8 Albums Named After Their Cover Songs: Cyndi Lauper, Bruce Springsteen, And More

When you put a cover song on an album of otherwise original music, it's typically the sort of thing that's tucked away somewhere deep into the tracklisting and not really highlighted. However, these artists felt that their cover songs were so important to the fabric of their albums that they made them the title tracks. Here are eight albums named after their cover songs.

1. The Byrds - Mr. Tambourine Man (1965)

The Byrds rose to fame in the mid-60s with their psychedelic reinterpretations of folk songs, particularly those of Bob Dylan. The band's first number one song was their version of Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine" in 1965, released less than a month after the original, which naturally became the title track to the band's debut album. "Mr. Tambourine Man" isn't the only Dylan song on the album, though: it also features covers of "Spanish Harlem Incident," "All I Really Want To Do," and "Chimes of Freedom."

2. Simon & Garfunkel - Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme (1966)

Though many think of "Scarborough Fair" as an original Simon & Garfunkel song, it's actually a cover of a traditional English folk song dating back to before the 19th century. For the title of Simon & Garfunkel's third album, the duo chose Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme, after a line repeated in each of the verses to "Scarborough Fair."

3. Nico - The End... (1974)

For her fourth solo album The End... German singer-songwriter Nico paid tribute to the Doors on two tracks. The song "You Forget To Answer" was written about the death of Jim Morrison, while "The End" is a cover of the Doors' psychedelic epic from their 1967 debut album.

4. Grace Jones - Nightclubbing (1981)

After starting off as a disco singer during the '70s, Jamaican singer Grace Jones eventually moved on to a more reggae and new wave-inspired sound when the '80s came around. Her most popular album is 1981's Nightclubbing, named after a song by Iggy Pop, which Jones covers for the album. Despite being the title track, however, "Nightclubbing" was just one of three songs from the album not to be released as a single.

5. Cyndi Lauper - She's So Unusual (1983)

Though Cyndi Lauper would go on to contribute more songwriting to her own albums, her 1983 debut She's So Unusual contains a number of cover songs, including "When You Were Mine" by Prince and "Money Changes Everything" by the Brains. The album's title is even based on one of these covers, "He's So Unusual," which was originally sung by Helen Kane all the way back in 1929.

6 & 7. Johnny Cash - American III: Solitary Man/American VI: Ain't No Grave (2000/2010)

The final part of Johnny Cash's long career was devoted to his American Recordings series with producer Rick Rubin, a series of stark Americana records consisting mostly of covers and songs written for Cash by other artists. Two of these albums, American III: Solitary Man and American VI: Ain't No Grave were named for two of these cover songs: Neil Diamond's "Solitary Man" and Claude Ely's "Ain't No Grave (Gonna Hold This Body Down)."

8. Bruce Springsteen - High Hopes (2014)

Bruce Springsteen's most recent album High Hopes is less a proper studio album than it is a collection of outtakes and cover songs that Springsteen has performed on tour. One of these covers is the title track, "High Hopes," written and originally performed by Tim Scott McConnell.

What other albums are named after cover songs? Let us know in the comments section!

Tags

The Byrds, Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel, Nico, The Doors, Jim Morrison, Grace jones, Iggy Pop, Cyndi Lauper, Johnny Cash, Neil Diamond, Bruce Springsteen