10 Classic Recordings that are Actually Cover Versions - THE 1960s BRITISH INVASION: UNCOVERED 

You did an excellent job in the compilation :)

A very excellent job! I hope they will allow you to continue!!

Yeah.. I stopped doing videos because you don't know what will be taken down until it is...

How about a follow-up of British acts covering the songs of US blues artists that had failed to find a white audience (but often claiming the songwriting credits, forcing the likes of Willie Dixon to sue for royalties).

Bill Faulkner you could do British and Irish cover versions also. You currently have The Pogues Fairytale of New York doing its Christmas rounds and the controversy it entails every year with the word "Faggots" in the lyric. It's an old term that has nothing in relation to today's meaning of the word. It has been covered and murdered by a few recently altering the word. Why fix something that is not broken and when people start to criticise a version without doing their homework on what they are criticising they should stay away. I'm sure there are tons of songs out their with similar problems...years ago the quickest way to get to number one without merit was write a song that would not be appropriate for alleged air play and then have the B.B.C ban it...then in the era of Pirate Radio. These stations were over it like a hot Rag. Oh on a end note. Well done great compilation and opened my eyes to classics songs I did not know most were reboots. Hope we see more from you in the future. Your hardest problem is Copyright.

The Spaniels, an early doo wop group, most of their songs were written by Pookie Hudson, their lead singer. So much for doo wop groups not writing their own songs.

"fascinating" is exactly what I was thinking as I watched this.

Well impressed - my “folk club”s gonna get inflicted with these lol

I agree. This is one of the best "top 10" videos I've seen. This was a great trip to the past as well as great info about the originals. I remember the classic recordings as well as some of the originals. Thanks!

Succinct and highly informative. Loved it.

@@mchaggis622 keeps saying England when he means Britain

They are the same ones who think we live on a flat earth. They just have no idea and they have a lot of that.

Those that dislike facts voted for 45

Perhaps they objected to the poor use of terminology, confusing the word "cover" with the word "remake". I posted a correction to this but still clicked like.

@@joecrazy1137I challenge you that I have no idea! My record shelves at home would tell you another story but it’s not only pop stuff I have ,I have a massive collection of Blues and even Hillbilly/ Country.Bought my first record 1958 recording by Chuck Berry,just saying!

@@devonmoors Ok, my answer was a bit harsh and nowadays it wouldn't be so rude. Music is an art form and its beauty is always in the eye of the beholder or in this case the listener. But still, the question is justified whether those who gave a dislike were aware of the fact that the post is mostly composed of facts and cannot be answered with pure like or dislike. I like your choice of music! Never forget. A world without music is possible, but senseless.

Thanks for your kind words. Hey, better late than never. I got surprised when this video suddenly blew up in popularity about six months ago. It did nothing in its first four years. Cheers.

@@NewFalconerRecords Wanted to thank you for creating this :)...it was fascinating! I have covered several of these songs as a bassist and singer, and they always bring me joy...thanks again, you're awesome. Respect from Canada :)

You might also like my Under the Covers series that takes a different approach to the same subject. New Falconer Records are happy for my to share this link, ru-vid.com/group/PLWYKeQDkRtAd27MnHlZqk4UekygHVV8eR. Sound quality poor on first two, presentation and depth of content improves with time!

Wow! Thanks for the kind words.

Very informative, thank you.........

Gumbi, you might be interested in "Top 2000" back stories of hits thru the years. Well researched interviews with the music makers. In particular, Dancing in the Moonlight, I love Rock n Roll, Tinsel Town in the Rain, and Fat Boy Slim are recommended. . . if the algo didn't already find you ;)

@@reuireuiop0 Personally I don't really like to be found out by the algo,but must admit I would not have been here otherwise.

@@jaapvandertuuk9307 I know exactly what you mean and ditto.

Most.

You must be drunk

You must be deaf. Sorry but the covers are far more entertaining ...which is why many do not remember the originals.

@@flipflopmcgurt3403 AGREED! (the originals all suk...)

@@gideonharris1493 YES.

no,but richie valens la bamba did. ..

john lennon almost ruined his voice for life doing that song in the studio. he was screaming the lyrics. he damaged his vocal chords, but luckily , they healed.

From the first second on it was obvious that the Beatles had a far superior quality than the rest of the bands. It´s not only Lennon´s solo vocals or the effectiveness of their harmony vocals, it´s also the band, the compact sound, the groove - just everything.

@@anonymusum nah. the beatles were playing bubblegum music in the 1st half of the 60's

@@fransmith8992 Hahahaha ..... good joke.

Agree, that's the only one in this video I wasn't aware of.

I admit

I hope baby it's a you by you Smith is on there

@@calgaile9021 There were several versions of "Baby It's You" before Smith. Think the first was The Shirelles. At least the first I remember.

@David Millar Believe it was Popeye who said it that way. Was kidding around, But, yeah, did not know that the Isleys didn't do it first.

3 dollars for a quid too, back then.

@@Bryt25 quite right. I went to USA in 1971, went in February pre decimal. Got one cent to one penny 2 dollars 40 to a pound. Thanks for reply.

me too and the song was so short! not even 2 minutes! then they did good golly miss Molly which was more or less the same song with different words!

First record I bought too

I believe that Keef said they thought the bands recorded the records and the writing was done by somebody else which was largely the case.

It was British bands paying due respect by recording great US tracks that arguably had been neglected (Although some were Brill Building products. Carol King. Bit of a genius IMHO) This is more the case with the blues acts. enjoyable but if you have any interest in this stuff you would know about Bessy Banks et al.

Most of the Radio Stations were White Owned so they refused to play the original version bit the "White" Cover version giving them more exposure and a bigger hit record.

Ffs...does EVERYTHING have to be a conspiracy? Music is music...'nuff said!

Often written by white song writers.

You almost need to remind yourself that she didn't even write "it's too late" about their marriage. That was about some other love-turned-sour scenario.

@@ericbgordon1575 interesting....seems like she's had more than her fair share of sour scenarios!

It's part and parcel being the type of musician she is in a relationship with a colleague, @@flash218ily.

...and that white working class Americans like me weren't instantly on board applauding this wonderfully brilliant British derivative... I'll never forget!

@@kinkle_Z But there was brilliant music being produced by small Southern independents but the only chance they had was for a major big player to promote it. That is why so much great music fell by the wayside.

@Dragomir Ronilac The style of music was around LONG BEFORE any of those lyric and music composers were even born. The music was called “race music.” It began back in the 1920s and its roots are even earlier. It was rhythm and blues music. In the US, radio stations would not even play that type of music and black artists had very little to no success in the US. Only black Jazz artists playing in nightclubs in the north and overseas had any real financial success, but not rhythm and blues artists. In the South some DJs would play “race”music late at night well after midnight when most adults were not listening to the radio. That is when white teens would get a chance to listen to few records by black artist. This is how Buddy Holly listened to black music and became influenced as a teen by black artists. But in England, this was not the case. Music by black artists was not banned from the radio and their records were readily available in record stores. This is how The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, etc became acquainted with and influenced by black music. Elvis was the forerunner back in the 1950s, adopting the sound of black rhythm and blues. In England record sales of black music rose during the same period. When white businessmen saw the potential profits on black music due to its acceptance by white teens, records companies rose up everywhere to capture the sound and market any artists who could produce that sound. This included songwriters who could write in that vein, reproducing the sounds of black music. Carol King, one of the songwriters featured in this video, stated this very fact in an interview. There were many songs already written by black artists. But there was no money to be made from those publishing rights. So these white record companies solicited other white songwriters to write new music in the style of black music in order to capitalize on songwriting publishing credits and profits which is where the real money was to be made. This is the reason that early white artists such as The Rolling Stones and the Beatles, and even the Kinks, who began as “cover “ bands, covering songs by black artists, including Little Richard and Howling Wolf, began writing their own music so that they could make much more money with songwriting publishing profits. There is even a point in this video where the narrator states that one of the bands featured here fell away because there were no songwriters in the group and they couldn’t do much other than be a cover band. I’m 60 years old and know a great deal more about rock and roll than you do. I’m not “confusing” anything. Black artist are and always will be the foundation of rock and roll. PS Another reason for the success of rock and roll was the fact that white artists could be promoted much easier than black artists around that time of the 1950s through the early 1960s. In the US, such shows as Ed Sullivan could not feature black artists because sponsors believed that showing blacks in a positive manner would alienate white Southerners. That was pure racism. Elvis Presley and the Beatles were acceptable to be featured on TV as well as any concert hall although black acts were not. This is the main reason for the British Invasion phenomenon of the 1960s. Over time, such acts as Motown artists the Supremes, the Temptations became so profitable that restrictions against black artists lifted. Also, with Motown, Barry Gordy was inspired to create a black-owned company with black songwriters in the same vein as white-owned with white songwriters who were merely copying the black sound. Do your research. You don’t know the true history of rock and roll. Just because you saw some white songwriters doesn’t mean there isn’t a backstory as to why and how they got to be in that position. John Lennon once said all he wanted to do was play "the Negro music" and didn't care if he ever got paid for it. African Americans are the originators of rock and roll. The rest are imitators and innovators. It's sad to see that there are people still so ignorant of the history of rock and roll.

There is a lot of truth in what your telling. So not to exclude it should be noted that not only have there been both black and white artist / songwriter contributions through out popular music of the 20th century but also more then one origin. Scottish, English, Irish folk and church music was loaded with syncopations, micro pitches and line out singing which blended well with the similar African traditions. Really a combo of the two with some classical and other continental European folk helped to give birth to popular music. OK I’ve probably have written similar statements enough online already. Thanks for the opportunity All the best

@@joshuaperkins9916 The particular brand of music labeled as "rock and roll" really has its beginnings in music in the African American church prior to 1900 along with additions from ragtime music, also and African American tradition which included modifications of Sousa. Those styles of music are easily seen in Little Richard and Chuck Berry's musicianship which was an evolution of those older styles of music. Heretofore, this style of music was not mainstream but considered "race" music. Certain aspects of African American church music and ragtime developed into rhythm and blues and also into jazz which became mainstream in the 1930s and 1940s as white artist and filmmakers adopted its style. Elvis, the Beatles, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Rolling Stones and other artist of the British Invasion, etc. adopted the styles of African American music which became what is known as "rock and roll" of today. As to folk music, it is as you say, rooted in various traditions from Scotland, England, and Ireland mostly and evolved in the US to produce groups like Peter, Paul and Mary, the Kingston Trio, etc. But another evolution in folk happened with groups like the Byrds, the Lovin' Spoonful, Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, the Cowsills, etc who took folk music, blended with rock and roll elements and turned it into a hybrid of sorts. One might even consider Tom Petty and Fleetwood Mac to be groups exhibiting folk and rock elements of the highest order. Classical music has also been interwoven with rock music with such groups as the Electric Light Orchestra and Pink Floyd. I would describe Jimi Hendrix and derivative heavy metal as based on Chuck Berry's style amped up with innovative guitar riffs And now Hip Hop elements are reaching as far as country music. Pop music takes elements from all these genres to create a certain range of sounds. Nevertheless, there is no escaping the true roots of "rock and roll" in a technical sense. I enjoyed your comment. Thanks.

I respectfully some what disagree on the segregated view of American music. It’s true in the past music was often separated by class or race but the actual blending and elements happened through out the working class early on. Second beat syncopation of early Anglo / Celtic folk dance ( example contra dance ) and romantic area classical strongly influenced ragtime and early jazz. You also have Scottish psalms singing with a presenter and a chanting microtone response. Then there are waulking songs a call and response style sung by Scottish women while washing wool. There is the Lombard rhythm or scotch snap which is a dialect thing some what unique to parts of England, Scotland and America,. The scotch snap is in everything from fiddle music to rap music. Many Bach progression are in jazz, rock, Motown etc. Polkas? Think Charlie Brown by the Coasters and many more. But yes of course there are African influences ( Mali music, call and response etc example ) and many African American artist that help shape all this. Thank you for the great conversation. All the best Josh

By the way Roz, I really like your telling of folk all the way through classic rock! Well done Thanks again you added a lot to this comment section.👍

Thats what I thought too. Too fast talking...likewise on the scrolling..no need to rush it

Sorry but you mean 62, not 60. The Beatles didn't cut 'Love me do' until 62 when Ringo joined. They'd been playing as The Beatles since 57 though. When people mention important events in world history I'm terrible at remembering the year, but if you tell me what records were out I'll know, especially the 60's. It was definitely a golden period.

@@rexterrocks you are probably correct, a long time ago !!! X

@@maevemcmahon4286 It certainly was

Yeah "Just One Look" is the only one on there where the original is better known than the cover, at least in America.

HF?hgg😊

Thanks mate. I appreciate your comments. Funny you should mention Glenn A. Baker, 'cos I have a connection (tentative) to him due to a book that I co-wrote (he did a blurb on the back --- the book is called Wild About You!, it's about Aussie & NZ 60s garage punk). No, I haven't re-uploaded this video, something weird has happened in the last week or so that has suddenly made this four year old video go nuts. Thanks for your great comments. I agree about Doris Troy too.

@@NewFalconerRecords Something happened in the Algo..It just appeared in my suggestion box and I quickly reached for the click..Didn't know about Twist & Shout..although i like the original version...

When you factor in racism you will be able to fathom why many of the originals were hindered in reaching the audience their quality deserved.

@@kurtflamer-caldera8368 yes so true

I always listened to KLOS

even more so the dismissive term 'covers band'. A great performance of a great song is what interests me.

Here might start a very interesting debate. For me the term ‘cover’ is not deceptive nor derogatory in any way. It’s a convenient way to indicate that the music is not entirely original. Why do you think it’s intended to diminish the newer recording? Some ‘covers’ are spectacular re-inventions of an established song, for example Otis Redding’s Try A Little Tenderness. Others are total disasters, but those are personal opinions, not facts. What does annoy me greatly is when artistes claim to have written music that is clearly not original, thus denying others the royalties they deserve. Prominent examples that I’ve found include Sam Cooke with Bring It On Home To Me and Bob Dylan with Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright. As it stands I see no reason to re-think the title of my own lock-down efforts, ’Under the Covers’, that approach the same subject as this video but in a very different way. New Falconer Records are happy for me to offer this link if you’d like to have a listen: ru-vid.com/group/PLWYKeQDkRtAd27MnHlZqk4UekygHVV8eR Cooke features in No. 4 and Dylan in No. 8. Please get back to me if you’d like to continue the debate.

@@featherc what I don't like is when people think a song is redone to improve on the original. The new artist may like the original and decided to cover it. Some think when a white artist covers a black artists song or vice versa it's because they want to prove that they're race can do it better and that's not true. Well, maybe not at your school but at my school, yes.

Only thing I take issue with is use of 'dumb' to mean 'stupid'. It's about speech defect, nothing to do with intelligence

Yes. And they left that one out of 'Beautiful'

The inspiration for the song was when Gerry began to copulate with Earl Jean for the first time, he said "I'm into something good." Unfortunately, he was just a lyricist and he had to explain to his wife how he came up with those lyrics to which he needed her to write the music

I laughed heartily when I heard that. Guffaw!

Must have been drunk one night.

I thought he was gay? I suppose still not impossible

You can add Joan Jett's cover of The Arrows' "I love rock & roll", Ace Freely's cover of Hello's "New York Groove" and Quiet Riot's cover of Slade's "Cum on, feel the noise.". The glam movement hit the UK like a ton of bricks, but we got a slow sprinkling of if over a much longer period of time.

Didn't know Kiss had covered it, I only remember the Argent version

@@kevindale1808 Get out of the cave every so often Kev.

Yeah, the US still had the best song writers before AND after Lennon and McCartney...the Brill Building alone turned out more hit records than the Four Adorable Moptops. Then there was Hitsville USA over in Detroit doing the same thing on a shoestring while fighting the race restrictions placed on them by radio stations and record pushers. But it was so much easier to get a song by anybody white who had a British accent played that it really was a war...and spouted phenomenon like The You Know Who Group, a bunch of Americans who had a hit by doing their best to sound like they were British....

you basically wrote what I wrote 1 day earlier

@Is it cos I white? Yeah, it's because you're white. Nice to say "with benefits for everyone", but in the US the British Invasion was a justification for expanding and continuing the segregation of music on the radio, which was the prime method of its diaspora. The few black performers who could get played (Miracles, Solomon Burke et al) were pushed aside for Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders and Billy J. Cramer and The Dakotas. And this lasted until the 1970's. In New York, unless a black performers' record was at least #3 on the R&B (that's black...) chart, mainline stations would not play it. So much for benefits. Even Stevie Wonder stooped to a Beatles cover because he couldn't get played any other way....

As well as Sweets For My Sweet.

I did a video that covered Led Zeppelin's first album. It lasted precisely 20 minutes before being blocked in all countries due to copyright issues.

Most of zeppelin I, and I think a lot of zeppelin II were covers of 1920s and 1930s blues songs.

Malcolm GLADWELL addresses that fact in his book "The Tipping Point"; one must commit to 10,000 hours to get adept at something meaningful.

@@19gregske55 I've heard this too. Course some people are lucky like Tiger Woods

Maybe not. I have a second one planned and written. But that copyright stuff...

Actually Time On My Side was written by Jerry Ragovoy with possibly additional lyrics by Jimmy Norman. I do like her version quite a bit

The Ventures did TWO cover version recordings of Johnny Smith's Walk, Don't Run. The well known, often played 1960 version, and a later 1964 recording, which incorporated keyboard sounds, as well as guitars and drums, as opposed to the earlier 1960 version which only had the latter two. The second Venture's recording is called Walk, Don't Run '64 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-IaW_n_D0Hzo.html

It might have to do with which side of the Atlantic you're on. Doris Troy's version was a top ten record in the US but wasn't a hit in the UK. The Hollies cover hit number 2 in the UK but only made it to 44 in the US.

@@BiggieTrismegistus That happens a lot on the charts. It's really interesting to go back to charts of music that you're really familiar with - high school probably - and compare UK and US charts as to who had the hit with what song

Trist is spelt with a Y

Tom: That was the very first record (45 rpm) that I ever bought, 11 years old, 1964.

That's my favourite recording of theirs.

true

In the semi-fiction movie Cadillac Records about music during the 1960s (with Beyonce playing Etta James!), there's a quick scene where the main character, Leonard Chess (of Chess records) is told a bunch of young British boys are trying to find a place in Nashville. He goes out and finds out it's the Rolling Stones (not yet superstars) driving around the US trying to learn/ absorb the sounds of American R and B. Thanks to the uploader for educating me about the history of these songs. It illustrates the great influence Black Americans had on music in the 1960s. Wonder how much further some of these singers/ bands might have gone without racism during the 60s.

@@lilychu8912 It seems that the British artists recognised Black music and talent much more than Americans who rarely listened to it. That is why the music was "new" to many, in the US. Perhaps, the greatest promoter of Black artists, at the time, was Ed Sullivan.

@@gwine9087 Maybe as far as some of the more 'traditional blues' artists but Motown was extremely succesful! During the 1960s, Motown had 180 #1 hits. Motown achieved 79 records in the top-ten of the Billboard Hot 100 between 1960 and 1969.

@@Axe_Slinger True but Motown didn't really get super successful until the mid 60's. Was any of this due to the British Invasion, who knows? I lived in Windsor, across from Detroit, in the early 60's. We were seeing acts like Stevie Wonder and the Supremes when nobody else knew who they were.

and aretha covered Otis Reddings' respect. her biggest song, though not his

That Erma Franklin song is a stone Soul classic. I have the 1967 UK release on London. 'Junkie' Joplin (and Amy 'Wino') totally ruined it

Beatles will always be a step above the stones no matter where they stand in the charts.p

Brian Jones a Musical Genious

@@juandoez3031 His 12 string guitar makes Its All Over Now the hit it was.

@@rudolphguarnacci197 err...... no.

@@graemestarkey7524 You're right. Two steps above. Ha!

Yeah. The (left unmentioned) fact that in almost every case, the original recording was by a black artist or group, while the cover that was a bigger hit was by a white group, is surely not a coincidence.

'Little Games' doesn't get much love from a lot of critics etc. but you're one of the few people to mention how great it is. So many fantastic tracks. You can hear Zeppelin coming into being right there.

Great LP

If memory serves me correcly, Mickey Most was a failed pop star in his own right ... then went into production. He found his niche there and went on to produce some of the most iconic pop of the time.

So the Brits aren’t as original and great as they think they are.

@@sethralavode9012 Neither are you,

Dr Donald Blake The majority of tracks on the first three Stones albums released in the USA were covers.

Not many if none of early Beatles hit tracks were covers. Some album fillers were, that was one of the defining reasons they rewrote the history of what bands did, of course influenced by Buddy Holly and others.

Just looking Around Depends on what you mean by "not many." Of the first three Beatles albums released in the USA: Introducing ... the Beatles, 6 of 12 tracks were covers; Meet The Beatles, one of 12; Beatles Second Album, 5 of 12 were covers, and 1 was a nonBeatles original. Other albums released in other markets had differing mixes of covers and originals. But the point is that all recording artists buy and record other people's songs now, and they have been doing so since recording was invested over a hundred years ago. It's never been a secret. Every record label pretty much ever made has shown the name of the songwriter(s). When it differs from the name of the recording artist, it's a pretty good bet the singer didn't write it - although sometimes writers use different names when they record.

I’m speaking of their single hits. They refused to record someone else’s song. And that was given to the Dave Clark Five I believe. Yes album fillers were some covers and the releases in the states may have been different. Unusually they also wrote songs that became hits for others in the same time period. Additionally they never included any singles in their album releases. Famously releasing LSD and P Lane as a double A side single during the making of SPLHCB.

So this idea of early cover hits until they had the confidence to write their own is not correct.

la bamba

Wow!!! Indeed

slimphotog I'm with you. That Earl Jean version was brilliant. So good in fact that Hermans Hermits copied it faithfully rather than try to put their own stamp on it but even then failed to capture that wonderful soul sound.

And a lot of Jackie DeShannon Image searches. My God she's stunning.

+Patrick Kavanagh. Thanks for the kind words. I was talking about the band Manfred Mann who had hits in the 1960s with Dylan's 'If You Gotta Go, Go Now' , 'The Mighty Quinn'' and 'Just Like a Woman'. You're talking about Manfred Mann's Earth band, and you're right, their hit version of 'Blinded By The Light' remains the highest charting cover of a Springsteen song ever.

Never heard of him. But now that I have I want to hear more from him.

Moody Brew, wasn’t that the group that recorded “ Coffee-colored caddilac “ or it might have been the name of Elvis’ last album. Anyway, love your idea! Check out Mary Lou by the Creative Force ,amazing!

Sonny Bono from Sonny & Cher wrote the song.

They sure were. Search YT for lead singer Eric Burdon's live cover of "Hold on I'm Coming" on a UK TV Show Hosted by Otis Redding. Ready Steady Go always a "must see" TV show for me back then. What a performance. The little Geordie Lad with the massive voice is something else. He was an animal.