OK, so this has been bugging me for YEARS!

A band consists of 5 members...call them A,B,C,D, and E
Members "B" and "D" co write a song, which is released by that band, and becomes a hit.
Years later, member "D" leaves that band and joins a different band...who ALSO release the song originally co-written by "D"


Is this technically a cover version?

Examples that spring to mind are: Dazed and Confused (Yardbirds/Led Zeppelin) , Mistreated (Deep Purple/Rainbow) Catch the Rainbow (Rainbow/Dio)
I'm sure there are many more examples...but can anybody see my point?

I might be wrong but I'd say yes it does become a cover, since the only "original" song was played with members "B" and "D" at once

Dazed Confused is technically a cover by both the Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin.  It was originally written and recorded by Jake Holmes in 1967 and was never officially recorded by the Yardbirds (only a live version was recorded).  Jimmy Page stole the song while with the Yardbirds and recorded it as a Led Zeppelin song, but Holmes was too foolish to do anything about it at the time.

 

I believe Mistreated was never officially recorded by either Whitesnake or Rainbow (except live), but I would consider both a cover.  Same with Catch the Rainbow.

 

It's a bit of a grey area though, depending on how you look at it.  Since the original songwriters are the ones performing the song, it's technically their song.

 

But, like I said, it's a grey area...

 

Dave Grohl wrote "Marigold" and released it on his indie album Pocketwatch!, under the name "Late!" in 1992.  It was then re-recorded by Grohl during Nirvana's In Utero sessions, and released as a b-side to the Heart-Shaped Box single in 1993, and credited as a Nirvana song.  A live version was then recorded and released by the Foo Fighters on Skin and Bones.  So does that make it a cover of a cover of a cover?

Bob Mould (Husker Du, Sugar) answered this for me by covering a song solo that he wrote and recorded with his band.

 

http://www.avclub.com/video/bob-mould-covers-sugar-53053

How about Heaven & Hell?   Where they doing covers of Black Sabbath?  It was all the original members that created the music but under another name.

Question - does that mean that the songs co-written by Dave Mustaine while he was in Metallica are covers when Metallica play them?

No.  According to the Mould Doctrine they would be Metallica songs and would be covers when Dave plays them.

No.  According to the Mould Doctrine they would be Metallica songs and would be covers when Dave plays them.

Dave doesn't, though. The closest he comes is playing Mechanix, the version of the Four Horsemen before Metallica put the wussy slow bit in the middle. ;)

No.  According to the Mould Doctrine they would be Metallica songs and would be covers when Dave plays them.

Dave doesn't, though. The closest he comes is playing Mechanix, the version of the Four Horsemen he originally wrote before Metallica put the wussy slow bit in the middle. ;)