Original song better than the more popular covers?

[Bobby_Jim]

There is a thread I saw about cover versions of songs that are better than the originals. So I wondered about the converse, where the songwriter’s own version is superior to the cover that went on to become more famous.

Note that sometimes the chronology is not exactly that clear. For example I really like Cat Stevens’ “The First Cut is the Deepest” better than the several cover versions that have been famous, but I am not sure he actually released his own recording until after PP Arnold’s verstion.

A couple of others that spring to mind:
“Reason to Believe” originally by Tim Hardin is superior to the popular Rod Stewart version
“Me & Bobby McGee” by Kris Kristofferson is superior to the famous Janis Joplin version
“Here Comes My Baby”, another Cat Stevens song which is superior to the famous version by the Tremeloes.

 

[Pax2u]

Though I love both versions, I like Neil Diamond’s original version of “Sunday and Me” a bit better than Jay and the Americans.

Another Neil song…“Red Red Wine”…his original far surpasses that UB40 version my daughter loved

"I Think We’re Alone Now’…the original Tommy James & the Shondells over Tiffany.

“As Tears Go By” better by Marianne Faithful than the Stones version.

The Yardbirds did a version of “Better Man Than I”…great song, but I loved the original Terry Knight & the Pack version a tad more!

 

[christofirst]

I’m not sure if hers was more popular, but Richard Harris’ original rendition of the Jimmy Webb classic *Macarthur Park *is much better than Donna Summer’s disco version.

 

[Mike_from_NJ]

I love Stevie Wonder to death, but I hate what he did to The Beatles’ “We Can Work It Out”. The whole thing is way too high energy and isn’t allowed to breathe. It also don’t distingush between McCartney’s optimism with Lennon’s pessimism in the middle where he says “Life is very short and there’s no time for fussing and fighting my friend.”

 

[Bobby_Jim]

In some cases Bob Dylan’s original versions of songs are preferable to the covers that became famous. For example I prefer his version of “Blowin’ in the Wind” to the Peter Paul and Mary, or “It Ain’t Me Babe” to who was it, the Turtles, that you normally hear on the oldies station. Not universal though. I like many of the Byrds’ famous covers of Dylan as well or better than the originals.

I feel like this phenomenon (for me) is most evident with folk-styled singer-songwriters. Hence my original examples were the likes of Cat Stevens and Tim Hardin. Neil Diamond is another good example. I think there was a time when the model of one guy with an acoustic guitar was an unlikely path to stardom, and so a lot of these folks who were good songwriters and competent singers would just sell some of their best material for better-known pop artists to record, rather than try to score a radio hit for themselves. Cat Stevens & Neil Diamond went on to become a major stars as performers, but not all of them do. But oftentimes for this style of songwriting, the original songwriter performs it with a certain emotional sincerity.

 

[Bobby_Jim]

Related to this as well is a phenomenon that I would call “The demo is better than the fully produced studio version”. I noticed this recently listening to Pandora, where I occasionally get selections from “The Paul Simon Songbook” which are earlier recordings that Paul Simon did, just himself and his guitar, of songs that went on to become big hits for Simon and Garfunkel. “Sounds of Silence” and especially “I Am a Rock”. I like the studio versions with Garfunkel very well, but there is something very appealing about the much-less-produced versions without the overdubbed electric guitars and harmonies and stuff. Another example is the demo or rehearsal version of the Beatles “I’m Lookin’ Through You” (from the Anthology series, I think) vs the version on Rubber Soul that has that piercing Hammond organ after the chorus.

 

[randomuser]

Related to this as well is a phenomenon that I would call “The demo is better than the fully produced studio version”.

The three automatic shoo-ins:

1.) The Fall (the post-punk band from England) - many of their albums’ extended editions, reissues, etc., include demos, which in some cases are better than the studio version.

2.) Bob Dylan - the Wittmark demos, the pre-NY (pre-1963/1964) demos, the outtakes with Johnny Cash [still never officially released], a lot of the outtakes from his gospel & CCM era…some of his best songs have yet to get release officially.

3.) Beach Boys’ “Smile.” The ‘official’ version is, to put it charitably, a joke. Brian Wilson REALLY needs to reissue this with some of the outtakes.