It’s always rather interesting to be in on a conversation when someone refers to a song that you know is a cover version but they imply that the version they know is the original rather than that by someone much earlier…but hey, who am I to overthink anything? More to the point, some cover versions are far better than the originals…this applies mainly to Bob Dylan, it has to be said. The link is to the original version by the artist mentioned, although the composer may be different in some cases.
I started this post many years ago and have added songs periodically. I know I should make a TikTok Reel or something…
Nothing Compares 2 U was by Prince/The Family NOT by Sinead O’Connor
Make You Feel My Love by Bob Dylan NOT Adele
Bette Davis Eyes by Jackie De Shannon NOT Kim Carnes
Needles and Pins by Jackie De Shannon NOT The Searchers NOT Smokie etc
Valerie by The Zutons NOT Mark Ronson with Amy Winehouse
The Only Way is Up by Otis Clay NOT Yazz and the Plastic Generation
Running up that Hill by Kate Bush NOT Placebo (nobody has confused by this one since Stranger Things, I assume)
Dancing in the Moonlight by King Harvest NOT Toploader
Try a Little Tenderness by Val Rosing NOT Bing Crosby NOT Frank Sinatra NOT Otis Redding
Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft by Klaatu NOT The Carpenters
Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen NOT Jeff Buckley and not Alexandra Burke or any of dozens of others
Enjoy Yourself (It’s later than you think) by Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians NOT The Specials, NOT Max Bygraves, NOT Prince Buster, Not Doris Day
I Will Always Love You by Dolly Parton NOT Whitney Houston
Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door by Bob Dylan NOT Guns N’ Roses
I shot the Sheriff by Bob Marley and the Wailers NOT Eric Clapton
Tainted Love by Gloria Jones NOT Soft Cell
Mad World by Tears for Fears NOT Gary Jules and his sidekick
It’s Oh So Quiet by Betty Hutton NOT Björk
It’s Oh So Quiet was originally “Und jetzt ist es still” by Horst Winter NOT Betty Hutton
Hanging on the Telephone by The Nerves NOT Blondie
Killing Me Softly by Lori Lieberman NOT Roberta Flack NOT The Fugees
Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd NOT Wyclef Jean
Summer Breeze by Seals & Crofts NOT The Isley Brothers
Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before by The Smiths NOT by Mark Ronson ft. Daniel Merriweather
Lady Marmalade by LaBelle NOT All Saints, NOT by Pink, Christina Aguilera, Lil Kim and Mya
Don’t Leave Me This Way by Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes featuring Teddy Pendergrass NOT Thelma Houston, NOT The Communards 6/7
The Tide Is High by The Paragons NOT Blondie, NOT Papa Dee, NOT Atomic Kitten 7
Always on my Mind by Gwen McCrae NOT The Pet Shop Boys, not Willie Nelson, and definitely not Elvis Presley, and not even Brenda Lee
All Along the Watchtower by Bob Dylan NOT Jimi Hendrix
She by Charles Aznavour NOT Elvis Costello
Since You’ve Been Gone by Russ Ballard NOT Rainbow
Family Man by Mike Oldfield NOT Hall & Oates
Hush by Billy Joe Royal. Covered by Somebody’s Image in 1967, Deep Purple in 1968, Kula Shaker in 1997, and others
Do You Know the Way to San Jose? by Dionne Warwick NOT by Frankie Goes to Hollywood
Personal Jesus by Depeche Mode NOT Johnny Cash and NOT Marilyn Manson
Wild is the Wind by Johnny Mathis NOT Nina Simone and NOT David Bowie who was inspired to record a cover when he heard the Simone version
Must be Santa by Mitch Miller NOT Tommy Steele, NOT Joan Regan, NOT Raffi and definitely NOT Bob Dylan then Bryan Adams
The Man Who Sold the World by David Bowie NOT Nirvana
Mr Tambourine Man by Bob Dylan NOT The Byrds
Shipbuilding by Elvis Costello NOT Robert Wyatt
Hurt by Nine Inch Nails NOT Johnny Cash (Not to be confused with Hurt by Christina Aguilera)
Shock the Monkey by Peter Gabriel NOT Coal Chamber ft. Ozzy Osbourne
Wherever I Lay My Hat (That’s my home) by Marvin Gaye NOT Paul Young
Hounds of Love by Kate Bush NOT The Futureheads
The Green Manalishi (With the Two-prong Crown) by Fleetwood Mac NOT Judas Priest
The list goes on, these are just ones I’ve heard referenced recently…and it’s not to say that any version is better than another, although Nina’s Wild is the Wind is incredible and the Buckley version of Hallelujah is the seminal version.
It’s worth noting that in general most popular songs going way back were written by songwriters and then a singer or artist would be chosen or assigned to sing and record a particular song. Commonly, there might be several versions of a song vying for attention at the same time. The notion of revisiting great, and not-so-great songs emerged perhaps around the time of The Beatles. The Beatles themselves were famously early adopters of the notion of a band or artist writing their own original material, although they recorded a lot of covers themselves.
Before the middle of the 20th century, music was largely a live event either at a venue or via sheet music in one’s home. recorded music was only just emerging the record industry but a twinkle in the eye of marketing executives. Among the early cover songs were numerous versions of Paul Williams’ tune “The Hucklebuck” and Hank Williams’ song “Jambalaya”.
The term cover version was coined in 1966 to describe a rival version of an original song or tune recorded and released to compete with the recently released (original) version and cover the market. There was a specific marketing concept of a white artist recording a new version of a black song to cover the white market in the then segregated USA, where white radio stations were not permitted to play black music.