The Tuesday Special - Songs You Didn't Know Were Covers

You know, a lot of songs that are or were very very popular are actually covers of somewhat obscure songs. Here, we will feature a few....

Elvis Presley was a great artist. And this song was very passionately performed by Jumpsuit Elvis.



But it wasn't his song. It was a song by an singer/songwriter named Mac Davis, who made the song a hit in his own right. And it's the first version I learned.



The Bangles hit it big with "Manic Monday" (which itself was a Prince cover - we will discuss Prince covers in a future post) (and we'll be coming back to the Bangles, too - most underrated band in history) They followed it with this very original song.....



....originally performed by Jules Shear, that is.



Linda Ronstadt made this song a huge hit in the 70s. And her signature growl in this song made it great....



....just like Buddy Holly had 20 years prior. Granted, Linda gave it more of a growl, but it was a cover, too!



OK, those of us that grew up in the 80s and hung out at the mall know this tune. And OK, I can admit it now. I LOVED this song. Still do.



And frankly, I think Tiffany did a more credible job on the song than Tommy James did. Which might be why few people realized at the time that it was a cover.



Tiffany was actually quite adept at covers. This one, however, was a bit of a sacrilege...



... given that it was the Beatles. Never mind that it was a relatively faithful cover. It was the Beatles, and you DON'T just cover the Beatles.



Isn't that right, Joe Cocker?