Songs with Earlier Histories Than the Hit Version

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I Can’t Stop Loving You

Originally recorded by Don Gibson (US #81/C&W #7/NOR #2 1957).
Other hit versions by Kitty Wells (C&W #3 1958), Ray Charles (US #1/MOR #1/R&B #1/UK #1/AUS #1 1962), Conway Twitty (C&W #1 1972).
Also recorded by Count Basie & His Orchestra (1963).

From the wiki: “‘I Can’t Stop Loving You’ was written by country singer-songwriter and musician Don Gibson, who first recorded it in 1957. It was released in 1958 as the B-side of ‘Oh, Lonesome Me’ (itself a C&W chart topper and Top-10 Hot 100 hit for Gibson), becoming a double-sided country hit single. Kitty Well’s 1958 cover charted even higher on the Country Singles chart.

“The song was most famously covered by Ray Charles in 1962, included on Charles’ Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music album and released as a single. Charles’ recording reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1962, for 5 weeks and would also top the U.S. R&B and Easy-Listening charts. (The song, a ‘Country-politan’ ballad with lush, cushioned arrangements, was placed at the 11th spot in the album track listing, assumed by Sid Feller to be the album’s weakest song. After becoming the album’s top-selling single, Charles was disappointed with him, as Feller was in charge of sequencing for the album).

“The Count Basie Orchestra’s 1963 cover recording, a Quincy Jones arrangement for Basie’s This Time by Basie! album, won the 1964 Grammy Award for ‘Best Performance by a Band for Dancing’. Conway Twitty covered ‘I Can’t Stop Loving You’ a decade later, in 1972, topping the Country Singles chart.

“‘I Can’t Stop Loving You’ was ranked #164 on Rolling Stone magazine’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and #49 on CMT’s 100 Greatest Songs in Country Music.”

Kitty Wells, “I Can’t Stop Loving You” (1958):

Ray Charles, “I Can’t Stop Loving You” (1962):

Count Basie & His Orchestra, “I Can’t Stop Loving You” (1963):

Conway Twitty, “I Can’t Stop Lovin’ You” (1972):

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