"Cover versions you did not know were cover versions"

[Mister Triscuits]

Funny thing about "Wild Horses" is that in one sense, the Rolling Stones version isn't the original either. The first recording of the song to be released was the Flying Burrito Brothers version, a full year before Sticky Fingers came out.

[Progbear]

I’m surprised “Bette Davis Eyes” hasn’t been mentioned yet. Kim Carnes had the big hit but it was originally recorded and (co-) written by Jackie DeShannon, for her album New Arrangement:

Speaking of Ooh Child, for years, the only version of that song I knew was the 1977 recording by Valerie Carter, which I knew from the soundtrack to a movie called Over The Edge. It's only relatively recently that I found out that the original recording had been done in 1970 by a group called The Five Stairsteps.

I first knew The Five Stairsteps’ version from oldies radio, and it’s an excellent Jackson Five-alike, but there’s something radiant and lovely about Val’s cover. In fact, her whole Just a Stone’s Throw Away album is superb. I really wish she were more prolific.

I first found out about the "thank you for being a friend" thing because back in the early 90's or so I bought a few singles of songs I always liked. One of them was "lonely boy" by Andrew Gold which I thought was a bit proggy because of the synth in the middle section. Anyway, I flipped it over(which is what all serious music fans do )and was surprised to learn that "thank you for being a friend" was the b side. I immediately recognized it and then realized he did the original version.

Technically, it was actually the follow-up single. It hit the top 40 back in the day but was not a big hit, which is why more people recognize it from the TV show. It probably turned up on the B-side to reissue singles, it’s common practice to reissue two of an artist’s hits on the same single for later issues (Bell/Arista’s Flashback series, for example).

I've met quite a few people who thought that Diamonds & Rust and Green Manalishi were original Judas Priest songs.

I thought “Green Manalishi” was theirs, so I was surprised to learn it was a Fleetwood Mac song originally. Same with “Black Magic Woman.” I also did not know that, much like Genesis, they had a whole other career (or three) prior to their hit-making lineup.

Joan Baez’s “Diamonds and Rust,” on the other hand, I knew from radio airplay, so hearing them doing it was simply weird.

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MIKE (a.k.a. "Progbear")

"Parece cosa de maligno. Los pianos no estallan por casualidad." --Gabriel Garcia Marquez

N.P.:nothing

[GuitarGeek]

I’m surprised “Bette Davis Eyes” hasn’t been mentioned yet. Kim Carnes had the big hit but it was originally recorded and (co-) written by Jackie DeShannon, for her album New Arrangement:

Oh yeah, good thinking. That was another one that took me awhile to catch onto. And the original version is an almost completely different song, yeah it's the same melody and lyrics, but Kim Carnes really gave the arrangement some interesting twists.

[GuitarGeek]

Until I found out otherwise, I just assumed Nazareth wrote 'Love Hurts', 'My White Bicycle' and 'This Flight Tonight'.

I heard the Tomorrow version of My White Bicycle first, probably on college radio, before I ever knew about any of the cover versions. Whether or not I knew that was Steve Howe playing guitar at the time, I can't remember.

I forget when it was that I became aware of the Everly Brothers and Roy Orbison versions of Love Hurts, but it wasn't until way after I knew about Nazareth's version, and in fact, until I was about 14 or so, the only Nazareth music I knew was Close Enough For Rock N Roll (my brother had that on 8-track when I was little). The weird thing is, my mom was/is into "oldies" music, so one might have thought I'd have heard the earlier recordings around the house when I was little, but the Everly Bros recording was an album track (never released on a track) and the Orbison version was "just a B-side" so neither was likely to have been on a best of or a various artist compilation (which is typically what my mom would have bought if she was actually gonna buy something) nor would they have been played on the radio (but we didn't listen to the radio much when I was little anyway).

[ronmac]

Love Harry Nilsson. I do think the comment that he was known as a songwriter is a bit misleading. He had a great recording legacy and one of the most incredible voices in pop/rock history, a full four-octave range. It is ironic, though that his only two Grammies were for performances of songs he didn't write (the aforementioned, "Everybody's Talkin'" and "Without You").

[trurl]

I'm a Badfinger fan and I didn't even know Without You was by them until I saw the documentary on them a few years back...

[Yodelgoat]

Me and Bobby McGee - I think Gordon Lightfoot was the writer - Janis Joplin made it huge.

You will laugh, but I had no idea that America by Yes, was a cover - And I'd known the Simon and Garfunkel version for years. I didn't put the two songs together until recently. I probably knew and loved both versions for almost 40 years.

I also had no idea that Tolstoy's first choice of a name for War and Peace was "War, what is it good for?".

recently, there was a remake of Behind Blue Eyes by some boy-pop dufus and I had to play my kids the real version before they would believe me that he wasn't some great genius-sensitive-lyricist.

"Don't dream its over" Originally by Crowded House and totally butchered by Someone a few years back.

[trurl]

Me and Bobby McGee - I think Gordon Lightfoot was the writer - Janis Joplin made it huge.

Kris Kristofferson, dude

Edit- just looked at Wiki- Janis was the 9th cover of the song! Whoa!

[Yodelgoat]

Kris Kristofferson, dude

Oh yeah! I think I heard that a long time back, I'd forgotten.

[Progbear]

Another one I didn’t know was a cover until rather recently, “Drift Away” by Dobie Gray. It was written by Mentor Williams (Paul Williams’ brother) and originally recorded by John Henry Kurtz:



And are you familiar with Jim Weatherly’s “Midnight Plane to Houston”?



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MIKE (a.k.a. "Progbear")

‘“What blow, Goblin?” said Corinius.’ --E. R. Eddison

N.P.:“Wrap Me in Love”-Michael Tinsley

[Vic2012]

I didn't know Roll Over Beethoven, and Rock & Roll Music were Chuck Berry covers for many years as a kid. I didn't even know who Chuck Berry was until like 1970 or something. I didn't know "The Mighty Quinn" or "Blinded By The Light" were covers until maybe 10-12 years ago. I didn't know "Summertime Blues" was not a Blue Cheer original for a long time. I only found out recently that "Shakin' All Over" is not a Who original. But there's nothing wrong with that. Some cover versions are definitive versions of songs. I don't have any hangups about liking cover versions better than the original. I once played the Kinks original version of "Where Have All The Good Times Gone" after only hearing the Van Halen version. I was shocked at how awful the original was. I;ll take any VH cover version.

[JKL2000]

You will laugh, but I had no idea that America by Yes, was a cover - And I'd known the Simon and Garfunkel version for years.

Are you saying you thought Simon & Garfunkel covered a Yes song? Or that you couldn't tell they were both playing/singing the same song?

(Actually, isn't it just a Paul Simon song? I'm not sure since I've hardly ever heard that version of it. But I thought it was from a Simon solo album.)


Can someone please post the list from the OP in text format or something? I can't access it through the firewall at work. Unless it's one of those horrible click-through multiple pages things.

[davis]

I remember hearing PP&M's version of 'Blowin in the Wind' in a Grants Department store as a kid, liking it, finding the 45, and asking at home if anybody knew who B. Dylan was.

[ronmac]

Are you saying you thought Simon & Garfunkel covered a Yes song? Or that you couldn't tell they were both playing/singing the same song?

(Actually, isn't it just a Paul Simon song? I'm not sure since I've hardly ever heard that version of it. But I thought it was from a Simon solo album.)


Can someone please post the list from the OP in text format or something? I can't access it through the firewall at work. Unless it's one of those horrible click-through multiple pages things.

No, it wasn't a solo song from Paul. And, while he wrote it, I'm pretty sure Art contributed to the vocal arrangement (something he rarely gets credit for).

[Wisdomview]

The Yes version of America also covers parts of Leonard Bernstein's America from West Side Story. IMHO, it's pretty genius how Yes incorporated the 2 pieces into one, as well as infusing their own stamp into the music.

[Wisdomview]

'We've Only Just Begun' by The Carpenters. Written by Roger Nichols (music) and Paul Williams (lyrics), it was initially used in a TV commercial. Richard Carpenter saw the commercial and the rest is history.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We%27ve_Only_Just_Begun

[Blah_Blah_Woof_Woof]

'I realized that Black Magic Woman was a Fleetwood Mac song when I started buying their albums in the 70's

[Blah_Blah_Woof_Woof]

Has anyone heard the Judy Collins version of Hello Hurray! ?

[Blah_Blah_Woof_Woof]

Not written by Cooper or Collins...

[trurl]

Has anyone heard the Judy Collins version of Hello Hurray! ?

Seriously? Wow.

[davis]

Somebody has s video of himself playing a '90 Mile an Hour Down a Dead End Street Bob Dylan cover', obviously unaware that Bob's version on 'Down in the Groove' is a cover, written by Don Robertson & Hal Blair; originally performed by Hank Snow.

[JKL2000]

The Yes version of America also covers parts of Leonard Bernstein's America from West Side Story. IMHO, it's pretty genius how Yes incorporated the 2 pieces into one, as well as infusing their own stamp into the music.

To be honest, I don't like the Yes version of the song, so I never really noticed Bernstein's "America" being incorporated. For any fans of that song, it's also used a bit in prog-metal band Angra's song "Carolina IV," to very good effect.

[JKL2000]

I think I heard Eno's cover of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" before I heard what I THINK is the original by The Tokens. Somehow I can't help thinking Progeezer is going to come along and tell me I'm wrong...

[Scott Bails]

I think I heard Eno's cover of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" before I heard what I THINK is the original by The Tokens. Somehow I can't help thinking Progeezer is going to come along and tell me I'm wrong...

Yeah, Progeezer would probably know more, but I don't think even the Tokens can claim originality on this one. As I recall, there was even a lawsuit about it.

I'm sketchy on details, but I think it's based on an African folk song called "Wimoweh," but I welcome more accurate facts.

[A. Scherze]

The Yes version of America also covers parts of Leonard Bernstein's America from West Side Story. IMHO, it's pretty genius how Yes incorporated the 2 pieces into one, as well as infusing their own stamp into the music.

Well, they probably got that from Emerson who used a quote from Dvorak's Symphony No. 9 "From the New World" to open his cover of Bernstein's "America".

Also, Yes got the idea from 1-2-3 who covered S&G before it was even released.

(Ignore the video, this is just for the music.)