What are songs you liked more when you thought the singer wrote it?

That whole Mike Love lawsuit was about hurt feelings generated from David Lee Roth covering California Girls.

 

I remember learning that too as a teen in the 80s and thinking it was lame. I get that way more with bands than solo artists. Examples: Starship Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now and We Built This City and The Bangles Walk Like an Egyptian and Manic Monday

 

I'm talking about all the lyrics Love wrote in general for many of the fun youth songs and thank God he saved Good Vibrations

 

Mike Love has been quoted as saying adding two or three words entitled him to songwriting credits.

Not saying he didn't contribute to songs he later got credited for but I'm sure there were plenty where, by the standards of the 1960s, he didn't deserve the credit.

 

For his lawsuits yes but Brian has stated that Mike was the primary lyricist for many of those early hits

 

This is mostly inaccurate, the majority of songs with his credit have his lyrics or at least the bigger part. The main other example is Wouldn't It Be Nice where he got credit for the lyrics in the outro only, but let's not forget that credit can be any percentage of the songwriting, so it certainly won't be 50%. The other example is Good Vibrations, where is credit is 25% which accounts for about half of the lyrics and the hook in the chorus.

 

In think that if Jim Croce had lived he would have done more covers. I've got a CD by Jim Croce named Home Recording - America. In it he covered a number of songs, including:

• In the Jailhouse Now
• Mama Tried
• Six Days on the Road

Like with many artists he might take a song that is over looked, put his own spin on it, and make it a hit. Some examples with other artists:

• "They Long to be Close To You" by the Carpenters. A number of artists recorded the song, but the Carpenters made it a hit.
• "It Must Be Love" by Madness. It was originally recorded by Labi Siffre.
• "Without You" by Harry Nilsson. Originally written and recorded by Badfinger, who said that the Nilsson version was better than theirs.

 

I honestly do like the story he uses in concert, when he was asked to do a jingle for the Hoover Vacuum sponsor. Why they didn't air his "Hoover Sucks" jingle I'll never know.