:32:02 PM

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spooky

Quote from: roadman65 on October 06, 2014, 05:32:09 PM
Does anyone know ig Billy Joel's Shameless was  more popular by Mr. Joel himself or after it gotten covered by Garth Brooks?  If Mr. Brooks was more popular than this would count toward this thread.

Garth's version was definitely more popular.

Another good example is "I Feel For You". It was a top 5 single for Chaka Khan, but was originally written and recorded by Prince.


Pete from Boston


Quote from: roadman65 on October 07, 2014, 01:02:00 AMHowever, I do not see George Harrison's My Sweet Lord as a cover to the Chiffon's He's So Fine as some dumb judge
     says so where George Harrison had to pay out royalties to the writer of He's So Fine before he died.  The two songs
     are somewhat a like, but not exactly as the court system has you believe.

First of all, the court system?  it was a single judge.  You say that like there's a pervasive pattern in the courts of ruling "My Sweet Lord" is derivative of "He's So Fine." 

Secondly, did someone say it was a cover version?  It's preposterous to even frame it that way. 

FWIW, "He's So Fine" was on in a store the other day, and I immediately caught myself singing "And I really want to know you...."  they are really similar.  It's hard for me to disagree that it's derivative at the least, regardless of the intent or motivation. 

US71

Quote from: SteveG1988 on October 07, 2014, 06:49:51 AM
There are two versions of Telstar

First performed by The Tornados in 1962 it #1 on the billboard hot 100.

That is the version I'm familiar with. This is the first time I've heard the Ventures' version.  I'm more familiar with Walk, Don't Run, Pipeline and their cover of Hawaii Five-O
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amroad17

Here is one song, recorded in three different decades, that went to #1 twice and #3 once.  It's called "The Loco-Motion."

   -1962 by Little Eva (#1)
   -1974 by Grand Funk Railroad (#1)
   -1988 by Kylie Minogue (#3)

My favorite version is the one recorded by Grand Funk Railroad.

"Act Naturally" was first recorded by Buck Owens in 1963, then recorded by the Beatles in 1965, although the one recorded by Buck Owens was more popular on the charts.
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amroad17

Quote from: Pete from Boston on October 07, 2014, 08:04:13 AM

Quote from: roadman65 on October 07, 2014, 01:02:00 AMHowever, I do not see George Harrison's My Sweet Lord as a cover to the Chiffon's He's So Fine as some dumb judge
     says so where George Harrison had to pay out royalties to the writer of He's So Fine before he died.  The two songs
     are somewhat a like, but not exactly as the court system has you believe.

First of all, the court system?  it was a single judge.  You say that like there's a pervasive pattern in the courts of ruling "My Sweet Lord" is derivative of "He's So Fine." 

Secondly, did someone say it was a cover version?  It's preposterous to even frame it that way. 

FWIW, "He's So Fine" was on in a store the other day, and I immediately caught myself singing "And I really want to know you...."  they are really similar.  It's hard for me to disagree that it's derivative at the least, regardless of the intent or motivation.
With so much music for us to listen to, there are many instances where different songs sound the same.  One of my favorite examples is the melodies of both "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Werewolves of London".  They are very similar.  In fact, Kid Rock recorded "All Summer Long" which used a "mash up" of both songs.
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roadman65

Shaggy on his hit song Angel uses two different songs to put to his beat.

I think they are running out of songs to write so now covers and mixed covers are the thing.

NE 2 just pointed out how rappers are using other hit songs with the Original artists as a bed while they rap over it in another music related thread.
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Sheryl Crowe

Pete from Boston

Covering and sampling are fundamentally different.

hbelkins

Somebody mentioned Metallica. They've done a crapload of covers that are probably more well known than the original. "Whiskey In The Jar," anyone?


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mgk920

#58
Taco's Puttin' On the Ritz (1983) was a cover of a song that was first published by Irving Berlin in 1929 and recorded numerous times in the decade or two since then.  Interestingly, Berlin was still alive when Taco released his version, making him (then 95) the oldest living songwriter to ever hit the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart (peaked at #4).  Berlin had outlived his copyright on the song, based on the law as it had existed at that time.

Mike

hbelkins

Quote from: hbelkins on October 06, 2014, 09:08:47 PM
Speaking of medleys, the album rock station in my area (WKQQ-FM in Lexington) used to play "Livin' Lovin' Maid" and "Ramble On" as a medley back in the vinyl days. When they switched over to CDs, the medley became "Hearbreaker" and "Livin' Lovin' Maid." I always wondered why.

Holy cow ... I posted practically the same thing two and a half years ago...

https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=6067.msg133296#msg133296

Quote from: hbelkins on February 02, 2012, 03:27:51 PM
Back in the days of vinyl, the area's album rock station (WKQQ-FM in Lexington, then 98.1, now 100.1) played "Living Loving Maid" and "Ramble On" as a medley.

When they went to CDs, it became "Heartbreaker" and "Living Loving Maid."

Not sure why they made that change.


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

Pete from Boston


Quote from: mgk920 on October 07, 2014, 11:24:08 AM
Taco's Puttin' On the Ritz (1983) was a cover of a song that was first published by Irving Berlin in 1929 and recorded numerous times in the decade or two since then.  Interestingly, Berlin was still alive when Taco released his version, making him (then 95) the oldest living songwriter to ever hit the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart (peaked at #4).  Berlin had outlived his copyright on the song, based on the law as it had existed at that time.

Mike

Holy crap, Taco!  You're like some kind of time machine genius.  He was banished from our collective memory by 1985 or 86. 

This song happened around when Diamond Dave put out his "Just a Gigolo" single, which probably remains the best-known version of the song to many.

Henry

#61
Another flashback to 1992: Mariah Carey's live performance of I'll Be There would soon surpass the Jackson 5 original (1972, I believe), and six years later, she made a better version of I Still Believe, which was originally recorded by an oscure 80s artist named Brenda Starr or something like that (my mind is very foggy, correct me if I'm wrong).

Too bad we can't include sampled songs, because Will Smith (of DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince fame) had lots of hits that sampled older songs, such as Gettin' Jiggy Wit It (which borrowed the melody from Sister Sledge's He's the Greatest Dancer), Men in Black (Patrice Rushen's Forget Me Nots) and Will 2K (The Clash's Rock the Casbah).
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DandyDan

Quote from: hbelkins on October 07, 2014, 11:21:14 AM
Somebody mentioned Metallica. They've done a crapload of covers that are probably more well known than the original. "Whiskey In The Jar," anyone?
Metallica's cover album was Garage Inc.  Some of it was rereleasing The Garage Days Re-Revisited EP, but there was a lot of other stuff on there.  A lot of it is stuff by bands I never would have heard of without them playing it.  On their 2 disc set, the only songs I can say for sure they didn't do the best known version are "Turn the Page" by Bob Seger and "Tuesday's Gone" by Lynyrd Skynyrd.
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spooky

Quote from: DandyDan on October 08, 2014, 06:55:58 AM
Quote from: hbelkins on October 07, 2014, 11:21:14 AM
Somebody mentioned Metallica. They've done a crapload of covers that are probably more well known than the original. "Whiskey In The Jar," anyone?
Metallica's cover album was Garage Inc.  Some of it was rereleasing The Garage Days Re-Revisited EP, but there was a lot of other stuff on there.  A lot of it is stuff by bands I never would have heard of without them playing it.  On their 2 disc set, the only songs I can say for sure they didn't do the best known version are "Turn the Page" by Bob Seger and "Tuesday's Gone" by Lynyrd Skynyrd.

I would add "Stone Cold Crazy" to that list.

elsmere241

Quote from: 6a on October 06, 2014, 06:22:09 PM
I don't know if the argument could be made that Joni Mitchell's Big Yellow Taxi is *less* popular than the cover by Counting Crows & Vanessa Carlton, but try finding someone under 30 who doesn't think those versions are reversed.

The first version I remember hearing is Amy Grant's from the mid-1990s.

elsmere241

Quote from: Brian556 on October 06, 2014, 08:08:45 PM
Quote from atohi:
Quote
Celine Dion also covered "Power of Love," which was originally done by Jennifer Rush in 1984.

Air Supply also did "The Power of Love".

So did Laura Brannigan in the late 1980s - the first version I remember hearing.

Pete from Boston


Quote from: elsmere241 on October 08, 2014, 10:54:00 AM
Quote from: 6a on October 06, 2014, 06:22:09 PM
I don't know if the argument could be made that Joni Mitchell's Big Yellow Taxi is *less* popular than the cover by Counting Crows & Vanessa Carlton, but try finding someone under 30 who doesn't think those versions are reversed.

The first version I remember hearing is Amy Grant's from the mid-1990s.

I would argue based purely on my own experience that the Amy Grant version got more airplay than the Counting Crows version never did, but admittedly, outlets for these songs rarely reach my years by my own doing, so I may not be the best judge.  Or maybe that makes me the perfect judge.

Doctor Whom

"Hush" by Billy Joe Royal, covered by every band and its cat, but the most famous is by Deep Purple.

agentsteel53

Quote from: Pete from Boston on October 08, 2014, 12:51:04 PM

Quote from: elsmere241 on October 08, 2014, 10:54:00 AM
Quote from: 6a on October 06, 2014, 06:22:09 PM
I don't know if the argument could be made that Joni Mitchell's Big Yellow Taxi is *less* popular than the cover by Counting Crows & Vanessa Carlton, but try finding someone under 30 who doesn't think those versions are reversed.

The first version I remember hearing is Amy Grant's from the mid-1990s.

I would argue based purely on my own experience that the Amy Grant version got more airplay than the Counting Crows version never did, but admittedly, outlets for these songs rarely reach my years by my own doing, so I may not be the best judge.  Or maybe that makes me the perfect judge.

I grew up very, very familiar with the Joni Mitchell version and do not recall hearing any other until a few years ago, when I heard a version with what sounded like Auto-Tune in it (!) and I thought to myself, "well, someone surely missed the point, didn't they?"
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roadman65

Both Sides Now was made more famous by Judy Collins than by Joni Mitchell.

I wish I could say Eat It by Weird Al was more popular than Beat It, but they do not call Michael Jackson The King of Pop for nothing.

Because The Night was made more famous by Patty Smith (not Smythe) than Bruce Springsteen.

Downtown Train was made more famous by Rod Stewart than both Tom Waits (the original) and Patty Smythe who covered it with Scandal in the 80's later on.
Every day is a winding road, you just got to get used to it.

Sheryl Crowe

Pete from Boston

"Because the Night" had yet another life as a 10,000 Maniacs song. 

SidS1045

Chan Romero's Hippy Hippy Shake was covered first by the Beatles, and later by the Swinging Blue Jeans (another Liverpool group), who had the hit version.  Billy Stewart's cover of George and Ira Gershwin's Summertime was a top-10 hit.

And let's not forget an all-too-common practice in the 1950's:  "cover" versions by white singers of records made originally by black artists.  Time and time again black singers would be robbed of performance and airplay payments by the white singers who stole the songs because the major record labels were convinced that the public didn't want to hear the black versions.  Thanks to some radio personalities like Alan Freed, who refused to play the covers, the practice eventually died off.
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Pete from Boston


Quote from: SidS1045 on October 08, 2014, 08:29:06 PM
Chan Romero's Hippy Hippy Shake was covered first by the Beatles, and later by the Swinging Blue Jeans (another Liverpool group), who had the hit version.  Billy Stewart's cover of George and Ira Gershwin's Summertime was a top-10 hit.

And let's not forget an all-too-common practice in the 1950's:  "cover" versions by white singers of records made originally by black artists.  Time and time again black singers would be robbed of performance and airplay payments by the white singers who stole the songs because the major record labels were convinced that the public didn't want to hear the black versions.  Thanks to some radio personalities like Alan Freed, who refused to play the covers, the practice eventually died off.

I posted about this upthread.  I didn't know Freed helped abate the practice, though.  Good for him.

national highway 1

Fight For You, originally sung by Stevie Hoang and Iyaz, the Jason Derulo version is the better-known version.
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Pete from Boston

Harry Nilsson won a Grammy with "Without You," a song by the illustrious Badfinger, but which he assumed was The Beatles' until he went to record it. 

Nilsson was on the other side of this (sort of) when his song "One (is the Loneliest Number)," which was originally recorded by someone else, was made a hit with a cover by Three Dog Night.  I believe this also earned a Grammy.



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