Songs with Earlier Histories Than the Hit Version

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1291 total songs ... and counting!

1970s, Rock

Rock Lobster

Written and first recorded by The B-52’s (1978).
Hit version by The B-52’s (US #56/CAN #1/UK #7 1980 |UK #12/AUS #3 1986).

From the wiki: “‘Rock Lobster’ was written by Fred Schneider and Ricky Wilson, two members of The B-52’s. It was produced in two versions, one by DB Records released in 1978 (and backed with ’52 Girls’), and a re-recording which was part of the band’s 1979 self-titled debut album, released by Warner Bros.

“The song became one of the B-52’s signature tunes and it helped launch the band’s success. The DB Records single version lasts 4’37” and is rawer and faster than the 1979 Warner single version. (The 1979 single version itself is an edit from the album version released in 1979, which lasts about seven minutes and contains an extra verse.) It has, however, almost the same lyrics of the second version, just including some extra lines in the listing of marine animals.”

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1930s, Reggae/Ska

If You Wanna Be Happy

Based on “Marry an Ugly Woman” by Roaring Lion (1934).
Also recorded (as “From a Logical Point of View”) by Robert Mitchum (1957).
Hit version by Jimmy Soul (US #1/R&B #1 1962 |UK #39 1963).

From the wiki: “‘If You Wanna Be Happy’ is based on the song ‘Marry an Ugly Woman’ by the Calypso artist Roaring Lion, from Trinidad, first recorded in 1934. Robert Mitchum did a cover version of ‘Ugly Woman’ on Calypso — Is Like So…! titled ‘From a Logical Point of View’ (1957).

“Jimmy Soul’s ‘If You Wanna Be Happy’ was adapted by Joseph Royster, Carmella Guida and Frank Guida (‘Quarter to Three’) and recorded by Soul in 1962, topping both the Pop and R&B charts in the US.”

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1960s, Pop

Young Love

Co-written and first recorded by Ric Cartey & the Jiva-Tones (1956).
Hit versions by Sonny James (US #4/C&W #1 1957), Tab Hunter (US #1 1957), The Crew Cuts (US #17 1957), Connie Smith & Nat Stuckey (C&W #20 1969), Donny Osmond (US #25/UK #1 1973).

From the wiki: “‘Young Love’ was written by Ric Cartey and Carole Joyner, and was first recorded by Ric Cartey & the Jiva-Tones in November, 1956. Cartey’s version never charted but better-known versions were released within a short time – by Sonny James (January 5, 1957), Tab Hunter (a January 19, 1957 release that did even better on the charts than James’) and The Crew-Cuts (January 26, 1957). James’ recording was produced in October 1956 at Bradley Studio in Nashville, Tennessee, with vocal backing provided by the Jordanaires, the Nashville-based vocal group most known for their work with Elvis Presley.

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1960s, Rock

Across the Universe

First released by The Beatles (1969).
Hit album version by The Beatles (1969).

From the wiki: “‘Across the Universe’ was written by John Lennon, and credited to Lennon–McCartney.

“The song, the recording of which began in February 1968 and mastered in October 1969, first appeared on a various-artists’ charity compilation album for the World Wildlife Fund, No One’s Gonna Change Our World, released in December 1969. This version had been considered for release as a Beatles’ single but was instead donated to the WWF. In its place, ‘Lady Madonna’ became the group’s next 45.

“This original release would later be included among the tracks assembled for the 1978 Rarities compilation, and again in 1988 with the release of the Past Masters compilations. However, ‘Across the Universe’ would appear, in somewhat different form, in May 1970 on Let It Be, the Beatles’ final released album.

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1980s, Pop

All the Man (That) I Need

First recorded (as “All the Man I Need”) by Linda Clifford (1981).
Hit versions by Sister Sledge & David Simmons (R&B #45 1982), Whitney Houston (US #1/MOR #1/R&B #1/CAN #1/UK #13 1991).

From the wiki: “‘All the Man That I Need’ is a song written by American songwriters Dean Pitchford and Michael Gore with Linda Clifford in mind when they wrote the song. The song was first recorded by Clifford in 1982 as ‘All The Man I Need’, for her album I’ll Keep on Loving You. It was released it as a single, but it failed to chart.

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1970s, Rock

Once Bitten Twice Shy

Written and first recorded by Ian Hunter (UK #14/AUS #29 1975).
Also recorded by Shaun Cassidy (1980).
Other hit version by Great White (US #5/UK #83 1989).

From the wiki: “‘Once Bitten, Twice Shy’ was written in 1975 by Ian Hunter (‘Ships‘), from his debut solo album Ian Hunter. The single peaked at #14 on the UK Singles Chart.

“‘Once Bitten’ was first covered by Shaun Cassidy on his 1980 LP, Wasp. In 1989, the song was covered again, by Great White, on their fourth album …Twice Shy. It was this version released as a single that peaked Top 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1989.”

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1960s, Latin

Mas, Que Nada!

First recorded by Jorge Ben (1963).
Hit version by Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66 (US#47/MOR #4 1966).

From the wiki: “‘Mas, Que Nada!’ was written and originally performed by Jorge Ben (‘Do You Think I’m Sexy?‘) on his 1963 debut album. The song would later become a signature song – and a US hit – of Sérgio Mendes & Brasil ’66.

“‘Mas, Que Nada!’ has been voted by the Brazilian edition of Rolling Stone magazine as the 5th greatest Brazilian song of all time, and has been inducted into the Latin Grammy Hall of Fame.

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1970s, Rock

Free Bird

First recorded (as a demo) by Lynyrd Skynyrd (1970).
Hit version by Lynyrd Skynyrd (US #19 1973 |UK #31 1976).

From the wiki: “‘Free Bird’ was first recorded in 1970 as a demo. Allen Collins’s girlfriend, Kathy, whom he later married, asked him, ‘If I leave here tomorrow, would you still remember me?’ Collins noted the question and it eventually became the opening line of ‘Free Bird’. According to guitarist Gary Rossington, for two years after Collins wrote the initial chords, vocalist Ronnie Van Zant insisted that there were too many chords for him to create a melody in the mistaken belief that the melody needed to change alongside the chords. After Collins played the unused sequence at rehearsal one day, Van Zant asked him to repeat it, then wrote out the melody and lyrics in three or four minutes.

“‘Free Bird’ quickly became a part of Skynyrd’s live set. The guitar solos that finish the song were added in originally to give Van Zant a chance to rest, as the band was playing several sets per night at clubs at the time. Soon after, the band learned piano-playing roadie Billy Powell had written an intro to the song; upon hearing it, they included it as the finishing touch and had him formally join as their keyboardist.

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1970s, Rock

Down Under

First recorded by Men at Work (1980).
Hit version by Men at Work (US#1/CAN #1/UK #1/IRE #1/AUS #1 1981).
Based on “Kookaburra”.

From the wiki: “‘Down Under’ was written by the group’s co-founders, Colin Hay and Ron Strykert. It was originally released in 1980 as the B-side to their first local single titled ‘Keypunch Operator’, on a self-released vinyl single distributed only in Australia.

“This early version of ‘Down Under’ has a slightly different tempo and arrangement than the later Columbia release. After signing to the U.S. label, Columbia, the song was re-recorded. This more well-known version was then released in October 1981 as the third single from their debut album Business as Usual (1981).

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1960s, Rock

Melissa

First recorded by The 31st of February (1968).
Hit album version by The Allman Brothers (1972).

From the wiki: “‘Melissa’ was written by vocalist Gregg Allman, but dates beyond The Allman Brothers band’s inception and well-known 1972 recording. It was first written in late 1967, and two demo versions from those years exists, including a version cut by the 31st of February, a band formed by drummer Butch Trucks and which, by 1968, was to include post-Allman Joy/Hour Glass band members Duane and Gregg Allman.

“The song had its genesis after Allman had struggled previously to create any song with substance — ‘Melissa’ was among the first that survived after he tossed nearly 300 attempts. The song’s namesake was almost settled as ‘Delilah’ before ‘Melissa’ came to Allman in, of all places, a grocery store where he was buying milk late one night, as he told the story in his memoir, My Cross to Bear:

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1970s, Jazz

Gaucho

Based on “Long As You Know You’re Living Yours” by Keith Jarrett (1974).
Hit album version by Steely Dan (1980).

From the wiki: “During the two-year span during which the album Gaucho was recorded, Steely Dan was plagued by a number of creative, personal and professional problems: MCA, Warner Bros. and Steely Dan waged a three-way legal battle over the rights to release the album; during the course of the Gaucho sessions, while walking home late one Saturday night, Becker was hit by a car and sustained multiple fractures in one leg, a sprain in the other leg, as well as other injuries.

“On top of all that, after the Gaucho album was released, Jazz musician Keith Jarrett threatened the band with legal action for the writing credit to the title song ‘Gaucho’. Jarret won, with his name added to the songwriting credits beginning with the release of the Citizen Steely Dan 1972-1980 box set in 1993.”

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1970s, Pop

September Morn

Co-written and first recorded (as “C’est en septembre”) by Gilbert Becaud (1978).
Hit version by Neil Diamond (US #17/MOR #2/CAN #15/AUS #23/NZ #19 1979).

From the wiki: “‘September Morn’ was adapted from ‘C’est en septembre’ (‘In September’) co-written by Gilbert Becaud (‘Let It Be Me‘) and Neil Diamond (‘Red Red Wine‘, ‘I’m a Believer‘), with original French lyrics by Maurice Vidalin. It was first recorded by Becaud in late 1978 for release in France in January, 1979. Diamond would release ‘September Morn’ as his lead promotional single for the album September Morn in late 1979.

“Becaud began collaborating with Neil Diamond in the 1970s, together writing ‘Love on the Rocks’, ‘Mama Don’t Know’, and Becaud was among Diamond’s collaborators for the soundtrack music to The Jazz Singer. Becaud was a popular French singer-songwriter whose dynamic stage act and charismatic crooning earned him the soubriquet ‘Monsieur 100,000 volts’; he also wrote more than 400 songs, the best-known of which, ‘Et Maintenant’ (1962), (translated as ‘What Now My Love‘) was recorded by numerous singers, including Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand and Shirley Bassey.”

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1970s, Rock

Saturday Night

First recorded by Bay City Rollers (1973).
Hit version by Bay City Rollers (1974 |US #1/CAN #1/GER #2 1975).

From the wiki: “‘Saturday Night’ was written and produced by Bill Martin and Phil Coulter, and first recorded by Bay City Rollers – with lead vocals by Nobby Clark – in 1973 with no apparent chart impact. The song was then re-recorded by the Rollers’ for their 1974 UK album Rollin’ with lead vocals by Nobby’s replacement, Les McKeown. At the end of 1975, ‘Saturday Night’ was released as a single in America and it hit the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 1976.

“Not that the Bay City Rollers weren’t without hits in the UK (they had ten Top-10 hits, including two #1’s, on the UK Singles chart) but their biggest hit in the US was never released as a single in their home country and did not chart.”

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1960s, Soul

(We’ll Be) United

First recorded by The Intruders (US #78/R&B #14 1966).
Hit version by Peaches & Herb (US #46/R&B #11 1968).

From the wiki: “The Intruders were one of the first groups to have hit songs under the direction of songwriters and record producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff (Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, The O’Jays), they had a major influence on the development of Philadelphia soul. In 1965, when Gamble and Huff first contemplated leaving the Cameo-Parkway record label to risk launching their own label, the vocalists on which they pinned all their hopes and venture capital were The Intruders.

“Gamble and Huff’s success with The Intruders helped convince Columbia Records to grant them the money to launch Philadelphia International. ‘(We’ll Be) United’ was the first charting song for The Intruders, peaking at #14 on the Billboard Soul chart, and #78 on the Billboard Hot 100, in 1966.

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1980s, Rock

No More “I Love You’s”

First recorded by The Lover Speaks (UK #58 1986).
Hit versions by Annie Lennox (US #23/UK #2 1995), Nicki Minaj (sampled in “Your Love” US #14/R&B #4/UK #71 2010).

From the wiki: “‘No More I Love You’s’ was written by Joseph Hughes and David Freeman, and was first released by their band, The Lover Speaks, in 1986. Released as a single, the original peaked at #58 on the UK Singles chart. The song was covered almost a decade later by former-Eurythmic Annie Lennox and was the first single released from her second studio album, Medusa.

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1960s, Pop

Make the World Go Away

First recorded by Timi Yuro (US #24/CAN #11 1963).
Other hit versions by Ray Price (C&W #1 1963), Eddy Arnold (US #6/C&W #1/MOR #1 1965), Donny & Marie Osmond (US#44/MOR #31/UK #18 1975).
Also recorded by Jim Reeves (1964).

From the wiki: “‘Make the World Go Away’ was composed by Hank Cochran (‘I Fall to Pieces’) and first recorded by Timi Yuro in June, 1963. It has become a Top 40 popular success three times: for Yuro (1963), for Eddy Arnold (1965), and for the brother-sister duo Donny & Marie Osmond (1975) and topped the Country Singles chart (Ray Price, 1963). ‘Make the World Go Away’ was also recorded in July, 1964 by Jim Reeves, at his last recording session before dying in a plane crash two weeks later, for what would become the album The Jim Reeves Way.

“For Price, ‘Make the World Go Away’ was one of his first songs to feature an orchestra and female chorus, a trend that he would continue with other songs like ‘For the Good Times’. Arnold’s production was similarly recorded, the so-called ‘Nashville Sound’, an early mixture of Pop with Country music, and became one of the most popular recordings of 1960s Country music and is generally considered to be Arnold’s best-known song.”

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1960s, Rock

Nobody

First recorded by Larry Williams & Johnny Watson with The Kaleidescope (1967).
Bubblin’-Under Hit version by Three Dog Night (US #116 1968).

http://youtu.be/_Z0o_Sp61_g

From the wiki: “The Kaleidoscope (featuring Chris Darrow, Earl Palmer and future Jackson Browne/Warren Zevon sideman David Lindley). Kaleidoscope returned briefly for studio work to back Larry Williams and Johnny ‘Guitar’ Watson on their 1967 single ‘Nobody’. (The group would later back Leonard Cohen on ‘So Long Marianne’ and ‘Teachers’ on Cohen’s first album.) ‘Nobody’ would be covered in 1968 by Three Dog Night and released as that group’s very first single.

“Larry Williams was making comeback in the mid-1960s while, at the same time, luring Little Richard back into secular music. Williams produced two Little Richard albums for Okeh Records in 1966 and 1967, returning Little Richard to the Billboard album chart for the first time in ten years. Williams also acted as the music director for the Little Richard’s live performances at the Okeh Club. Bookings for Little Richard during this period skyrocketed. Williams also recorded and released material of his own and with Watson, with some moderate chart success.

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1960s, Rock

Celebrate

Co-written and first recorded by Garry Bonner (1969).
Also recorded by Spice (1969, released 1974).
Hit version by Three Dog Night (US #15/CAN #8 1970).

http://youtu.be/Y4aufvlZfCY

From the wiki: “‘Celebrate’ was cowritten by Garry Bonner with Alan Gordon, who also cowrote The Turtles’ ‘Happy Together’ and ‘She’d Rather Be With Me’, and first recorded by Bonner in 1969. It was covered in 1969 by Spice, the immediate precursor to the English band Uriah Heep, but went unreleased until 1994’s The Lansdowne Tapes compilation. In 1970, Three Dog Night recorded ‘Celebrate’ for their Suitable for Framing, and released it as the album’s third single.”

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1960s, Rock

Let It All Hang Out

First recorded by The Hombres (US #12 1967).
Other hit version by Jonathan King (UK #26 1969).
Also recorded by John Mellencamp (1989).

From the wiki: “Formed in 1966, The Hombres comprised Jerry Lee Masters, Gary Wayne McEwen, B. B. Cunningham, Jr., and John Will Hunter, and ‘Let It All Hang Out’ was written by the four of them. The song’s spoken intro – ‘A preachment, dear friends, you are about to receive on John Barleycorn, nicotine and the temptations of Eve’ – dates to the 1947 novelty recording ‘Cigareetes, Whuskey and Wild, Wild Women’ by Red Ingle and His Natural Seven.

“The song was first covered – with much the same production arrangement – in the UK by Jonathan King (‘Hooked On a Feeling‘, ‘Everyone’s Gone to the Moon’) in 1969, and also appeared on his 1989 compilation album, The Butterfly That Stamped. Yet another cover version was recorded by The Nails in the mid 1980s. The song also appears as a hidden track on John Mellencamp’s 1989 album Big Daddy.

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1970s, Pop

Somewhere in the Night

First single release by Yvonne Elliman (US August 1975).
Also recorded by Richard Kerr (UK August 1975), Kim Carnes (1975).
Hit versions by Batdorf & Rodney (US #69 1975), Helen Reddy (US #19/MOR #2/CAN #27 1975) and Barry Manilow (US # 9/UK #42 1978).

From the wiki: “The first song composed by Richard Kerr (‘Mandy‘, 1971) and Will Jennings (‘Back in the High Life Again’, 1987) as a team, ‘Somewhere in the Night’ appeared on four 1975 album releases: You Are a Song by Batdorf & Rodney and Rising Sun by Yvonne Elliman both released in June 1975, No Way to Treat a Lady by Helen Reddy released July 1975, and Kim Carnes’ November 1975 eponymous album release. The Yvonne Elliman version was released as a US single in August 1975, which also saw the release of a ‘Somewhere in the Night’ single in the UK recorded by the song’s co-writer Richard Kerr.

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1960s, Latin

Girl from Ipanema

First released (as “Garota de Ipanema”) by Pery Ribeiro (1962).
Hit versions by Stan Getz & Joao Gilberto (US #5/MOR #1/UK #29 1964), Stan Getz & Astrud Gilberto (MOR #1 1964).
Also recorded by Ella Fitzgerald (as “Boy from Ipanema”, 1965), Amy Winehouse (2002).

From the wiki: “‘Garota de Ipanema’ (‘The Girl from Ipanema’) was the worldwide Bossa nova hit song that won a Grammy for Record of the Year in 1965. It was written in 1962, with music by Antônio Carlos Jobim and Portuguese lyrics by Vinicius de Moraes. English lyrics were written later by Norman Gimbel (‘So Nice‘, ‘Killing Me Softly with His Song‘).

“The first commercial recording was in 1962, by Pery Ribeiro. The 1964 single, performed by Astrud Gilberto and Stan Getz and shortened from the album version recorded in 1963 by Getz and Joao Gilberto, became the international hit. The original choice as vocalist was Sarah Vaughan, but when Gilberto heard the English translation, he decided that Astrud – Joao’s wife – should sing it. Her subtle vocal added a nuance to the song.

“Numerous recordings have been used in films, sometimes as an elevator music cliché, and the song has been covered by other singers innumerable times (including a gender-turning version. titled ‘Boy from Ipanema’, sung by the likes of Ella Fitzgerald and Peggy Lee). ‘Girl from Ipanema’ is believed to be the second most recorded pop song in history, after ‘Yesterday’ by The Beatles.

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1910s, Pop

Let Me Call You Sweetheart

First recorded by Albert Clough (US #2 1911).
Other popular versions by The Peerless Quartet (US #1 1911), Oliver Hardy & Stan Laurel (1938), Mitch Miller (1961), Timi Yuro (MOR #15 1962).
Also recorded by Bing Crosby (1934).

From the wiki: “‘Let Me Call You Sweetheart’ was written by Leo Friedman with lyrics by Beth Slater Whitson. The song was published in 1910 and first recorded by Albert Clough in May, 1911. The Peerless Quartet recorded their version in November, 1911, topping the sheet music chart that year. The song was also comically sung by Oliver Hardy (with Stan Laurel playing the tuba) in the 1938 motion picture Swiss Miss.”

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1990s, Pop

(To) Make You Feel My Love

First released by Billy Joel (US #50 1997).
Other hit versions by Garth Brooks (C&W #1/MOR #8/CAN #7 1998), Adele (UK #26 |UK #4/NETH #3/SCOT #4/IRE #5 2008 2010 |UK #34 2011).
Also recorded by Bob Dylan (1997), Bryan Ferry (2007).

From the wiki: “‘Make You Feel My Love’ was written by Bob Dylan that appeared on his 1997 album Time Out of Mind. It was first commercially released by Billy Joel, under the title ‘To Make You Feel My Love’, before Dylan’s version appeared later that year. It has since been covered by numerous performers and has proved to be a commercial success for recording artists such as Garth Brooks (from the movie Hope Floats), and Adele.

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1910s, Pop

My Melancholy Baby

First recorded by Walter Scanlan (US #9 1915).
Other hit versions by Gene Austin (US #3 1928), Teddy Wilson & His Orchestra (US #6 1936), Bing Crosby (US #14 1939), Sam Donahue & His Orchestra (US #5 1945), Tommy Edwards (US #26/R&B #27/UK #29 1959).

From the wiki: “‘Melancholy Baby’ was written by Ernie Burnett with lyrics by George Norton. The song was first publicly performed (as ‘Melancholy’) in 1912 by William Frawley (‘Fred Mertz’ on I Love Lucy, and ‘Bub’ on My Three Sons). According to IMDb:

‘Frawley was appearing at the Mozart Cafe in Denver, Colorado. He happened to visit a pub on Curtis Street, where he knew the proprietor. Knowing Bill was looking for a new song for his act, the proprietor directed him to the pub’s back room, where Ernie Burnett and George Norton were in the process of composing ‘My Melancholy Baby’.

‘Frawley introduced the song that very night at the Mozart Cafe. In the audience was writer Damon Runyon, well known for his drinking. After Frawley introduced the song, Runyan, drunk and maudlin, repeatedly called out ‘Get Frawley to sing ‘Melancholy Baby’!’ throughout the rest of the evening. Bill sang many encores. The comedy staple of a drunk requesting ‘My Melancholy Baby’ actually has a basis in fact.’

“Forty-five years later, Frawley would record ‘My Melancholy Baby’ in 1957, for his album Bill Frawley Sings the Old Ones.

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