Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

COVER

A recording of a song already a hit by another artist; now more especially of a song already recorded by its composer. In earlier times any good song was widely covered; as records overtook sheet music the sales term acquired modern meanings: when 'Open The Door Richard' swept the USA '47 at least 14 versions hustled for sales (see Ralph Bass, Jack McVea); there were several versions of 'Pretend' '53 (instrumental by Ralph Marterie, vocals by Nat Cole, Eileen Barton). Country songs were covered by Bing Crosby and others '40s; Hank Williams songs were covered early '50s by Tony Bennett, Rosemary Clooney, many others; King label had both country and R&B rosters, and blacks recorded country songs and vice versa. In the mid-'50s 'cover' took on a special meaning as white artists covered R&B material, often with watered-down lyrics (to say nothing of style): see Rock for that story; composers made royalties but black acts lost record sales as Georgia Gibbs, Pat Boone, Teresa Brewer and many others covered R&B hits by LaVern Baker, Fats Domino, Little Richard etc. Kids began to discover that the black originals were more fun; R&B star Domino first made pop chart '55 and racism in the music business was forced to become less obvious as R&B, then rock'n'roll dominated the charts.

In the '60s UK pop stars covered Chuck Berry and other black artists out of acknowledged admiration; then the Beatles, Rolling Stones etc began writing their own songs, covered in turn: there are thousands of versions of Paul McCartney's 'Yesterday'. A cover often revived a good song and made more money for the composer, like Duran Duran's '84 cover of Cockney Rebel's '75 'Make Me Smile', Eric Clapton's covers of J. J. Cale, Robert Cray, Jimmy Byfleet (see Rockin' Jimmy). The most dismal cover of '55 was 'I Hear You Knocking' by Gale Storm: the excellent Smiley Lewis original did not even make the pop chart, but Dave Edmunds's cover '70 in UK allowed a new audience to hear a good old song. The pressure since the '60s on pop and rock groups to create their own material was a disaster for the crafts of songwriting and of interpreting good songs, but there are signs in the '90s that people are more willing to sing each other's songs as new pop and rock groups seek an exclusively young audience, while more discriminating artists and fans are more interested in good songs. Covers have always been rife in country music; Floyd Tillman had a hit with his own 'Slippin' Around' '49, but the duet by Jimmy Wakeley and Margaret Whiting made no. 1 on the pop chart; in today's country-rock many artists are songwriters: Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell perform on each other's version of his 'Leavin' Louisiana In The Broad Daylight'; see also Guy Clark, Richard Dobson, Terry Allen, Butch Hancock, many others; in the late '70s--early '80s Willie Nelson could make a friend a lot of money by covering a song on an album. It was in country music that people were always willing to sing each other's songs, and the influence of country on the rest of popular music is stronger in the '90s than ever.