Songs with Earlier Histories Than the Hit Version

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Devil in Her Heart

Originally recorded (as “Devil in His Heart”) by The Donays (1962).
Hit album version by The Beatles (1963).

From the wiki: “The song was originally released as ‘Devil in His Heart’ in Detroit by The Donays for Correc-tone Records. The song was later picked up by the New York City label Brent and was re-released in August 1962, as ‘(There’s a) Devil in His Heart’. This release also appeared in the United Kingdom on the Oriole label in 1962. The record was not a hit on either side of the Atlantic.

“The Donays recorded only the one single (‘Devil in His Heart’ backed with ‘Bad Boy’) but their lead singer Yvonne Vernee (real name Yvonne Symington) also recorded solo, and later, in the early 1970s, joined The Elgins at Motown.

“How did the Beatles disocver a song that had had no chart appearance in either the US or the UK? The group found the song at Brian Epstein’s NEMS store. George Harrison remembers [from the Beatles Bible] ‘Brian had a policy of buying at least one copy of every record that was released. If it sold, he’d order another one, or five or whatever. Consequently he had records that weren’t hits in Britain, weren’t even hits in America. Before going to a gig we’d meet in the record store, after it had shut, and we’d search the racks like ferrets to see what new ones were there … ‘Devil In Her Heart’ and Barrett Strong’s ‘Money‘ were records that we’d picked up and played in the shop and thought were interesting.’

“‘Devil in His Heart’ was recorded as ‘Devil in Her Heart’ by the Beatles, with George Harrison on lead vocals, and issued on their second UK album, With the Beatles, in November 1963. The recording was completed in six takes, plus overdubs.”

The Beatles, “Devil in Her Heart” (1963):

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