Just found these three (sadly out of print) comps on AMG:

http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&to ... f2zfo2eh6k
http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&to ... de4jo75waq
http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&to ... pyxdkb5olg

Many of them I knew were covers and had heard the originals, but most I did not. I thought they were interesting comps. I'm sure we could come up with enough others to fill three more.

it's a good thing these are out of print.
i'd listen to them in a dusty room full of cobwebs on the record player i got in 6th grade over and over and over again.
like miss havisham.

Just downloaded a few of them. This Darlene Love version of "Chapel of Love" is quite different and quite good.

Al Kooper co-wrote "This Diamond Ring" for Gary Lewis (Jerry's boy) and the Playboys. Thing is, I think it was a Gary Lewis record in name only. If memory serves, Lewis' vocals were overdubbed later, and session players provided the music.

The more you know…

Speaking of We Did It First, I've been meaning to post this little tune since I bought it during the Tower blowout:

Superman - The Clique

And what an annoying strange accent it's sung in. Still, he does kinda sound like Mike Mills with a deviated septum.

Yeah, that's one of the ones I was thinking about when I said we could do another 3CDs worth. Others:

The Regents - Barbara Ann (Beach Boys)
54-40 - I Go Blind (Hootie and the Blowme)
Afrika Bambataa - Renegades of Funk (Rage Against the Machine)
Arrows - I Love Rock N Roll (Joan Jett)
Hank Ballard - Look At Little Sister (Stevie Ray Vaughn)
Ray Barretto - A Deeper Shade of Soul (Urban Dance Squad)
John Brim - Ice Cream Man (Van Halen)
Brinsley Schwarz - What's So Funny 'Bout Peace Love and Understanding (Elvis Costello)
Bruce Springsteen - Blinded by the Light (Manfred Mann)
Falco - Der Komissar (After the Fire)
Four Lads - Istanbul (Not Constantinople) (They Might Be Giants)
Green Pajamas - Kim the Waitress (Material Issue)
Tim Hardin - If I Were a Carpenter (many)
Tim Hardin - Reason to Believe (Rod Stewart)
Dale Hawkins - Suzie Q (Creedence Clearwater Revival)
Jakes Holmes - Dazed and Confused (Led Zeppelin)
Betty Hutton - It's Oh So Quiet (Bjork)
Fleetwood Mac - Black Magic Woman (Santana)
Gloria Jones - Tainted Love (Soft Cell)
Katrina & The Waves - Going Down to Liverpool (Bangles)
Johnny Kidd & The Pirates - Shakin' All Over (many)
John Kongos - He's Gonna Step On You Again (Happy Mondays)
Roger Miller - Me and Bobby McGee (Janis Joplin)
Junior Murvin - Police and Thieves (Clash)
Johnny O'Keefe - Real Wild Child (Iggy Pop)
Paragons - The Tide is High (Blondie)
Nerves - Hangin' on the Telephone (Blondie)
Dolly Parton - I Will Always Love You (Whitney Houston)
James Ray - Got My Mind Set on You (George Harrison)
Sam & Dave - I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down (Elvis Costello)
Umberto Tozzi - Gloria (Laura Branigan)
Vaselines - Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam (Nirvana)
J Frank Wilson & The Caveliers - Last Kiss (Pearl Jam)
Otis Redding - Respect (Aretha Franklin)
Otis Redding - Hard to Handle (Black Crowes)
Garnet Mimms - Cry Baby (Janis Joplin)

And a million classic blues songs I'm not going to bother listing.

What? Why's everyone staring at me?

EDIT: Added the famous covering artist in parentheses.

The Paragons - "The Tide Is High"

written by and lead vocal by John Holt

Yeah, also "Oh Well" (Rockets)
"The Green Manalishi (With The Two-Pronged Crown)" (Judas Priest)

Why is "The Shoop Shoop Song" on twice? I guess I was of the (mis)understanding that these were the first recordings. You could have an album of just Dylan songs for one of these, or 10 versions of "Hey Joe." I'm just curious how these were picked.

Both versions came out before the hit version, but yeah.

And wasn't that written by Kris Kristofferson? Or did he write it for Roger Miller, who first recorded it?

Bob Dylan... about a million.

Yes, written by KK, and recorded by probably 25 people before Janis or The Dead made it remotely popular. But this is common with country songs.

Most of KK's early stuff was recorded by other people. Waylon Jennings recorded a bunch of his stuff and Billy Joe Shavers when he was begining the "outlaw" movement.

Leadbelly - "In the Pines" (Nirvana - "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?")

Are those famous? I don't think I've ever heard those covers, just the originals.

Dionne Warwick - Always Something There to Remind Me (Naked Eyes)
Strangeloves - I Want Candy (Bow Wow Wow)

That confused me too. There's also two "Chapel of Love" versions.

Nah, The Priest one gets mistaken as one of the weirder Priest songs and the Rockets one was a late 70's hit that never gets played anymore. Fleetwood Mac's original was bigger in Europe than the Rockets' later one was.

Another one: Robert Palmer - Bad Case Of Loving You (Moon Martin)

Martin's "Rolene" also sounds just like "Bad Case of Loving You"

The Priest "Manalishi" cover is one of their best CBS recordings.

Sandie Shaw's version was actually the earlier and bigger hit--reached #52 in 1965 vs. Warwick's #65 in 1968. (Thank you, AMG.)

a couple other originals i like:

soul brothers six - some kind of wonderful
the five du-tones - shake a tailfeather
erma franklin - piece of my heart
dandy livingstone - rudy, a message to you

I think that Erma Franklin song was on one of the comps.

One - Harry Nilsson
Everybody's Talkin' - Fred Neil

Let's get some themes going here:

Mike Nesmith - Different Drum (Linda Ronstadt & the Stone Poneys)
The Everly Brothers - When Will I Be Loved (Linda Ronstadt)
Roy Orbison - Blue Bayou (Linda Ronstadt)
Betty Everett - You're No Good (Linda Ronstadt)
Evie Sands - I Can't Let Go (Linda Ronstadt / also The Hollies)
Doris Troy - Just One Look (Linda Ronstadt)
Warren Zevon - Poor Poor Pitiful Me (Linda Ronstadt)
...and others too obvious to mention (It's So Easy, That'll Be the Day, Ooh Baby Baby, Love Is a Rose)

Smiley Lewis - I Hear You Knocking (Dave Edmunds)
Elvis Costello - Girls Talk (Dave Edmunds)
Graham Parker - Crawling from the Wreckage (Dave Edmunds)
NRBQ - Me and the Boys (Dave Edmunds)

Dave Edmunds - Queen of Hearts (Juice Newton)
(Actually, I think this song predates Dave Edmunds' version, but I can't figure out who it was. Anyway, the Edmunds version is pretty clearly the model for the Juice Newton version.)

Fred Neil - Everybody's Talking (Harry Nilsson)
Badfinger - Without You (Harry Nilsson)
(Poor Harry Nilsson--a good songwriter, but his two big hits were covers.)

Laura Nyro - Stoned Soul Picnic (The 5th Dimension)
Laura Nyro - Sweet Blindness (The 5th Dimension)
Laura Nyro - Wedding Bell Blues (The 5th Dimension)
Laura Nyro - Save the Country (The 5th Dimension)
Laura Nyro - Stoney End (Barbra Streisand)
Laura Nyro - Eli's Coming (Three Dog Night)
Laura Nyro - And When I Die (Blood, Sweat and Tears)

Robert Palmer - Some Guys Have All the Luck (Rod Stewart)
(Actually, as far as I can tell some reggae guy probably recorded this before Palmer. And say what you will about Rod Stewart, but Palmer's original is dreadful!)

Fairport Convention - Who Knows Where the Time Goes (Judy Collins)

Stevie Wonder - Until You Come Back To Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do) (Aretha Franklin)

Randy Newman - You Can Leave Your Hat On (Joe Cocker)
Randy Newman - I Think It's Going to Rain Today (about a million different people)


Great great great horn-powered soul rave up, and totally different from the Soft Cell version.