When a cover isn't really a cover.

[PeterG]

When an artist records a song previously recorded by another artist that is a cover, we all know that. But Sometimes some songs are incorrectly called covers, in cases where one artist has written a song specifically for another artist to record but not recorded it themselves at that time. This is no different to the songs written for artists by non-performing songwriters (e.g. Holland Dozier Holland), hence I suppose the oft used term Singer-Songwriter.

Two classic examples that spring to mind are Deep Purple's Hush, which Joe South wrote for them in 68. He didn't start recording his own stuff until 68, and he didn't record Hush until 69, after DP had had a huge hit with it in summer 68. The other one is Mott The Hoople's All The Young Dudes given to them by Bowie in 72, and he didn't put it on vinyl until David Live in 74.

As for Smokey Robinson, the list is endless, with loads of classics written by him for the huge names of the day. And Gary US Bonds and Southside Johnny both benefited from the writing skills of "The Boss" and "Little Steven".

Now a question, are there any Lennon/McCartney and Jagger/Richards songs that they only recorded after they had been recorded by others?

And can you think of any other big hits that, as such, incorrectly get called covers?

[PeterG]

Q: Had Prince actually recorded Nothing Compares 2 U before Sinead did? I don't think he did.

[Halmyre]

Lennon and McCartney wrote "I Wanna Be Your Man" for the Rolling Stones.

Neil Young (supposedly) wrote "Powderfinger" and "Sedan Delivery" for Lynyrd Skynyrd, but a plane crash put paid to that.

[bob_32_116]

"The House of the Rising Sun", which many people seem to think was either written by The Animals or by Bob Dylan, is in fact a traditional song of uncertain authorship. It's been "covered" by countless artists since The Animals.

Judy Collins' "cover" of the song "Both Sides Now" by Joni Mitchell was in fact recorded and released before Joni's version.

[PeterG]

Judy Collins' "cover" of the song "Both Sides Now" by Joni Mitchell was in fact recorded and released before Joni's version.

Yea, I knew that one.

Another trad. folkie that gets called a cover is Scarborough Fair. It was recorded hundreds of times in England by various artists long before S & G did it, but I've seen it referred to as a S & G song and other artists' versions being referred to as "covers of the famous S & G song"

[helicase]

Q: Had Prince actually recorded Nothing Compares 2 U before Sinead did? I don't think he did.

No, but The Family (with some members from Prince's earlier backing band The Time) did. So it's still a cover.

[Spiral]

are there any Lennon/McCartney and Jagger/Richards songs that they only recorded after they had been recorded by others?

I thought that was the case with some early Stones ballads ("Time Is on My Side" or "As Tears Go By"). At the very least Mick & Keef didn't originally intend to record them themselves, thinking they'd be better suited to other bands.

can you think of any other big hits that, as such, incorrectly get called covers?

"Poor Poor Pitiful Me" was done by Bonnie Raitt a little while before Warren Zevon recorded it himself. Not big by any stretch, but it's all that comes to mind right away.

[mogrooves]

I thought that was the case with some early Stones ballads ("Time Is on My Side" )

Stones didn't write it. They did, however, write "Sister Morphine," recorded first by Marianne Faithful.

[No Pride]

The hit song McCartney gave to Peter and Gordon because he didn't think it was good enough for The Beatles:

[Gerhard]

"Take it Easy" was co-written by Jackson Browne and Glenn Frey, and released by both The Eagles and by Jackson, so neither should be considered a cover, though I'm guessing some consider Jackson's version a cover of the much more well-known Eagles version, which was also released first.

I guess the same could be said about Don Henley's "The End of the Innocence", mainly written by Bruce Hornsby, with additional lyrics by Don (according to Wikipedia). I'm guessing people think Hornsby covers the more well-known Henley version.

Seems like Springsteen wrote quite a few hits for other artists, many of which he eventually released, like Pink Cadillac (Aretha Franklin ?), Fire (Pointer Sisters) and Because the Night (Patti Smith).

[Reid]

Carpenters - We've Only Just Begun; Close To You written by Paul Williams, Burt Bacharach

Rufus - Tell Me Something Good written by Stevie Wonder

A very common practice in the early days of R&R. Leiber/Stoller, King/Goffin, Doc Pomus, Jim Webb, etc...

[mogrooves]

The hit song McCartney gave to Peter and Gordon because he didn't think it was good enough for The Beatles:

But, afaik, the Beatles never recorded it themselves.

[No Pride]

But, afaik, the Beatles never recorded it themselves.

I know. Maybe I'm misunderstanding PeterG's intent. It won't be the first time.

[trurl]

I think the idea is, someone writes a song for someone else. THEN they do it themselves but in some sense neither version is a cover because the other artist did it first but it's the writer's song.

[JKL2000]

Peter, Paul & Mary - Leavin' on a Jet Plane
Written by John Denver as Babe I Hate to Go (he did record it first so I guess it's a cover).

[No Pride]

I think the idea is, someone writes a song for someone else. THEN they do it themselves but in some sense neither version is a cover because the other artist did it first but it's the writer's song.

Oh, okay, thanks!

Maybe Laura Nyro? She wrote hits for The 5th Dimension, Barbara Streisand and Three Dog Night among others, tunes that she recorded herself. I'm just not sure if she recorded them before or after these other artists had hits with them.

[Halmyre]

Yea, I knew that one.

Another trad. folkie that gets called a cover is Scarborough Fair. It was recorded hundreds of times in England by various artists long before S & G did it, but I've seen it referred to as a S & G song and other artists' versions being referred to as "covers of the famous S & G song"

That's because Paul Simon credited it to "trad.; arr. Paul Simon", which I suppose was accurate enough, but the folk crowd were a bit put out by it - "not the done thing" and all that.

[bob_32_116]

A lot of people probably thought the song "Cloudy", which appears on The Seekers' final album, was a cover of a Paul Simon song.

The fact is, it was co-written by Paul Simon and (Seeker) Bruce Woodley, but for reasons unknown Woodley is uncredited on Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme, which contains S&G's version.

[Mister Triscuits]

Judy Collins' "cover" of the song "Both Sides Now" by Joni Mitchell was in fact recorded and released before Joni's version.

Judy Collins recorded several Leonard Cohen songs (including "Suzanne," "Dress Rehearsal Rag," "Sisters of Mercy," and "Hey That's No Way to Say Goodbye") before Cohen himself even had a record out.

[JJ88]

Oh, okay, thanks!

Maybe Laura Nyro? She wrote hits for The 5th Dimension, Barbara Streisand and Three Dog Night among others, tunes that she recorded herself. I'm just not sure if she recorded them before or after these other artists had hits with them.

I think this is progeezer's territory, but Laura Nyro released some of those before. 'Stoney End' wasn't done by Streisand until 1970...it was on Laura's first album from 1967. 'And When I Die' and 'Wedding Bell Blues' were also on that.

Jimmy Webb's 'Galveston' qualifies, he did a version of that some years after the Glen Campbell hit.

[JJ88]

That's because Paul Simon credited it to "trad.; arr. Paul Simon", which I suppose was accurate enough, but the folk crowd were a bit put out by it - "not the done thing" and all that.

This caused friction with Martin Carthy, who'd recorded it beforehand. By contrast Bob Dylan mentioned Carthy in the sleevenotes of 'Freewheelin' for one song.

RE; The Stones. Not sure on the dates...'Out Of Time' and 'Ride On Baby' were hits for Chris Farlowe and The Stones did them, possibly after the Farlowe hits. The song 'Blue Turns To Grey' was a hit for Cliff Richard in 1966, The Stones' own version didn't come out in the UK until the 70s. There's also 'Sitting On A Fence', a minor hit for Twice As Much. It came out on The Stones' album 'Flowers' in 1967 but not in the UK until the 70s again.

RE; The Beatles. Few of the songs they 'gave away' were ever recorded by the band, beyond the one mentioned. 'I'll Be On My Way' is an interesting one- it never came out in a Beatles version until the 90s BBC album, but was a Billy J Kramer B-side in 1963 or so. See also 'I Call Your Name', The Beatles' version came out later. Some came out in demo versions later.

[bob_32_116]

Jimmy Webb's 'Galveston' qualifies, he did a version of that some years after the Glen Campbell hit.

Indeed he did, and a very different song it sounds from the version by Glen. Despite the subject matter, which is a soldier fearful of not making it home to se his woman again, Glen sounds almost upbeat, as though he is optimistic that he will in fact make it home and they'll be happy ever after. Jimmy on the other hand sings it like a man in the depths of despair.

Jimmy Webb has also "covered" his own song MacArthur Park. I'm glad he gave it to Richard Harris first. Jimmy's voice is not really up to it - something that was a problem with several of the songs on Jimmy's early albums. He has a decent enough voice, but it falls a bit short when singing songs that were originally written with people like Richard Harris and Thelma Houston in mind.

[trurl]

Jimmy's voice is not really up to it -

And Richard's was?? I suppose he did alright with it.

[Adrian]

I guess "Me and Bobby McGee" would qualify. Written by Kris Kristofferson, but first recorded by Roger Miller and Gordon Lightfoot (and later, of course, by Janis Joplin, with Bobby a man instead of a woman).

I don't know that Kris K. specifically wrote the song for anyone else to sing, but he wasn't the first to record it.

[PeterG]

The hit song McCartney gave to Peter and Gordon because he didn't think it was good enough for The Beatles:

Thanks, that was the Macca one I was thinking of, but I couldn't remember its title.