Post by Jason on Nov 9, 2014 16:04:41 GMT -5
This is taken from two articles VH1 posted last year. I don't remember if it was already posted here or not. If it has been, I apologize for the duplication. Many of these, I did already know were covers (as you probably do too), but some were a surprise to me.
(Copied & Pasted from the 2 articles):
20. You Know It As: “Nothing Compares 2 U” by Sinead O’Connor
But It’s Actually…
A lot of folks know that Prince wrote this one, but most don’t realize it was recorded prior to Sinead by his side project, The Family in 1985. The killer sax solo makes it totally worth it.
No video available. For obvious reasons.
19. You Know It As: “Dazed And Confused” by Led Zeppelin
But It’s Actually…
A folky freakout song by Jake Holmes! He was opening for the Yardbirds in 1967 when their guitarist Jimmy Page heard the number…and filed it away in his mental Rolodex. It came in handy when he formed Led Zep a year later. Holmes name appears nowhere on the original record, leading to lots of copyright feuds.
Link to video of original: www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTsvs-pAGDc
18. You Know It As: “Tainted Love” by Soft Cell
But It’s Actually…
This song always sounded SO fiercely ’80′s that it kind of blew our minds when we learned that it was an old soul song by Gloria Jones from May 1965.
Link to video of original: www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSehtaY6k1U
17. You Know It As: “It’s My Life” by No Doubt
But It’s Actually…
…a fine piece of new-wave synthpop by British band Talk Talk from 1984. Seems so obvious now, doesn’t it!?
Link to video of original: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISjg71jSnLg
16. You Know It As: “Whatta Man” by Salt-n-Pepa & En Vogue
But It’s Actually…
Linda Lyndell delivered this Volt Records masterpiece in 1968, a good 25 years before it was sampled by S ‘n’ P. That’s a hell of a lot of funk for a 20-year-old white girl!
Link to video of original: www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1bVMW2XVNI
15. You Know It As: “Valerie” by Amy Winehouse
But It’s Actually…
Yeah, the hint was in the fact the tune was on Mark Ronson’s album called Version, but most people don’t know that the original was by a brassed-up band from Liverpool called The Zutons in 2006.
Link to video of original: www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3xpmfJp0Xc
14. You Know It As: “Blinded By The Light” by Manfred Mann’s Earth Band
But It’s Actually…
This wordy and otherworldly epic was written by Bruce Springsteen and appeared on his 1972 album Greetings From Asbury Park. Bruce wrote the track after exec Clive Davis complained that the record lacked a hit single. Who’s The Boss now, Clive?
Link to video of the original: www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Iaca30QbOo
13. You Know It As: “Emotion” by Destiny’s Child
But It’s Actually…
Samantha Sang doing a smooth disco groove out of ’77 written by Bee Gee Barry Gibb (who provides the distinctive backing vocals).
Link to video of the original: www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmcG-v9b2Ps
12. You Know It As: “If I Were A Boy” by Beyonce
But It’s Actually…
Not to pick on the lovely Mrs. Carter, but 20-year-old songwriter BC Jean wrote this anthemic track out of personal experience. Her version was originally rejected by the record company and it wasn’t until later that she learned it had been recorded by Bey. Although initially a bit annoyed at having her song essentially stolen, they’ve apparently buried that hatchet.
Link to video of the original: www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdjtO4iKU-A
11. You Know It As: “Crazy” by Patsy Cline
But It’s Actually…
Willie Nelson wrote the classic ballad in 1961 and recorded it just before Patsy made her iconic version.
Link to video of the original: www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwS6FL_WgoI
10. You Know It As: “Torn” by Natalie Imbruglia
But It’s Actually…
Two years before Natalie’s chart topping version, Los Angeles alternative band Ednaswap recorded the original.
Link to video of the original: www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWCOb0wxYCE
9. You Know It As: “Time Is On My Side” by The Rolling Stones
But It’s Actually…
Irma Thomas released her soulful version in 1963, a year before the Stones. If you want to get technical, the tune got its start as an instrumental for trombonist Kai Winding and his Orchestra earlier that year.
Link to video of the original: www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_ArDnZrmi0
8. You Know It As: “Ray Of Light” by Madonna
But It’s Actually…
It’s not a total cover, but definitely more than a sample! Madge “borrowed” the first few verses…and pre-choruses…and pretty much everything but the chorus from this 1971 acoustic song “Sepheryn” by English folk duo Curtiss Maldoon.
Link to video of the original: www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQ5OtnBdcWw
7. You Know It As: “Hey Joe” by Jimi Hendrix
But It’s Actually…
…a garage rock classic from The Leaves back in 1965.
Link to video of the original: www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1XysdgoQzo
6. You Know It As: “It’s Oh So Quiet” by Bjork
But It’s Actually…
Officially the track dates to Germany in 1948 when Horst Winter performed it as “Und Jetzt Ist Es Still.” But Betty Hutton gave us the first English version of this unhinged barnstormer in 1951. Watch the volume controls on this one…
Link to video of the original: www.youtube.com/watch?v=horRWtbAJoI
5. You Know It As: “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” by Cyndi Lauper
But It’s Actually…
Well this is weird…Somehow hearing a guy singing a song about girls just wanting to have fun makes the tune take on the creepy subtext of a guy at a bar giving you unwanted (and inaccurate) lady advice. But that’s exactly what Robert Hazard did in 1979. Cyndi made some minor lyrical changes to accommodate the female perspective, transforming the tune entirely.
Link to video of the original: www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aLNwOxPsjg
4. You Know It As: “The First Cut Is The Deepest” by Rod Stewart (and a zillion other people)
But It’s Actually…
Soul singer P.P. Arnold recorded the earliest version of this Cat Stevens original in 1967. He did one himself a short time later.
Link to video of the original: www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1-g5VG2pWg
3. You Know It As: “Step By Step” by Whitney Houston
But It’s Actually…
Annie Lennox really doesn’t get her due as one of the all time great British soul singers (or soul singers, period). But when Whitney recorded this song for The Preacher’s Wife soundtrack, the tune became forever hers.
Link to video of the original: www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwCNQwn_y5s
2. You Know It As: “Cum On Feel The Noize” by Quiet Riot
But It’s Actually…
The hair rock anthem started life as a glam rock anthem in 1973 for the British band Slade.
Link to video of the original: www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTEGxVDHpGU
1. You Know It As: “Superstition” by Stevie Wonder
But It’s Actually…
Obviously only Stevie Wonder could pen a groove this good, but he originally wrote it “to order” for guitarist Jeff Beck, who created the drum beat. Beck recorded the track on 1972′s Beck, Bogert & Appice, but Stevie took the song back (at Motown head Berry Gordy’s insistence) and recorded his own landmark version that we know and love today. We always knew it had funk, but we never know how hard it could rock until we heard Beck’s version.
Link to video of the original: www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xjmpBfk9uo
20. You Know It As: “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll” by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
But It’s Actually…
Some younger folks might be surprised to learn that Britney Spears didn’t do it first, but Joan Jett didn’t write this rock anthem either. It was first recorded by the British group Arrows in 1975, apparently as a response to the Rolling Stones song, “It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll (But I Like It)”.
Link to video of the original: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AT_Pbtyid0
19. You Know It As: “Don’t Turn Around” by Ace of Base
But It’s Actually…
After we did our last list of undercover covers, some readers helpfully pointed out that this ’90s Swedish pop track actually got started as a hit for Tina Turner in 1986. Thanks, team!
Link to video of the original: www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPJgQlUiZPE
18. You Know It As: “Twist And Shout” by The Isley Brothers (or The Beatles)
But It’s Actually…
This larynx-shreadder got its start in 1961, when a little known staff producer at Atlantic Records named Phil Spector was called upon to record it with a group called the Top Notes. Although the song’s writer Bert Russell felt Spector ruined the record with his dense production, the young producer didn’t give up on his “Wall of Sound” and became one of the most famous recording artists in the world.
Link to video of the original: www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsDpc-8iR8g
17. You Know It As: “Always Something There To Remind Me” by Naked Eyes
But It’s Actually…
Legendary duo Burt Bacharach and Hal David penned this song as glorious bit of lounge-a-palooza pop in 1963. Dionne Warwick recorded an early demo, before it was passed on to singer Lou Johnson a year later. A number of vocalists tackled the song, but it wasn’t until Naked Eyes gave it a new-wave treatment in the ’80s that it finally became the monster hit it always deserved to be.
Link to video of the original: www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOQ1NUdkg50
16. You Know It As: “Mad World” by Gary Jules
But It’s Actually…
The stripped-down recent version sounds like pure aural depression and despair, but Tears For Fears‘ original single from 1982 was actually pretty catchy.
Link to video of the original: www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFsHSHE-iJQ
15. You Know It As: “Saving All My Love For You” by Whitney Houston
But It’s Actually…
Whitney famously covered Dolly Parton‘s “I Will Always Love You” on the zillion-selling soundtrack to The Bodyguard, but the first in her record-setting string of seven number 1 singles was this tune originally done in 1978 by Marilyn McCoo of the 5th Dimension.
Link to video of the original: www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EL2_btuKRI
14. You Know It As: “Hard To Handle” by The Black Crowes
But It’s Actually…
The Crowes’ breakout single actually had its genesis in a (relatively) obscure Otis Redding track, although it apparently also borrows its melody from Buddy Guy’s 1972 tune “A Man Of Many Words”.
Link to video of the original: www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZxN9iQM7OY
13. You Know It As: “Killing Me Softly With His Song” by Fugees (or Roberta Flack)
But It’s Actually…
Lauryn Hill killed it on her reinvention of the famous Roberta Flack soul smash, but it was actually first recorded by Lori Lieberman in 1971. Although she didn’t write the song, she claims that the lyrics were based on a poem she wrote after being moved by the Don McLean tune, “Empty Chairs”.
Link to video of the original: www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxY47jh9owA
12. You Know It As: “Manic Monday” by The Bangles
But It’s Actually…
This Monday morning classic is credited to a “Christopher”, which is the code name for Prince! He wrote the song in 1984, and originally recorded it as a duet with the band Apollonia 6 before pulling it off their record. He offered it to the Bangles, allegedly so that lead singer Susanna Hoffs would sleep with him.
Link to video of the original: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8da5Ls7RZWQ
11. You Know It As: “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” by Marvin Gaye
But It’s Actually…
This song got passed around at Motown quite a bit before record head Berry Gordy got what he was after. Smokey Robinson and the Miracles recorded a version first in 1966, but it was rejected. Then Marvin Gaye gave it a shot and was also shot down. Finally Gladys Knight and the Pips got the all-clear, giving them a number 2 in 1967. Gaye’s version was relegated to an album cut a year later, but when DJs started to play it, it gave the label no choice but to release it as a single. It stayed at number one for seven weeks and became Motown’s biggest hit up to that point.
Link to video of the original: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ah1cvL_ez-M
10. You Know It As: “Midnight Train To Georgia” by Gladys Knight and the Pips
But It’s Actually…
Marvin Gaye stole “Grapevine”, but Gladys isn’t totally innocent herself. Her career defining track was actually done by Cissy Houston (Whitney’s mom) a year earlier in 1972.
Link to video of the original: www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCSSKVCDd74
9. You Know It As: “Georgia On My Mind” by Ray Charles
But It’s Actually…
There’s something about Georgia! It turns out that the official song of the Peach State is actually a cover of a tune by Hoagy Carmichael and His Orchestra cut way back in 1930 -thirty years before Ray got to it. For a time, there was some debate over whether the lyrics referred to a woman or the state, but according to Carmichael’s memoirs, his friend and bandleader Frankie Trumbauer told him “Why don’t you write a song called ‘Georgia’? Nobody lost much writing about the South.”
Link to video of the original: www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYRCbCOui8Q
8. You Know It As: “Me And Bobby McGee” by Janis Joplin
But It’s Actually…
Kris Kristofferson originally wrote this one about a girl named Bobby. Roger Miller took it to Number 12 in the country charts in 1969, before Janis made it a posthumous number 1 two years later. She did a similar trick with Erma Frankin‘s “Piece of My Heart” a few years earlier…
Link to video of the original: www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxI84HXXoQs
7. You Know It As: “Bette Davis Eyes” by Kim Carnes
But It’s Actually…
Some covers follow the original pretty closely, but this is definitely not one of them! The early ’80s pop hit began life as strutting dixieland number by Jackie DeShannon in 1974.
Link to video of the original: www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAQsOJbs-yo
6. You Know It As: “Hallelujah” by Jeff Buckley (or Rufus Wainwright)
But It’s Actually…
This one has had its fair share of famed covers over the years -from Rufus Wainwright, Jeff Buckley and finally to John Cale- but the original by the gravel voiced Leonard Cohen is pretty bizarre. According to legend, he originally wrote 80 verses for the song, at one point being reduced to sitting in his underwear on a hotel room floor, banging his head into the carpet.
Link to video of the original: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttEMYvpoR-k
5. You Know It As: “Black Magic Woman” by Santana
But It’s Actually…
Before they found themselves stuck in the middle-of-the-road/adult contemporary zone, The Mac [Fleetwood Mac] used to rock hardcore thanks to the blues guitar work of resident genius, Peter Green. He penned this one in 1968 about his tumultuous relationship with his girlfriend at the time.
Link to video of the original: www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eANGHVQS9Q
4. You Know It As: “Chain Of Fools” by Aretha Franklin
But It’s Actually…
Everyone knows that Aretha forever claimed Otis Redding‘s “Respect”, but this one’s a bit more sneaky. It’s actually an unauthorized copy (or “borrows heavily”) from this 1967 Elijah Fair song, “Pain of Life”.
Link to video of the original: www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdcLUN8K998
3. You Know It As: “I’m Goin’ Down” by Mary J. Blige
But It’s Actually…
Mary’s version was a very faithful (read: a carbon copy) of the original by Rose Royce off the Carwash soundtrack back in 1976.
Link to video of the original: www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-AsUqkDAGQ
2. You Know It As: “Hound Dog” by Elvis Presley
But It’s Actually…
Famed songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller wrote this one on the back of a paper bag before handing it over to Big Mama Thornton in 1952. She gave the record more blues than Elvis could ever even dream of.
Link to video of the original: www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoHDrzw-RPg
1. You Know It As: “Love Hurts” by Nazareth (and about a million others)
But It’s Actually…
Although destined to become one of the best break-up songs this side of “Love Stinks”, the track got its start as an Everly Brothers‘ album cut in 1960. Roy Orbison made his version the B-side of his hit single “Running Scared” in 1961, giving the tune its first significant airplay.
Link to video of the original: www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFE2SnliiV0