First released by Charles Hart (1927).
Also recorded by Vaughn DeLeath (1927), Henry Burr (1927), The Carter Family (1936), Al Jolson (1950).
Hit versions by Blue Barron Orchestra (US #19 1950), Jaye P. Morgan (US #65 1959), Elvis Presley (US #1/C&W #22/R&B #3 1960).
From the wiki: “‘Are You Lonesome Tonight?’ was written by Lou Handman and Roy Turk in 1926, and first published in 1927. A number of artists first recorded the song in 1927, most notably by Ned Jakobs on May 8 but the first released recording belongs to Charles Hart whose production was released on May 9, 1927. (Jakobs’ version was released on May 17.)
“Vaughn De Leath (also known as ‘The Original Radio Girl’) recorded two versions of the song in 1927, the second as vocalist for The Colonial Club Orchestra. Another version was released later that year by famed tenor Henry Burr.
First recorded by Keely Smith (1967).
Hit versions by Rosemary Clooney (MOR #28 1968), The 5th Dimension (US #2/MOR #1/R&B #4 1970).
From the wiki: “‘One Less Bell to Answer’ is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David (“The Look of Love“, “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again“, “Alfie“), originally written for and recorded in 1967 by Keely Smith (‘I’m a Gigolo‘, with Louis Prima).
“The song was rediscovered in late 1969 by Bones Howe, the producer for the 5th Dimension, and the song was included on the group’s 1970 debut album for Bell Records, Portrait. Rosemary Clooney had, a year earlier, in 1968, first charted the song on the Billboard Easy Listening chart – one of her two last recordings before leaving show business.”
First recorded by Dick Burnett (as “Farewell Song” c. 1913), Emry Arthur (1928).
Hit versions by The Stanley Brothers (1951 | 1959), Ginger Baker’s Air Force (C&W #36/UK #86 1970), Soggy Bottom Boys (C&W #35 2000).
Also recorded by Judy Collins (as “Maid of Constant Sorrow”) (1961), Bob Dylan (1963), Jerry Garcia (1993).
From the wiki: “‘Man of Constant Sorrow’ (also known as ‘I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow’) is a traditional American folk song first recorded in 1913 by Dick Burnett, a partially blind fiddler from Kentucky, who published the song as ‘Farewell Song’. (Some uncertainty exists as to whether Burnett himself wrote the song. One claim is that it was sung by the Mackin clan in 1888 in Ireland and that Cameron O’Mackin emigrated to Tennessee, bringing the song with him.) Another early version was commercially released by Emry Arthur in 1928.
First recorded (as an instrumental) by Paul Whiteman & His Concert Orchestra (1934).
Hit vocal versions Larry Clinton & His Orchestra with Bea Wain (US #1 1939), Artie Shaw with Helen Forrest (US #17 1939), Billy Ward & His Dominoes (US #18/UK #30 1957), Nino Tempo & April Stevens (US #1/UK #17 1963), Donny & Marie Osmond (US #14/UK #25 1976).
From the wiki: “‘Deep Purple’ was the biggest hit written by pianist Peter DeRose, who broadcast from 1923 to 1939 with May Singhi as ‘The Sweethearts of the Air’ on the NBC radio network. ‘Deep Purple’ was first published in 1933 as a piano composition. The following year, Paul Whiteman had ‘Deep Purple’ scored for his suave orchestra that was ‘making a lady out of jazz’ and the song became so popular in sheet music sales that Mitchell Parish added lyrics in 1938.
Written and first recorded by Loggins & Messina (1973).
Hit version by Anne Murray (US #12/C&W #5/CAN #1 1974).
From the wiki: “‘A Love Song’ was first recorded and released by Loggins & Messina on their 1973 album Full Sail but had been written by Kenny Loggins and Donna Lyn George specifically for Anne Murray who, a year earlier, had had great chart success with another Loggins composition, ‘Danny’s Song‘. ‘A Love Song’ was later recorded and released in late 1973 by Murray as the second single from her album Love Song. Her version would go on to win a Grammy award in 1974 for Best Country Vocal Performance.”
First performed by Charles Walters & June Knight from Jubilee (1935).
First commercial release by Xavier Cugat & His Waldorf-Astoria Orchestra (1935).
Hit version by The Artie Shaw Orchestra (US #3 1938).
Also recorded by Josephine Baker (1936), Eddie Heywood (1944)
From the wiki: “‘Begin the Beguine’ is a song written by Cole Porter, who first witnessed the beguine as a dance in Paris. He later composed the song during a 1935 Pacific cruise aboard Cunard’s ocean liner Franconia. The song was first introduced by June Knight in the Broadway musical Jubilee, produced at the Imperial Theatre in New York City in October 1935. Knight and Charles Walters would later release a recorded version for the Victor Records label.
Written and first recorded by Billy Roberts (1961).
Popular versions by The Leaves (US #31 1966), The Jimi Hendrix Experience (UK #6 1966), Wilson Pickett (US #59/R&B #29/UK #16 1969), Willy DeVille (SPN #1 1992).
Also recorded by Tim Rose (1966), The Golden Cups (1968), Billy Roberts (ca. 1976).
Billy Roberts, “Hey Joe” re-recording (1976?):
From the wiki: “Diverse credits and claims have led to confusion as to the song’s true authorship and genesis. But, the earliest known commercial recording of the song is the late-1965 single by the Los Angeles garage band The Leaves (on Mira 207).
“The Leaves re-recorded the track (for the third time) in 1966, releasing it as a follow-up single (on Mira 222) which became a hit. While claimed by the late Tim Rose to be a traditional Blues song (or often erroneously attributed to the pen of American musician Dino Valenti aka Chet Powers and Jesse Farrow), and who recorded a cover in 1966 that was released in 1967 on Through Rose Colored Glasses, ‘Hey Joe’ was registered for copyright in the U.S. in 1962 by Billy Roberts. Producer Hal Resner has stated there is a live recording of Roberts performing ‘Hey Joe’, dating from around 1961.
First recorded by Nanci Griffith (1987).
Also recorded by Judy Collins (1989), The Byrds (1990).
Hit versions by Cliff Richard (UK #11/IRE #16 1990), Bette Midler (US #2/UK #6/AUS #8 1990).
From the wiki: “‘From a Distance’ was written in 1985 by American singer-songwriter Julie Gold. Gold was working as a secretary at the time for Home Box Office and writing songs in her free time. Gold’s friend, Christine Lavin, introduced the song to Nanci Griffith who was the first singer to record it, for her 1987 album Lone Star State of Mind. Griffith remembers Gold had sent her the song asking Griffith what was wrong with it, as Gold had already sent it to so many artists and record companies but no one wanted to produce a recording. Griffith answered that she loved it so much the moment she heard it that she wanted to record it ‘right then and there’.
Written and first recorded by Laura Nyro (1968).
Also recorded by The Magnificent Men (1969), Brian Auger & the Trinity (1969), Thelma Houston (1970).
Hit version by The 5th Dimension (US #27/MOR #10/CAN #24/AUS #79 1970).
From the wiki: “Laura Nyro wrote ‘Save the Country’ as her reaction to Robert Kennedy’s assassination in June, 1968, and recorded the original version of the song with just a piano accompaniment. It was released as a single in 1968 and did not chart, but would later be included on Nyro’s 1969 album New York Tendaberry, her most commercially-successful album. (‘Time and Love’ from the album would also see commercial release as a single in 1970, by Barbra Streisand.)
Written and first recorded by Robert Hazard (1979).
Hit version by Cyndi Lauper (US #2/UK #2/CAN #1/AUS #1/NZ #1/IRE #1/JPN #1 1983).
From the wiki: “The song was written by Robert Hazard, who first recorded it in 1979, writing it from a male point of view. Hazard was the son of an opera singer. He was profiled in a 1981 Rolling Stone magazine article by Kurt Loder. In the piece, Loder describes Hazard’s musical history as a musician ‘… who started out as a Dylan-era folkie, then spent eight years singing country & western. ‘I just love country music,’ he explains — which of course explains nothing, least of all the two years he subsequently spent with a reggae band … or his current electro-pop approach, which owes little to any of the above.’ Hazard also composed the 1980s New Wave and MTV hits ‘Escalator of Life’ and ‘Change Reaction’ which he performed with his band, Robert Hazard and the Heroes, popular in the Philadelphia club scene during the 1980s.
First recorded by Pete Seeger (1956).
Also recorded by Sammy Davis Jr. (1957), Earl Robinson (1957), The (UK) Spinners (1969), Maytones (1970).
Hit versions by Greyhound (UK #6/NETH #2 1971), Three Dog Night (US #1/CAN #1/AST #8/GER #24 1972).
From the wiki: “‘Black and White’ was written in 1954 by David I. Arkin (father of actor Alan Arkin) and Earl Robinson, inspired by the United States Supreme Court decision that year of Brown v. Board of Education that outlawed racial segregation in US public schools.
“‘Black and White’ was first recorded by Pete Seeger in 1956 and released on his album Love Songs for Friends and Foes, followed by Sammy Davis Jr. in 1957 (for a limited-edition Anti-Defamation League EP) and also a version recorded that year, too, by co-writer Robinson. The original folk song lyrics (not used in either Greyhound’s or Three Dog Night’s versions) include the line ‘Their robes were black, their heads were white’, referring to the US Supreme Court justices involved in the 1954 decision.
First released by John Michael Montgomery (US #42/C&W #1 1993).
Hit version by All-4-One (US #1/R&B #13/UK #2/CAN #1/AUS #1/NETH #1 1994).
http://youtu.be/16yarf4ZCwA
From the wiki: “‘I Swear’ was written by Gary Baker and Frank J. Myers, who also recorded a demo of it in 1989 at Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. They couldn’t convince anyone to record the song at the time but, in 1992, they recorded a new demo of ‘I Swear’ which attracted the attention of John Michael Montgomery. Montgomery would record the song in 1993 and release it as the first single from his 1994 album Kickin It Up.
First recorded by Wilma Burgess (C&W #4 1966).
Other hit versions by Eddy Arnold (US #57/C&W #3 1967), Joe Simon (US #91/R&B #47 1972), Dorothy Moore (US #3/R&B #2/UK #5/CAN #4/AUS #6 1976).
From the wiki: “Bob Montgomery wrote the song with Brenda Lee in mind. He recalls, ‘I wrote ‘Misty Blue’ in about twenty minutes. It was a gift and it was perfect for Brenda Lee, but she turned it down. Her producer Owen Bradley loved the song [but] as he couldn’t push her to do it, he cut it country-style with Wilma Burgess.’
“Eddy Arnold covered ‘Misty Blue’ in a Chet Atkins-produced session at the RCA Victor Studio, Nashville, in April 1966. Included on his 1966 album The Last Word in Lonesome, Arnold’s ‘Misty Blue’ had a belated single release in May 1967 to introduce The Best of Eddy Arnold compilation album. Besides bettering Burgess’ success on the Country chart with the song, Arnold’s ‘Misty Blue’ became the first version of the song to crossover to the Pop field, reaching #57 on the Billboard Hot 100 in June 1967.
First released by The Beatles (1966).
First hit version by Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers (UK #6 1966).
Other hit versions by Stitch in Tyme (CAN #9 1967), The Beatles (US #7 1976), Earth Wind & Fire (US #9/R&B #1 1978).
From the wiki: “‘Got to Get You Into My Life’ was written by Paul McCartney (though officially credited to Lennon–McCartney), and first released in 1966 on The Beatles’ album Revolver but was never released then as a promotional single. It was the second song, after ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’, to be recorded for the album. John Lennon is said to have particularly admired the lyrics of ‘Got To Get You Into My Life’, interpreting them as being about LSD. In fact, the song was about marijuana, as McCartney later explained:
“‘Got To Get You Into My Life’ was one I wrote when I had first been introduced to pot. I’d been a rather straight working-class lad but when we started to get into pot it seemed to me to be quite uplifting … I didn’t have a hard time with it and to me it was mind-expanding, literally mind-expanding.
“‘So Got To Get You Into My Life is really a song about that, it’s not to a person, it’s actually about pot. It’s saying, I’m going to do this. This is not a bad idea. So it’s actually an ode to pot, like someone else might write an ode to chocolate or a good claret.'”
“The song took some time to get right in the studio – the Anthology 2 album has a version from the first day’s recording, 7 April, played on a harmonium and sounding quite different to the final arrangement heard on Revolver. The next day The Beatles tried a different arrangement, ending up with the rhythm track they settled on. On 11 April they overdubbed a guitar part, but the song remained untouched again until 18 May. On that day they added the song’s distinctive brass and woodwind parts, plus two lead vocal parts, tambourine and organ.
“In early 1966, Cliff Bennett & The Rebel Rousers was the opening act for The Beatles on their final European tour. Bennett got the opportunity to hear the song during the tour and ask McCartney if his group could record it. McCartney was producer for the session. The Rebel Rousers’ single, backed by Bennett’s own composition, ‘Baby Each Day’, reached #6 on the UK Singles chart.
First recorded (as a demo) by Apollonia 6 & Prince (1984).
Hit version by The Bangles (US #2/UK #2/CAN #2/IRE #2/GER #2/AUS #3 1986).
From the wiki: “‘Manic Monday’ was written by Prince, using the pseudonym ‘Christopher’. Originally intended for the group Apollonia 6 in 1984, he recorded it as a duet for Apollonia 6’s self-titled album. However, Prince eventually pulled the song. Two years later, he offered the song to The Bangles.
Co-written and first recorded by Bruce Springsteen (1978, released 2010).
Hit version by Patti Smith Group (US #13/UK #5 1978).
From the wiki: “Written by Bruce Springsteen, ‘Because the Night’ song was first recorded by Springsteen during sessions for the Darkness on the Edge of Town album. He was not satisfied with it; the Patti Smith Group was working on Easter in the studio next door, with engineer/producer Jimmy Iovine working on both albums. Iovine gave Smith a tape of the song; she recast it, including ‘Because the Night’ on Easter, becoming the first single released from that album.
Written and first recorded by Bob Dylan (1965).
Hit versions by Them (1965 |GER #12 1973), The Byrds (B-side 1969), Graham Bonnet (AUS #3 1977).
Also recorded by Joan Baez (1965), Dion (1965, released 1969), The Byrds (1965, released 1987), The 13th Floor Elevators (1967), (as “Baby Blue”) by The Seldom Scene (1975), The Animals (1977).
From the wiki: “‘It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue’ was written and performed by Bob Dylan and featured on his 1965 Bringing It All Back Home album. The song was originally recorded with Dylan’s acoustic guitar and harmonica and William E. Lee’s bass guitar the only instrumentation. Dylan’s two previous albums, The Times They Are A-Changin’ and Another Side of Bob Dylan both ended with a farewell song, ‘Restless Farewell’ and ‘It Ain’t Me, Babe’ respectively. ‘It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue’ concludes Bringing It All Back Home in consistent fashion.
“Dylan played the song for Donovan in his hotel room during his May 1965 tour of England in a scene shown in the D. A. Pennebaker documentary Don’t Look Back; a version of the song is also included on the soundtrack to Martin Scorsese’s documentary No Direction Home. In a 2005 readers’ poll reported in Mojo, ‘It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue’ was listed as the #10 all-time-best Bob Dylan song.
First recorded (as “Flamingo”) by Gene Pitney (1966).
Hit versions by Tommy Vann & the Echoes (US #125 1966), Manfred Mann (US #29/UK #1/CAN #2/AUS #3/NZ #1/IRE #1 1966).
Also performed by Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band (1975).
“‘Pretty Flamingo’ was written by American songwriter and producer Mark Barkan. His first major success as a writer was with ‘The Writing on the Wall’, a 1961 U.S. Top-5 hit for Adam Wade which he co-wrote with Sandy Baron and George Paxton (credited as George Eddy). Barkan had further success with Lesley Gore’s Top-5 hit ‘She’s a Fool’ (co-written with Ben Raleigh). He would later go on to write material for The Monkees, The Archies, and, perhaps most notoriously, The Banana Splits whose theme song — ‘The Tra La La Song (One Banana, Two Banana)’ — Barkan co-wrote with Ritchie Adams (‘Tossin’ and Turnin”, ‘After the Lovin”) and with whom he was the music director for the two seasons The Banana Splits Adventure Hour was televised.
“‘Pretty Flamingo’ describes a woman — whom ‘all of the guys call […] ‘Flamingo’, ’cause her hair glows like the sun and her eyes can light the sky’ — for whom the singer has fallen and his plans to win her affection. Barkan’s daughter said that it was based on a girl who lived above a parking lot in his neighborhood: Barkan and his friends used to call out to her.
First recorded (as “Die Morität von Mackie Messer”) by Harald Paulsen (1928).
First English-language recording by Gerald Price (1954).
First popular English-language recording Louis Armstrong & His All Stars (US #20 1956).
Other hit version by Bobby Darin (US #1/R&B #6/UK #1 1959).
From the wiki: “First composed in German by Kurt Weill with lyrics by Bertolt Brecht for their music drama Die Dreigroschenoper (known in English as The Threepenny Opera), ‘Mack the Knife’ had its original premiere in Berlin in 1928, titled ‘Die Morität von Mackie Messer’ (‘The Ballad of Mack the Knife’). The play opens with the moritat singer comparing ‘Mackie’ (Macheath) unfavorably with a shark, and then telling tales of his robberies, murders, rapes, and arson.
“‘Mack the Knife’ was a last-minute addition to the show, inserted just before its Berlin premiere, because Harald Paulsen, the actor who played Macheath, demanded that Brecht and Weill add a number to the score that would more effectively introduce his character.
First recorded by Vicki Sue Robinson (US #10 1976).
Also recorded by Laura Branigan (1990).
Other hit version by Gloria Estefan (US #13/UK #21 1994).
https://youtu.be/devNnEA0AdU
From the wiki: “”Turn the Beat Around” was written by brothers Gerald and Peter Jackson of the R&B outfit Touch of Class. Vicki Sue Robinson recorded her version on September 26, 1975 cutting her lead vocal in a single take after recording her own multi-tracked chorale vocals.
“Like the other cuts on Robinsons’s debut album Never Gonna Let You Go, ‘Turn the Beat Around’ was recorded at RCA Studios with producer Warren Schatz who recalls the basic master of the song was recorded ‘on a Friday after a very depressing week of rain [and] I hated [the track]! I listened to it in my office and I just couldn’t get it. It had been such a bad week that I just couldn’t hear anything with an open mind. Then David Todd, the head of disco promotion at RCA, came into my office and he went crazy over the track! He convinced me to finish it as soon as possible.’
First released by The Flying Burrito Brothers (1970).
Hit version by The Rolling Stones (recorded 1969 |released US #28 1971).
From the wiki: “‘Wild Horses’ was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards for the Rolling Stones’ 1971 album Sticky Fingers. Originally recorded over a three-day period at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Alabama during 2–4 December 1969, the public would not hear the results until almost 18 months later due to legal wranglings with the band’s former label, Atco, and manager, Allen Klein.
Written and first recorded by Van Morrison (UK #74/IRE #12 1989).
Hit version by Rod Stewart (US #5/UK #5 1993).
Also recorded by The Chieftains & Van Morrison (1996).
From the wiki: “‘Have I Told You Lately’ was written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and recorded for his 1989 album Avalon Sunset. Although it was originally written also as a prayer, and built on the same framework as Morrison’s ‘Someone Like You’, ‘Have I Told You Lately’ quickly became a romantic ballad often played at weddings. ‘Have I Told You Lately’ was listed as #261 on the ‘All Time 885 Greatest Songs’ compiled by Philadelphia radio station WXPN; in 2006, Van Morrison’s original recording was voted #6 on a list of the Top 10 ‘First Dance Wedding Songs’, based on a poll of 1,300 DJs in the UK. The song was awarded a Grammy in 1996, for Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals, for the recording produced by The Chieftains and Van Morrison.”
Written and originally recorded by Hot Chocolate (UK #7 1973).
Other hit version by Stories (US #1 1973).
Also recorded by Roy Ayers (1973).
From the wiki: “‘Brother Louie’ is a song about an interracial love affair, written and sung by Errol Brown and Tony Wilson of the group Hot Chocolate (‘You Sexy Thing’). It was a Top 10 hit on the UK Singles Chart for the band in 1973, produced by Mickie Most (The Animals, Herman’s Hermits, The Jeff Beck Group), and featured Alexis Korner with a spoken-word lyric.
“‘Brother Louie’ was covered by the American band Stories (featuring singer Ian Lloyd) about six months after Hot Chocolate’s UK hit. Another cover – an instrumental arrangement – was also released in 1973 by Roy Ayers on his album Virgo Red, playing vibes in place of vocals.”
Written and first recorded by Jules Shear (1983).
Also recorded (but unreleased) by The Cars (1983).
Hit version by Cyndi Lauper (US #5/UK #64/CAN #7/AUS #17 1983).
From the wiki: “‘All Through the Night’ was written as a mid-tempo folk-rock song by Jules Shear for his album Watch Dog. After The Cars recorded their own version, and then decided they did not want to use the song on any forthcoming album.
“Cyndi Lauper decided to cover ‘All Through the Night’ for her debut album, She’s So Unusual, (with Shears on background vocals). Although Lauper initially intended to do a straight cover of Shear’s version, she instead turned it into a Pop ballad instead. The song was Lauper’s only single released worldwide not accompanied by a music video. Nonetheless, it peaked Top 5 in the U.S. on the Billboard Hot 100.”
