This is not just the legalities of writing credits and mechanical royalties. These days, there’s a large “aftermarket” for song covers, like a whole blog about nothing more than covers of “All Along the Watchtower.” There are numerous websites tracking cover recordings or true authors of songs you’ve always attributed to the bands and singers that made a song a hit. One was lost in a lawsuit that forced the original writer to be credited on the album – “Nobody’s Fault but Mine,” by Blind Willie Johnson, and “Dazed and Confused” by Jake Holmes.” The Who’s “Young Man Blues” comes to mind, and several Led Zeppelin cuts. Jeff added, “It wasn’t until I started reading the credits on album covers that I learned others wrote the songs.” He recalled a few more for me. “Cream added electricity, volume and distortion to acoustic tunes. Personally, ‘All Along the Watchtower’ is the greatest cover tune. “I remember reading Cream album covers and discovering who wrote my favorite songs,” said Marc, a guitarist. I checked in with my high school rocker cohort. Turns out, we all made similar mistaken assumptions. Heck, I bet they even spun “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida,” with a drum solo I knew by heart.

But the full-length live version of “Spoonful” was not. I was tuned in to WBCN in Boston, one of the first FM album-play rock ‘n’ roll stations. My wife knew The Supremes’ version of “YKMHO” probably because she was listening to New York AM radio. They were appropriators reselling Robert Johnson back to the yanks.Īnd so much depends on who spins the wax – the airplay you grew up with. Mick, Keith, Pete Townsend and Jimmy Page were devoted to American bluesmen. They loved Elvis, Little Richard, the Isley Brothers. Roll over Beethoven, John and Paul had some news for us suburban kids in the ’60s. I soon realized how much of the music I loved was written by American blues musicians. Bob Dylan loved Jimi’s version of “Watchtower” Robert Johnson did not get to pass judgment on Eric Clapton’s version of his “Crossroads.” I assumed Jimi Hendrix wrote “All Along the Watchtower,” and Cream wrote “Spoonful” and “Crossroads.” A lot depends on whose song version you hear first. It was first a Motown hit recorded by The Supremes. I have further confessions. “Summertime Blues”? I thought it was a song by The Who. I wanted to be a rock drummer like him – the man who showed John Bonham those famous bass drum triplets on “Good Times, Bad Times” he of the double bass drum kit and Fu Manchu mustache. I recall their anthem-like rendition and the ostentatious drumstick twirling of Carmine Appice. They played their song “You Keep Me Hanging On.” At least I assumed it was their song.

For me, it was Vanilla Fudge – Jan. 14, 1968. For some, it was the appearance of The Beatles on Ed Sullivan that forms a musical benchmark.

You keep me hanging on vanilla fudge