Top Ten Songs Buffett Covered: Stories We Could Tell (#8)

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Sometimes the inspiration for a top ten list comes from strange places. This countdown comes from something @NJChicaa said about not knowing that a song Jimmy Buffett had recorded was a cover. It doesn’t take much to get me to probe covers…or Jimmy Buffett songs….or both! So here’s today’s song that Jimmy Buffett covered, as presented by the artist who originally recorded it. #8: Stories We Could Tell - Everly Brothers Every now and then this will happen: a singer/songwriter will write a song, and someone will record and release it before the songwriter does. I guess one of the first times I saw this happen was when Linda Ronstadt “covered” J.D. Souther’s “White Rhythm and Blues” a year before he released it. Here we have John Sebastian, known for leading the Lovin’ Spoonful and for his #1 “comeback” hit “Welcome Back” (used as the theme to the TV series Welcome Back, Kotter), writing this song. He didn’t record it until 1974, the same year Buffett recorded it. The Everly Brothers, on their last hurrah before breaking up, covered it two years before that. It’s one of those “road” songs that’s not as melancholy or depressing as most of them. This actually gives us a “it was a tough life but boy did we get some memories out of it!” tunes. And your trivia: the Everly Brothers’ band on this album included one Warren Zevon on piano. Stories We Could Tell Written by John B. Sebastian Recorded by the Everly Brothers From Stories We Could Tell, 1972 Covered by Buffett on A1A, 1974 Wondering if this traveling is good: