Songs with Earlier Histories Than the Hit Version

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Category: Rock

(Remember the Days of the) Old Schoolyard

First recorded (as “The Old Schoolyard”) by Linda Lewis (1975).
Hit version by Cat Stevens (US #33/MOR #28/CAN #27/UK #44/AUS #18 1977).

From the wiki: “‘(Remember the Days of the) Old Schoolyard’ was inspired by the playground at St. Joseph’s in London, where Stevens went to school, recalling simple days filled with childhood fun.

“Stevens wrote the song for Linda Lewis, who was the first to record the song. Lewis had sung on Stevens’ 1972 album Catch Bull At Four and had accompanied him on his 1974 ‘Bamboozle’ tour. Clive Davis of Arista Records signed Lewis on the strength of her performance of ‘The Old Schoolyard’, which she released as an album track on her 1975 collection, Not A Little Girl Anymore.

You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away

First released by The Beatles (1965).
Hit version by The Silkie (US #10/UK #28 1965).

From the wiki: “‘You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away’ was written and sung by John Lennon (though credited to Lennon–McCartney) and released on the Beatles’ movie soundtrack album Help! in August 1965. It was not released as a promotional single.

“The Silkie, a band that had been signed by Brian Epstein, recorded their version a few months after the Beatles. The Silkie were an English folk music group. Their name was derived from an Orcadian song ‘The Great Silkie of Sule Skerry’, which they sometimes performed. They were briefly considered to be the English equivalent of Peter, Paul and Mary, with their common repertoire of Bob Dylan songs, and the original Australian folk group, The Seekers.

If Not For You

Written and first recorded by Bob Dylan (1970 |NETH #30 1971).
First released by George Harrison (1970).
Other hit version by Olivia Newton-John (US #25/MOR #1/CAN #3/ UK #7/AUS #7/NZ #8 1971).
Also recorded by Bob Dylan & George Harrision (1970, released 1991).

From the wiki: “‘If Not for You’ was written by singer-songwriter Bob Dylan for his October 1970 album New Morning. The song was a love song to Dylan’s first wife, Sara Dylan. He recorded it several times in 1970; the session for the released version took place in New York in August. He also recorded the song with George Harrison on May 1, soon after the break-up of the Beatles, a session that attracted much speculation in the music press. The May recording remained unreleased until its inclusion on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) in 1991.

“In November 1970, Harrison released his arrangement of ‘If Not for You’ on his triple album All Things Must Pass. The best-known cover version was recorded by Olivia Newton-John in 1971, using Harrison’s arrangement of the song. Newton-John’s single became her first hit song, peaking at #7 on the UK Singles Chart and topping the Billboard Easy Listening chart, as well as the title track to her debut album, If Not for You.

Steamroller Blues

Written and first recorded by James Taylor (1970).
Hit version by Elvis Presley (US #17 1973).
Also recorded (as “Steamroller”) by Merry Clayton (1971).

From the wiki: “‘Steamroller Blues’ (a.k.a. ‘Steamroller’) is a blues parody written by James Taylor, that appeared on his 1970 album Sweet Baby James. It was intended to ‘mock’ the inauthentic blues bands (most always white) of the day.

“Rock journalist David Browne wrote that ‘[d]uring the Flying Machine days in the Village, Taylor had heard one too many pretentious white blues bands and wrote ‘Steamroller’ to mock them.” The song was also included on Taylor’s diamond-selling Greatest Hits 1976 compilation, using a live version recorded in August 1975 at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles.

Overture from “Tommy”

First recorded by The Who (1969).
Hit version by The Assembled Multitude (US #16 1970).

From the wiki: “‘Overture’ was written by Pete Townshend and first recorded in 1969 by The Who. ‘Overture’ is one of three instrumental tracks Townshend wrote and the group recorded for their landmark rock opera LP Tommy. It was the lead track when the album was released in May 1969. More than year later, in October 1970, ‘Overture’ was released as the B-side of the promotional single ‘See Me, Feel Me’ – which did not chart – and retitled ‘Overture from Tommy‘.

“Three months before its release as a Who B-side single, the Assembled Multitude, an instrumental ensemble group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, scored with a reworking of ‘Overture’. Their promotional A-side single peaked at #16 in August, 1970 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.”

Turn the Page

Written and first recorded by Bob Seger (1973).
Also recorded by Bob Seger (1976).
Hit versions by Jon English (AUS #20 1974), Metallica (US #102/US Rock #1/CAN #5/AUS #11/NZ #22/NOR #11/FIN #7 1994).

From the wiki: “‘Turn the Page’ was first written and by Bob Seger in 1972 and released on his Back in ’72 album in 1973. It was not released as a single at that time. But, a live version of the song on the 1976 Live Bullet album was released in Germany and the UK with no apparent chart impact.

“Seger says he wrote the song in a hotel room in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Drummer David Teegarden recalls:

I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight

Written and first recorded by Bob Dylan (1967).
Hit version by Robert Palmer with UB40 (UK #6/CAN #58/IRE #6/AUS #4/NZ #1/SUI #5/NETH #4 1990).

From the wiki: “‘I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight’ was written by Bob Dylan in 1967, and first released on the alb um John Wesley Harding. He first performed the song in concert at the Isle of Wight Festival with The Band on August 31, 1969. Since then, Dylan has included it in more than 400 live performances.

Hot Summer Nights

Written and first recorded by Walter Egan (US #55/CAN #56 1978).
Other hit version by Night (US #18/CAN #23/AUS #3/NZ #28/NETH #21 1979).

From the wiki: “Walter Egan wrote and first released ‘Hot Summer Nights’ (produced by Fleetwood Mac’s Lindsey Buckingham) in 1978 for his album Not Shy. Released as the album’s second promotional single (US #8 ‘Magnet and Steel’ was first), ‘Hot Summer Nights’ peaked at #55 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Money’s Too Tight (to Mention)

First recorded by The Valentine Brothers (R&B #41 1982).
Other hit version by Simply Red (UK #13/CAN #51/AUS #21/NZ #8/IRE #9/ITA #4 1985 |US #28 1986).

From the wiki: “‘Money’s Too Tight (to Mention)’ (sometimes stylized ‘Money$ Too Tight (to Mention)’ on some of its single and album releases) was written and first recorded by The Valentine Brothers, John and Billy, and released as a single in 1982. The song was ranked at #6 among the top ten ‘Tracks of the Year’ for 1982 by NME.

Sit Down, I Think I Love You

First recorded by The Buffalo Springfield (1966).
Hit versions The Mojo Men (US #36/CAN #26 1967), The Executives (AUS #28 1967).

From the wiki: “‘Sit Down, I Think I Love You’ was written in 1966 by singer-songwriter Stephen Stills, and was first recorded by his group Buffalo Springfield.

“Stills recalls he wrote ‘Sit Down, I Think I Love You’ prior to the formation of Buffalo Springfield, when he had just settled in Los Angeles and had begun writing songs what he felt ‘were personal statements and something to say.’ First recorded in 1966, it was included on Buffalo Springfield’s eponymous debut album, but because Stills had sold the song’s publishing rights, he never received any writer’s royalties. It was not released as a single.

My Little Red Book

First recorded by Manfred Mann (USA #124 1965).
Other hit version by Love (US #52 1966).

From the wiki: “In the wake of the British Invasion, Burt Bacharach (‘Message to Michael‘, ‘Reach Out for Me‘, ‘What the World Needs Now is Love’) began working hands-on with British beat groups of the era such as Manfred Mann.

“‘My Little Red Book’ was composed by Bacharach with lyrics by his songwriting partner, Hal David, as part of the film score for the 1965 film What’s New Pussycat?, and recorded by the group Manfred Mann. Keyboardist Mann recalls having great difficultly playing the deceivingly simple but frustrating piano part written by Bacharach (a notorious perfectionist) which led to Bacharach actually becoming the (uncredited) pianist on the final recording.

You Better Run

First recorded by The Young Rascals (US #20/CAN #22 1966).
Also recorded by Listen (1966), The In-Be-Tweens (1966).
Other hit version by Pat Benatar (US #42/FRA #55/AUS #31/NZ #42 1980).

From the wiki: “‘You Better Run’ was written by Young Rascals group members Eddie Brigati and Felix Cavaliere, and was released as the band’s third single in 1966. It reached the top 20 in the United States – a disappointment being that the group’s previous hit, ‘Good Lovin”, had topped the chart in both the US and Canada.

“‘You Better Run’ did not chart in the UK, but it did not go unheard. In 1966, with the band Listen, Robert Plant made his recording debut singing lead vocals on a cover version of ‘You Better Run’ released on CBS Records. Simultaneously, the group the In-Be-Tweens (aka ‘The N’Betweens’), who would later evolve into the band Slade, also released a UK single, produced by Kim Fowley, also on the CBS label which charted regionally but had no great national impact in the UK. Although the groups were familiar with each other and both were distributed by the same record label, neither knew the other had recorded ‘You Better Run’ until their efforts were released.

“In the 1999 BBC documentary It’s Slade, band member Dave Hill recalled ‘I seem to remember we tried to get the local record store to stock 500 copies or something, and try to get people to buy them to try and get it in the charts. It didn’t work!’ Don Powell later recalled in his 2013 biography, Look Wot I Dun, ‘Even though the single got plenty of airplay, it didn’t sell well.’

“Pat Benatar recorded “You Better Run” for her second album, Crimes of Passion (1980). The song was released as the album’s lead single, peaking at #42 on the Billboard Hot 100. On August 1, 1981, Benatar’s music video for ‘You Better Run’ became a part of pop culture history – the second video ever broadcast on MTV (following the network premiere of ‘Video Killed the Radio Star‘).”

Listen, “You Better Run” (1966):

The N’Betweens, “You Better Run” (1966):

Pat Benatar, “You Better Run” (1980):

Jamaica Say You Will

First recorded by The Byrds (1971).
Also recorded by The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (1972).
Hit album version by Jackson Browne (1972).

From the wiki: “‘Jamaica Say You Will’ (alternately ‘Jamaica, Say You Will’) was written by Jackson Browne, but was first recorded for release by The Byrds on their Byrdmaniax album, produced by Kim Fowley, the year before Browne’s version came out. ‘Jamaica Say You Will’ was also recorded by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band for their All the Good Times, released the same month as Browne’s self-titled debut album (aka Saturate Before Using) in January 1972.

That Same Old Feeling

First recorded (as “It’s the Same Old Feeling”) by The Foundations (1969).
Hit versions by The Fortunes (US #62 1970), Picketywitch (US #67/MOR #34/UK #5/CAN #39/IRE #5/NZ #7 1970).

From the wiki: “‘That Same Old Feeling’ was composed by songwriters and producers John Macleod and Tony Macaulay, and was included on The Foundations’ final album, Digging the Foundations (1969). As with the group’s previous three albums, Digging the Foundations was produced by Macleod and Macaulay and consisted largely of compositions by the duo. The original recording of the song introduced the song’s standard chorus but its verses were radically different – musically and lyrically – from those of the better-known followups.

Not Guilty

First recorded (as a demo) by George Harrison (1968).
Also recorded by The Beatles (1968, released 1996).
Hit album version by George Harrison (1978).

In an interview with Billboard editor Timothy White in 1999, Harrison referred to “the grief I was catching” from Lennon and McCartney post-India, and explained the message behind the song: “I said I wasn’t guilty of getting in the way of their career. I said I wasn’t guilty of leading them astray in our going to Rishikesh to see the Maharishi. I was sticking up for myself …”

From the wiki: “According to author Robert Rodriguez, ‘Not Guilty’ was ‘much-fabled’ among Beatles fans by the late 1970s, since the song was known as a White Album outtake but had never been heard publicly.

“Author Nicholas Schaffner paired it with Lennon’s ‘What’s the New Mary Jane’ as completed recordings that were known to have been left off the White Album, while authors Harry Castleman and Walter Podrazik wrote that, as far as collectors were aware, Harrison had taped ‘Not Guilty’ with Eric Clapton in summer 1968 before the Beatles attempted to record the song in March 1969.

Cum On Feel the Noize

First recorded by Slade (UK #1 1973).
Other hit version by Quiet Riot (US #5/CAN #8 1983).

From the wiki: “‘Cum On Feel the Noize’ was written by Slade lead vocalist Noddy Holder and bassist Jim Lea, and produced by Chas Chandler (The Animals, Jimi Hendrix), as a non-album single. It reached #1 on the UK Singles chart, giving the band their fourth number-one single. ‘Cum On Feel the Noize’ would be included on the band’s 1973 compilation album, Sladest. In a 2015 UK poll, the song it was voted #15 on the ITV special The Nation’s Favourite 70s Number One.

“In 1983, the American heavy metal band Quiet Riot recorded their cover of the song, which became a million-selling hit single in the United States and Canada, peaking at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100.”

Hi Ho Silver Lining

First recorded and released by The Attack (1967).
Hit version by Jeff Beck (UK #14/IRE #17/AUS #14 1967 |UK #17 1972).

From the wiki: “‘Hi Ho Silver Lining’ was written by American songwriters Scott English (‘Mandy‘) and Larry Weiss (‘Bend Me, Shape Me‘; ‘Rhinestone Cowboy‘) and first released as a single in March 1967 by The Attack, a freakbeat/psychedelic band from London, UK, followed a few days later by Jeff Beck. It was Beck’s version that charted first (backed by ‘Beck’s Bolero’) on the UK Singles chart – the Attack single having no visible chart impact – and the song has become most often associated with Beck because of that.

It Must’ve Been Love

First recorded (as “It Must’ve Been Love (Christmas for the Broken Hearted)”) by Roxette (SWE #4 1987).
Hit version by Roxette (US #1/UK #3/CAN #1/AUS #1/NED #3/JPN #2 1990).

“And it’s a hard Christmas Day
I dream away”

From the wiki: “The song, written by Per Gessle, was first released as ‘It Must Have Been Love (Christmas for the Broken Hearted)’ in December 1987. It was composed after EMI Germany asked the duo to ‘come up with an intelligent Christmas single.’ It became a top five hit in Sweden, but was not released internationally. This version of the song was never included on any Roxette studio album until the 1997 re-release of their debut Pearls of Passion.

Signs

First recorded and released by The Five Man Electrical Band (B-side 1970).
Hit versions by Bobby Vee (US #125 Feb 1971), The Five Man Electrical Band (re-release US #3/CAN #4/AUS #1 1971), Tesla (US #8/UK #70 1990).

From the wiki: “‘Signs’ was written by the Five Man Electrical Band’s frontman, Les Emmerson, and was recorded it for their second album, Good-byes and Butterflies, in 1970. ‘Signs’ was first released as the B-side earlier that year to the unsuccessful single ‘Hello Melinda Goodbye’, thus remaining relatively obscure.

“Re-released by the group in 1971 as the A-side, ‘Signs’ reached #4 in Canada and #3 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. Billboard ranked it as the #4 song for 1971. It became a gold record. But, prior to the Five Man Electrical Band re-release, ‘Signs’ made its first chart appearance in February 1971 when a recording by Bobby Vee ‘bubbled under’ the Hot 100, peaking at #125.

Rings

First recorded (as a demo) by Eddie Reeves & Alex Harvey (1971).
First released by Lonnie Mack (1971).
Hit versions by Cymarron (US #17/MOR #6/CAN #41/AUS #46 1971), Tompall & the Glaser Brothers (C&W #7 1972), Reuben Howell (US #86 1974), Lobo (US #43/CAN #30 1974), Twiggy (UK#35 1977).
Also recorded by Alex Harvey (co-writer 1972), Leo Kottke (1983).

From the wiki: “‘Rings’ was composed by Eddie Reeves, an executive at the West Coast office of United Artists Music, and Alex Harvey, who was contracted as a songwriter to United Artists, and was written for the wedding of a friend of Reeves named Bob Hamilton who – as the song’s lyrics indicate – had experienced an estrangement and reconciliation with his fiancée: the song concludes with the couple ‘hand in hand…upon the sand with the preacher man’ – a reference to Hamilton and his bride’s exchanging vows on the Venice beachfront. The lyric ‘Got James Taylor on the stereo’ was a reference to James Taylor’s ‘Fire and Rain‘ being the couple’s favorite song – while the ‘Tony and Mario’ mentioned in the song were the owners of a Hollywood restaurant the couple frequented.

With a Little Help from My Friends

First recorded by The Beatles (1967).
First single release by The Young Idea (UK #10 1967).
Other hit single versions by Joe Cocker (US #68/UK #1 1968), The Beatles (US #71/UK #63 1978), Wet Wet Wet (UK #1/IRE #1/FRA #3/GER #3 1988), Sam & Mark (UK #1 2004).

From the wiki: “‘With a Little Help from My Friends’ was written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon, and first appeared on the Beatles’ 1967 Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Not one of that album’s promotional single releases, the song was first released as single by British singers The Young Idea in 1967.

“A subsequent recording of the track by Joe Cocker – a radical re-arrangement of the original, including an extended instrumental intro (featuring keyboardist Tommy Eyre and guitarist Jimmy Page) – became a hit single in 1968 and an anthem for the Woodstock era. In 1978, the Beatles’ recording, paired with ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’, was reissued as a single.

Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft

First recorded by Klaatu (US #62/CAN #45 1976).
Other hit version by The Carpenters (US #32/MOR #18/UK #9/CAN #9/IRE #1 1977).

From the wiki: “‘Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft’, written by Terry Draper, John Woloschuk, was first recorded by Canadian band Klaatu in 1976 for release on their debut album 3:47 EST. John Woloschuk, a member of Klaatu and one of the song’s composers, recalled:

‘The idea for this track was suggested by an actual event that is described in The Flying Saucer Reader, a book by Jay David published in 1967. In March 1953 an organization known as the ‘International Flying Saucer Bureau’ sent a bulletin to all its members urging them to participate in an experiment termed ‘World Contact Day’ whereby, at a predetermined date and time, they would attempt to collectively send out a telepathic message to visitors from outer space. The message began with the words … ‘Calling occupants of interplanetary craft!”

“After its release, the Klaatu recording would open night transmissions of the pirate radio station Radio Caroline. Even more bizarre, the song got caught up in rumors that it presaged a Beatles reunion – that ‘Klaatu’ was just a pseudonym for the Fab Four’s return to the recording studio (and possible reunion concert).

It’s a Heartache

First released by Juice Newton (MEX #3 1977 |US #86 1978).
Other hit versions by Bonnie Tyler (US #3/UK #4/CAN #1/AUS #1 1978), Dave & Sugar (C&W #32 1981), Trick Pony (C&W #22 2005).
Also recorded by Rod Stewart (2006).

From the wiki: “‘It’s a Heartache’ was written by Ronnie Scott & Steve Wolfe. Scott was working with Wolfe as a songwriting and producing team when they spotted Bonnie Tyler in ‘The Townsman Club’ in Swansea, Wales in 1976, and they became Tyler’s managers, songwriters, and producers, writing and producing eight out of the ten songs on Tyler’s first album, The World Starts Tonight (1977). The album included Tyler’s first two UK Top-30 hits, ‘Lost in France’ and ‘More Than a Lover’.

“Tyler’s second album, Natural Force (released in the US as It’s a Heartache in 1978) included five Scott/Wolfe songs including the track ‘It’s a Heartache’ which reached #4 in the UK, and #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. The song had already been recorded and first released by Juice Newton almost a year earlier, in 1977.

Old Time Rock ‘n Roll

First recorded (as a demo) by George Jackson (1978).
Hit version by Bob Seger (US #28/CAN #31 1979 |US #48/AUS #53 1983 |AUS #3 1987 ).

From the wiki: “‘Old Time Rock and Roll’ was written by George Jackson (‘Victim of a Foolish Heart‘) and Thomas E. Jones III, and was first recorded as a demo by Jackson. The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, who often backed Seger in his studio recordings at the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Sheffield, Alabama, sent Seger a demo of Jackson’s song during the recording of Stranger in Town. Jackson recalls ‘Bob had pretty much finished his recording at Muscle Shoals [but] he asked them if they had any other songs he could listen to for the future.’

“The song was recorded by Seger at the Muscle Shoals studio and also at Sound Suite Studios in Detroit, Michigan. Originally, Seger’s Silver Bullet Band was displeased with its inclusion on Stranger in Town, claiming, according to Seger, that the song was not ‘Silver Bullet-y’ enough. However, upon hearing audience reactions to it during their tour in Europe, the band grew to like the song. Released as a single in 1979, the song became a Top-40 hit, peaking at #28 on the Billboard Hot 100.