Artists Who Covered Their Own Songs?

How has nobody mentioned this yet?

 

Todd Rundgren/Nazz - Hello It's Me
Little Feat - Willin', Truck Stop Girl
Ventures - Walk Don't Run/Walk Don't Run '64
Frank Sinatra - Numerous Songs Columbia, Capitol and Reprise versions

 

How could I forget his 47,000 different versions of 'Josephine'?

 

Jimi Hendrix - Stone Free
The Clash - Capitol Radio
John Fogerty - Change In The Weather

 

James Taylor famously re-recorded "Carolina in My Mind" and "Something in the Way She Moves" for his 1976 Greatest Hits album, mostly because Apple wouldn't license the originals to Warner Bros. But those two remakes stand out in their own right and fit in better with the rest of the GH album.

Neil Diamond re-recorded "You Make It Feel Like Christmas" for his first Christmas album. The original version was on his 1984 album Primitive.

Diamond also re-recorded "Shilo" when he went from Bang to Uni in 1968.

 

One of the last records by Percy Faith before he died in 1976 was this disco-style remake of his biggest hit, "Summer Place '76," which got some airplay in late 1975:

 

There was that time Vanilla Ice re-recorded Ice Ice Baby as a nu-metal song.

 

Cliff Richard re-recorded his first hit "MOVE IT!" in the studio in 1967, 1983, 1995, 2006 and 2015 - all different versions, the 1995 version with an extra verse.

 

Joni Mitchell did it on two albums: Both Sides Now and Travelogue. Carly Simon did it on Never Been Gone. All three albums were released in the 2000s and feature the two singer-songwriters reimagining some of their best known and loved songs.

 

There's the 80s re-recordings of After Midnight by Eric Clapton and Hush by Deep Purple.

 

You missed the obvious Springsteen one.... "The Ghost Of Tom Joad," originally recorded by Bruce as the title track of his 1996 acoustic solo album, was redone as a full-blown rock song (complete with Tom Morello solo) for the 2014 album High Hopes.

 

Ray Stevens has done this quite a bit in his career. In the 80s, he recorded Ahab the Arab and Santa Claus is Watching You, changing the lyrics and arrangement quite a bit. In the 90s he began re-recording 80s hits like The Pirate Song, although these re-recordings amounted to little more than removing the laugh track and speeding up the song a bit. In later years, he's re-recorded some other oldies like Mississippi Squirrel Revival and quite frankly, the quality diminishes each time.

 

King's X re-recorded 1988's 'Goldilox' in 2005. They did the instrumental part in one take. I believe the thought was to try and make it the hit it should have been originally...didn't work.

 

Already mentioned, back on Page 1, in fact.

Like the SHF would EVER miss an opportunity to reference Sir Paul in a thread......

 

Big Country recorded "Ships" for 1991's "Why the Long Face"... and then re-recorded it for 1993's "Buffalo Skinners"!

 

Not released on albums, but in 1988 Iron Maiden re-recorded 'Charlotte The Harlot' and 'Prowler' as B-sides.

 

Rejected for The Monkees, became the first big hit for Linda Ronstadt with the Stone Ponys.

 

Porcupine Tree re-recorded 2000's 'Shesmovedon' in 2005.

 

"Midnight Rider" Gregg Allman recorded versions with The Allman Brothers and solo.

"In the City" Joe Walsh recorded versions with The Eagles and solo.

"We Got the Beat" The Go Go's re-recorded it when they signed with a big record label.

 

Kim Wilde on Never Say Never.
I think it covers your criteria as it's not fully a covers album, but she does redo more than one song along with new material.

Personally I like the new version of this song more than the original.

View From A Bridge


Original: https://youtu.be/z2gz8WXnSdM

 

John Entwistle covered his Who songs My Wife and Heaven and Hell on his solo albums

 

Joe Walsh. . . Turn to Stone was on Barnstorm and then redid for So What

 

Was going to post that but couldn't remember if it was a studio version on High Hopes or the live version that was recorded. I remember he re-recorded American Skin for that album as well.

 

And the version of "Land of Hope and Dreams" that I think was mostly studio - to "replace" the live version from 2000 - with a live Clarence sax solo flown in since he was no longer around to re-record.

I wasn't sure if studio versions of songs previously released as live versions counted for the thread!