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who first recorded 'hound dog'??? and other stuff...
entertainin' article...(abridged).

"Here are examples of cover songs where we've discovered, recovered and uncovered the original versions.

'Hound Dog,' Elvis Presley

'Hound Dog' is so equated with Elvis it practically became his middle name. Rolling Stone ranked the King's 1956 worldwide No. 1 hit as the 19th greatest song of all time. Four years before Elvis, the song was recorded for the first time by blues belter Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton portraying a fed-up woman putting her foot down about her no-good man with no mention of catching rabbits in it whatsoever.

'Wild Thing,' The Troggs

The grungy, international garage-rock smash 'Wild Thing' (the 1966 hit featured in the movie 'Major League,' not the one by Tone-Loc) was pretty much tailor-made for the crude and rude Brit rockers known as the Troggs. In fact, the song, written by Chip Taylor (Angelina Jolie's uncle, by the way), was originally unleashed upon the world a year earlier by a New York combo appropriately called the Wild Ones, to the world's indifference.

'Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood,' The Animals

In 2003, the soundtrack to the Quentin Tarantino film 'Kill Bill Vol. 1' contained a Latin-ized version of 'Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood' from 1977, by Santa Esmeralda. Some people commented that it was previously a Joe Cocker song from 1969; others pointed out that it goes much further back, to 1965 and the Animals. The truth is the original was by Nina Simone, from the jazz diva's 1964 LP 'Broadway-Blues-Ballads.'

'You've Got a Friend,' James Taylor

Taylor reached No. 1 on the US singles charts and Top 5 UK in 1971 with 'You've Got a Friend,' also garnering a Grammy for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. Carole King wrote the song and released it just months before on her mega-selling 'Tapestry' LP. King didn't begrudge Taylor's Grammy win one bit, as she received one herself for 'Friend,' as author of the Song of the Year.

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Hop On Pop

3/7/2010 10:59:46 AM

I knew about Big Mama, Nick Lowe, Otis, the Isleys, Carole King, Leonard Cohen, The Byrds, Prince, and NIN.

And I have another couple for you:

another classic Janis song that is not her own:
"Me and Bobby McGee" was written by Kris Kristofersson and released on his eponymous debut album back in 1967 or something like that as "Me and Bobbie McGee". The man can write, can't he?

And another song that Prince wrote, made more famous by an artist that you wouldn't necessarily expect:
"Manic Monday" was made famous by The Bangles, of course. But Prince wrote that tune (supposedly) especially for Susanna to sing. Nice.

How about "Police and Thieves" by The Clash (Junior Mervin)?
Or Grateful Dead's "Samson and Delilah" (Rev. Gary Davis)?

And that's not to mention all the other Dylan covers out there... "Mr. Tambourine Man", "All Along the Watchtower", etc...

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Tom O'Brien

3/7/2010 3:22:25 PM

How about "Take Me to the River" which has been so associated with Talking Heads that we forget it was an Al Green song and a gospel tune at that.

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Hop On Pop

3/8/2010 6:59:56 AM

Good one!

Or maybe CCR's "Suzie Q" (originally Chuck Berry)?

And, I know that there's a couple of Leadbelly songs out there that other people made more famous; I just can't remember which ones right now.

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