Covered over
When you hear a song on the radio for the first time, it’s new to you. Automatically you assume that the song is not a remake, but rather an original. There are so many songs that you know are cover versions of earlier hits. For instance, the Motown classic “I Heard it Through the Grapevine” was originally performed by Gladys Knight and The Pips in 1966, then again in 1968 by Marvin Gaye. Then released again in 1970 by Creedence Clearwater Revival.
By the time CCR did the song, you knew it was a remake of a remake
It’s always interesting to hear another artist perform a song that you were familiar with by someone else. Sometimes the remake performs better on the charts than the original (as you will see on this list) and other times they are what we call “stiffs”, meaning they didn’t exactly make you forget the original.
Blinded by the light!
As I’m writing this article I hear Manfred Mann’s “Blinded By The Light” and I know very well that it is a remake of a Bruce Springsteen song from his very first album, 1973’s “Greetings From Asbury Park.” I have always enjoyed both versions of the song. Manfred Mann made the song their own, they made it more modern and electric than the Boss’ stripped down version, and when they sing the infamous line “wrapped up like a deuce” it just hits differently than when you hear Bruce sing it. Maybe because he wrote the lyric, he knows what that means.
Here are 7 songs that you probably didn’t know were covers