Yet Another Cycling Forum

Off Topic => The Pub => Arts and Entertainment => Topic started by: Cudzoziemiec on 18 March, 2019, 07:57:53 pm

Title: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: Cudzoziemiec 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.
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: Cudzoziemiec 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
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: pcolbeck on 18 March, 2019, 08:09:33 pm
Hound Dog - Elvis (original Big Mama Thornton)

Superstition - Steve Wonder (original Jeff Beck)
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: pcolbeck 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)
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: Kim 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?
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: Little Jim on 18 March, 2019, 08:26:27 pm
The Clash - I fought the law.  Originally recorded by Bobby Fuller (who?)
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: FifeingEejit 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.
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: Exit Stage Left 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
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: Jaded on 19 March, 2019, 12:07:27 am
Song to the Siren
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: pcolbeck 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" :)
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: citoyen 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
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: citoyen 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
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: Jaded 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.
Title: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: citoyen 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.
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: mrcharly-YHT 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'
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: pcolbeck on 19 March, 2019, 08:54:18 am
Adele and "Make You Feel My Love". Its taken over from the Bob Dylan original.
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: citoyen 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
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: citoyen 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.
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: Cudzoziemiec 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!
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: Cudzoziemiec 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...
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: citoyen 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
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: Robh 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
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: mattc 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.)
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: Exit Stage Left 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
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: citoyen 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
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: citoyen on 19 March, 2019, 01:13:34 pm
Lori Lieberman was inspired to write this after seeing Don Mclean in concert, but it's Roberta Flack's version we all know...

https://youtu.be/WxY47jh9owA
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: PaulF on 19 March, 2019, 01:37:52 pm
Similarly "Because the Night" is not a Patti Smith original. Neither is "Hey Joe" a Jimi Hendrix composition.
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: PeteB99 on 19 March, 2019, 01:47:31 pm
Allegedly Springsteen couldn't get a version of Because the night he was happy with so he gave it to Patti Smith who was in the recording studio next door.
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: Exit Stage Left on 19 March, 2019, 01:56:25 pm
I think the term 'cover' is used a bit too broadly. A cover is a simultaneous release of the same song, usually because the original artist is too busy to promote the record in a market.

The UK was particularly prone to that, especially in the heyday of variety shows featuring Cilla, Cliff and others of their ilk. It was often Cilla covering Bacharach/David songs sung by Dionne Warwick.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMsiGMKHJ8k

True covers became rarer after videos came to the fore, and as variety shows declined.
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: Ben T on 19 March, 2019, 02:04:48 pm
I used to think The Prodigy invented the tune from 'Out Of Space'.
Title: Re: Original songs that are actually covers
Post by: frankly frankie on 19 March, 2019, 06:03:40 pm
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.

Oh well then -
Hendrix and "All Along the Watchtower". Its taken over from the Bob Dylan original.
Title: Re: Original songs that are actually covers
Post by: citoyen on 19 March, 2019, 06:31:02 pm
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.

Oh well then -
Hendrix and "All Along the Watchtower". Its taken over from the Bob Dylan original.

Can't argue with that.

But to be fair, I don't think I get to be the arbiter of these things anyway. And a lot of it is generational - kids these days think Hallelujah is an Alexandra Burke song, and who am I to tell them they're wrong?

I don't listen to the kind of radio stations that play Adele's stuff, so it's not really surprising that one passed me by.
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: Robh on 19 March, 2019, 07:08:04 pm
And another, with Ry Cooder on slide guitar as an added bonus:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AR3Al4hPKYs

Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: citoyen on 19 March, 2019, 07:12:44 pm
And another, with Ry Cooder on slide guitar as an added bonus:

That one came up in the same quiz as the Springsteen one I mentioned earlier.
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: Robh on 19 March, 2019, 07:14:14 pm
Oh yeah, then there's this one. Leiber & Stoller had to be taken to court before they would admit that the song was not, originally, theirs.

The Coasters, 'Shoppin' for Clothes':

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XetJMlt3-l4

'Clothes Line' by Boogaloo & His Gallant Crew:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuY5rBDPuyE
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: spesh on 19 March, 2019, 08:07:41 pm
The Clash - I fought the law.  Originally recorded by Bobby Fuller (who?)

Actually, it was originally recorded by The Crickets in 1958-59 and released in 1960 - five years before the Bobby Fuller Four had a hit with their version.
Title: Re: Original songs that are actually covers
Post by: Mr Larrington on 20 March, 2019, 11:34:40 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.

Oh well then -
Hendrix and "All Along the Watchtower". Its taken over from the Bob Dylan original.

Even His Bobness rated Jimi's version higher than his own.  About the only person who didn't was Noel Redding; the story has it that he got fed up with Hendrix' interminable faffing and sloped off to the pub only to find on returning that someone - variously reported as Dave Mason from Traffic or Hendrix himself - had done the bass part in his absence.
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: citoyen on 21 March, 2019, 07:38:48 pm
Well you've got one over on me there! Very surprised.

Good, innit?

But if that one surprised you, this one will really bake your noggin - another Nerves track made famous by a different artist...

https://youtu.be/SexQY6XmDB8


Quote
(Yonder Youtube page has a hilarious pregnancy-related comments thread.)

Yeah, from what I can gather, it’s something to do with the song being used in a film that I’ve never heard of.
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 21 March, 2019, 07:52:07 pm
Well you've got one over on me there! Very surprised.

Good, innit?

But if that one surprised you, this one will really bake your noggin - another Nerves track made famous by a different artist...

https://youtu.be/SexQY6XmDB8

You've got two over on me as I don't even recognize what it's the original of!  :o
Title: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: citoyen on 21 March, 2019, 08:11:46 pm
You've got two over on me as I don't even recognize what it's the original of!  :o

To be fair, it does sound like a completely different song...
https://youtu.be/aeeJhEpeUfc

I love both versions - always had a bit of a soft spot for Paul Young
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: mattc on 23 March, 2019, 12:31:47 pm
Well you've got one over on me there! Very surprised.

Good, innit?

But if that one surprised you, this one will really bake your noggin - another Nerves track made famous by a different artist...

https://youtu.be/SexQY6XmDB8
Looks like we both listened to all their stuff on Youtube!  I heard that song and thought - This is familiar... - but didn't join the dots at the time. Now the truth has dawned on me  :o
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: citoyen on 23 March, 2019, 12:38:29 pm
Looks like we both listened to all their stuff on Youtube!

I downloaded the One Way Ticket album, which is not so much a best-of as a compilation of their entire recorded output, including the live stuff. They were not a long-lived band!

There's another Jack Lee composition on Parallel Lines - Will Anything Happen? - but from what I can gather, I don't think the Nerves ever recorded that themselves.
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: Karla on 23 March, 2019, 01:53:04 pm
Tainted Love - Soft Cell (actually Gloria Jones)

Hush - Deep Purple (actually Billy Joe Royal)

Hurt - Johnny Cash (actually Nine Inch Nails)
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: spesh on 23 March, 2019, 02:05:29 pm
Bruce Woolley was the first of the writers of 'Video Killed The Radio Star' to release a version thereof, before the other two (Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes) had the hit with it as Buggles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HLwljnmzR8

'Sloe Gin' was first recorded by Tim Curry, long before Joe Bonamassa: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmReoyth7H8

'Good Times' as popularised by The Lost Boys soundtrack, was originally by the Easybeats: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Adq6CrkiyZ0

'Step On' by the Happy Mondays is a cover of 'He's Gonna Step On You Again' by John Kongos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wTxjJrn2g4

Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: Redlight on 29 March, 2019, 11:15:12 am
I was very surprised to learn (courtesy of The Guardian) that the Four Tops were not the first to record this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqAh1dQu_pg#action=share (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqAh1dQu_pg#action=share)

I imagine also that many people are unaware that this by Harry Nilsson:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AzEY6ZqkuE (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AzEY6ZqkuE) is a cover of the far superior Fred Neil original: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBAOjKBLpqo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBAOjKBLpqo)
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: Peter on 29 March, 2019, 12:01:59 pm
Bill Withers also did a great version of Everybody's Talkin' on his first album in 1971.   
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: Paul on 29 March, 2019, 12:41:21 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?
Indeed.

I ruined Dylan's day when I joined in singing Barbara Ann.
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: Steph on 08 April, 2019, 11:45:28 pm
A trans friend of mine, very into the, ahem, 'scene' music, was talking about karaoke. I heard her say "I do a great Tina, you know: Suzie Q"

I mentioned CCR and John Fogerty, and got a "Who?"

When I looked it up, TL/DR: CCR was ripped off hugely by management. Fogerty lost the rights to the songs, and refused to perform them. He was egged on at one superstar gig, IIRC by G Harrison, who said "Come on1 If you don't sing them, everyone will start thinking Suzie Q is a Tina Turner song"
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: Robh on 09 April, 2019, 12:00:59 am
A trans friend of mine, very into the, ahem, 'scene' music, was talking about karaoke. I heard her say "I do a great Tina, you know: Suzie Q"

I mentioned CCR and John Fogerty, and got a "Who?"

When I looked it up, TL/DR: CCR was ripped off hugely by management. Fogerty lost the rights to the songs, and refused to perform them. He was egged on at one superstar gig, IIRC by G Harrison, who said "Come on1 If you don't sing them, everyone will start thinking Suzie Q is a Tina Turner song"

Do you think George might have had his tongue in his cheek? It was originally recorded by Dale Hawkins in the 50s:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susie_Q_(song)?wprov=sfti1


Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: Steph on 09 April, 2019, 08:42:05 am
A trans friend of mine, very into the, ahem, 'scene' music, was talking about karaoke. I heard her say "I do a great Tina, you know: Suzie Q"

I mentioned CCR and John Fogerty, and got a "Who?"

When I looked it up, TL/DR: CCR was ripped off hugely by management. Fogerty lost the rights to the songs, and refused to perform them. He was egged on at one superstar gig, IIRC by G Harrison, who said "Come on1 If you don't sing them, everyone will start thinking Suzie Q is a Tina Turner song"

Do you think George might have had his tongue in his cheek? It was originally recorded by Dale Hawkins in the 50s:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susie_Q_(song)?wprov=sfti1

I love serendipity, me!

checked, and the song George referred to was 'Proud Mary"
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 09 April, 2019, 09:01:45 am
I thought "Suzie Q" must mean Suzie Quattro and you were trying to get five different musicians/bands in two sentences.
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: citoyen on 09 April, 2019, 09:24:00 am
checked, and the song George referred to was 'Proud Mary"

Aha! I was struggling to remember Tina Turner's version of Suzy Q and I guess that would be why.

Proud Mary has more recently been hijacked by Glee and has become a staple on the likes of X-factor, but they always do Tina Turner's version. I've always thought it must be some consolation for Fogerty & co to at least get to sit there raking in the royalties... damn.
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: Robh on 09 April, 2019, 10:14:21 am
Talking of Tina Turner:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgDAbhtyr6w

RIP TJW.
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: Sniper68 on 10 April, 2019, 03:24:14 pm
I imagine also that many people are unaware that this by Harry Nilsson:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AzEY6ZqkuE (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AzEY6ZqkuE) is a cover of the far superior Fred Neil original: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBAOjKBLpqo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBAOjKBLpqo)
I once read some where that Harry Nilsson hated the fact that he was best known for two songs which weren't his own,Everybody's talkin' and Without you.

Listening to Absolute Radio a while back and the DJ said "What a Song writer" Mick Hucknall is after playing "Money's too tight to mention" which is actually a cover from a  Valentine Brothers(who??) song from 1982.

Dead Kennedys also did a version of I fought the Law with changed lyrics.

Natalie Imbruglias version of "Torn" was actually a cover of a cover...very embarrassing for her when she was talking about "writing" it on live TV when it was pointed out it was a cover of a Danish original!
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: Exit Stage Left on 10 April, 2019, 03:32:01 pm
checked, and the song George referred to was 'Proud Mary"

Aha! I was struggling to remember Tina Turner's version of Suzy Q and I guess that would be why.

Proud Mary has more recently been hijacked by Glee and has become a staple on the likes of X-factor, but they always do Tina Turner's version. I've always thought it must be some consolation for Fogerty & co to at least get to sit there raking in the royalties... damn.

Ike and Tina were more familiar with the Solomon Burke Cover.

Quote
According to Burke in a 2002 interview: "I was in Vegas for sixteen weeks at the Sands Hotel. I missed this record being a hit, because we weren't there to promote the record, we had no backing. The greatest thing I ever did was tell Ike Turner, "Hey man, you should get on this record ... I think you and Tina could tear this thing up."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiJw79k4wGc
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: citoyen on 10 April, 2019, 04:31:55 pm
Ike and Tina were more familiar with the Solomon Burke Cover.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiJw79k4wGc

Interesting. I've not heard that one before. Thanks!
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: Legs on 10 April, 2019, 05:48:32 pm
Of course, The Jackson 5 did the more famous cover of this (https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DZcDj46elLhQ&ved=2ahUKEwiX8vj__MXhAhVAUxUIHZA8At4QjjgwAHoECAMQAQ&usg=AOvVaw2MNSREM8ln101hu4lSXnGb).
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: Exit Stage Left on 10 April, 2019, 06:12:19 pm
Ike and Tina were more familiar with the Solomon Burke Cover.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiJw79k4wGc

Interesting. I've not heard that one before. Thanks!

It fulfils my criteria for a cover, as it was on release at the same time as the original, in a different market.  A lot of country songs were recorded by soul artists for the R&B stations.

She Called Me Baby. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xv3uEr9GaLs

Was recorded by Candi Staton as 'He Called me Baby'. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txOo9T1jn5Y
That was produced at Muscle Shoals, as was the Solomon Burke, 'Proud Mary'.

I suppose the best-known example is by Dolly Parton. 'I Will Always Love You'. Apparently she wrote that and 'Jolene', on the same day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDqqm_gTPjc
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: Mr Larrington on 11 April, 2019, 01:16:19 pm
Dolly's version of "I Will Always Love You" is infinitely superior to Whitney Luxury-Yacht's[1] simply by virtue of not having Whitney Luxury-Yacht on it, but The White Stripes' cover of "Jolene", OTOH.

And yes, it is Jack who sings it.

1. pronounced "Throatwobbler-Mangrove"
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: Legs on 11 April, 2019, 01:22:10 pm
Dolly's Jolene is rather hauntingly excellent when played at 33 1/3 rpm.
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: Legs on 12 April, 2019, 05:13:24 pm
I don't know if this (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCiUSPh5_nw) really counts, since it was written for Whitney Houston.

This (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43gsIFqU8ZY) definitely counts.  Some clever bugger has done a mashup of Cher and Michael Bolton giving it beans (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8z7D-OG8ULg).
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: mattc on 12 April, 2019, 06:12:49 pm
Dolly's Jolene is rather hauntingly excellent when played at 33 1/3 rpm.

Oh my. Got a link? ;)


I actually think that both versions of "I will always ..." drag a very annoying performance out of both singers, who have each recorded some great stuff. :( Hey ho.
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: Mr Larrington on 12 April, 2019, 06:27:39 pm
Audacity has a built-in function to allow you to change the speed from 45 to 33 1/3 and vice-versa.  Very useful when I discovered that every CD version of Inner City Unit's "Human Beings" is at the wrong speed ;D.
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: Steph on 12 April, 2019, 06:29:51 pm
Dolly's Jolene is rather hauntingly excellent when played at 33 1/3 rpm.

I have heard that too. Amazing!
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: Sniper68 on 12 April, 2019, 06:38:55 pm
"The only way is up" Yazz and the Plastic Population

1980 Otis Clay (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zf0rMfTeaI) original.

Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: phantasmagoriana on 12 April, 2019, 06:56:52 pm
I didn't realise until recently that Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise" is near enough to a cover of "Pastime Paradise" by Stevie Wonder.
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: Legs on 12 April, 2019, 07:16:20 pm
Dolly's Jolene is rather hauntingly excellent when played at 33 1/3 rpm.

Oh my. Got a link?  ;)
Such are the joys of written communication that, even with the emoji, I'm not sure whether
A) you're taking the piss out of my penchant for posting links to videos,
B) I've missed somewhere in the thread where you have posted the link, or
C) you want the link (http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Jolene+33)!
 ;D
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: Robh on 12 April, 2019, 11:43:54 pm
Dolly's Jolene is rather hauntingly excellent when played at 33 1/3 rpm.

Oh my. Got a link?  ;)
Such are the joys of written communication that, even with the emoji, I'm not sure whether
A) you're taking the piss out of my penchant for posting links to videos,
B) I've missed somewhere in the thread where you have posted the link, or
C) you want the link (http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Jolene+33)!
 ;D
Yes, I’ve heard it before but jesus, how it highlights the quality of her voice.
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: pcolbeck on 12 April, 2019, 11:49:01 pm
Handbags and Gladrags - Rod Stuart

actually released two years earlier in 1967 by Chris Farlow

https://youtu.be/X3yN0JvG5co

I like this version as much as Rodder's take on it. Mind you I expect their is a generation now who think its a Stereophonic original.
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: PeteB99 on 13 April, 2019, 01:00:00 pm
Dolly's Jolene is rather hauntingly excellent when played at 33 1/3 rpm.

Oh my. Got a link? ;)


I actually think that both versions of "I will always ..." drag a very annoying performance out of both singers, who have each recorded some great stuff. :( Hey ho.

You're a bit late to the party

https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=29267.msg1675529#msg1675529 (https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=29267.msg1675529#msg1675529)

Sadly the link doesn't seem to work anymore
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: mattc on 13 April, 2019, 03:18:48 pm
Dolly's Jolene is rather hauntingly excellent when played at 33 1/3 rpm.

Oh my. Got a link?  ;)
Such are the joys of written communication that, even with the emoji, I'm not sure whether
A) you're taking the piss out of my penchant for posting links to videos,
B) I've missed somewhere in the thread where you have posted the link, or
C) you want the link (http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Jolene+33)!
 ;D
Just a misunderstanding - I thought YOU had done the experiment (as in, with your own record player)!

Anyway, played it now. Interesting. I think my favourite version is to use the Youtubex1.25-speed option.
Title: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: citoyen on 05 May, 2019, 09:56:43 am
Now, I was well aware that the Communards version of Don’t Leave Me This Way was a cover, but I thought Thelma Houston’s version was the original. Turns out it was written and first performed by Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, and their original version is an absolute belter - easily the best of the three:
https://youtu.be/MnIkcB8GObo
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: Exit Stage Left on 05 May, 2019, 03:12:58 pm
. Turns out it was written and first performed by Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, and their original version is an absolute belter - easily the best of the three:


Talking of Teddy Pendergrass, his wasn't the first version of 'Love TKO'.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5pop34HvSA
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: Robh on 05 May, 2019, 04:49:57 pm
Now, I was well aware that the Communards version of Don’t Leave Me This Way was a cover, but I thought Thelma Houston’s version was the original. Turns out it was written and first performed by Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, and their original version is an absolute belter - easily the best of the three:
https://youtu.be/MnIkcB8GObo
The Tom Moulton extended mix is also excellent:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5hcvAfK00s
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: Exit Stage Left on 29 May, 2019, 11:35:11 pm
An Austrian song, better known in a version by an Icelander.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zmhvJpTELc
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: Martin on 30 May, 2019, 12:11:01 am
The Lemon Song by Led Zep;

https://youtu.be/Oq83yq2u3_E

they even named it Killing Floor on some pressings
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: spesh on 30 May, 2019, 12:42:58 pm
The Lemon Song by Led Zep;

https://youtu.be/Oq83yq2u3_E

they even named it Killing Floor on some pressings

Apart from Howlin' Wolf's work, The Lemon Song also borrows lyrically from Robert Johnson's Travelling Riverside Blues, though it's argued that Johnson himself borrowed the "squeeze my lemon, 'til the juice runs down my leg" line from another blues track.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Led_Zeppelin_songs_written_or_inspired_by_others
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: vorsprung on 30 May, 2019, 03:34:21 pm
The Cramps “Goo Goo Muck” was originally written and recorded by Ronnie Cook and the Gaylads in 1962
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: Legs on 06 June, 2019, 09:55:36 am
Quincy Jones' Ai No Corrida was a cover of Chaz Jankel's. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjrF4YATAvc)
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: fd3 on 22 June, 2019, 12:04:02 am
Istanbul (not Constantinople); not by TMBG.
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: Deano on 22 June, 2019, 12:29:07 am
Well I never :)

https://youtu.be/Wcze7EGorOk
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: Deano on 23 June, 2019, 11:35:57 pm
And I thought Five String Serenade was a Mazzy Star original.

https://youtu.be/FXY7TjW15Q0
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 28 November, 2019, 03:58:50 pm
I've just been into the Hippy Egg ShopTM, where they often play unfamiliar music. On this occasion they were playing a very familiar song, Take Me To The River, but it definitely wasn't Talking Heads. I felt the voice was kind of familiar but couldn't put a name to it. The zoomer at the till said, "Is it a man or a woman singing? I don't know much about soul," and his colleague didn't know either. So I've just searched and it turns out they were playing the original version, from 1974:
https://youtu.be/vGD8aQ2GKr0

In fact Youtube lists 13 non-Talking Heads versions, 5 of which were earlier and one in the same year.
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: Andy64 on 29 November, 2019, 10:11:00 am
Hound Dog - originally by Big Mama Thornton  :o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frsBq9MCNVg
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: Peter on 29 November, 2019, 11:19:48 am
One of the very few (but also very important) benefits of being a certain age is to have grown up knowing that Presley's Hound Dog was a cover of Mama Thornton's and (almost twenty years later) hearing Al Green's Take Me To The River.  I've got the latter on a fabulous (real) soul compilation that also includes Irma Franklin's peerless original of Take Another Little Piece of My Heart.  Accept no imitations, even Janis Joplin's!
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 29 November, 2019, 05:20:46 pm
One of the very few (but also very important) benefits of being a certain age is to have grown up knowing that Presley's Hound Dog was a cover of Mama Thornton's and (almost twenty years later) hearing Al Green's Take Me To The River.  I've got the latter on a fabulous (real) soul compilation that also includes Irma Franklin's peerless original of Take Another Little Piece of My Heart.  Accept no imitations, even Janis Joplin's!
What!!! No!!! Cannot be!!!
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 29 November, 2019, 05:47:32 pm
Having listened to it and a couple of others by her – yes. Or almost. More polished and musical than Joplin but less passionate. I guess her sister might have been the best shot at putting both into one.
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: citoyen on 23 November, 2022, 04:41:45 pm
Excuse the thread revival, but I thought it was worth it, having recently discovered that Getting Nowhere Fast was not by the Wedding Present, but in fact by a Leeds post-punk band called Girls At Our Best, who had completely passed me by before hearing their superb original on 6music...

https://youtu.be/xVmnUZseiv0
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 23 November, 2022, 04:51:49 pm
The original original is a lot better than the second original, IMO. But then I've never really liked the Wedding Present.
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: citoyen on 23 November, 2022, 05:08:12 pm
I've never really liked the Wedding Present.

Boo!

I've probably seen them live more than any other band. Love them.
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: Slave To The Viking on 17 December, 2022, 02:43:30 am
The Clash - I fought the law.  Originally recorded by Bobby Fuller (who?)

Well, the Bobby Fuller Four cover of the Crickets' original may not be as widely played as the Clash's version, but I'm surprised it warrants a "who?".
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: Slave To The Viking on 17 December, 2022, 02:47:01 am
One of the very few (but also very important) benefits of being a certain age is to have grown up knowing that Presley's Hound Dog was a cover of Mama Thornton's and (almost twenty years later) hearing Al Green's Take Me To The River.  I've got the latter on a fabulous (real) soul compilation that also includes Irma Franklin's peerless original of Take Another Little Piece of My Heart.  Accept no imitations, even Janis Joplin's!
What!!! No!!! Cannot be!!!

Yeah, it's an Irma Franklin song as far as I'm concerned. And I was born in 1978. That makes me a certain age, of course, but I don't think it means I'm Of A Certain Age.
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: Slave To The Viking on 17 December, 2022, 02:52:29 am
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)

Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down by Johnny Cash can bugger off. It's Kristofferson all the way - I was horrified when I first heard the jaunty, drinking-song Cash version. It's a sad song about being lonely and downbeat - swing and a miss Johnny, swing and a miss.

Me and Bobby McGee though...well, I heard it by Gordon Lightfoot first, so a Lightfoot number it shall always be, to me.
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: The Family Cyclist on 17 December, 2022, 04:52:23 am
Yesterday heard so much wine by phoebe bridges on 6 music. Got super excited and a little confused as a not so well known band called smoke fairies who were friends of one of my best mates at uni did the original........or so I thought. Except its originally by Handsome family
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 17 December, 2022, 12:55:24 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)

Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down by Johnny Cash can bugger off. It's Kristofferson all the way - I was horrified when I first heard the jaunty, drinking-song Cash version. It's a sad song about being lonely and downbeat - swing and a miss Johnny, swing and a miss.
So what do you make of their duet?
https://youtu.be/IRU9i9egr7A
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: ElyDave on 19 December, 2022, 10:52:14 pm
I believe Killing Me Softly was not originally Roberta Flack's
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: Peter on 19 December, 2022, 11:09:33 pm
You are right - It was originally recorded by Lori Liebermann.  Similarly, Flack's "The First Time Ever I saw your Face", written by Ewan McColl, was recorded by many people, notably Gordon Lightfoot before Roberta.  But she certainly knew a good song when she heard it!  Incidentally, Ewan McColl's name is also a sort of cover - He was born Jimmy Miller!
Title: Re: "Original" songs that are actually covers
Post by: hubner on 19 December, 2022, 11:28:21 pm
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

There are 2 "original" versions, the one from the Monkees TV programme and a later "wibbly" recording.

It seems all the covers, including This Mortal Coil, are of the wibbly version.

My theory is that the first version is too raw, too haunting, too personal. And of utmost beauty. It's not something for other people to perform, instead they go for the lightweight, impersonal version.