colonel snow wrote:I’m not going here into an endless discussion about interpretation what’s an “original”. For me an “original“ is the first recorded version (shelved or not for months-years) and released later on. See “Always on my mind“ and others.
How about “Anything that’s part of you“ written by Don Robertson?
Elvis recorded his version on 15 october 1961. Don Robertson recorded his version on 5 november 1962 (RCA LSP 3348). It’s clear the original was Elvis’ version. The songwriter's demo version is not the original.
colonel snow
What's the Don Robertson song got to do with it? It's a different scenario altogether.
Elvis recorded his version, as you say, in October 61 and it was released February 62. This is months before Robertson recorded his version. So yes, Elvis' version is the original.
The Beatles cut of "Something" was released before Joe Cockers first recording.
So your comparison between the two songs doesn't make any sense.