Author Topic: "Original" songs that are actually covers  (Read 17306 times)

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
"Original" songs that are actually covers
« on: 18 March, 2019, 07:57:53 pm »
Because you asked for it. Or at least Citoyen did.

Do we have a term to indicate the version that's generally accepted as "original" though in fact it's a cover? Maybe standard? Though that has a slightly different meaning too.

I don't know but it sounds like a subject for a thread in itself.
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
« Reply #1 on: 18 March, 2019, 07:59:33 pm »
Mr Larrington has already suggested an answer to the question:
Do we have a term to indicate the version that's generally accepted as "original" though in fact it's a cover? Maybe standard? Though that has a slightly different meaning too.

Canonical?

And Citoyen has already suggested an(other) example:
I may have already mentioned the Valentinos' fantastic original version of All Over Now:
https://youtu.be/71XrZ7ghpZg
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
« Reply #2 on: 18 March, 2019, 08:09:33 pm »
Hound Dog - Elvis (original Big Mama Thornton)

Superstition - Steve Wonder (original Jeff Beck)
I think you'll find it's a bit more complicated than that.

Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
« Reply #3 on: 18 March, 2019, 08:23:21 pm »
Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down - Jonny Cash (original Ray Stevens but written by  Kris Kristofferson)

Quite a few Kris Kristofferson songs were either originally recorded by him or by other people before someone recorded the version that everyone thinks of as the "original" such as:

Me and Bobby McGee - Janis Joplin (original Kris Kristofferson)
For the Good Times - Perry Como (original Bill Nash)
Help Me Make It Through The Night - Sammi Smith (original Kris Kristofferson)
I think you'll find it's a bit more complicated than that.

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
« Reply #4 on: 18 March, 2019, 08:26:10 pm »
Approximately 27.3% of the non-hiphop output of Top Of The Pops when I was a teenager.  Always unnerving when your parents start singing along to brand new stuff.  I assume this effect is pretty universal?

Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
« Reply #5 on: 18 March, 2019, 08:26:27 pm »
The Clash - I fought the law.  Originally recorded by Bobby Fuller (who?)

FifeingEejit

  • Not Small
Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
« Reply #6 on: 18 March, 2019, 08:40:05 pm »
There's compilation albums capitalizing on this.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Heard-Here-First-Various-Artists/dp/B001CDF040


The Knife's Heartbeats is another one where there is a cover more famous than the original thanks to a TV advert.

Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
« Reply #7 on: 19 March, 2019, 12:06:14 am »
The most complicated story is probably 'Hooked on a Feeling'. The version that gets played most is by 'Blue Swede', which is sometimes 'Blue Suede'. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrI-UBIB8Jk

The original is by B.J Thomas,  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wqt_iZBvtCo who is best known for 'Raindrops are Falling on My Head', from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, which was covered by Sacha Distel.

The Blue Swede/Suede version is in fact a cover of the version by Jonathan King, who became an 'unperson' following a child abuse conviction. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNLo7OzNd_Q

Much as the Joan Jett version of 'Do You Want Touch?' stands in for the Gary Glitter original. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUreAjEYedo

Jaded

  • The Codfather
  • Formerly known as Jaded
Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
« Reply #8 on: 19 March, 2019, 12:07:27 am »
Song to the Siren
It is simpler than it looks.

Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
« Reply #9 on: 19 March, 2019, 06:33:20 am »
The most complicated story is probably 'More Than a Feeling'. The version that gets played most is by 'Blue Swede', which is sometimes 'Blue Suede'. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrI-UBIB8Jk

I was thinking what about Boston?

https://youtu.be/SSR6ZzjDZ94

The I realised you meant "Hooked on a feeling" not "More than a feeling" :)
I think you'll find it's a bit more complicated than that.

citoyen

  • Occasionally rides a bike
Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
« Reply #10 on: 19 March, 2019, 06:41:47 am »
Song to the Siren

Much as I love Liz Fraser, I’ve never really got on with TMC’s version. Then I heard the original... it’s incredible. This live recording gives me goosebumps:

https://youtu.be/vMTEtDBHGY4
"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."

citoyen

  • Occasionally rides a bike
Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
« Reply #11 on: 19 March, 2019, 06:45:57 am »
I was brought up with Ewan MacColl & Peggy Seeger so this is the version I knew, rather than Roberta Flack’s more famous one:

https://youtu.be/VP8qXnnn4tc
"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."

Jaded

  • The Codfather
  • Formerly known as Jaded
Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
« Reply #12 on: 19 March, 2019, 07:31:24 am »
Song to the Siren

Much as I love Liz Fraser, I’ve never really got on with TMC’s version. Then I heard the original... it’s incredible. This live recording gives me goosebumps:

https://youtu.be/vMTEtDBHGY4

I guess I’m the other way round, the genre the original falls into does little for me.

I still remember which street I was on in Cheltenham when I first heard the TMC version, on a plasterers radio.
It is simpler than it looks.

citoyen

  • Occasionally rides a bike
"Original" songs that are actually covers
« Reply #13 on: 19 March, 2019, 08:46:55 am »
I know I am literally the only person in the whole world who doesn’t like TMC’s version but I don’t mind being in the wrong on this occasion. It just sounds like a load of wailing to me. The original is incredibly restrained and pure by comparison.

Mind you, the TMC version has the advantage that the lyrics are indecipherable so you don’t realise what a load of nonsense it is.
"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."

Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
« Reply #14 on: 19 March, 2019, 08:49:58 am »
The Cure's version of 'Creep'

For a certain generation, Nirvana and 'Man who sold the world'
<i>Marmite slave</i>

Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
« Reply #15 on: 19 March, 2019, 08:54:18 am »
Adele and "Make You Feel My Love". Its taken over from the Bob Dylan original.
I think you'll find it's a bit more complicated than that.

citoyen

  • Occasionally rides a bike
Re: &quot;Original&quot; songs that are actually covers
« Reply #16 on: 19 March, 2019, 08:57:33 am »
Blondie were one of my first musical obsessions and their take on this is so quintessentially Blondie-esque that I was surprised to discover quite recently that it was a cover:

https://youtu.be/emy5mA8Ixtc
"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."

citoyen

  • Occasionally rides a bike
Re: &quot;Original&quot; songs that are actually covers
« Reply #17 on: 19 March, 2019, 08:58:28 am »
Adele and "Make You Feel My Love". Its taken over from the Bob Dylan original.

Not in my world. I don’t think I’ve even heard Adele’s version - and long may it stay that way.
"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
« Reply #18 on: 19 March, 2019, 09:00:44 am »
I know I am literally the only person in the whole world who doesn’t like TMC’s version but I don’t mind being in the wrong on this occasion. It just sounds like a load of wailing to me. The original is incredibly restrained and pure by comparison.

Mind you, the TMC version has the advantage that the lyrics are indecipherable so you don’t realise what a load of nonsense it is.
No you're not. I don't really like either!
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
« Reply #19 on: 19 March, 2019, 09:02:59 am »
Quite a few Kris Kristofferson songs were either originally recorded by him or by other people before someone recorded the version that everyone thinks of as the "original" such as:

Me and Booby McGee - Janis Joplin (original Kris Kristofferson)
I'm sure I've read that he wrote it for her, even though he recorded it himself too. I guess that's another category...
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

citoyen

  • Occasionally rides a bike
Re: &quot;Original&quot; songs that are actually covers
« Reply #20 on: 19 March, 2019, 09:05:26 am »
I don’t think anyone would argue with the claim that Sinead now owns this song, would they?

https://youtu.be/_ZlzN0Gtpp8
"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."

Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
« Reply #21 on: 19 March, 2019, 12:06:05 pm »
Stevie Wonder's original take on "Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)" isn't quite up there with Aretha's version, but it's well worth a listen:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2MJLXYBNv4

mattc

  • n.b. have grown beard since photo taken
    • Didcot Audaxes
Re: &quot;Original&quot; songs that are actually covers
« Reply #22 on: 19 March, 2019, 12:25:59 pm »
Blondie were one of my first musical obsessions and their take on this is so quintessentially Blondie-esque that I was surprised to discover quite recently that it was a cover:

https://youtu.be/emy5mA8Ixtc
Well you've got one over on me there! Very surprised.

(Yonder Youtube page has a hilarious pregnancy-related comments thread.)
Has never ridden RAAM
---------
No.11  Because of the great host of those who dislike the least appearance of "swank " when they travel the roads and lanes. - From Kuklos' 39 Articles

Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
« Reply #23 on: 19 March, 2019, 12:39:01 pm »
The most complicated story is probably 'More Than a Feeling'. The version that gets played most is by 'Blue Swede', which is sometimes 'Blue Suede'. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrI-UBIB8Jk

I was thinking what about Boston?

https://youtu.be/SSR6ZzjDZ94

The I realised you meant "Hooked on a feeling" not "More than a feeling" :)

The problems of late night drinking sessions.
We've covered this ground before. The Isley Brothers always feature. Summer Breeze is a cover, and the Beatles covered the Isleys' 'Twist and Shout', which was actually first recorded by 'The Top Notes'. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsDpc-8iR8g

citoyen

  • Occasionally rides a bike
Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
« Reply #24 on: 19 March, 2019, 01:10:36 pm »
This one came up in the pub quiz last month - hands up if you thought it was a Manfred Mann original...

https://youtu.be/yjxbOe7p8C0
"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."