Although Dylan wrote this song, The Byrds released their version 3 years before Dylan's original came out !

Love the rhythmic lilt they gave to Dylan's tune.

http://youtu.be/w5L-EZuP-NY

The original- what a ripper it is, rollin along

and when Jimmy got hold of it, superb in its own way

Mr Santana is well known for bringing in unknown musicians who actually go on to do good things, i love Santana and i love Rob.

Barbara Muller singing Anne Bredon's song back in 1964

Led Zep's version in 1968

http://youtu.be/TGS3wSP9vgY

Yesterday Patsycat mentioned that Eric Clapton didn't write Cocaine and it got me thinking how it could be fun to start a thread where each poster put up an original song and then a later version/cover.Of course some songs have no known original composer but never mind, just the earliest or standard version would do.

Years ago it stuck in my mind when a reviewer launched a scathing criticism of The Doors Light My Fire, it was far inferior to the version by Jose Feliciano he raged. Oh well!

Clapton may not have written cocaine but I bet he put an awful lot up his nose!

Didn't we all?!! And we weren't rock stars.

One of the best renditions of Cocaine i have ever seen was a concert done by the Municipal Police of Geneva, Switzerland. They also sang I Shot the Sheriff. The tongue in cheek humour was just so funny. And they were wearing their uniforms!!

Whilst on the subject of drug songs here is Spoonful - Willie Dixon wrote it for Howling Wolf but it has been covered by so many artists such as Etta James and Cream (Eric Clapton and a drug association again) . Willie played double bass so listen for that strong bass line though-out the track holding it all together.

And this is spoonful done by Gill Evans . There is a version that i have on CD that has Miles Davis on it(when he was playing for Gil Evans) which is slightly better (i think) but is not available on You tube. Again that bass line is just magic.

And another little "Eric Clapton" ditty to round off your evening or morning.

As much as i love the guy and respect him - i do have to wonder if he has ever put pen to paper and written a song.

Blimey Patsy, i had no idea he had covered John Martyn's classic, why bother? It's hard to beat a slurring Scotsman with his own unique guitar style.

The original by Leadbelly

Rory's version

In my view not many could do justice to a CCR song but the Boss does here.

You choose

Easy - Like Sunday Morning

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Easy - Like Sunday Morning

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oD8zej7

wooo

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I couldn't get the Dylan original so Kris Kristofferson's version will have to do

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Probably the most blatant rip off in the history of music.

I believe they call it musical influences,

Nice point rgs, when does glorious inspiration turn into ugly rip-off?

Did George consciously 'borrow' from Ronnie Mack or was he simply 'inspired' by the old gospel song Oh Happy Day! ?

It's one thing to lift the melody but when the refrain is the same too? That's got to be plain stealing, surely?

[member=http://youtu.be/0kNGnIKUdMI]

Still, nice guitar work George.

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The original- what a voice he had, and a great songwriter-

When Mary's voice joins in, I get one of those warm fuzzy feelings.....

่Marianne Faithful's rendition of The Stones's number was memorable too.

http://youtu.be/mxkKfT645YA

The original

and one of the great cover versions

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Looking at you tube comments, I see people get upset when comparing originals with later versions. But often they shouldn't, it's different eras, different technology, different influences. But one thing is sure, without the original there would be no later version.