Hit Songs, Great Covers

There are many performers known for writing their own songs...Beyonce and Bono, shown here, are two that are famous for both their singing and their writing talents. Some performers, like Bette Midler, are known to perform music written by professional songwriters. But singers like Kelly Clarkson, Bette Midler, Michael Buble, Celine Dion...to offer a few examples...don't overly promote the writer's of their hit songs, these songwriters remain fairly anonymous throughout their careers. (Unless of course, the songwriter is Kara DioGuardi, now very high profile with her work at American Idol judge).

But every now and then a performer will take on a "cover" song, a song that's already been made famous from an earlier decade, or two or three!

This is a very short display of some of my favorite "cover" performances.

Trivia Note: Sometimes a singer's performance of a previous hit becomes so famous that the 'cover' far outshines the original version. Reba McEntire's 1990 version of the 1970 song "Fancy" by Bobbie Gentry is a great example. Another is Whitney Houston's 1992 blockbuster rendition of "I Will Always Love You" that was written by Dolly Parton and recorded by her in 1974. Luckily for Parton and Gentry, both still get paid royalties regardless of who sings the song! Also, James Taylor's cover of "How Sweet It Is" that he recorded in 1975 from the 1964 Motown hit for Marvin Gaye has become so identifiable with this singer/songwriter's career....despite the fact that before this song he was exclusively known for only performing his own compositions. And, in 2008 Taylor recorded an entire CD titled "Covers."

First is the Beyonce/Destiny's Child 'cover' of the 1977 BeeGees song "Emotion."

The songwriter Burt Bacharach, although never a singer, was one of the most famous and popular songwriters of the early 1960s. The singer Dionne Warwick recorded several of his songs and they were big hits for her.

One of the most popular was the 1965 "Walk On By." After Ms. Warwick's original release of the song, it was covered in the 1960s by Aretha Franklin and Isaac Hayes.

Seal is a performer who sings his own compositions and those of others, searching through the decades for songs he wants to record. Here is Seal's 2004 version of Bacharach's 1965 song.

1985's "Take On Me" by Aha has all the hallmark 80s music qualities...very synthetic. Here's Reel Big Fish's much less synthetic but very 'rock'y 1996 version.

Nearly every Beatles song was so identified with the band that their songs were rarely 'covered.' But Bette Midler chose the Beatles "In My Life" from their 1965 Rubber Soul album to include in her movie "For The Boys." Almost everyone agrees that it's a charming version, and that it shows Beatles songs can be handled quite nicely by performers beyond the Fab Four.

In 1990, a tribute to Cole Porter--the great American songwriter-- was produced for charity to benefit AIDS projects. Since every song on the CD was a 'cover,' this one was chosen since the band U2 was famous for recording songs written by it's lead singer, Bono. Many cuts from the CD were more typically recorded by performing artists used to recording the works of professional songwriters, not songs they'd written themselves.

Plus, it's just really rare to see U2 sing a song first written in 1932!

James Taylor has been famous as a songwriter since the early 1970s, yet one of his 'standard' songs in his live performances is 1964's "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)". The song was written by Detroit's Motown writers and first recorded by Marvin Gaye, when Taylor was just 16 years old. But he 'covered' it in 1975, and it became a Billboard Top Ten Pop hit for him. Now, more than 30 years later, this song is still a part of his act. The album with this song is "Gorilla" and "How Sweet It Is" is the only song that Taylor did not himself write.

How did he choose this one? And amazing it became such a 'standard' for his career! Here's a look at Taylor performing "Sweet" back in 1979. Enjoy!