Songs with Earlier Histories Than the Hit Version

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He Don’t Love You (Like I Love You)

Co-written and first recorded (as “He Will Break Your Heart”) by Jerry Butler (US #7/R&B #1 1960).
Other hit version by Tony Orland & Dawn (US #1/MOR #1/CAN #4/NZ #28 1975).

From the wiki: “The song was written by Jerry Butler (‘Moon River‘), Calvin Carter, and Curtis Mayfield (who sings backup on the Butler recording). First recorded by Butler and released as a single in 1960, it peaked at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. In addition, Butler’s recording spent seven, non-consecutive weeks at #1 on the U.S. R&B chart.

“More than a decade later, when Tony Orlando (‘Candida‘, ‘Halfway to Paradise‘) and Dawn (Telma Hopkins and Joyce Vincent Wilson) were waiting in the lobby to go on to perform at a Golden Globes award ceremony, Orlando spoke with Faye Dunaway and her then-husband, Peter Wolf, lead singer for The J. Geils Band. To pass the time, the two men began singing various R&B songs from the `60s, including Butler’s ‘He Will Break Your Heart’, which the women recommended that Dawn record on an upcoming album.

“Orlando contacted Mayfield to not only request permission to do a remake but to also change the song’s title to its opening lines. Mayfield readily gave his permission.”

Tony Orlando & Dawn, “He Don’t Love You (Like I Love You)” (1975):

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