re: Confession time. Songs you didn't know were covers?

Blackaliscious doing "Blazing Arrow".....originally a Harry Nilsson song that I didnt know til I watched the doc about him.

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On the other hand, I can see Wild Horses being argued the other way - while "technically" (meaning, by the definition I listed above) the Rolling Stones' version could be considered a cover

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IMHO the Stones' "Wild Horses" is not a cover, as it was recorded first. But it was not released for a year and a half as the Stones were trying to get out of their record contract and wanted to save "WH" for their new label.

"Cover" is such an elastic term -- it originally (1950s) meant white remakes of R&B hits, smoothed over for the pop market (think Pat Boone/Little Richard) -- that it can mean almost anything.

My favorite example of nitpicking is "Rock Around The Clock". Bill Haley didn't write it, record it first, or release it first -- but Wikipedia claims his version is not a cover:

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Although first recorded by Italian-American band Sonny Dae and His Knights on March 20, 1954, the more famous version by Bill Haley & His Comets is not, strictly speaking, a cover version. Myers claimed the song had been written specifically for Haley but, for various reasons, Haley was unable to record it himself until April 12, 1954.

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I was young and in high school when making this mistake, but I thought the Smashing Pumpkins were the original for Landslide. (Pretty good cover)

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I learned a couple years ago that Dolly Parton wrote and sang "I Will Always Love You."

Her version is better IMO

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Saw Dolly on David Letterman shortly after Whitney Houston's version was released. He was picking on her about how Whitney's version was a bigger hit than her version - he was trying, in typical Letterman fashion, to get a rise out of her. She just laughed him off, replying that Whitney's version of the song had made her a "couple extra million dollars".
God, I love Dolly Parton - she is truly, the Bomb...

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I would like to see just how hard Keith Richards and Mick Jagger would laugh their asses off if somebody referred to "Wild Horses" as a cover song in an interview or something.

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Just from watching interviews with musicians, I don't think they'd laugh at all. They usually don't care about stuff like that nearly as much as their fans. They are also more respectful of other artists than we are.

"Prior to its release on Sticky Fingers, Gram Parsons convinced Jagger and Richards to allow him to record "Wild Horses" with his band The Flying Burrito Brothers.[citation needed] Gram Parsons and Keith Richards were roommates at the time in Nashville. The song was written by Mick and Keith in return for his having orchestrated the song "Country Honk" as it appeared on the album "Let it Bleed." This is discussed in Keith Richard's autobiography. According to Keith's book, he expected to perform and record with Parsons but Parsons' death in 1973 ended those plans."

So I don't think they'd be laughing.

Best sanctimonious power move I've seen yet = using a four decades old death to posture in a discussion about songwriting credits.

Need a tissue bro?

"I've Got My Mind Set On You"

Jimmy Ray Original LINK

George Harrison Cover LINK

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Did Devo cover the Stones' "Satisfaction"?

Did Jimi cover Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower"?

Did Yes cover Simon and Garfunkel's "America"?

I would argue no, because it's such a struggle to relate them to the original songs.

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What. The. frick?

A couple of years ago I heard "My Maria" on a pop station and thought someone remade the Brooks and Dunn song.