Songs with Earlier Histories Than the Hit Version

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Crying in the Rain

First recorded (as a demo) by Carole King (1962).
Hit versions by The Everly Brothers (US #6/UK #6 1962), The Sweet Inspirations (US #112/R&B #42 1969), Tammy Wynette (C&W #18 1981), a-ha (US #26/UK #13 1990).

From the wiki: “‘Crying in the Rain’ was written by Howard Greenfield and Carole King, the only collaboration between the successful songwriters. Both worked for Aldon Music at the time of the song’s composition. On a whim, two Aldon songwriting partnerships decided to switch partners for a day – Gerry Goffin (who normally worked with King) partnered with Greenfield’s frequent writing partner Jack Keller, leaving King and Greenfield to pair up for the day. Despite the commercial success of this collaboration, King and Greenfield never wrote another song together.

“Don and Phil Everly recorded the song shortly before being inducted into the Marine Corps Reserves on November 25, 1961. On February 18, 1962, the duo performed the song in full uniform on The Ed Sullivan Show, and on March 3, the song reached its peak of #6 on the US charts. Don and Phil got out of the Corps on May 24, after 6 months of service. It was the only Everly Brothers song released during their time in the military.

“The Sweet Inspirations landed on the Billboard Soul chart in 1969 with their cover of ‘Crying in the Rain’. The group is best-known for having been founded by Cissy Houston (‘Midnight Train to Georgia‘), mother of Whitney Houston. The original line-up in the early ’60s also included two of Cissy’s nieces, Dionne and Dee Dee Warwick, and Doris Troy (‘Just One Look‘), and the quartet were much in-demand studio vocalists, singing backup on such songs as Kai Winding’s ‘Time Is On My Side‘, the original recording of ‘Go Now‘ (by Bessie Banks), and Van Morrison’s ‘Brown-Eyed Girl’.”

The Everly Brothers, “Crying in the Rain” (1962):

The Sweet Inspirations, “Crying in the Rain” (1969):

Tammy Wynette, “Crying in the Rain” (1981):

a-ha, “Crying in the Rain” (1990):

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