I’ve said this many times already on here. I will no doubt say it again a few times too. I’m not a huge fan of cover songs. They rarely sound as good as the original. But there are exceptions to that. It often depends on which version you hear first.
Sometimes your view may vary depending on who does the cover and who the original was by. In many cases, some of the biggest musical artists hold the advantage here. They may well have used cover songs a lot in their early years.
That’s the case with The Beatles who were prolific in terms of using cover songs until they were able to introduce their own material. Other artists went on to have hit songs from covers much later in their careers. In some cases, though the cover aspect was blurred or hidden, people didn't often realize they were covers. Take these five superb classic rock songs from top artists for example.
Many may not know that these rock classics were actually covers
Led Zeppelin - “When the Levee Breaks”
This is one of Led Zeppelin’s finest songs, which is quite a statement given the quality of their work. It appeared on their fourth untitled album or Led Zeppelin IV as it became known. Although it’s a huge fan favourite it was only rarely played live by the band. Although Robert Plant released a live version of the song last year with Alison Krauss.
The song is an adaptation of an original dating way back to the 1920s recorded by Memphis Minnie and Kansas Joe McCoy. Back then it was a country blues song based on the Great Mississippi Floods in 1927. Robert Plant used many of the original lyrics. Jimmy Page added a new guitar riff and changed the sound and style around.
The final version is very atmospheric and has a distinctive drum sound from John Bonham to enhance that. The Plant and Krauss version last year is somewhere in between the two versions and well worth hearing.
The Rolling Stones - “Harlem Shuffle”
The Rolling Stones had plenty of cover songs in their early repertoire. That changed more over the years, but they still dipped into other people's songs from time to time. That was the case with this hit song from their 1986 album Dirty Work.
Originally a smooth-sounding R&B song by Bob & Earl back in 1963, the Stones took it and made it a bit harder and dirtier, but still retained that R&B groove. It was quite a contrast to the rest of the album and was released as a single. It wasn't expected to be a hit but reached number five on the Billboard 100.
KISS - “God Gave Rock n Roll To You”
Originally a hit for UK band Argent and written by Russ Ballard this song was picked up by KISS for a movie soundtrack. They recorded it for Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey movie in 1991. It was released as a single by KISS and became a popular song at their concerts. A sad note is that it was the last KISS song to have drummer Eric Carr appear. He died just a few months later and wasn’t ill enough to pick up the sticks for the song, but you can hear him on backing vocals.
Writer Ballard also wrote “New York Shuffle” for the UK band Hello. After they had a hit with it there, Ace Frehley recorded a version for his 1978 solo album. Its stompy glam rock sound was ideal for Frehley and for KISS who later added it to the band’s setlist too.
Motley Crue - “Smokin’ in the Boys Room”
Hands up if you recall the original by Brownsville Station from 1973, it rocked along very nicely with a great bluesy tone to it. The song did well on the charts reaching number 3 on the Billboard 100.
It was covered by Motley Crue 12 years later and adapted slightly to their harder sound. It was a neat fit to their style and was one of their bigger single hits reaching number 16 in the US. It also was added to the soundtrack of the movie The Wraith a year later in 1986.
Metallica - “Whiskey In The Jar”
In the UK where I am based this would be very much about Thin Lizzy. But over in the US, the band is more usually regarded as a one-hit wonder with “The Boys Are Back In Town.” There’s much more to Thin Lizzy than that though.
Originally a traditional Irish folk song, “Whiskey In The Jar,” was released as a b-side in 1962 by the Highwaymen, then as a single from The Dubliners in 1968. A rocked-up version became an early single for Thin Lizzy which got them UK chart success in 1972. Then Metallica took that rocked-up version a stage further with their 1988 version on their Garage Inc. album of cover songs. They went on to collect a 1999 Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance of the song.