Like with fairy-tales and films, music oftentimes is reworked and re-imagined for a different decade/crowd. Some covers are so good that we even forget that an original existed. Here are ten songs that you may or may not have known were actually covers, either because they switched genre or their cover was more successful than the original.
1. Hound Dog
Covered by: Elvis
Contrary to popular belief, Elvis Presely did not create rock-n-roll, nor did Chuck Berry. Sister Rosetta Sharpe, a black woman, did. Elvis covered Hound Dog in 1955, originally by Alabama Blue musician Big Mama Thorton bringing rock-n-roll into the white American household.
Originally sung by: Big Mama Thorton
2. Piece of My Heart
Covered by: Janis Joplin
Originally sang by Erma Franklin, eldest sister of Aretha Franklin in 1967, "Piece of My Heart" shot to prominence in 1968 when Janis Joplin, as a part of Big Brother and the Holding Company, sang the song. The musical arrangements of the two songs differ greatly with Franklin's version more RnB leaning.
Originally sung by: Erma Franklin
3. I Will Always Love You
Covered by: Whitney Houston
Similar to "Piece of My Heart," "I Will Always Love You," originally recorded in 1973 by Dolly Parton as a country record, I Will Always Love You, found fame again thirty years later as an RnB ballad. This time sung by Whitney Houston as part of the soundtrack to her film "The Bodyguard." The song spent 14 weeks at number one becoming Whitney Houston's longest running number one.
Originally sung by: Dolly Parton
4. Valerie
Covered by: Amy Winehouse
British new wave soul Amy Winehouse covered this indie British rock song in 2007 as a part of her "Back to Black" album the same year.
Originally sung by: The Zutons
5. The First Cut is the Deepest
Covered by: Sheryl Crow & Rod Stewart
Depending on who you ask, Sheryl Crow or Rod Stewart perfected the Cat Stevens penned song that was originally sung by P.P Arnold. While the song was a minor hit for Arnold here in the states, it was a top ten Billboard hit for Stewart in the 70s and then again for Crow in the early 00s.
Originally song by: P.P Arnold
6. Dazed and Confused
Covered by: Led Zepplin
Notorious for not giving credit where credit is due, Robert Plant and company recorded the song in the 1970s after hearing it performed by another 70s psychedelic rock group: The Yardbirds. After hearing the band's recording of the song, Holmes sent the band a letter asking to be credited and was met with only silence.
Originally song by: Jake Holmes
7. House of the Rising Sun
Covered by: The Animals
A traditional American folk song dating back to the early 1930s, "House of the Rising Sun" was re-recorded by English rock musicians in 1964 during the British music invasion. The song was a smash hit, topping the Billboard Hot 100 list.
Originally sang by: Tom Clarence Ashley & Gwen Foster
8. Respect
Covered by: Aretha Franklin
Before the Queen of Soul taught us all how to spell respect, the song was originally written and sung by Otis Redding. Redding's original version did not spell out respect, which was added to Franklin's recorded after her sister Carolyn suggested it.
Originally song by: Otis Redding
9. The Night the Lights Went Out In Georgia
Covered by: Reba McIntire
Vicki Lawrence, otherwise known as Mama from Mama's family, originally song the ballad about a cheating wife, a crooked judge, and a dead husband, but the song rocketed to fame once more when Country music queen Reba McEntire re-recorded the song almost twenty years later in 1991.
Originally sung by: Vicki Lawrence
10. Mambo No. 5
90s Kids, this one's for you.
Covered by: Lou Bega
No one could escape this song in the 90s, but before it became the ear worm of 1999, the song was originally sang in Spanish by Afro-Cuban musician Perez Prado.
Originally sung by: Perez Prado
Any that surprise you?
