Songs with Earlier Histories Than the Hit Version

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1291 total songs ... and counting!

1920s, Blues

Corrina, Corrina (Corrine, Corrina)

First recorded (as “Corrine, Corrina”) by Bo Carter (Chatmon) & Charlie McCoy (1928).
Hit versions by Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys (1940), Ray Peterson (US #9/UK #41 1960), The Rising Sons (1966).
Also recorded by Elston Gunn (Bob Dylan) (1962).

From the wiki: “‘Corrina, Corrina’ may have traditional roots; however, early versions vary musically and lyrically. One of the earliest is the commercial sheet music song ‘Has Anybody Seen My Corrine?’ published by Roger Graham in 1918. ‘Corrine, Corrina’ was first recorded by Bo Carter in December 1928.

“Just prior to World War II, Bob Wills adapted the song to a Western swing dance song. Following his recording with The Texas Playboys in April 1940, the song (recorded as “Corrine, Corrina”) entered the standard repertoire of all Western swing bands, influencing the adoption of ‘Corrina, Corrina’ by Cajun bands and later by individual country artists.

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1950s, R&B

Devil or Angel

Originally recorded by The Clovers (R&B #3 1955).
Hit version by Bobby Vee (US #6/R&B #22/CAN #2 1960).

From the wiki: “‘Devil or Angel’ is a song written by Blanche Carter and originally recorded by the Clovers in 1955, where it went to #3 on the U.S. R&B Best Sellers chart. It was re-recorded by John Bailey after he left the Clovers and formed another Clovers group for Lana Records in 1965.

“The song was covered by Bobby Vee in 1960, with veteran session drummer Earl Palmer among the studio musicians. It peaked at #6 in the U.S. charts and #2 in Canada, and was also a crossover R&B hit in the U.S. It was Vee’s first Top 10 hit.”

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1970s, Pop

I Just Fall in Love Again

First recorded by The Carpenters (1977).
Also recorded by Dusty Springfield (1978).
Hit version by Anne Murray (US #12/C&W #1/UK #58/CAN #1 1979).

From the wiki: “‘I Just Fall in Love Again’ was written by Larry Herbstritt, with co-writers Steve Dorff, Harry Lloyd, and Gloria Sklerov. It was first recorded by the Carpenters and later covered by Dusty Springfield, whose arrangement inspired Anne Murray to record her own cover.

“The Carpenters’ arrangement was included on the duo’s 1977 album Passage. On the Carpenters’ official web site, Richard Carpenter notes that he felt the song was perfect for his sister Karen’s voice and felt their version had hit-single potential. However, A&M Records decided not to release it as a promotional single because it was considered too long for Top 40 radio stations to play at the time and could not be abridged.

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1960s, Rock

Bend Me, Shape Me

Originally recorded by The Outsiders (1966).
Also recorded by The Models (1966).
Hit versions by The American Breed (US #5/UK #24 1968), Amen Corner (UK #3 1968).

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1960s, R&B

It’s All Over Now

Written and first recorded by The Valentinos (US #94/R&B #21 1964).
Other hit version by The Rolling Stones (US #26/UK #1/IRE #2/NZ #2 1964).

From the wiki: “‘It’s All Over Now’ was written by Bobby Womack and Shirley Womack. It was first released by The Valentinos featuring Bobby Womack. The Valentinos version entered the Billboard Hot 100 on June 27, 1964, where it stayed on the chart for two weeks, peaking at #94.

“New York disc jockey Murray the K gave The Stones a copy of The Valentinos’ version and suggested they record it. The Stones recorded this during their first US tour at Chess Studios in Chicago, at a session that also produced ‘Time Is On My Side‘. ‘It’s All Over Now’ became the group’s first UK #1 hit, in July 1964. It was the band’s third single released in America, and stayed in the Billboard Hot 100 for ten weeks, peaking at #26.

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1970s, Country

I Will Always Love You

Written and originally recorded by Dolly Parton (C&W #1 1973 |C&W #1 1982).
Also recorded by Linda Ronstadt (1975).
Other hit version by Whitney Houston (US #1/MOR #1/R&B #1/UK #1/AUS #1 1992).

From the wiki: “During an interview, Parton’s manager Danny Nozel said that ‘one thing we found out from American Idol is that most people don’t know that Dolly Parton wrote [the track]’.

“Parton wrote the song, which was recorded on June 13, 1973, for her one-time partner and mentor Porter Wagoner, from whom she was professionally splitting at the time. ‘I Will Always Love You’ received positive comments from critics and attained commercial success, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart two times. Parton later re-recorded the song in 1982, when it was included on the soundtrack of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.

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1930s, Folk

Goodnight, Irene

First released by Lead Belly (1933).
Hit version by The Weavers (US #1 1950).

From the wiki: “Lead Belly was singing a version of the song from as early as 1908, which he claimed to have learned from his uncles Terell and Bob. An 1886 song by Gussie L. Davis has several lyrical and structural similarities to the latter song, however no information on its melody has survived. Some evidence suggests the 1886 song was itself based on an even earlier song which has not survived. Regardless of where he first heard it, by the 1930s Lead Belly had made the song his own, modifying the rhythm and rewriting most of the verses.

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1970s, Rock

Hello, It’s Me

First recorded by The Nazz (US #66 1968).
Hit version by Todd Rundgren (US #5 1973).

From the wiki: “‘Hello, It’s Me’ was the first original song written by Todd Rundgren. It was first recorded in 1968 by Rundgren’s band The Nazz and was included on the group’s self-titled debut album.

“Rundgren had been an avid listener of music but it was only when he put The Nazz together at the age of 19 that he realized that, as the band’s front man, he’d better start penning some original material. Although first released as the B-side of The Nazz’s debut single, ‘Open My Eyes’, ‘Hello, It’s Me’ was picked up in preference to the A-side by Boston radio station WMEX, where it rose to #1. It was picked up by other stations, but not enough to fare well nationally, so ‘Hello, It’s Me’ peaked at #66 in 1968 on the U.S. charts.

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1970s, Country

The Gambler

Written and first recorded by Don Schlitz (C&W #65 1978).
Also recorded by Bobby Bare (1978), Johnny Cash (1978).
Other hit version by Kenny Rogers (US #16/C&W #1 1979 |UK #81 1985 |UK #22 2007).

From the wiki: “‘The Gambler’ was written by Don Schlitz who first recorded it in 1978, and charted at #65 on the Billboard Country chart with it. Kenny Rogers released his cover version in November 1978 as the title track from his album The Gambler and would go on to win the Grammy award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance in 1980. ‘The Gambler’ was one of five consecutive songs by Rogers to hit #1 on the Billboard country music charts.

“This song had a huge impact on Schlitz’s career. He was able to quit his day job (actually a night job – he worked the graveyard shift) and become a full-time songwriter. Some of his other songs include ‘He Thinks He’ll Keep Her’ by Mary Chapin Carpenter, and ‘On the Other Hand’ by Randy Travis. Schlitz wrote the song in 1976 when he was 23 years old. It took two years of shopping the song around Nashville before Bobby Bare recorded it on his album Bare at the urging of Shel Silverstein. Bare‘s version didn’t catch on and was never released as a single, but other musicians took notice and recorded the song in 1978, including Johnny Cash, who put it on his album Gone Girl.

“Before he recorded it himself, Kenny Rogers offered ‘The Gambler’ to Willie Nelson, who turned it down. Nelson recalls, ‘I was doing a song every night called ‘Red Headed Stranger’ which has 100 verses in it. I just didn’t want to do another long song, so [Kenny] said, ‘Okay, I will record it myself,’ so he did.’

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1950s, Pop

See You in September

Originally recorded by The Tempos (US #23 1959).
Also recorded by The Quotations (1962), The Chiffons (1963), Teddy Robin & the Playboys (1967).
Other hit versions by The Symbols (UK #19 1966), The Happenings (US #3 1966), The Mike Curb Congregation (MOR #15 1972).

From the wiki: “‘See You in September’ was first recorded by the Pittsburgh vocal trio The Tempos (whose members included a pre-‘Rose Are Red’ Bobby Vinton). This first version peaked at #23 in the summer of 1959. The most popular version of ‘See You in September’ was the version by The Happenings in 1966, when it reached #3.

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1950s, R&B

Two Hearts

First recorded by The Charms (1954).
Hit version (recorded as “Two Hearts, Two Kisses”) by Pat Boone (1955).

“Two Hearts” was Pat Boone’s first single release and the first of several “covers” he recorded of R&B songs. Boone’s recording peaked at #16, and was followed by his first #1 hit: “Ain’t That a Shame” (another R&B cover).

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1950s, Folk

Freight Train

First popular version recorded by The Chas McDevitt Skiffle Group (US #40/UK #5 1957).
Other popular versions by Rusty Draper (US #3 1957), Elizabeth Cotten, writer (1958), Peter, Paul & Mary (1963).

From the wiki: “‘Freight Train’ is an American folk song written by Elizabeth Cotten in the early 20th century, and popularized during the American folk revival and British skiffle period of the 1950s and 1960s. By Cotten’s own account in the 1985 BBC series Down Home, she composed ‘Freight Train’ as a teenager (sometime between 1906 and 1912), inspired by the sound of the trains rolling in on the tracks near her home in North Carolina.

“Cotten was a one-time nanny for folk singer Peggy Seeger, who took this song with her to England where it became popular in folk music circles. British songwriters Paul James and Fred Williams subsequently misappropriated it as their own composition and copyrighted it. Under their credit, it was then recorded by British skiffle singer Chas McDevitt, who recorded the song in December, 1956. The record became a hit in the UK in 1957 at the height of the skiffle boom, reaching #5 in the UK Singles Chart.

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1960s, Pop

I’m Into Something Good

First recorded by Earl-Jean (US #38 1964).
Hit version by Herman’s Hermits (US #13/UK #1 1964).

From the wiki: “‘I’m Into Something Good’ was originally recorded by The Cookies member Earl-Jean McCrea in 1964 and produced and arranged by the song’s composers, Gerry Goffin and Carole King (‘Oh No Not My Baby‘, ‘Up on the Roof‘, ‘(You Make Me Feel Like a) Natural Woman‘). The original recording reached #38 on the US pop singles chart.

“Soon thereafter, Herman’s Hermits recorded the song as their debut single, reaching #1 in the UK Singles Chart on 14 September 1964 and staying there for two weeks. The song peaked at #13 in the US later that year.

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1960s, Pop

Mrs. Brown You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter

First recorded by Tom Courtenay (1963).
Hit version by Herman’s Hermits (US #1/SWE #4 1965).

From the wiki: “‘Mrs. Brown’ was originally sung by actor Sir Tom Courtenay in The Lads, a British TV play of 1963 and released that year as a single by Decca Records.

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1950s, R&B

Sea Cruise

Written and first recorded by Huey “Piano” Smith & His Clowns (1959).
Hit version by Frankie Ford (US #14/R&B #11 1959).

From the wiki: “Ace Record’s biggest act in 1958 was Huey ‘Piano’ Smith and the Clowns, who had scored with ‘Rockin’ Pneumonia And the Boogie Woogie Flu’ in 1957 and ‘Don’t You Just Know It’ in 1958. After releasing ‘Don’t You Know Yockomo’ as a third single in early 1959, Huey and his Clowns had cut two more sides, “Sea Cruise” and ‘Loberta’ that Ace Records owner Johnny Vincent considered to have hit potential. But, he felt the recordings needed some ‘improvement’.

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1950s, Rock 'n Roll

See You Later, Alligator

Written and originally recorded (as “Later Alligator”) by Bobby Charles (1955).
Inspired by “Later For You Baby” by Guitar Slim (1954).
Also recorded by Roy Hall (1955).
Hit version by Bill Haley & His Comets (US #6/R&B #7/UK #7 1956), Dr. Feelgood (UK #93 1986).

From the wiki: “Originally titled ‘Later Alligator’, ‘See You Later Alligator’ was written by Louisiana songwriter Robert Charles Guidry and was first recorded by him in 1955 under his professional name ‘Bobby Charles’.

“Guidry, a Cajun musician, adopted a New Orleans-influenced blues style to the song, intending it to be recorded by fellow NOLA musician Fats Domino. (Guidry also wrote ‘Walking to New Orleans’, which was recorded by Domino.) The melody for ‘Alligator’ was borrowed from bluesman Guitar Slim’s ‘Later for You Baby’ that had been recorded the previous year in 1954.

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1970s, Soul

Lady Marmalade

First recorded by Eleventh Hour (1974).
Hit versions by LaBelle (US #1/R&B #1/UK #17/CAN #1/ITA #8/NETH #1 1974); All Saints (UK #1/SCOT #2 1998); Christina Aguilera, Lil’ Kim, Mya, & Pink (US #1/R&B #1/UK #1/CAN #17/AUS #1/NZ #1/GER #1 2001).

From the wiki: “‘Lady Marmalade’ is a song written by Bob Crewe (‘Silhouettes‘, ‘Silence is Golden‘, ‘The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore‘, ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off You’) and Kenny Nolan (‘My Eyes Adored You’, ‘I Like Dreamin”), inspired by Crewe’s first-hand observations of New Orleans and made famous for its sexually suggestive chorus of ‘Voulez-vous coucher avec moi (ce soir)?’ (‘Do you want to go to bed with me (tonight)?’).

“After it was first recorded as a demo by The Eleventh Hour, a group made up of studio musicians, fronted by co-writer Nolan on vocals, ‘Lady Marmalade’ was first released in 1974 as a track on the Eleventh Hour’s Greatest Hits LP which did not chart. Meanwhile, co-writer Crewe showed the song to Allen Toussaint in New Orleans; Toussaint then decided to record the song with Labelle, whose label (Epic Records) had hired him to produce their label debut, Nightbirds.

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1960s, Pop

Up, Up and Away

First recorded by The Sunshine Company (1967).
Hit versions by The 5th Dimension (US #7/MOR #9/CAN #1/AUS #1 1967), Johnny Mann Singers (UK #6 1967).

From the liner notes to The Best of the Sunshine Company:

“The Sunshine Company’s very name summons the spirit of the mini-genre of 1960s pop-rock that, long after its heyday, was named Sunshine Pop. So does their music, with the requisite exquisite multi-part male-female harmonies, buoyant optimism, and luxuriant late-1960s L.A. studio production … a brief career that whisked them through the orbits of the Carpenters, the 5th Dimension, Jackson Browne, the Jefferson Airplane, Mary McCaslin, and John Davidson, ending at the even unlikelier destination of a pre-stardom Gregg Allman.

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1960s, Soul

I’m Gonna Make You Love Me

First recorded by Dee Dee Warwick (US #88/R&B #13 1966).
Also recorded by Jerry Butler (1967), Jay & the Techniques (1968).
Hit versions by Madeline Bell (US #26/R&B #32 1968), Diana Ross & The Supremes with The Temptations (US #2/R&B #2/UK #3 1968).

From the wiki: “Written by Philly Soul songwriters Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff (‘If You Don’t Know Me By Now’, ‘Love Train’, ‘Now That We Found Love‘), and producer Jerry Ross (‘Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie‘, ‘Sunny‘), ‘I’m Gonna Make You Love Me’ was originally a Top-20 R&B hit for Dee Dee Warwick in 1966. It was released as the follow-up single to her Top-10 hit ‘I Want To Be With You’. Co-writer Ross produced the track while Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson provided background vocals. Warwick’s recording reached #13 R&B and crossed over to the Billboard Top 100 in December 1966.

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1960s, Rock

I Wanna Be Your Man

Written and first recorded by The Beatles (Sept-Oct 1963).
Hit version first released by The Rolling Stones (UK #12 Nov 1963).

From The Beatles’ Bible: “Accounts of its genesis vary. Paul McCartney recalled that ‘I Wanna Be Your Man’ was written for [Ringo] Starr and later offered to the Stones. McCartney recounted how he and Lennon were passed by a taxi containing [Mick] Jagger and [Keith] Richards while walking down London’s Charing Cross Road. ‘So they shouted from the taxi and we yelled, ‘Hey, hey, give us a lift, give us a lift,’ and we bummed a lift off them. So there were the four of us sitting in a taxi and I think Mick said, ‘Hey, we’re recording. Got any songs?’ And we said, ‘Aaaah, yes, sure, we got one. How about Ringo’s song? You could do it as a single.”

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1970s, Pop

Can’t Smile Without You

First recorded by David Martin (1975).
First released by The Carpenters (1976).
Also recorded by Engelbert Humperdinck (1976).
Hit version by Barry Manilow (US #3/MOR #1 1978).

From the wiki: “‘Can’t Smile Without You’ was written by David Martin, Christian Arnold and Geoff Morrow, and was first recorded by Martin in 1975. The Carpenters covered the song on their 1976 album A Kind of Hush, and it was featured as the B-side of their hit ‘Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft’ the following year. Engelbert Humperdinck also recorded the song in 1976, using the same lyrics as the original Carpenters version, on his After the Lovin’ album.

“‘Can’t Smile Without You’ was the first single to be released from Barry Manilow’s 1978 album Even Now, reaching the #1 spot on Billboard’s MOR chart and the #3 spot on the Billboard Hot 100.”

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1960s, Soul

That’s the Way Love Is

Originally recorded by The Isley Brothers (US #125 1967).
Hit version by Marvin Gaye (US #7/R&B #2 1969).

From the wiki: “Co-writer Norman Whitfield produced both recording sessions for Motown, taking his up-tempo Isley Brothers arrangement and turning it into a slowed-down psychedelic Soul opus for Marvin Gaye.”

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1960s, R&B

Do You Love Me

Originally recorded by The Contours (US #3/R&B #1 1962).
Hit versions by Brian Poole & The Tremeloes (UK #1 1963), The Dave Clark Five (US #11/UK #30 1964).
Also recorded by The Hollies (1964).

From the wiki: “Berry Gordy wrote ‘Do You Love Me’ with the intent that The Temptations, who had no Top 40 hits to their name yet, would record it. However, when Gordy wanted to locate the group and record the song, they were nowhere to be found (the Temptations had not been made aware of Gordy’s intentions, and had departed Motown’s recording studio that day for a local Detroit gospel music showcase).

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1970s, Pop

Yellow River

First recorded by The Tremeloes (1970).
Hit versions by Christie, writer (US #23/UK #1/IRE #1/AUS #16/FIN #1/NOR #1/GER #3 1970), The Compton Brothers (C&W #49 1972).
Also recorded by Elton John (1970), R.E.M. (2003).
Also recorded (as “Tuulensuojaan”) by Danny (1970), (as “Fat Karlsson”) by Singing Guitars (1971), Mziuri Ensemble (1973).

From the wiki: “Written by Tremeloes band leader Jeff Christie, the song was first recorded by the group with the intention of releasing it as a single early in 1970. However, after the success of the Tremeloes then-most recent single, ‘Call Me Number One’, and after considering ‘Yellow River’ too pop-orientated for their future direction, the Tremeloes decided instead to follow-up with another of their own compositions, ‘By The Way’, which met only with very modest Top 40 success. Producer Mike Smith took the group vocals off the recording (leaving behind only the instrumental backing track) and added those of Christie, the songwriter, and releasing the song under the name ‘Christie’, his sole UK chart-topper as a solo artist.

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