I Heard the Cover Version First

[jff]

Helter Skelter - I heard Motley Crue's version before the Beatles.

 

Smokin' in the Boys Room- I heard Motley Crue's version before Brownsville Station.

[PopTodd]

Helter Skelter - I heard Motley Crue's version before the Beatles.

I find this astonishing.

[tinnitus photography]

I didn't know RHCP did that one, but I heard Fishbone's version of it first.

sorry, you are correct.

 

I was thinking of the RHCP vesion of "Higher Ground."

i first heard "Alone Again Or" via The Damned, not Love.

[Winston Legthigh]

i first heard "Alone Again Or" via The Damned, not Love.

 

Calexico's version was the first that I heard.

[Lammycat]

"(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding?"

heard the Elvis Costello version before I heard the Brinsley Schwarz version.

And, speaking of Rev. Gary Davis:

Heard the Grateful Dead's version of "Samson and Delilah" before that of the right reverend.

1) No one has ever heard the "Brinsley Schwarz" (if that's even his real name) version.

2) Ditto on that Rev. Gary Davis/"Samson" deal. There's a long list of tunes the GD covered that I had never heard the originals of first, but went back to find after hearing the GD cover them. This, to me, is one of the amazing things about that band: that they delved so deeply into varied genres of music and opened doors/ears to a lot of their fans to other styles/genres/musicians/etc.:

 

Death Don't Have No Mercy (Rev. Gary Davis)

Big Boss Man (Jimmy Reed)

Morning Dew (Bonnie Dobson)

Around and Around (Chuck Berry)

El Paso (Marty Robbins)

New Minglewood Blues (Cannon Jug Stompers)

Viola Lee Blues (Cannon Jug Stompers)

Iko Iko (Dixie Cups)

Sing Me Back Home (Merle Haggard)

Tomorrow is Forever (Dolly Parton)

Lovelight (Bobby Bland)

So What (Miles Davis)

 

...and a shit ton more, including a lot of Dylan/Beatles/Stones.

[Winston Legthigh]

So What (Miles Davis)

 

I saw that and thought, "really? huh,"

 

Looked it up. Performed one time on March 27, 1988, for a total of 57 seconds. 

 

Nice.

[suites]

I find this astonishing.

 

 

LOL I was thinking the same thing...but I guess if you got into the Hair Metal thing and were in middle school and had parents that did not "educate"....

[calvino]

Below is link from the archive of the debuts of covers that the Grateful Dead performed - as Lammy stated lots of styles/genres/musicians/etc.

 

https://archive.org/details/GratefulDeadCoverSongDebuts66-95

[suites]

I remember hearing Soul Man done by the Blues Brothers and although it sounded like and older song had never heard it before that.

[Lammycat]

I saw that and thought, "really? huh,"

 

Looked it up. Performed one time on March 27, 1988, for a total of 57 seconds. 

 

Nice.

Yeah, Hampton (was there and it was part of a wild 2nd set opener), but Garcia/Grisman used to to do it justice together....

[jff]

I find this astonishing.

My older brother got Shout at the Devil (and a stereo) for Christmas the year it came out.  I was 11 at the time.  I had heard some Beatles by then, but not the White Album.

[PopTodd]

1) No one has ever heard the "Brinsley Schwarz" (if that's even his real name) version.

2) Ditto on that Rev. Gary Davis/"Samson" deal. There's a long list of tunes the GD covered that I had never heard the originals of first, but went back to find after hearing the GD cover them. This, to me, is one of the amazing things about that band: that they delved so deeply into varied genres of music and opened doors/ears to a lot of their fans to other styles/genres/musicians/etc.:

Actually, the Brinsley Schwarz (that is the name of the band and the real name of their lead guitar player) version was a hit in the UK in the early 70s, apparently. Nick Lowe was their primary singer and songwriter. He wrote the song and sang that original version, and he also produced the Elvis Costello version. Here is the very outstanding, but very different original:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_u2OK_IKw0

And here is the truly outstanding original version of "Samson and Delilah."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjFHR3NCu6Q

[tinnitus photography]

Calexico's cover of "Clothes Of Sand" before Nick Drake's.

[Lammycat]

^ cool (Brinsley Shwarz). Apropos of nothing (other than the above video reminded me of it at first), check this out (I'll assume you have seen/heard it already,but still, for those who haven't). It's like pre-(proto) Punk era:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHNZUop7OK0

[worldrecordplayer]

1) No one has ever heard the "Brinsley Schwarz" (if that's even his real name) version.

2) Ditto on that Rev. Gary Davis/"Samson" deal. There's a long list of tunes the GD covered that I had never heard the originals of first, but went back to find after hearing the GD cover them. This, to me, is one of the amazing things about that band: that they delved so deeply into varied genres of music and opened doors/ears to a lot of their fans to other styles/genres/musicians/etc.:

 

Death Don't Have No Mercy (Rev. Gary Davis)

Big Boss Man (Jimmy Reed)

Morning Dew (Bonnie Dobson)

Around and Around (Chuck Berry)

El Paso (Marty Robbins)

New Minglewood Blues (Cannon Jug Stompers)

Viola Lee Blues (Cannon Jug Stompers)

Iko Iko (Dixie Cups)

Sing Me Back Home (Merle Haggard)

Tomorrow is Forever (Dolly Parton)

Lovelight (Bobby Bland)

So What (Miles Davis)

 

...and a shit ton more, including a lot of Dylan/Beatles/Stones.

Same here with all those listed GD tunes.

 

Add to that list for me, Man Smart Woman Smarter and Hey Pokey Way. (I was at the GD debut of Iko in St. Louis).  I doubt there are any Dylan/Beatles/Stones covers they did I hadn't heard the originals of. 

[Winston Legthigh]

I Call Your Name. Heard the Mamas and Papas version before I heard the Beatles version.

[Lammycat]

Same here with all those listed GD tunes.

 

Add to that list for me, Man Smart Woman Smarter and Hey Pokey Way. (I was at the GD debut of Iko in St. Louis).  I doubt there are any Dylan/Beatles/Stones covers they did I hadn't heard the originals of. 

Ditto on the Beatles/Stones/Dylan covers, just tossing it out there. I agree on Iko and Women Are Smarter. My list could go on and on, really: Deep Elem, Road Runner, Hey Little One, Dark Hollow, Cold Rain & Snow, The Race is On, Mama Tried, etc., etc., etc......

[tinnitus photography]

i heard Robert Wyatt's version of "I'm Free" before Chic's.

[Lammycat]

Speaking of Mike Watt:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNMhl7YuKEY

[jff]

I heard Walt Mink do Pink Moon before I ever even heard the name Nick Drake.

[Winston Legthigh]

I heard Walt Mink do Pink Moon before I ever even heard the name Nick Drake.

Ha. That's the first thing I thought of when I read Drake's name further up the thread. 

[PopTodd]

^ cool (Brinsley Shwarz). Apropos of nothing (other than the above video reminded me of it at first), check this out (I'll assume you have seen/heard it already,but still, for those who haven't). It's like pre-(proto) Punk era:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHNZUop7OK0

That was awesome. Hard-hitting pub rock. Love it.

[Robby]

Long Tall Sally - The Beatles (Little Richard)

Roll Over Beethoven - The Beatles (Chuck Berry)

Rock and Roll Music - The Beatles (Chuck Berry)

 

I find it interesting that we didn't find it silly back then when white artists cover songs written, recorded, and performed by artists of color.

Can you imagine what it would have been like if we thought The Beatles in the early 60's sounded as silly as Vanilla Ice did in the early 90's?

[PopTodd]

Long Tall Sally - The Beatles (Little Richard)

Roll Over Beethoven - The Beatles (Chuck Berry)

Rock and Roll Music - The Beatles (Chuck Berry)

 

I find it interesting that we didn't find it silly back then when white artists cover songs written, recorded, and performed by artists of color.

Can you imagine what it would have been like if we thought The Beatles in the early 60's sounded as silly as Vanilla Ice did in the early 90's?

Twist and Shout - The Beatles (The Isley Brothers)

[Lammycat]

Long Tall Sally - The Beatles (Little Richard)

Roll Over Beethoven - The Beatles (Chuck Berry)

Rock and Roll Music - The Beatles (Chuck Berry)

 

I find it interesting that we didn't find it silly back then when white artists cover songs written, recorded, and performed by artists of color.

Can you imagine what it would have been like if we thought The Beatles in the early 60's sounded as silly as Vanilla Ice did in the early 90's?

Led Zeppelin: Whole Lotta Love (Willie Dixon), Dazed & Confused, In My Time of Dying, etc.

Stones: A lot of their early stuff (Little Red Rooster (Willie Dixon), etc.) and their entire new album. 

 

I don't think it's silly as Blues is the front-runner/gateway to Rock & Roll and inspired "white" groups like the Beatles, Stones, and LZ. I find it interesting that LZ didn't give credit to the music it "stole" from artists of color, though.