Songs where the famous version is a cover

[1995hoo]

Thanks to an unbelievably annoying series of TV commercials, a bunch of kids are going to know "Holiday Road" as an advertising jingle rather than as Lindsay Buckingham's song from the "Vacation" movies. 

[20160805]

Thanks to an unbelievably annoying series of TV commercials, a bunch of kids are going to know "Holiday Road" as an advertising jingle rather than as Lindsay Buckingham's song from the "Vacation" movies. 

Interestingly, the verse in that commercial is 4 lines long (2 sung by a male and 2 sung by a female), whereas in the actual song, the verses are only 2 lines long.

[mgk920]

Thanks to an unbelievably annoying series of TV commercials, a bunch of kids are going to know "Holiday Road" as an advertising jingle rather than as Lindsay Buckingham's song from the "Vacation" movies. 

The same thing with oodles of other iconic songs from before they were born.

<sigh....>



Mike

[D-Dey65]

This thread hasn't been active in 2 1/2 years, but since I just found out about it, I have to throw a couple of songs in.

"Take Me To the River," by The Talking Heads was originally by Al Green. The original rarely get any airplay on the radio.

"Police On My Back," by The Clash is far more well known than when it was originally sung by The Equals. In fact I remember some kid introducing me to the song, and I knew it was a cover tune, but I forgot who did it. He insisted it was a brand new song. I had no proof until I saw a liner note on a CD Box set specifically crediting the Equals for the song. Since then I listen to the original more than The Clash's version, and everybody else does the opposite.

[kevinb1994]

This thread hasn't been active in 2 1/2 years, but since I just found out about it, I have to throw a couple of songs in.

"Take Me To the River," by The Talking Heads was originally by Al Green. The original rarely get any airplay on the radio.

"Police On My Back," by The Clash is far more well known than when it was originally sung by The Equals. In fact I remember some kid introducing me to the song, and I knew it was a cover tune, but I forgot who did it. He insisted it was a brand new song. I had no proof until I saw a liner note on a CD Box set specifically crediting the Equals for the song. Since then I listen to the original more than The Clash's version, and everybody else does the opposite.

Did you know that Foghat also did a cover of that Al Green song?

[Ned Weasel]

Did anyone mention "The Man Who Sold the World?"  Everybody knows it's a David Bowie song, but everybody knows the Nirvana version.  And even though everybody knows the "Unplugged" version, they also did this:

https://youtu.be/iz3tmYDl6XI

I also like this performance Beck and the surviving members of Nirvana did in tribute to David Bowie:

https://youtu.be/ScUOspWnYnk

Nirvana's version of "Love Buzz" from the late 80s probably gets heard more often the original by Shocking Blue:

https://youtu.be/5x4DExYv35c

Things like this happen when when a band gets so famous, it's practically second only to the Beatles.  Speaking of which, here's everybody who's still alive except Ringo and Nirvana's earlier drummers, doing a new song:

https://youtu.be/7a8j_LEryAs

[index]

Battle of New Orleans. Most famous version is of course by Johnny Horton.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Pat Benatar's "We Belong" is a cover of a song written by a fairly obscure Los Angeles folk duo. Pat and Neil Giraldo like to pretend publicly that the song was entirely theirs.

[Hwy 61 Revisited]

Pat Benatar's "We Belong" is a cover of a song written by a fairly obscure Los Angeles folk duo. Pat and Neil Giraldo like to pretend publicly that the song was entirely theirs.

Pat made her career off covers. Her version of "You Better Run" was the second song ever played on MTV (some critics called it the first "proper" song, which I interpreted as MTV paying the Bungles to make "Video Killed the Radio Star").

[kphoger]

Another one that nobody has mentioned yet is Quiet Riot's (Come) On Feel the Noize (1983), a cover of a song that was originally released by in 1973 by the British act Slade.

Mike

Quiet Riot had a thing for covering Slade.  Mama Weer all Crazee Now was also a Slade song.

Actually, the leader of Quiet Riot didn't want to cover Cum On Feel the Noize, because (1) he wasn't crazy about Slade's music and (2) he wanted the album to be all original songs.  It was the producer who suggested they do the cover, because Quiet Riot's music wasn't catching on in the USA and the Slade song was a hit in other countries.  He figured it would be a pretty safe bet for them to cover it, and hopefully their version would catch on here and boost sales of their upcoming album.

After discussing the matter, the band members decided to play the song, but to do a terrible job at it, in expectation that the producer then wouldn't want to release it.  So they never practiced the song, nor even requested permission from Slade to cover it.  The producer would call every so often and ask how Cum On Feel the Noize was coming along, and they would lie by saying it was starting to sound really good.  They didn't fess up to the producer until they were in the studio ready to record.

Everyone was laughing about it–except the producer, probably–and the drummer eventually just decided to start playing because, well, someone had to.  (Notice that the Slade version has no drum intro.)  One by one, then, the other instruments joined in.  Because the band hadn't practiced, they weren't too familiar with the order of the song, so they skipped a verse or a chorus or something along the way.  This whole time, the lead singer was busting a gut laughing in the corner of the recording studio.

After the take was over, the producer played it back and the lead singer was a little angry–because it actually turned out good, and that's not what they had decided on.  The band joked that maybe he could still at least sing it badly.  Anyway, they then added the vocal track, and the song became VH1's 80th best one hit wonder of all time.  It was only after recording the song that they got permission from Slade to cover it.

Even though Slade got some increased popularity due to Quiet Riot's cover of their song, Slade was still pretty bitter about the success of the cover version.  In fact, one day, Quiet Riot's drummer ran into Slade's bassist while shopping and extended his hand in thanks for letting them cover the song.  Slade's bassist turned around, walked out of the store, and left his hand hanging midair.

[Brandon]

Pat Benatar's "We Belong" is a cover of a song written by a fairly obscure Los Angeles folk duo. Pat and Neil Giraldo like to pretend publicly that the song was entirely theirs.

Pat made her career off covers. Her version of "You Better Run" was the second song ever played on MTV (some critics called it the first "proper" song, which I interpreted as MTV paying the Bungles Buggles to make "Video Killed the Radio Star").

"Video Killed the Radio Star" by the Buggles dates from 1979, two years before MTV even got on the air.  It was chosen by MTV for a rather obvious reason for their first video.

[cwf1701]

Elton John's version of "Pinball Wizard" is better known than the version done by The Who. Elton John version was done for the movie based on the Who's rock opera Tommy.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Elton John's version of "Pinball Wizard" is better known than the version done by The Who. Elton John version was done for the movie based on the Who's rock opera Tommy.

I don't agree with this; the original Who version is the one that gets the airplay.

[SEWIGuy]

Elton John's version of "Pinball Wizard" is better known than the version done by The Who.

Uh...no it's not.

[sparker]

Elton John's version of "Pinball Wizard" is better known than the version done by The Who.

Uh...no it's not.

For a while, the Rod Stewart version from the LSO/Tommy (1972) album received a lot of airplay, eclipsing the 1969 Who original recording -- but it wasn't a real issue, as Daltrey and Townshend were intimately involved in the album's production, with Daltrey reprising his vocals of Tommy himself.   Some critics prefer Stewart's version over both the original and Elton John's later film-included version.  Myself, I'm torn -- generally I lean toward originalism with music -- but Stewart sang the hell out of that song!

[D-Dey65]

Did anyone mention "The Man Who Sold the World?"  Everybody knows it's a David Bowie song, but everybody knows the Nirvana version.  And even though everybody knows the "Unplugged" version, they also did this:

https://youtu.be/iz3tmYDl6XI

I also like this performance Beck and the surviving members of Nirvana did in tribute to David Bowie:

https://youtu.be/ScUOspWnYnk

Hole, and a few other lesser known bands did covers of that song, though I can't find those right now.

I used to speculate that record companies got certain grunge bands to do covers of it as a means of coming out of the closet as either gay or bisexual.

[SEWIGuy]

I don't know if this was mentioned, but "The First Cut is the Deepest" was originally a high tempo Cat Stevens' song.

But much less famous, than the slower Rod Stewart and Sheryl Crow versions.

[ethanhopkin14]

The poster children for this category could very well be the Carpenters. In a sense, they were really a cover group and repackaging outfit–even when it comes to the songs that people identify as being "theirs" .

Relatively unknown versions of "(They Long to Be) Close to You"  were recorded by Dionne Warwick (1963), Richard Chamberlain (1963), Dusty Springfield (1964), and songwriter Burt Bacharach himself (1968)–and a truly awful version sung by Herb Alpert–all before the song became a #1 hit for the Carpenters in 1970.

Their signature song, "We've Only Just Begun" , was recorded by the song's lyricist, Paul Williams, for a Crocker National Bank commercial, which is how Richard Carpenter first heard the song.

"For All We Know" , "Superstar" , "Hurting Each Other" , "It's Going to Take Some Time" , "Sing" , "I Won't Last a Day Without You" –all are best known as Carpenters songs, and all are covers.

Anne Murry and Joe Cocker are also examples of this. 

Both made a career of doing covers, but in a way most people thought their version was the version
"With a Little Help From my Friends"
"She Came in Through the Bathroom Window"
"The Letter"
"You are so Beautiful"

[ethanhopkin14]

Bob Dylan: (first the song, then the famous cover)

"Knocking on Heaven's Door" Guns n Roses
"My Back Pages" "Mr. Tambourine Man" The Byrds
"All Along the Watchtower" Jimmi Hendrix
"To Make you Feel My Love" Billy Joel, Garth Brooks, Adel
"Everything is Broken" Kenny Wayne Shepherd
"The Times They are a Changin" Peter, Paul and Mary
"Girl From the North County" Jonny Cash
"Wagon Wheel" Old Crow Medicine Show, Darius Rucker

And people wonder why I don't understand why there is even a discussion on who the best songwriter ever is.  The man is the best.

[kphoger]

"Girl From the North County" Jonny Cash

I like the version where they sing together.

"Wagon Wheel" Old Crow Medicine Show, Darius Rucker

That was only co-written by Dylan.  It was never actually released by Dylan, and the Old Crow Medicine Show version doesn't even use Dylan's verses.

[ethanhopkin14]

"Girl From the North County" Jonny Cash

I like the version where they sing together.

"Wagon Wheel" Old Crow Medicine Show, Darius Rucker

That was only co-written by Dylan.  It was never actually released by Dylan, and the Old Crow Medicine Show version doesn't even use Dylan's verses.

I know, but I still think of it as a Bob Dylan song.  It wasn't really co written, it was unfinished by Bob Dylan that Old Crow Medicine Show finished.

[sparker]

For a brief moment back around 1989, Guns 'N Roses' cover of McCartney's Live and Let Die got a ton of airplay (even though Axl Rose's vocals sound like he was being strangled during the chorus) -- but that version has been noticeably absent from commercial radio since about 1994 or so.  Of course, the original McC & Wings version (with George Martin orchestration) was always definitive. 

[hbelkins]

Another one that nobody has mentioned yet is Quiet Riot's (Come) On Feel the Noize (1983), a cover of a song that was originally released by in 1973 by the British act Slade.

Mike

Quiet Riot had a thing for covering Slade.  Mama Weer all Crazee Now was also a Slade song.

Actually, the leader of Quiet Riot didn't want to cover Cum On Feel the Noize, because (1) he wasn't crazy about Slade's music and (2) he wanted the album to be all original songs.  It was the producer who suggested they do the cover, because Quiet Riot's music wasn't catching on in the USA and the Slade song was a hit in other countries.  He figured it would be a pretty safe bet for them to cover it, and hopefully their version would catch on here and boost sales of their upcoming album.

After discussing the matter, the band members decided to play the song, but to do a terrible job at it, in expectation that the producer then wouldn't want to release it.  So they never practiced the song, nor even requested permission from Slade to cover it.  The producer would call every so often and ask how Cum On Feel the Noize was coming along, and they would lie by saying it was starting to sound really good.  They didn't fess up to the producer until they were in the studio ready to record.

Everyone was laughing about it–except the producer, probably–and the drummer eventually just decided to start playing because, well, someone had to.  (Notice that the Slade version has no drum intro.)  One by one, then, the other instruments joined in.  Because the band hadn't practiced, they weren't too familiar with the order of the song, so they skipped a verse or a chorus or something along the way.  This whole time, the lead singer was busting a gut laughing in the corner of the recording studio.

After the take was over, the producer played it back and the lead singer was a little angry–because it actually turned out good, and that's not what they had decided on.  The band joked that maybe he could still at least sing it badly.  Anyway, they then added the vocal track, and the song became VH1's 80th best one hit wonder of all time.  It was only after recording the song that they got permission from Slade to cover it.

Even though Slade got some increased popularity due to Quiet Riot's cover of their song, Slade was still pretty bitter about the success of the cover version.  In fact, one day, Quiet Riot's drummer ran into Slade's bassist while shopping and extended his hand in thanks for letting them cover the song.  Slade's bassist turned around, walked out of the store, and left his hand hanging midair.

Kevin DuBrow. Didn't he feud with just about every other 80s metal band lead singer at some time or another?

First song of theirs I ever heard was "Metal Health," the title track of their first big album, which everyone seemed to think was called "Bang Your Head." Heard it, and Vandenberg's "Burning Heart" and "Wait," on an AOR station in Harrisonburg, Va., while on a family vacation there. I typically bought albums then, and recorded them to cassette to play in the car or the portable unit, but I bought the cassettes of both albums that night at a Kmart in Harrisonburg after having heard the songs on the radio earlier that day.

And yes, Slade did have a bit of a resurgence due to "Cum On Feel the Noize." Their hit as a result of Quiet Riot's hit was "Run Runaway."

Randy Rhoads, the guitarist on Ozzy Osbourne's first two solo albums, got his start in Quiet Riot before they became famous.

[Takumi]

For a brief moment back around 1989, Guns 'N Roses' cover of McCartney's Live and Let Die got a ton of airplay (even though Axl Rose's vocals sound like he was being strangled during the chorus) -- but that version has been noticeably absent from commercial radio since about 1994 or so.  Of course, the original McC & Wings version (with George Martin orchestration) was always definitive. 

I still heard it fairly frequently on the local classic rock station within the past decade, but it certainly wasn't played as often as Paradise City or Welcome To The Jungle.

[Rothman]

Elton John's version of "Pinball Wizard" is better known than the version done by The Who.

Uh...no it's not.

For a while, the Rod Stewart version from the LSO/Tommy (1972) album received a lot of airplay, eclipsing the 1969 Who original recording -- but it wasn't a real issue, as Daltrey and Townshend were intimately involved in the album's production, with Daltrey reprising his vocals of Tommy himself.   Some critics prefer Stewart's version over both the original and Elton John's later film-included version.  Myself, I'm torn -- generally I lean toward originalism with music -- but Stewart sang the hell out of that song!

Nah.