With the development of the music industry, the list of specialized terms expands and new concepts are introduced into use. For example, even 50 years ago, few people knew what a cover version was.
The history of the emergence of cover versions
A cover version is a musical composition that has already been heard and performed by another musician. It so often happens that hits that thundered in the past, with the help of an arrangement or thanks to an unusual manner of performance, get a second life. By the way, the cover version is a kind of remake.
The word "cover" itself comes from the English verb cover, which means "to cover." Some musicians do not limit themselves to one or two covers, but work professionally in this genre. Such bands are called cover bands, and the discs they release are called tributes.
For example, specifically to work in this direction, the group What about Bill? Was created, which re-sings and makes arrangements for already released songs.
Cover versions that bypassed the originals
True, there were situations when the cover version turned out to be much more popular than the original. This happened in the case of the song The man who soled the world, which is hard to imagine not performed by the group Nirvana. However, the song was released on David Bowie's album back in 1970, did not have much success and was consigned to oblivion until the moment when the band decided to perform it in their own original interpretation.
American Dolly Parton sang the soulful I will always love you performed by Whitney Houston even before the release of the film "The Bodyguard". The song, by the way, was a success, but it became really popular only when performed by Houston.
Another composition - Fields of gold - is one of Sting's most famous and touching compositions. However, it has a very gentle and lyrical cover version that could rival the original - it was performed by the famous American cover singer Eva Cassidy. Perhaps her melodic versions could still please listeners if not for her early death - the singer died at the age of 33 from a malignant tumor (melanoma).
Leonard Cohen's touching song Hallelujah is probably one of the most frequently interpreted songs. In total, there are about 200 different versions of its performance. However, according to Cohen, he is not at all opposed. And if the original itself amazes not only with the depth of its text, but also with the original manner of Cohen's performance, then Jeff Buckley's version is unambiguously recognized as the most dramatic and heartfelt.
Somewhere over the rainbow was written by composer Edgar Harburg especially for the movie "The Wizard of Oz" and sang this song by the beautiful Judy Garland. For several decades, the composition has gone through many arrangements, but the most delicate of them is the version of the Hawaiian Israel Kamakavivoole. Despite the impressive dimensions (height 190 cm and weight 343 kilograms), the singer had a very gentle voice. Therefore, this performance can be considered one of the most touching and romantic.
Russian singers are also active in the genre of cover versions. Among them: Sergey Minaev, Philip Kirkorov, Anastasia Stotskaya, Victoria Daineko and others. True, so far these melodies are winning the hearts of mainly Russian audiences.
