Artists Who Covered Their Own Songs?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Trixmay 988, Feb 19, 2021.

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  1. johnwilliamhunte

    johnwilliamhunte In the land of Gods and Monsters

    Donovan - Catch The Wind
    Nirvana - Aneurysm
    Nirvana - Been A Son
    Nirvana - Polly

    More Nirvana songs if you include ones that weren't officially released until With The Lights Out, not sure if they count or not?
     
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  2. richard a

    richard a Forum Resident

    Location:
    borley, essex, uk
    David Bowie.
    Three different studio versions of John I’m Only Dancing.
    Space Oddity in 1969 and again ten years later.
    Panic In Detroit was remade in ‘79.
    Lots of songs re-recorded for the unreleased Toy project.
    Uncle Floyd remade as Slip Away.
    Rebel Rebel reworked for a US single then remade entirely in 2002.
    Stay and I Can’t Read re-recorded during the Earthling sessions. Strangers When We Meet remade for 1.Outside.
    The Man Who Sold The World redone with Eno in 1995 based on the live rearrangement.
    There’s probably loads more...
     
  3. The macerator

    The macerator Draining the pool.

    Location:
    South West UK
    Hawkwind have done it a few times - Silver Machine and You'd Better Believe It came to mind immediately.
     
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  4. gazzaa2

    gazzaa2 Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    Springsteen covered If I Were the Priest, Songs For Orphans and Janey Needs a Shooter for Letter to You last year (although they hadn't been released on a studio album before).

    Neil Young's Homegrown last year, where Little Wing had already been released on Hawks & Doves.
     
  5. The Beatles-Revolution single version and album version
     
  6. Terrapin Station

    Terrapin Station Master Guns

    Location:
    NYC Man/Joy-Z City
    This was quite common with pre-rock pop and jazz . . . and in general during the early days of the record industry through at least the early 60s.

    For example, Duke Ellington recorded at least twelve different versions of "East St. Louis Toodle-Oo" between 1926 and 1956 for at least eight or nine different labels.

    Sinatra recorded at least six or seven different studio versions of "All or Nothing at All" over a 40 year period or so, starting in the late 30s.

    Popular artists active during the 20s through the early 60s who didn't record multiple studio versions of popular songs of theirs would be a much shorter list.
     
  7. She Loves You-English version-German version. I used this example instead of I Want To Hold Your Hand because it was completely re-recorded where hand was sung over the original backing track.
     
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  8. AveryKG

    AveryKG Sultan of snacks

    Location:
    west London
    Poco - 'Nobody's Fool' is on both their first and second albums, albeit with a long jam tacked on the end on the second.

    America - 'Everyone I Meet is From California' revisited with electric guitars on the Homecoming album as 'California Revisited'.

    Lewis Taylor has loads, stuff like 'Lovelight (West Coast Version)' and various others I can't recall at the moment that aren't just remixes but entirely reimagined/rearranged.

    You could argue that Jimmy Webb has made a late-career career of covering his own songs. Three albums - Ten Easy Pieces, Still Within the Sound of My Voice and Just Across the River - which are covers of songs he wrote originally recorded by others.
     
    Last edited: Feb 23, 2021
  9. rockerreds

    rockerreds Senior Member

    Lou Reed- We're Gonna Have A Real Good Time Together
     
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  10. rikki nadir

    rikki nadir Gentleman Thug

    Location:
    London, UK
    I think it is interesting that the OP disqualifies artists who have recorded entire albums of re-recordings of their earlier work. I don't disagree with that stipulation, since personally I find those efforts are nearly always a mixed blessing, with some versions being enjoyable insights into the song, and others being dull re-treads.

    What also interests me is artists who get the re-recording/revisiting 'bug' and release one reworked song, then go on to later release a covers/re-recording project. I wonder at the different reasons for so doing.

    So for example, John Martyn recorded a different version of his song 'Couldn't Love You More' on his 1981 album Glorious Fool. Wikipedia says:

    "Opening track 'Couldn't Love You More' is a re-worked arrangement of the song that originally appeared on 1977's One World. The original acoustic version is here re-recorded as a full-band track, featuring a guest appearance from Eric Clapton. Clapton covered Martyn's 'May You Never' on his 1977 album Slowhand."

    John Martyn went on in the early 1990's to re-record many of his earlier songs for a different label. Oddly, these were initially featured on two different albums: Couldn't Love You More, which he complained was released 'too early' and then the modified follow up No Little Boy, which contained some of the earlier re-recordings! Frustratingly, many of these these re-recordings have been added to live versions and licensed ad nauseum for endless 'Best Of' compilations that contain great songs, but not in the versions you were expecting.

    Bryan Ferry in the 1970s re-recorded a handful of his Roxy Music songs for b-sides to his solo singles, often with several Roxy members then past and present on the recordings. These five b-sides were added to covers of other artist's material (inc Beatles, Everly Brothers) to form the 'Frankenstein' solo album Let's Stick Together. Despite its origins, the album holds up well in Ferry's catalogue.

    This century Ferry released a couple of albums of his earlier songs re-recorded in a 1920s jazz style. The first is instrumental only, but the second Bitter-Sweet has some newly recorded vocals.

    Kate Bush re-recorded vocals and remixed her song 'Wuthering Heights' for her 1986 compilation The Whole Story, then of course went on to release the remix/re-recording project The Director's Cut in 2011.
     
  11. tim_neely

    tim_neely Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Central VA
    The infamous 1986 remake of "25 or 6 to 4" by Chicago, the first single from Chicago 18. It's so 80s that it sounds like Phil Collins on drums!

     
  12. dance_hall_keeper

    dance_hall_keeper Forum Resident

    The first one coming immediately coming to mind: "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" - Neil Sedaka 1962 and 1975.
     
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  13. tim_neely

    tim_neely Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Central VA
    Neil Sedaka did his 1962 hit "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" as a piano ballad in 1975 and made the top 10 all over again:



    Edit: great minds and all that...
     
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  14. Juan Hitwonder

    Juan Hitwonder Forum Resident

    Location:
    NYC
    Elton John hit #1 the second time around with "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" (the George Michael duet version).

    Then Elton hit #1 again with his rerecorded "Candle in the Wind" (the dead princess version).
     
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  15. tim_neely

    tim_neely Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Central VA
    Elton John re-recorded at least two of his early songs, with the new versions of both released in 1973.

    '"Skyline Pigeon," a track from the 1969 album Empty Sky, was the B-side of the "Daniel" 45.

    Later in the year, "Grey Seal," which was originally the B-side of the British single "Rock and Roll Madonna," appeared on the Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album in a new version.
     
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  16. Juan Hitwonder

    Juan Hitwonder Forum Resident

    Location:
    NYC
    Other re-recorded versions that joined the originals by appearing on the Billboard Hot 100 chart:

    The Ventures -- "Walk Don't Run '64" (#2, then #8)

    Aerosmith -- "Walk This Way" (with Run-DMC) (#10, then #4)

    Eric Clapton -- "Layla" (Unplugged version) (#7, then #12)

    The Police -- "Don't Stand So Close to Me" (#10, then #46)

    Chubby Checker -- "The Twist" (with the Fat Boys) (#1, then #1 again, then #16)

    Bing Crosby -- "White Christmas" (they actually wore out the original master) (#1, then #1)
     
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  17. tim_neely

    tim_neely Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Central VA
    "Don't Stand So Close to Me '86" by the Police:

     
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  18. Meddows

    Meddows Forum Resident

    Adam and the ants Car trouble
     
  19. tim_neely

    tim_neely Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Central VA
    Another fairly common thing was for artists to re-record early, independent singles when they were signed to larger labels.

    A handful off the top of my head:
    "Radio Free Europe" by R.E.M.
    "Rock Lobster" by the B-52's
    "All You Zombies," "Hanging on a Heartbeat," "Blood from a Stone," and "Fighting on the Same Side" by the Hooters
    "Jocko Homo" by Devo
     
  20. rikki nadir

    rikki nadir Gentleman Thug

    Location:
    London, UK
    Examples where the artist has not gone on to release an entire album of re-recordings include the Jam's version of Bruce Foxton's song 'Smithers-Jones', which was released in a band-only version as a b-side in 1979, but when it was included in the next album from the band Setting Sons appeared in a version featuring Foxton accompanied by strings. The song was a personal favourite Jam tune for me at the time, and it was thrilling hearing Foxton perform it with Stiff Little Fingers live during his fifteen years with that band.

    Iain Matthews re-recorded the title track of his 1972 album Tigers Will Survive for his 1977 album Hit and Run.

    Tom Robinson included versions of his song 'Atmospherics (Listen to The Radio)' on each of his first two solo albums in 1982 and 1984 and included it on related singles. While it's a terrific song, by the end of the decade I had bought versions of it seven times -- on studio albums, live albums, a compilation, two 7" singles and one 12" EP!
     
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  21. WelshChris

    WelshChris Forum Resident

    Location:
    Wales
    Chris Rea - New Light Through Old Windows.
     
  22. ET3311

    ET3311 Careful with that axe, Roy.

    John Prine' album Souvenirs is all re-recordings of older songs.

     
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  23. ET3311

    ET3311 Careful with that axe, Roy.

  24. Uncle Ernie

    Uncle Ernie Forum Resident

    Rod Stewart -- I Don't Want To Talk About It (1989).

    Not better, just Roddier:

     
  25. Nakamichi

    Nakamichi The iceage is coming....

    Location:
    St199nf
    And Guns of Brixton.
     
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