A
cover version of a
pop song is a rerecording of that song by a different artist (compare with
remake).
From early in the 20th century it was common practice amoung phonograph record labels that if any company had a record that was a significant commercial success, other record companies would have singers or musicians "cover" the tune by recording a version for their own label in hopes of cashing in on the tune's success.
In the early days of rock and roll, many songs originally recorded by African American rock musicians were rerecorded by white artists, such as Pat Boone, in a more toned down style that lacked the hard edge of rock and roll. These cover versions were considered by some to be more palatable to parents.
Over the years, cover versions of many popular songs have been recorded, sometimes with a radically different style, and in other cases the cover version is virtually indistinguishable from the original. For example, Jose Feliciano's version of "Light My Fire" was utterly distinct from the original version by The Doors; but Carl Carlton[?]'s 1974 cover of Robert Knight[?]'s 1967 hit single song "Everlasting Love" sounds almost identical to the original.
Punk music is known for deconstructing classic rock or pop songs by reinterpreting them in punk form. Bands like Me First & the Gimme Gimmes[?], The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, NOFX and Goldfinger are especially known for doing so. In recent years, several jam bands and related groups have begun covering hip hop songs, most frequently only live in concert. Perhaps the most famous such-cover recorded in a studio and released commercially is a bluegrass version of "Gin and Juice" by Snoop Doggy Dogg, as performed by the Gourds[?]. Other artists like Phish and Keller Williams[?] have covered "Rappers Delight[?]" (The Sugarhill Gang), "I Like Big Butts" (Sir Mix-A-Lot[?]) and other hip hop songs.
The Beatles have been covered more than any other band; "Yesterday" has been covered over three thousand times since its original release in 1965. Other songs which have been released many times as cover versions include the infamous "Louie Louie" by Richard Berry[?], "Free Bird[?]" (Lynyrd Skynyrd), "No Woman No Cry[?]" (Bob Marley & the Wailers) and many of the less recent works of Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen (as of December 31, 2002, there were at least 759 published cover versions of Cohen songs [1] (http://www.leonardcohenfiles.com/test.html)).
Many popular bands have a tribute album, consisting entirely of covers of their songs performed by various other bands, often quite different from the original. The soundtrack to the film I Am Sam was a particularly popular example of this; it consisted of Beatles songs redone by various modern artists.
Jam bands such as Phish and The Grateful Dead are known for playing covers in concert, generally, and not on studio albums.
Some examples of commercially successful or otherwise notable cover versions are:
| Song
| Original Artist, link to year in music
| Cover Artist, link to year in music
|
| "Across the Universe"
| The Beatles, 1970
| Fiona Apple, 1998 (from Pleasantville[?])
|
| "After Midnight"
| J.J. Cale[?], 1965
| Eric Clapton, 1970
Eric Clapton, 1988 (remake)
|
| "Ain't That a Shame"
| Fats Domino, 1955
| Pat Boone, 1955
|
| "Ain't Too Proud to Beg"
| The Temptations, 1966
| The Rolling Stones, 1974
|
| "All Along The Watchtower"
| Bob Dylan, 1968
| Jimi Hendrix, 1968
|
| "Almost Cut My Hair"
| Crosby, Stills & Nash, 1970
| The Dayglo Abortions, 1998
|
| "American Pie"
| Don McLean, 1971
| Madonna, 2000
|
| "American Woman"
| The Guess Who[?], 1970
| Lenny Kravitz, 2000
|
| "Angel in the Morning"
| Merrilee Rush[?], 1968
| Juice Newton[?], 1981
|
| "Back in the USA"
| Chuck Berry, 1959
| Linda Ronstadt, 1978
|
| "Because the Night"
| Patti Smith, 1978 (cowritten with Bruce Springsteen)
| 10,000 Maniacs, 1994
|
| "Black Magic Woman"
| Fleetwood Mac, 1969
| Santana, 1970
|
| "Blinded by the Light"
| Bruce Springsteen, 1973
| Manfred Mann, 1976
|
| "Blue Bayou"
| Roy Orbison, 1963
| Linda Ronstadt, 1977
|
| "Blue Suede Shoes"
| Carl Perkins, 1955
| Elvis Presley, 1956
|
| "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy"
| The Andrews Sisters, 1941
| Bette Midler, 1972
|
| "Boy From New York City"
| Ad Libs[?], 1965
| Manhattan Transfer[?], 1981
|
| "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft"
| Klaatu, 1976
| The Carpenters, 1977
|
| "Come Together"
| The Beatles, 1969
| Aerosmith, 1978
|
| "Da Doo Run Run"
| The Crystals 1963
| Shawn Cassidy[?] 1977
|
| "Dancing in the Street"
| Martha & the Vandellas, 1964
| Van Halen, 1982
|
| "Daydream Believer"
| The Monkees, 1968
| Anne Murray, 1978
Shonen Knife[?], 1998
|
| "Downtown Train"
| Tom Waits, 1985
| Rod Stewart, 1989
|
| "Everlasting Love"
| Robert Knight[?], 1967
| Carl Carlton[?], 1974
|
| "Everything I Own"
| Bread, 1972
| Ken Boothe[?], 1974
Boy George, 1987
|
| "Feelin' Alright"
| Traffic, 1968
| Joe Cocker, 1969
|
| "Get Ready"
| The Temptations, 1966
| Rare Earth[?], 1970
|
| "Gin and Juice"
| Snoop Doggy Dogg, 1993
| The Gourds[?], 1998
|
| "Gloria"
| Them (with Van Morrison), 1965
| Shadows of Knight[?], 1966
|
| "A Hard Day's Night"
| The Beatles, 1964
| Goldie Hawn, 1998
|
| "A Hazy Shade Of Winter"
| Simon and Garfunkel, 1966
| The Bangles, 1987
|
| "Heat Wave"
| Martha & the Vandellas, 1963
| Linda Ronstadt, 1975
|
| "Helter Skelter"
| The Beatles, 1968
| U2, 1989
|
| "Hey Baby"
| Bruce Channel[?], 1962
| DJ Ötzi, 2000
|
| "Hurt"
| Nine Inch Nails, 1994
| Johnny Cash, 2002
|
| "I Don't Like Mondays"
| The Boomtown Rats[?], 1982
| Tori Amos, 2001
|
| "I Got Rhythm"
| George Gershwin Broadway musical Girl Crazy[?], 1930
| The Happenings[?], 1967
|
| "I Got You Babe"
| Sonny & Cher, 1967
| Cher with Beavis and Butthead, 1993
|
| "I Hear You Knocking"
| Smiley Lewis[?], 1961
| Dave Edmunds, 1971
|
| "I Heard It Through The Grapevine"
| Gladys Knight & the Pips, 1967
| Marvin Gaye, 1968
Creedence Clearwater Revival, 1970
|
| "I Shot the Sheriff"
| Bob Marley & the Wailers, 1973
| Eric Clapton, 1974
|
| "If"
| David Gates, 1971
| Telly Savalas[?], 1975
|
| "I'm a Believer"
| Neil Diamond, 1966
| The Monkees, 1966
Smashmouth[?], 2001
|
| "I'm a Man"
| Spencer Davis Group[?], 1967
| Chicago, 1970
|
| "In the Midnight Hour"
| Wilson Pickett, 1965
| The Rascals, 1967
|
| "It Ain't Me Babe"
| Bob Dylan, 1964
| The Turtles, 1965
|
| "Jealous Guy"
| John Lennon, 1971
| Roxy Music, 1981
|
| "Knocking on Heaven's Door"
| Bob Dylan, 1973
| Guns N' Roses, 1991
|
| "Last Kiss"
| J. Frank Wilson[?], 1964
| Pearl Jam, 1981
|
| "The Letter"
| The Boxtops[?], 1967
| Joe Cocker, 1970
|
| "Light My Fire"
| The Doors, 1967
| Jose Feliciano, 1968
|
| "The Lion Sleeps Tonight"
| The Tokens[?], 1961
| Robert John[?], 1971
Tight Fit[?], 1982
|
| "Live and Let Die"
| Paul McCartney, 1976
| Guns N' Roses, 1991
|
| "The Locomotion"
| Little Eva[?], 1962
| Grand Funk, 1974
|
| "Love is All Around"
| The Troggs, 1967
| Wet Wet Wet, 1994
|
| "Love is Strange"
| Ian and Sylvia[?], 1958
| Peaches and Herb[?], 1967
|
| "Love Potion Number 9"
| The Clovers[?], 1959
| The Searchers, 1964
|
| "Lover's Cross"
| Jim Croce, 1972
| Melanie[?], 1974
|
| "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"
| The Beatles, 1967
| Elton John, 1974
|
| "MacArthur Park"
| Richard Harris, 1968
| Donna Summer, 1978
|
| "Mr. Tambourine Man"
| Bob Dylan, 1965
| The Byrds, 1965
|
| "My Way"
| Frank Sinatra, 1969
| Sid Vicious, 1978
|
| "No Woman, No Cry"
| Bob Marley & the Wailers, 1974
| Gilberto Gil, 1980
|
| "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da"
| The Beatles, 1968
| The Marmalade[?], 1968
|
| "Only You"
| Yazoo, 1982
| Flying Pickets[?], 1983
|
| "Pinball Wizard"
| The Who, 1969
| The New Seekers, 1973
Elton John, 1976
|
| "Proud Mary"
| Creedence Clearwater Revival, 1969
| Ike and Tina Turner, 1971
|
| "Rock and Roll Music"
| Chuck Berry, 1957
| The Beatles, 1964
The Beach Boys, 1975
|
| "Roll Over Beethoven"
| Chuck Berry, 1956
| The Beatles, 1963
Electric Light Orchestra, 1973
|
| "Ruby Tuesday"
| The Rolling Stones, 1967
| Melanie[?], 1972
|
| "She Came in through the Bathroom Window"
| The Beatles, 1969
| Joe Cocker, 1969
|
| "Somethin' Stupid"
| Frank & Nancy Sinatra, 1967
| Robbie Williams & Nicole Kidman, 2001
|
| "Something in the Air"
| Thunderclap Newman[?], 1969
| Fish, 1991
|
| "Spanish Harlem"
| Ben E. King[?], 1961
| Aretha Franklin, 1971
|
| "Stay"
| Maurice Williams & the Zodiacs[?], 1960
| Jackson Browne, 1977
|
| "Stop Your Sobbing"
| The Kinks, 1964
| The Pretenders, 1979
|
| "Summertime"
| George Gershwin, from the opera Porgy and Bess, 1934
| The Shake Spears[?], 1966
Janis Joplin, 1967
[2] (http://members.lycos.nl/summertimeweb/Summertime_covers.html)
|
| "Summertime Blues"
| Eddie Cochran, 1958
| The Who, 1967
Blue Cheer, 1968
|
| "Suzie Q"
| Dale Hawkins[?], 1957
| Creedence Clearwater Revival, 1968
|
| "Suspicion"
| Elvis Presley, 1962
| Terry Stafford[?], 1964
|
| "Take Me To The River"
| Al Green, 1974
| Talking Heads, 1978
|
| "That'll Be The Day"
| Buddy Holly, 1957
| Linda Ronstadt, 1976
|
| "There She Goes"
| The La's[?], 1989
| Sixpence None The Richer, 1999
|
| "This Magic Moment"
| The Drifters, 1960
| Jay and the Americans[?], 1969
|
| "Time"
| Tom Waits, 1967
| Rod Stewart, 1970
|
| "Top of the World"
| The Carpenters, 1972
| Shonen Knife[?], 1994
|
| "The Tracks of My Tears"
| Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, 1965
| Johnny Rivers[?], 1967
Linda Ronstadt, 1976
|
| "Twist and Shout"
| The Isley Brothers, 1962
| The Beatles, 1963 (rereleased 1986)
|
| "Venus"
| Shocking Blue, 1969
| Bananarama, 1986
|
| "Walk This Way"
| Aerosmith, 1975
| Run DMC, 1986
|
| "We Can Work It Out"
| The Beatles, 1966
| Stevie Wonder, 1971
|
| "Wild Night"
| Van Morrison, 1971
| John Cougar Mellencamp & Me'Shell NdegeOcello[?], 1994
|
| "Wild World"
| Cat Stevens, 1970
| Jimmy Cliff, 1970
|
| "With a Little Help from My Friends"
| The Beatles, 1967
| Joe Cocker, 1969
|
| "Without You"
| Badfinger, 1970
| Harry Nilsson, 1971
|
| "Woodstock"
| Joni Mitchell, 1970
| Crosby, Stills, and Nash, 1970
|
| "You Keep Me Hanging On"
| The Supremes, 1966
| Vanilla Fudge, 1968
|
| "You Really Got Me"
| The Kinks, 1965
| Brian Eno et al 1974, Van Halen, 1978
|
| "You've Got a Friend"
| Carole King, 1971
| James Taylor, 1971 [3] (http://www.superseventies.com/sw_youvegotafriend.html)
|
List of notable albums consisting entirely of cover songs:
An album consisting entirely of covers of the same artist is called a tribute album.