hepkat Posted March 10, 2005 Posted March 10, 2005 Warren Zevon recorded "Poor Poor Pitiful Me" first, on his first commercially accepted album the self titled Warren Zevon. Ronstadt also had a minor hit with "Hasten Down the Wind" from the same Zevon album.Jackson Browne Produced and Waddy played on both tunes for Zevon. He was on Asylum Records at that time, same label as Rondstadt. No Coincidence.Great Tunes! No matter who records them.I heard the Rondstadt version first which led me to my fascination with Warren Zevon's writing.BTW - My wife is an ex 70's-80's Rock DJ and she always considers it a Ronstadt tune!
Richard Posted March 10, 2005 Posted March 10, 2005 Whoever wrote the songs, that's whose songs they are. It's that simple AFAIAC. If you didn't write it, it's not your song. At best, it's a song "associated with" or "made famous by" a given artist. Whitney Houston was wrong.Even in the case of the early Elvis hits, those were Leiber-Stoller songs. They were Elvis records, not Elvis songs.I look at it this way: Ronstadt's version of "Poor Poor Pitiful Me" was a Ronstadt *record* of a Zevon *song*.
Guest Mike Lee Posted March 10, 2005 Posted March 10, 2005 I agree with Smackatus that the public opinion of who "owns" a song is based on who had the biggest hit with it, and most don't care who wrote it.It all depends on how old you are and what version you heard first. I cringe when people think "Walk this Way" is Run-DMC song. To this day, my mom thinks of "Light my Fire" as a Jose Feliciano song because that's the version she heard most.But we're all guilty of it. I can't help but think of "Twist and Shout" as a Beatles song, even though I know the Isley Brothers recorded it first. Hell, I think of "Shout" as an Otis Day and the Knights song, even though that band doesn't really exist, and the Isley Brothers were first on that one too. I knew Clapton's version of I Shot the Sheriff, long before I heard Bob Marley's original, but I'm so tired of hearing Clapton sing it that I prefer Marley.The truth is, if you grew up with one version, you generally prefer it over later covers. But if you grew up with a famous cover...
Smakutus Posted March 10, 2005 Posted March 10, 2005 Whoever wrote the songs, that's whose songs they are. It's that simple It's not that simple... You guys can argue all you want but it depends on how each person thinks about a song. (And whether they have any common sense or not. ) Would you think California Man was a Cheap Trick song? Hardcore CT fans know it was written by Roy Wood and recorded by The Move first. But the person that isn't a big CT fan, but did own the Heaven Tonight Album back in 79 is gonna hear "Going to a Parttttttty..." and think "Cheap Trick!" Not "That's the song by The Move that Cheap Trick covered in 1978.." out.. Jeff.
Cary Posted March 10, 2005 Posted March 10, 2005 I was at a Cheap Trick show in Rockford circa 1986 and found out I was surrounded by two teenyboppers on my left, and a guy my age on my right who thought that Cheap Trick was the band that originally did Day Tripper.
Smakutus Posted March 11, 2005 Posted March 11, 2005 LOL!Just think how "safe" the Beatles version sounds after hearing the fake live CT version.. out..Jeff.
BigWhiteB12a Posted March 11, 2005 Posted March 11, 2005 Now if only that imperial storm trooper suit were red & blue with spider webs.......
JohnnyB Posted March 11, 2005 Posted March 11, 2005 I was at a Cheap Trick show in Rockford circa 1986 and found out I was surrounded by two teenyboppers on my left, and a guy my age on my right who thought that Cheap Trick was the band that originally did Day Tripper.That reminds me of the anecdote of the early '80s where teenage girls go into a record store asking for the Sgt. Pepper album. The clerk leads them to the Beatles bin and pulls it out and hands it to them, to which they reply, "No, we want the real one, with the Bee-Gees."
LittleC Posted March 11, 2005 Posted March 11, 2005 It's a Zevon song. If you first heard it by Ronstadt, then you were behind the times. That Zevon lp is a great one since the day it was released, which was in 1976, one year before Ronstadt released her version.BTW, check out the Jackson Brown / Bonnie Raitt copy on Enjoy Every Sandwich. Not bad...Hhmmm.... it's thier song and they just never told anyone?
Mike_C Posted March 11, 2005 Author Posted March 11, 2005 I guess I was behind the times. Thanks for helping out.
Richard Posted March 11, 2005 Posted March 11, 2005 Whoever wrote the songs, that's whose songs they are. It's that simple It's not that simple... You guys can argue all you want but it depends on how each person thinks about a song. (And whether they have any common sense or not. ) Would you think California Man was a Cheap Trick song? Hardcore CT fans know it was written by Roy Wood and recorded by The Move first. But the person that isn't a big CT fan, but did own the Heaven Tonight Album back in 79 is gonna hear "Going to a Parttttttty..." and think "Cheap Trick!" Not "That's the song by The Move that Cheap Trick covered in 1978.." out.. Jeff. Yes, it actually is exactly that simple. It doesn't matter whether somebody doesn't know better. This is just how it is. It doesn't depend on individual perceptions at all. A Train is a Duke Ellington tune. Spoonful is a Willie Dixon tune. Thing Called Love is a John Hiatt tune. When Bonnie Raitt does Thing Called Love in concert, do you think she would refer to it as a Bonnie Raitt song or as a John Hiatt song?
Hamerica Posted March 11, 2005 Posted March 11, 2005 "Would you think California Man was a Cheap Trick song? Hardcore CT fans know it was written by Roy Wood and recorded by The Move first." ...out..Jeff. Jeff,Didn't you just agree or make the point for Cardew?!? Californina Man is a Ron Wood and the Move song just as the Ronstandt vocal is a WZ penned tune? Not arguing here. I kinda of agree with you on the singer or public.Real life - My best friend from high school and I were in a Musicland store and two girls are buying a Paul McCartney and Wings album. My friend talks to them and one of the them states she is McCarney's biggest fan. We mention the Beatles and she honestly had never heard of them. I felt very old then. I was 18.
Smakutus Posted March 11, 2005 Posted March 11, 2005 Didn't you just agree or make the point for Cardew?!? Californina Man is a Ron Wood and the Move song just as the Ronstandt vocal is a WZ penned tune? A informed listener can go both ways depending on how much he or she knows about a song.. Most people are not as informed as we are here. A Thing Called Love is a Bonnie Raitt song to me (Well it was anyways..) because I have never heard the John Hiatt version, and didn't know he wrote it. Does Bonnie Raitt write any of her own tunes? That "I Can't Make You Love Me" (Whatever it's called..) is a very pretty tune. To me that's a cool Bonnie Raitt song, I don't care if she wrote it or not. The general public doesn't care either.out..Jeff.
elduave Posted March 11, 2005 Posted March 11, 2005 A Thing Called Love is a Bonnie Raitt song to me To me it's a Darkness song.
Richard Posted March 11, 2005 Posted March 11, 2005 Didn't you just agree or make the point for Cardew?!? Californina Man is a Ron Wood and the Move song just as the Ronstandt vocal is a WZ penned tune? A informed listener can go both ways depending on how much he or she knows about a song.. Most people are not as informed as we are here. A Thing Called Love is a Bonnie Raitt song to me (Well it was anyways..) because I have never heard the John Hiatt version, and didn't know he wrote it. Does Bonnie Raitt write any of her own tunes? That "I Can't Make You Love Me" (Whatever it's called..) is a very pretty tune. To me that's a cool Bonnie Raitt song, I don't care if she wrote it or not. The general public doesn't care either.out..Jeff. See, but that's my point. It *doesn't matter* whether the general public knows or cares. Their perceptions are irrelevant. What matters is whom the song belongs to.The general public may not know or care that that orchestral piece that starts "da-da-da-DAAAAH" is Beethoven's 5th Symphony. Some might think it's Bach or Mozart or Leonard Bernstein or John Williams. That doesn't matter. It's still Beethoven."I Can't Make You Love Me" is indeed a great song. But it's not a Bonnie Raitt song. It's a Mike Reid-Allen Shamblin song, done by Bonnie Raitt. BTW, Prince did a great version of it too.
Smakutus Posted March 11, 2005 Posted March 11, 2005 This afternoon Lieber/Stoller was on the Mitch Albom radio show in Detroit. It's amazing how many different tunes these guys have written. I didn't realize they wrote "Broadway" among many others they talked about today. They said there have been over 100 different versions of the song Kansas City recorded. Yikes.. What a career they have had.out..Jeff.
LordOfTheThighs Posted March 12, 2005 Posted March 12, 2005 Serial: Kind of like Russ Ballard, who wrote thousands of sappy songs (including "New York Groove") from the 70s on. Ballard did have one minor hit in the early 80s, but it was so memorable that it escapes me completely.Russ Ballard had a couple of minor hits with "Voices", (not written OR performed by Cheap Trick), and "On The Rebound". Both are quite good, IMO.
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