Description
Influence, imitation or inspiration - whatever the motivation, many of today's pop and rock superstarsstarted out singing songs previously established by other artists.
The phenomenon of the 'cover version' is as old as the pop song and became an industry norm with the
rock'n'roll explosion of the 1950s. In the USA, many fine original R&B hits were 'covered" for the pop
market by white artists. In Britain these songs made the charts, re-covered by UK performers. Then
the 'beat boom' of the 1960s saw British groups recording their versions of the rock'n'roll, R&B and
blues songs of their idols from the 1950s. So it goes on, even today, for the world charts are always
well prepared with many a current star's version of an earlier hit.
It's a fascinating story, tracing the hits, the versions and the covers. No one knows that story
better than Alan Warner, a successful record producer on both sides of the Atlantic. In this
book, he lists for the first time the best-sellers in their original and revived versions - and
even in oft-forgotten covers by some surprising names. An Englishman resident in Holly-
wood, Alan is an avid music collector and fully merits his Sunday Times accolade 'the
keeper of the flame of musical nostalgia'.
This is the guide: an accessible compendium, a listing by song title, of 500 of the influ-
ential R&B, blues, rock and pop songs that enjoyed more than one success and turned
up in many repertoires. It is truly a fascinating collection of titles, artists and back-
ground facts, figures and anecdotes that is certain to have you humming along as you
soak up the information. ISBN:9780713720891
