Two versions but not covers?

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Sick of Goodbyes by Sparklehorse popped up on the iPod this morning and started me thinking about songs that have been recorded by more than one artist but aren't covers.

Cracker recorded Sick of Goodbyes first but since it was written by David Lowery (of Cracker) and Mark Linkous (of Sparklehorse) it isn't really a cover.

The only other song I can think of that's like this is Shipbuilding. If I remember rightly, Elvis Costello wrote it for Robert Wyatt but then recorded his own version. So Wyatt's is the original but Costello's version isn't really a cover, since he wrote it.

See what I mean? Any other examples?

...

The Music Radar
Essential albums and that

― se3_uk (se3_uk), Thursday, 20 January 2005 10:48 (twenty-one years ago)

"Chinese Rock" The Heartbreakers, later done by the Ramones.

― mark grout (mark grout), Thursday, 20 January 2005 10:51 (twenty-one years ago)

"As Tears Go By" - Marianne Faithfull, then the Stones.

― NickB (NickB), Thursday, 20 January 2005 10:53 (twenty-one years ago)

NickB just reminded me of another one:

The Beatles wrote I Wanna Be Your Man for the Stones and later recorded their own version.

― se3_uk (se3_uk), Thursday, 20 January 2005 11:02 (twenty-one years ago)

"Misery" by Kenny Lynch -> The Beatles.

Oh there are many many many.

― mark grout (mark grout), Thursday, 20 January 2005 11:03 (twenty-one years ago)

Read it in books - Echo & The Bunnymen/Teardrop Explodes

― mzui (mzui), Thursday, 20 January 2005 12:30 (twenty-one years ago)

I was baffled as to why Morrissey released Let Me Kiss You as a single around about the same time as Nancy Sinatra's version was released. Especially as it's a rotten song.

― David Merryweather (DavidM), Thursday, 20 January 2005 12:40 (twenty-one years ago)

"nothing compares 2 u" sinead, then prince, i think

― Slump Man (Slump Man), Thursday, 20 January 2005 12:45 (twenty-one years ago)

"China Girl" was written by David Bowie and recorded first by Iggy Pop and later by David Bowie, iirc.

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Thursday, 20 January 2005 12:49 (twenty-one years ago)

"Ship of Fools" - recorded by everyone.

― dave225 (Dave225), Thursday, 20 January 2005 12:52 (twenty-one years ago)

joy division/new order: ceremony (and the b-side, in a lonely place)

― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Thursday, 20 January 2005 12:57 (twenty-one years ago)

Which of Elvis Costello and Dave Edmunds versions of Girl Talk came first?

― Dr. C (Dr. C), Thursday, 20 January 2005 12:57 (twenty-one years ago)

Which of Elvis Costello and Dave Edmunds versions of Girl Talk came first?

I don't think Ceremony counts.

― Dr. C (Dr. C), Thursday, 20 January 2005 12:58 (twenty-one years ago)

ar, it bloody does. ok: the version with gillian on it counts, definitely.

― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Thursday, 20 January 2005 12:59 (twenty-one years ago)

Oh, now I get it.

What A Fool Believes - Kenny Loggins/ Doobie Brothers

― dave225 (Dave225), Thursday, 20 January 2005 13:00 (twenty-one years ago)

If Ceremony counts, so does any Beach Boys stuff re-recorded by Brian Wilson. (Smile, the 'I Just Wasn't Made For These Times' set etc)

― Dr. C (Dr. C), Thursday, 20 January 2005 13:02 (twenty-one years ago)

back in the day (i'm talking the 50s and before, maybe even later) the charts were full of popular songs that were recorded by various people and released and in the charts at the same time. seemed to be all about the songs and less about the performer.

the bunnymen / teardrops thing is the only one i can think of apart from the Magazine / Buzzcocks thing that was the same tune but different words and name ('Shot By Both Sides' / 'Lipstick').

― koogs (koogs), Thursday, 20 January 2005 13:15 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't think Elvis Costello's version of Girl's Talk came out until the albums were reissued with bonus tracks. It may have been on that rarities compilation he did in the early eighties but Dave Edmunds was definitely first, so that counts.

Any more examples of the Sparklehorse thing: people from two bands co-writing a track and BOTH bands recording it?

― se3_uk (se3_uk), Thursday, 20 January 2005 13:15 (twenty-one years ago)

Wasn't "Video Killed the Radio Star" recorded pretty much simultaneously by the Buggles and Bruce Woolley and the Camera Club (and co-written by members of the two bands)?

― Salmon Pink (Salmon Pink), Thursday, 20 January 2005 13:18 (twenty-one years ago)

** don't think Elvis Costello's version of Girl's Talk came out until the albums were reissued with bonus tracks. It may have been on that rarities compilation he did in the early eighties but Dave Edmunds was definitely first, so that counts.**

It was on 20 Bloody Marys and 20 Hows Your Fathers (UK Title) which came out around 1980? The Edmunds was 79, IIRC.

― Dr. C (Dr. C), Thursday, 20 January 2005 13:27 (twenty-one years ago)

one or more songs off of smudge's manilow are also on whatever lemonheads-album was released at the time. they wrote the songs together and i think the smudge-guy may have even been a lemonhead-member back then.

― (jg) ((jg)), Thursday, 20 January 2005 14:20 (twenty-one years ago)

oh and it was a b-side to "I cant stand up for falling down"

― mark grout (mark grout), Thursday, 20 January 2005 14:28 (twenty-one years ago)

"demolition man" grace jones/the police
"der komissar" - after the fire/falco

― gygax! (gygax!), Thursday, 20 January 2005 14:35 (twenty-one years ago)

All the Young Dudes - Mott the Hoople/Bowie
Because the Night - Patti Smith/Springsteen

― Ken L (Ken L), Thursday, 20 January 2005 14:40 (twenty-one years ago)

"Cowboy Dreams" - Jimmy Nail, then by author Paddy McAloon
"Losing My Mind" (and "Rent"?) - Liza Minelli, then by the Pet Shop Boys

― Chris Hill (Chris Hill), Thursday, 20 January 2005 14:48 (twenty-one years ago)

The Blimp - Captain Beefheart / Charles Ives - Frank Zappa

― mzui (mzui), Thursday, 20 January 2005 14:49 (twenty-one years ago)

"fire" bruce springsteen/pointer sisters
"i am a tree" doug gillard/guided by voices

― gygax! (gygax!), Thursday, 20 January 2005 14:51 (twenty-one years ago)

oh yea,

Commercial Zone - Keith Levene / This Is What You Want, This is What You Get - PIL

― mzui (mzui), Thursday, 20 January 2005 14:51 (twenty-one years ago)

I humbly submit
I Heard It Through The Grapevine - Gladys Knight and the Pips/Mavin Gaye

Given the way Motown worked, with one song often being recorded by several artists, I wouldn't be surprised if there were more on say, Marvin or Smokey, but I can't think of any.

― Ken L (Ken L), Thursday, 20 January 2005 14:55 (twenty-one years ago)

How about Bob Dylan/The Band stuff from the Basement Tapes like
Tears of Rage
I Shall Be Released

― Ken L (Ken L), Thursday, 20 January 2005 15:05 (twenty-one years ago)

Whose version of "Me and Bobbie McGee" came out first?

I was under the impression that Kristofferson wrote it for Janis.

And of course, it's weird to hear Willie Nelson sing "Crazy." Though it shouldn't be.

― The Mad Puffin (The Mad Puffin), Thursday, 20 January 2005 15:06 (twenty-one years ago)

"Our Lips are Sealed" co-written by Terry Hall and Jane Wiedlin and released by both their respective bands, Fun Boy Three and The Go-Gos.

― Snappy (sexyDancer), Thursday, 20 January 2005 15:22 (twenty-one years ago)

"Nothing Compares 2 U" was originally done by the Family, a Paisley Park side project; Prince did later record it, but the Sinead version counts as a cover.

― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Thursday, 20 January 2005 15:28 (twenty-one years ago)

"i am a tree" doug gillard/guided by voices

nope. that was a straight-up cover. recorded first by gillard's band gem, later covered by gbv.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Thursday, 20 January 2005 15:31 (twenty-one years ago)

obviously there are about 10 million examples of this (not really a) phenomenon.

but my fave would be "beg, borrow and steal" by both the rare breed and the ohio express. it was originally a rare breed song. the ohio express released it afterward and had the hit, but they managed to do it without ever recording the song, or taking any other action that would normally be required to produce a "cover." they just rereleased the same recording of the same song with the same vocal and the same everything else, and put their own name on the label in place of the rare breed. such were the magickal ways of '60s and '70s bubblegum.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Thursday, 20 January 2005 15:38 (twenty-one years ago)

"Hide Your Heart," recorded and released simultaneously by KISS and Frehley's Comet in (I think) 1990.

― Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), Thursday, 20 January 2005 15:48 (twenty-one years ago)

The song "Laminated Cat", aka "Not for the Season," exists as a Jeff Tweedy solo song, a Loose Fur side project song, and a Wilco song.

― The Mad Puffin (The Mad Puffin), Thursday, 20 January 2005 15:52 (twenty-one years ago)

Well, if we're going down that road, both "Get Up" by The Coup feat. Dead Prez and "No Love" by Tahir feat. Dead Prez were both released on the Dead Prez Mixtape Vol. 1 as Dead Prez tracks, even though they were released on The Coup's and Tahir's LPs before that.

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Thursday, 20 January 2005 15:56 (twenty-one years ago)

Maceo Parker collaborated on some cheesy-ass ballad on a Prince album, then recorded another version on one of his solo albums (right around the time I stopped buying them).

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 20 January 2005 15:58 (twenty-one years ago)

"the greatest romance thats ever been sold", right?

― peter smith (plsmith), Thursday, 20 January 2005 16:15 (twenty-one years ago)

Chris Rea's "New Light Through Old Windows" PWNZ this thread.

Erm . . .

― Bernard the Butler (Lynskey), Thursday, 20 January 2005 16:17 (twenty-one years ago)

"Love Hangover" was recorded and released at aproximately the same time by both Diana Ross and the Fifth Dimension, and the two were pitted against each other in a chart race. Diana won.

― mottdeterre (mottdeterre), Thursday, 20 January 2005 17:26 (twenty-one years ago)

Does "Pennyroyal Tea" count?

― wombatX (wombatX), Thursday, 20 January 2005 22:23 (twenty-one years ago)

Cher, Cilla Black, and Dionne Warwick all recorded "Alfie" at about the same time. The version by Cher was used on the US film soundtrack, and Cilla's, I believe , was used in the UK.

― mottdeterre (mottdeterre), Thursday, 20 January 2005 22:40 (twenty-one years ago)

"the greatest romance thats ever been sold", right?

That's the one.

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 20 January 2005 22:42 (twenty-one years ago)

The song "Laminated Cat", aka "Not for the Season," exists as a Jeff Tweedy solo song, a Loose Fur side project song, and a Wilco song.

Also see "Venus Stopped The Train" on Jay Bennett's The Palace At 4am (Part I)

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Thursday, 20 January 2005 22:49 (twenty-one years ago)

does "peace, love, and understanding" count?

― Shmool McShmool (shmuel), Friday, 21 January 2005 00:03 (twenty-one years ago)

nah, that was just elvis covering a brinsley schwarz song, several years after the original in fact.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Friday, 21 January 2005 01:09 (twenty-one years ago)

nope. that was a straight-up cover. recorded first by gillard's band gem, later covered by gbv.

obviously i don't know the situation very well but wasn't gillard a fulltime member of GBV when they recorded this?

― gygax! (gygax!), Friday, 21 January 2005 01:17 (twenty-one years ago)

gillard was a fulltime member of gbv at the time, that's true. but i would still call "i am a tree" a cover. gillard's original was on the gem album. then he joined a new band who wanted to cover one of his old band's songs. so maybe it's a good answer to the original question, i don't know, but i personally can not endorse it!

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Friday, 21 January 2005 01:20 (twenty-one years ago)

Boys Next Door's Shivers fits in that category too

― kit brash (kit brash), Saturday, 22 January 2005 09:56 (twenty-one years ago)

"secret knowledge of backroads" from silver jews to pavement.

im fairly sure it was a malkmus tune all along, rather than a pavement cover - but it's an excellent song and really not done too many favours on 'the arizona record'.

― mark h, Saturday, 22 January 2005 12:05 (twenty-one years ago)

"Black Velvet" - Alannah Myles and Robin Lee

― John Fredland (jfredland), Saturday, 22 January 2005 12:30 (twenty-one years ago)

"wild horses" - the stones and gram parsons.

― AleXTC (AleXTC), Saturday, 22 January 2005 22:41 (twenty-one years ago)

five months pass...

"I Drove All Night" - Roy Orbison and Cyndi Lauper

I remembered the Orbison as transcendent, but it turns out that applies only to the vocal. The up-to-the-minute haute-80s arrangement just kills it. I'd ask where Rick Rubin was when Roy needed him, but I believe circa King Of Hearts he would have been hard at work on Electric and South Of Heaven...

― rogermexico (rogermexico), Thursday, 7 July 2005 04:19 (twenty years ago)

bob dylan wrote "i'll keep it with mine" for nico 'chelsea girls' then recorded a version of his own.

same goes for jackson browne's "these days."

both of those were on chelsea girls first, right?

― matlewis, Thursday, 7 July 2005 04:26 (twenty years ago)

(x-post)
but "i drove all night" is just an example of two different people recording a song that neither one of them wrote. that's kind of a different thing, innit?

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Thursday, 7 July 2005 04:31 (twenty years ago)

ah, the dreaded factcheck... I'm a stickler meself, so in most cases I'd agree, but there's a pretty good story behind this particular Steinberg/Kelly number.

http://www.songfacts.com/detail.lasso?id=3738

― rogermexico (rogermexico), Thursday, 7 July 2005 05:08 (twenty years ago)

"Song to the Siren", Pat Boone.

Later done by Tim Buckley

― mark grout (mark grout), Thursday, 7 July 2005 07:14 (twenty years ago)

Sheryl Crow was the first to sing Dylan's Mississippi.

Dylan's version appeared on Love and Theft a few years later.

― kornrulez6969 (TCBeing), Thursday, 7 July 2005 13:44 (twenty years ago)

DJ Jealous J and DJ Jock D did a song called "DJ Wars" in 1989.

They both did their individual versions of "DJ Wars 2" shortly after.

They were in no way related.

― PappaWheelie (PappaWheelie), Thursday, 7 July 2005 14:22 (twenty years ago)

"Whose version of "Me and Bobbie McGee" came out first?"

Kris demoed it, and Roger Miller recorded it as a single. Janis learned it from Miller's recording.

― Marxism Goes Better With Coke (Charles McCain), Thursday, 7 July 2005 15:37 (twenty years ago)

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