Songs with Earlier Histories Than the Hit Version

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Tagged: Coasters

Let’s Go Get Stoned

First recorded by The Coasters (1965).
Hit versions by Manfred Mann (UK #1 EP 1965), Ray Charles (US #31/R&B #1 1966).
Also recorded by Ronnie Milsap (1965), Joe Cocker (1969).

From the wiki: “‘Let’s Go Get Stoned’ was written by Nickolas Ashford, Valerie Simpson, and Josephine Armstead, and was first recorded by The Coasters in May 1965. It is notable for being one of the first successful compositions by Ashford & Simpson (‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’, ‘California Soul‘, ‘Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing’). Although a non-charter for The Coasters, ‘Let’s Go Get Stoned’ was most memorable because it became a 1966 #1 R&B and Pop #31 hit for Ray Charles, recorded shortly after Charles was released from rehab after a sixteen-year heroin addiction.

“The year prior, in 1965, the UK group Manfred Mann recorded the song for their #1 British extended-play No Living Without Loving, which topped the UK EP charts in December 1965. Joe Cocker covered the song several times live, most notably at the Woodstock Festival in 1969 and on the Mad Dogs & Englishmen live album released 1970.”

Girls! Girls! Girls!

First recorded by The Coasters (US #96 1961).
Hit versions by Elvis Presley (1962), The Fourmost (UK #33 1968).

From the wiki: “Changing popular tastes and a couple of line-up changes contributed to a lack of hits in the 1960s for The Coasters (‘Yakety Yak’, ‘Poison Ivy’). In 1961, the group barely made it into the Billboard Hot 100 with the Lieber-Stoller-composed ‘Girls! Girls! Girls!’ (not be confused with the Motley Crue hit).

“The song found wider popular when repurposed as the lead song and title for the 1962 Elvis Presley movie Girls! Girls! Girls!, but was not issued as a single. In 1968, the group The Fourmost released the song and their version did chart on the UK Singles Chart.”

Besame Mucho

First recorded by Emilio Tuero (1941).
Hit versions by Jimmy Dorsey & His Orchestra (US #1 1944), Lucho Gatica (1953), The Coasters (US #70 1960), The Beatles (1962|1969).

From the wiki: “‘Besame Mucho’ (‘Kiss Me Much’) was written in 1940 by Mexican songwriter Consuelo Velázquez. According to Velázquez herself, she wrote this song even though she had not yet ever been kissed at the time; she’d heard kissing was considered a sin. ‘Besame Mucho’ has since become of the most famous boleros, and was recognized in 1999 as the most sung and recorded Mexican song in the world. Emilio Tuero was the first to record the song, but the Lucho Gatica recording in 1953 made the song world-famous.