Covering

Covering A term in the popular record industry for the practice of having one performer record another performer’s hit material. It was straightforward in the 1940s; for example, Frank Sinatra did a Columbia issue of “Sunday, Monday, or Always”—a Bing Crosby movie hit, originally on Decca—and record buyers had a choice of renditions. There were more than 400 versions of “White Christmas,” following Bing Crosby’s. Then, in the 1950s— with rhythm and blues and country recordings denied access to…