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Songs where the famous version is a cover

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

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roadman65

Both Sides Now a song written and sung by Joni Mitchell, was covered by Judy Collins.  I believe that Collins version was more popular than Mitchell's.
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Mr_Northside

Quote from: roadman65 on March 04, 2016, 01:18:50 PM
Both Sides Now a song written and sung by Joni Mitchell, was covered by Judy Collins.  I believe that Collins version was more popular than Mitchell's.

I can't speak for it's popularity, but the first time I heard that song was a Frank Sinatra cover.
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roadman

#127
Quote from: roadman65 on March 04, 2016, 01:18:50 PM
Both Sides Now a song written and sung by Joni Mitchell, was covered by Judy Collins.  I believe that Collins version was more popular than Mitchell's.
The Circle Game is a Joni Mitchell song that was covered by Tom Rush.  At least in New England, Tom Rush's version is more well known than Mitchell's version (to this day, I occasionally have to correct people who believe it was Tom Rush's song and that Joni Mitchell covered it).

Your comment about Both Sides Now reminds me of the time I saw Judy Collins in concert in 1989 (she was the headlined artist, but the concert also included Tom Rush, Christine Lavin, and Jonathan Edwards - which is why I went).  As Judy Collins, who was the last performer to take the stage, began to perform, the effects of the weather (outdoor venue and foggy night) began to take its toll on some of the sound equipment.  By the time she was singing Both Sides Now, the problem with the stage speakers (the ones that face the artist) was bad enough that she kept interrupting the song with complaints.

As I recall, it went something like this:  I've looked at clouds from both sides now - Geez this feedback is pretty bad - From up and down, and still somehow  It's cloud illusions I recall - can you do something about the damm (and she DID use that word) feedback - I really don't know clouds at all
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national highway 1

'Open Arms' by Journey. The more well-known version is a cover by Mariah Carey from her 1995 album Daydream.
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jwolfer

Quote from: national highway 1 on September 23, 2017, 09:10:47 AM
'Open Arms' by Journey. The more well-known version is a cover by Mariah Carey from her 1995 album Daydream.
I never heard the Mariah Carey version

LGMS428


Stephane Dumas

Quote from: geocachingpirate on October 06, 2014, 01:00:40 PM
The song "The First Cut Is the Deepest" was written by Cat Stevens and originally released by P.P. Arnold.  The more famous versions are by Sheryl Crow and Rod Stewart.

Sorry for the long reply, I guess it's better late than never. ;)

Keith Hampshire did also a cover of "The firstr cut is the deepest" in 1973 who hit #1 in Canada.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4HiSM-0rfY

Bessie Banks recorded this song named "Go now" who was written for her by Larry Banks and Milton Bennett but got quickly eclipsed by the cover done by the Moody Blues.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prlWGe2EHro
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pS3ixmsQgCk

cl94

Quote from: jwolfer on September 23, 2017, 09:17:44 AM
Quote from: national highway 1 on September 23, 2017, 09:10:47 AM
'Open Arms' by Journey. The more well-known version is a cover by Mariah Carey from her 1995 album Daydream.
I never heard the Mariah Carey version

LGMS428

More well-known where? Every search gives the Journey version first. Hell, I didn't even know a Mariah Carey version existed. The Journey version hit #2 in the US and stayed there for weeks.
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KeithE4Phx

(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, & Understanding:  Made famous by Elvis Costello in 1978, but written by Nick Lowe and performed by his band Brinsley Schwarz (Lowe was the lead vocalist & bassist) in 1974.  Lowe produced Costello's cover, while his future Rockpile "buddy" Dave Edmunds produced the original.

I'm Not Your Stepping Stone:  An obscure album track by Paul Revere & the Raiders in 1966, made famous by The Monkees a year later.  It was written by Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart -- a good reason why The Prefab Four got ahold of it.

Funky Broadway:  Written by Arlester "Dyke" Christian and recorded by his group, Dyke and the Blazers, in 1967.  Wilson Pickett had the big hit with it later that year.  BTW, the song has nothing to do with the famous Broadway in NYC.  It's about Broadway Road in Phoenix, where they recorded the song.  Broadway Rd. & 16th St. was (and is) a mostly African-American neighborhood in South Phoenix.

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hbelkins

Quote from: cl94 on September 23, 2017, 12:47:01 PM
Quote from: jwolfer on September 23, 2017, 09:17:44 AM
Quote from: national highway 1 on September 23, 2017, 09:10:47 AM
'Open Arms' by Journey. The more well-known version is a cover by Mariah Carey from her 1995 album Daydream.
I never heard the Mariah Carey version

LGMS428

More well-known where? Every search gives the Journey version first. Hell, I didn't even know a Mariah Carey version existed. The Journey version hit #2 in the US and stayed there for weeks.

I didn't know she had covered it either.


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SectorZ

Quote from: national highway 1 on September 23, 2017, 09:10:47 AM
'Open Arms' by Journey. The more well-known version is a cover by Mariah Carey from her 1995 album Daydream.

Yup, so is her cover of Def Leppard's "Bringin' on the Heartbreak"...  :rolleyes:

jp the roadgeek

Quote from: SectorZ on September 23, 2017, 11:12:54 PM
Quote from: national highway 1 on September 23, 2017, 09:10:47 AM
'Open Arms' by Journey. The more well-known version is a cover by Mariah Carey from her 1995 album Daydream.

Yup, so is her cover of Def Leppard's "Bringin' on the Heartbreak"...  :rolleyes:

That's like saying Britney Spears's cover of (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction is more popular than the Rolling Stones's version. :ded:
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mgk920

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

jp the roadgeek

Quote from: mgk920 on September 24, 2017, 01:30:29 AM
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.
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sparker

The song "Everybody's Talkin'", originally written & recorded by Florida folk-pop songwriter Fred Neil, was appropriated by Harry Nilsson for the film Midnight Cowboy, complete with orchestration by film-score great John Barry (who was the musical director for the film); by far it was the version receiving the highest level of airplay and record sales. 

Another song that was better known via its cover artist than its original writer/performer was "You Can Close Your Eyes" by James Taylor; the Linda Ronstadt cover (from her 1974 "Heart Like a Wheel" album) received much more airplay than the original.

Takumi

I hear Phil Collins' cover of You Can't Hurry Love far more often than the Supremes' original.
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michravera

Quote from: Brandon on October 06, 2014, 12:42:56 PM
"I Heard It Through The Grapevine" - Marvin Gaye.  The Gladys Knight and the Pips version was the first released commercially.  Smokey Robinson and the Miracles recorded it first, but it was not released commercially, having been rejected by Barry Gordy as not having been "strong enough".

"Respect" - Aretha Franklin.  Otis Redding wrote and recorded the song.  She took it to much greater heights a couple of years later.

... and "Heard it through the Grapevine" was also covered by Creedence Clearwater Revival in 1970.

I don't count "Video Killed the Radio Star" as a cover because the songwriter was in the group who later recorded it. I know that Fred McGwynn, Ozzy Osborn, and Paul McCartney rerecorded a bunch of songs solo that they had done with the Byrds, Black Sabbath, and the Beatles or Wings. I also don't count Elton John and John Lennon's version of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" as a cover because Lennon was one of the writers (and it sounds like something that he would have written on his own). The same goes for any The Who songs that Pete Townsend (who would often record songs in his home studio, play all of the instruments and then teach them to the boys) might have released solo.

But the champion covers of all time (or at least my nominees):
"Blinded by the Light" originally by Bruce Springsteen 1973 covered by Mannfred Mann in 1976
"We're All Alone" originally by Boz Scaggs covered by Melissa Manchester
"Get Ready" originally by The Miracles covered by Rare Earth
"Girls Talk" originally by Elvis Costello covered by Dave Edmonds (with or without RockPile) and Linda Ronstadt. But Nick Lowe from RockPile produced the Costello version, so whether the Edmonds version is a actually a cover is debatable.
Almost all of Phil Collins's covers ("Groovy Kind of Love", "You Can't Hurry Love", "True Colors") are first rate.

1995hoo

Thought of this thread earlier today when I heard "Red Red Wine" on the radio. UB40's cover version seems to be far better known than Neil Diamond's original. 
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jp the roadgeek

Just saw the whole Little Eva/George Harrison sequence, and it made me remember the time that John Fogerty was sued for plagiarizing himself.  There was a riff in his solo song "Old Man Down the Road" that was extremely close to a riff from "Run Through the Jungle" by CCR, of which he was once a member, and had credit in writing the song.  However, Fantasy Records owned the rights to the CCR catalog, and Fantasy argued that because Fogerty left CCR, he did not have the rights to use any CCR music, even if he was crediting in writing the song.  Fogerty was able to win the case in showing that it was a distinct, different riff, and even countersued for expenses and won.

Another cover I can think of is Always on my Mind.  It was written by a country trio, and first recorded as You Were Always on my Mind by Gwen McRae and also by Brenda Lee.  However, there were three more famous covers: Elvis (in his Vega$ days), Willie Nelson (for which he won a Grammy), and the Pet Shop Boys' techno-pop version.
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inkyatari

I'd argue that Tainted Love by Soft Cell is more famous than the original by Gloria Jones.

Same with Puttin on the Ritz by Taco
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TheArkansasRoadgeek

Well, that's just like your opinion man...

TheHighwayMan3561

Quote from: TheArkansasRoadgeek on October 03, 2017, 04:32:44 PM
Hurt, Johnny Cash Cover.

Trent Reznor had a quote to the effect of "Johnny Cash took my song away from me."
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TheArkansasRoadgeek

Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on October 04, 2017, 01:30:50 AM
Quote from: TheArkansasRoadgeek on October 03, 2017, 04:32:44 PM
Hurt, Johnny Cash Cover.

Trent Reznor had a quote to the effect of "Johnny Cash took my song away from me."
Yeah, "It's like it isn't mine..." or to the affect of, "Hearing it was like someone kissing your girlfriend."
Well, that's just like your opinion man...

hm insulators

Quote from: michravera on September 24, 2017, 11:22:27 AM
Quote from: Brandon on October 06, 2014, 12:42:56 PM
"I Heard It Through The Grapevine" - Marvin Gaye.  The Gladys Knight and the Pips version was the first released commercially.  Smokey Robinson and the Miracles recorded it first, but it was not released commercially, having been rejected by Barry Gordy as not having been "strong enough".

"Respect" - Aretha Franklin.  Otis Redding wrote and recorded the song.  She took it to much greater heights a couple of years later.

... and "Heard it through the Grapevine" was also covered by Creedence Clearwater Revival in 1970.

I don't count "Video Killed the Radio Star" as a cover because the songwriter was in the group who later recorded it. I know that Fred McGwynn, Ozzy Osborn, and Paul McCartney rerecorded a bunch of songs solo that they had done with the Byrds, Black Sabbath, and the Beatles or Wings. I also don't count Elton John and John Lennon's version of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" as a cover because Lennon was one of the writers (and it sounds like something that he would have written on his own). The same goes for any The Who songs that Pete Townsend (who would often record songs in his home studio, play all of the instruments and then teach them to the boys) might have released solo.

But the champion covers of all time (or at least my nominees):
"Blinded by the Light" originally by Bruce Springsteen 1973 covered by Mannfred Mann in 1976
"We're All Alone" originally by Boz Scaggs covered by Melissa Manchester
"


Actually, it was Rita Coolidge who had the hit version in 1977.
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jp the roadgeek

This Magic Moment.  The Jay & The Americans version is more popular and gets more airplay than the original version by The Drifters.
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