The "I didn't know that was a cover" thread

[Gumbo4x4]

Lots of great songs we're all familiar with were originally done by someone else. What always amazes me is how you can enjoy a song for years without realizing it is a cover. So, what songs do you like that you didn't know were covers for a long time?

I just recently found out "I Just Wanna Make Love To You" by Foghat was originally an Etta James song!!

 

[HM]

Cherish by The Associatoin redone by David Cassidy comes to mind.

 

[FINFAN]

Lots of great songs we're all familiar with were originally done by someone else. What always amazes me is how you can enjoy a song for years without realizing it is a cover. So, what songs do you like that you didn't know were covers for a long time?I just recently found out "I Just Wanna Make Love To You" by Foghat was originally an Etta James song!!

I would have to go with "Respect" . I think I was almost 40 when I learned it was an Otis Redding song and not Aretha. Rocked my world to find that out lol

 

[Christine]

I would have to go with "Respect" . I think I was almost 40 when I learned it was an Otis Redding song and not Aretha. Rocked my world to find that out lol

Well, dang, I didn't know that.

 

[RedHatDisney]

Gumbo, Janis Joplin also did a "cover" of that song, way before Foghat! lol

 

[PerfessorZ]

Manfred Mann's cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Blinded By The Light"

 

[loves to dive]

The Carpenters "Superstar" just found out last night that it was first done by Leon Russell and Bonnie Bramlett.

 

[Micca]

Gumbo, Janis Joplin also did a "cover" of that song, way before Foghat! lol

There's also a version on the very first Rolling Stones album. The subject matter is very popular for some reason

 

[MataHari22]

The ones that I can think of right now:

(There's) Always Something There To Remind Me ~ Naked Eyes. I just found that out in the last few years. It's a Burt Bacharach tune, I think.

Blinded By The Light ~ Manfred Man. I'd heard the Manfred Man version before I ever knew it was Springsteen. I was never a fan of Bruce.

Tainted Love ~ Soft Cell. Another one that I didn't hear the original version until I was much older. I forget the name of the lady that sang it, but it was a very pop-ish Motown tune and the lyrics didn't seem to match the pop tune. Soft Cell's version is way more melancholy and better fits the lyrics IMO.

No More I Love You's ~ Annie Lennox. I forget who sang the original, but her version is way better.
I can think of lots of covers that are way better than the originals, too.

 

[NHdisneylover]

As an 80s kid I thought Bow Wow Wow created I Want Candy.
I don't think I realized it was a cover of The Strangeloves until Aaron Carter's kind of pathetic cover came out in 2000 and I was looking for the "original" to play for my kids

 

[NHdisneylover]

and I am not much of an Elvis fan, but was surprised to hear me sister in law (who is) mention that his Blue Suede Shoes was a cover and not the original. I guess I awlays assumed that was so associated with him it was his own original thing, but nope.

 

[RedHatDisney]

"Tainted Love" was also done by the The Kinks, I think.

 

[RedAngie]

I didn't realize until it was ridiculously overplayed that Whitney Houston's "And I Will Always Love You" was originally recorded by Dolly Parton.

Talking Heads "Take Me to the River", by Al Green.

According to the first version of The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock and Roll, a cover version also means any song sung or recorded by anyone other than the composer(s), even if it's the first recording. So by this definition, "People" by Barbra Streisand is actually a cover song; she didn't write it. Same for most of those recordings by early 60s girl groups, or by the vast majority of Motown artists, or teen idols throughout the years, etc.

and I am not much of an Elvis fan, but was surprised to hear me sister in law (who is) mention that his Blue Suede Shoes was a cover and not the original. I guess I awlays assumed that was so associated with him it was his own original thing, but nope.

Most of Elvis' recordings were composed by others, so technically cover songs according to the above definition.

In popular usage, however, most people agree it's a remake of something previously recorded.

 

[L&Lfan]

Thelma Houston's Don't Leave Me This Way is a cover of Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes. I love them both but I prefer Thelma's 12 inch version.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I didn't realize until it was ridiculously overplayed that Whitney Houston's "And I Will Always Love You" was originally recorded by Dolly Parton.

Talking Heads "Take Me to the River", by Al Green.

According to the first version of The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock and Roll, a cover version also means any song sung or recorded by anyone other than the composer(s), even if it's the first recording. So by this definition, "People" by Barbra Streisand is actually a cover song; she didn't write it. Same for most of those recordings by early 60s girl groups, or by the vast majority of Motown artists, or teen idols throughout the years, etc.





Most of Elvis' recordings were composed by others, so technically cover songs according to the above definition.

In popular usage, however, most people agree it's a remake of something previously recorded.

It's surprising how many people didn't know Houston's version was a Dolly cover. Dolly had a MASSIVE hit with that song - unlike Springsteen's versions of Blinded By The Light & For You (also covers by Manfred Mann).

 

[tinkerbellandeeyor]

As an 80s kid I thought Bow Wow Wow created I Want Candy.
I don't think I realized it was a cover of The Strangeloves until Aaron Carter's kind of pathetic cover came out in 2000 and I was looking for the "original" to play for my kids

I thought Aaron was the original so you just taught me something

 

[L&Lfan]

It's surprising how many people didn't know Houston's version was a Dolly cover. Dolly had a MASSIVE hit with that song - unlike Springsteen's versions of Blinded By The Light & For You (also covers by Manfred Mann).

I prefer Dolly's version. Although Whitney's has the vocal theatrics, Dolly's has the "heart" that can bring tears to my eyes when I'm in the right mood (or had a few drinks,)

 

[georgina]

These are songs I didn't know about at first:

Bob Dylan wrote All Along the Watchtower (not Jimi Hendrix)

John Prine wrote Angel from Montgomery (not Bonnie Raitt)

Cat Stevens wrote The First Cut is the Deepest (not Rod Stewart or Sheryl Crow)

 

[bcla]

I prefer Dolly's version. Although Whitney's has the vocal theatrics, Dolly's has the "heart" that can bring tears to my eyes when I'm in the right mood (or had a few drinks,)

I remember showing my wife this version.

In The Bodyguard, I thought it was a country version on a jukebox, although it wasn't Dolly Parton. OK - it was John Doe from X.

 

[AppleDumpling]

I prefer Dolly's version. Although Whitney's has the vocal theatrics, Dolly's has the "heart" that can bring tears to my eyes when I'm in the right mood (or had a few drinks,)

Same here. I was never really a country music fan and had no idea it was Dolly's song when it first became a hit for Whitney. Of course Whitney sings it beautifully and it's a big orchestrated production number. However, I now really love Dolly's simpler version and think she sings it with more emotion as it has personal meaning for her.

Incidentally, country music was never on my radar because it got virtually no airplay in my region. It's become more mainstream and we see more country on tv and hear of more artists but before the Internet, satellite radio, YouTube, etc. it was something I just never saw/heard much of. For many, many years there were no country radio stations in the NYC area and I'm not even sure if there is now. I remember they tried it a couple times but it never lasted because there was just not enough fan base here to keep it going.