Music — Covers or Originals?

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, Global Issues, History, music, Re-blogs

Our friend David posted yesterday evening about whether a cover can ever be as good as an original.  I’d say an unequivocal YES to that one, for I’ve heard many versions of songs that were more pleasing to me than the originals.  However, music is very much a matter of personal taste, and we don’t all agree.  Take a look at David’s post and see what you think of the selections he provided.  For me, I LOVE the Four Tops, so they get my vote in almost any case.  Thank you, David, for this treat!  Oh … and I do love your Queen and wish her BIG congratulations on her 70th Jubilee!  I am, as I’m sure you guys are, concerned for her health, but she is one kind, compassionate, majestic lady and I wish her the best!

Please leave any comments for David here, as the comments on his blog are not currently working, not through any choice of his, but rather the vagaries of WordPress!

31 thoughts on “Music — Covers or Originals?”

  1. Pingback: Music — Covers or Originals? – Site Title

  2. Depends.
    When it comes to ‘Walk Away Renee’ I have to go with the original because I liked the Left Banke’s first album full stop.
    ‘If I were A Carpenter’. Two different treatments of one song….dead heat.
    ‘Ruby Tuesday’ – Melanie….No contest, but everything she did was quality.
    And there was the classic example ‘With a little help from my friends’ which was a jolly sing-along liteweight- throw away song in the original form by the Beatles.
    Then came along the Joe Cocker version…….
    The Beatles sent him a telegram ‘Thanks Joe’ it said.

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  3. Oh, this is a topic I could rant on for hours! I’ll start with Chubby Checker, The Twist. It was a cover. But how many people have even heard of the original, let alone heard the record.. I cannot even remember the guy’s name who did it. Walk Way Renee belongs to the Left Banke. The Four Tops did it differently, but I fell in love with the original, and I aint changing for no one. The Zombies, on their first album released in North America took two huge British standards, You Really Got a Hold On Me (Beatles) and Bring it on Home (to Me) (Animals, and in my books no one can do anuything better than The Animals) and put them together to make musical history. But since the song was never released ss a single, it never gained the fame it deserved! And speaking of the Animals, in particular Eric Burdon, they/he did covers of many famous songs of the time (River Deep, Mountain High from Ike and Tina Turner Review, RUBY TUESDAY from the Rolling Stones, Day in the Life fron The Beatles, It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue from Bod Dylan to name just four of many) that I will play before I listen to the originals.
    But when it comes to a band that started out as an actual “cover band,” no one, absolutely no one, was better than Vanilla Fudge! Their whole first album was mind-boggling and mind-blowing. Their second album was okay, until you get to their version of Donovan’s Season of the Witch. In the day, I made a tape of the original album, added Season of the Witch to it, and drove across Canada playing that tape every second tape. I never could get enough of their sound, (Unfortunately, when they started doing their own music, I never could get into that, to my great regret!)
    Just by the way, The Beatles were a great cover band too, though few people think of them that way nowadays.
    Meanwhile, in case you did not notice, the Zombies track that I attributed the originals to The Beatles and the Animals was really a cover of covers. “Hold” belonged to Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, and “Home” belonged to Sam Cooke in its original form. We Rock n Roll lovers owe so much to Smokey and Sam, I cannot truly express my gratitude to their writing and arranging skills.
    But back to Ruby Tuesday, Melanie, she never used her last name, she will always be “Melanie” to me, changed the whole tempo of Ruby Tuesday, and made the song her own. She should not be compared to the Stones, nor the Animals.
    And with that I will stop. Though I could go on forever about covers…. Judy Collins gained fame covering Joni Mitchell… etc etc etc

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  4. Pingback: MUSIC — COVERS OR ORIGINALS ? |jilldennison.com | Ramblings of an Occupy Liberal

  6. I saw David’s post earlier and wondered why comments weren’t possible so thank you for clearing that up and giving us the chance. Music is a matter of choice, isn’t it? I agree completely with him on Walk Away Renee – I always thought the Left Banke original was feeble, like their spelling. But I preferred the originals of the other two songs he mentioned. Tim Hardin’s If I Were A Carpenter is delicate, and I think the Four Tops overdid it a bit. My favourite version of the song is by Robert Plant, though. As for Melanie, I liked some of her stuff but her voice tended to grate on me, so give me the Stones’ original every day!

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    • Agreed! I think he inadvertently disabled comments at one point, but I haven’t been successful in helping him fix the problem from 4,000 miles away. I’m hoping his brother or nephew can help him with it next time one of them visits him.

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  10. Too bad we can’t comment on David’s site, so you will have to suffer my expert opinion instead:
    Round one goes to the Four Tops, but the two others I liked much much more in their original versions. Tim Hardin’s Carpenter sounds more grounded and the Stones’ Ruby Tuesday persuaded me with its complex arrangement and coolness.

    Liked by 3 people

    • No worries … I would have read your comment on David’s post anyway! I’m definitely with you on “Ruby Tuesday” and I think it’s just my love of the Four Tops in general that gives them my vote on “Walk Away Renee”. Now for the big question … are you a fan of Stevie Wonder?

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      • Stevie Wonder? As long as I’m not forced to be his passenger I don’t mind him. I was a pre-teen when his magnum opus ‘Songs in the Key of E’ came out and Whoa! that went sraight above me noggin. Never understood his genius, never knew he was playing basically all instruments himself or that he was blind.
        It took me years to recognize the niftyness of his records.

        And only nowadays I slowly find out that 99% of the music I listened to as a teenie was in fact European, mostly British. And white af.

        Liked by 1 person

        • Ha ha … so you heard the beginning of the “We Are the World” recording session where Michael Jackson told them all to check their egos at the door, else they would be driven home by Stevie Wonder! Hmmm … I should play that one again soon!

          I am the same … many songs I liked in my youth just for the music, but have come to understand them more as I grew older and now have a deeper appreciation for them.

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          • Thing is, Jill, I never liked little Stevie.Still, don’t. But at my age I learned to appreciate his musicianship. Apart from that his music is too black, too funky, too overground, too mainstream American for me.

            And yes, I’ve seen a or heard that Michael Jackson snippet somewhere. 😉

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            • Awwww … and here I thought you liked him! Ah well, music is very much an individual thing — we all like what we like without any real reason most of the time.

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  12. I’ve been upset plenty of times when I find out the cover is not the original 😵‍💫. Sometimes I just stop listening to the song completely, because sometimes you can’t own the cover. Only the original plays everywhere 🤦🏾‍♀️

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