Undercover Covers Part Two: 20 More' Songs You Didn't Know Were Covers
Back by popular demand, y'all! A few weeks back we brought you 20 super-famous songs that you probably didn't know were actually cover versions. But we had so many great undercover cover cuts stored up that we just had to come back for a second helping. So without any further ado, read on to discover 20 more tunes that were actually somebody else's baby. Prepare to have a few rock myths shattered...but at least you'll get to hear some pretty cool stuff!
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)".
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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".
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".
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.
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.
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.
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."
8. You Know It As: "Me And Bobby McGee" by Janis Joplin
But It's Actually...
Kris Kristofferson wrote 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...
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.
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 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.
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 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.
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".
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.
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.
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.
On The Fence: "Girlfriend" by Avril Lavigne
Kind Of Like...
Did Avril jack this 1979 song by the Rubinoos called "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend"? A lawsuit cleared the "Girlfriend" writers of any wrongdoing, but check the chorus.