Exactly so. Why not just be honest instead of mealy-mouthed? If you learned a song from a record, or from a book, why not just say so? It's nothing to be ashamed of. "From the singing of" implies (by omission) a closer connection with the source than is truly the case. It's clearly calculated to create a false impression, whatever little excuses people may make to themselves for what is, essentially, deliberate misrepresentation.

I feel sure that there has been a previous discussion of the same question, but at the moment I don't seem able to find it.