Songs with Earlier Histories Than the Hit Version

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Category: Country

1960s, Country

Seven Bridges Road

Written and originally recorded by Steve Young (1969).
Also recorded by Steve Young (1972), Ian Matthews (1973).
Hit version by Eagles (US #21 1980).

From the wiki: “Steve Young was inspired to eventually write ‘Seven Bridges Road’ during a sojourn in Montgomery, Alabama in the early 1960s: according to Young ‘a group of friends…showed me [a] road [that] led out of town…after you had crossed seven bridges you found yourself out in the country on a dirt road. Spanish moss hung in the trees and there were old farms with old fences and graveyards and churches and streams. A high bank dirt road with trees. It seemed like a Disney fantasy at times.’

“When Young approached a Hollywood-based music publisher in 1969 with ‘Seven Bridges Road’ he was advised the song ‘wasn’t commercial enough.’ and ‘Seven Bridges Road’ was not originally intended for inclusion on the Rock Salt & Nails album. However, in Young’s words: ‘One day we ran out of songs to record [for Rock Salt & Nails] in the studio … I started playing ‘Seven Bridges Road’. Producer Tony LiPuma responded with ‘You know I don’t want to hear original stuff.’ But, guitarist James Burton said: ‘Hey this song sounds good and it is ready, let’s put it down.’

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1980s, Country

Shame on the Moon

Written and first recorded by Rodney Crowell (1981).
Also recorded by Tanya Tucker (1982).
Hit version by Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band (US #2/C&W #15/CAN #8 1982).

From the wiki: “‘Shame on the Moon’ is the title of a song written by Rodney Crowell (‘Voila, An American Dream‘, ‘Ashes By Now‘), and covered by Tanya Tucker on her album Changes and, soon after, by Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band. It was released in December 1982 as the lead single from Seger’s album The Distance. (Glenn Frey joins Seger on background harmony vocals on the song.) The song spent four weeks at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached #15 on the Hot Country Singles chart in early 1983, marking Seger’s only Top 40 entry on the Country chart.”

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1970s, Country

Let Your Love Flow

First released by Gene Cotton (1975).
Hit version by The Bellamy Brothers (US #1/MOR #2/C&W #21/CAN #3/UK #7/GER #1/SWE #2 1976).

From the wiki: “‘Let Your Love Flow’ was written by Larry E. Williams, a former roadie for Neil Diamond, who first offered the song to Diamond who turned it down. Johnny Rivers also passed on the song.

“An early recording was attempted by producer Phil Gernhard with David Bellamy singing, using Diamond’s road band as session musicians, but the result was disappointing and the session was shelved. Pop-folk and Christian singer Gene Cotton would wind up being the first performer to release ‘Let Your Love Flow’, in October 1975, as the lead promotional single from Cotton’s album For All the Young Writers, but it failed to chart.

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1960s, Country

Little Green Apples

Originally recorded by Roger Miller (US #39/C&W #6/UK #19 1968).
Other hit versions by Patti Page (US #96/MOR #11 1968), O.C. Smith (US #2/R&B #2 1968).

From the wiki: “Bobby Russell (‘Honey’) wrote ‘Little Green Apples’ for Roger Miller to record and Miller made the first recording of the song on January 24, 1968 in a session at the Columbia Recording Studio, Nashville. According to Buzz Cason, Russell wrote both the ‘Little Green Apples’ and ‘Honey’ as ‘an experiment in composing – anticipating a potential market for true-to-life story songs … with more ‘meat’ in the lyrics [than was] standard’ for current hits.

“Released as the lead single from A Tender Look at Love, ‘Little Green Apples”‘afforded Miller his final Top Ten C&W hit at #6 and also his final Top 40 crossover reaching #39 on the Billboard Hot 100.

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1970s, Country

Rhinestone Cowboy

First recorded by Larry Weiss (MOR #24 1974).
Other hit version by Glen Campbell (US #1/C&W #1/UK #4/CAN #1 1975).

From the wiki: “”Rhinestone Cowboy” is a song written by Larry Weiss and most famously recorded by singer Glen Campbell. Growing up in Queens, New York City, Weiss started writing songs in his teens, and continued to do so while working in his family’s textile sales business, before working as a freelance songwriter for music publishers Wes Farrell (who also published Gerry Goffin and Carole King). Weiss’ first break came in 1963 when Nat ‘King’ Cole recorded ‘Mr. Wishing Well’, co-written with Lockie Edwards Jr.. Weiss also wrote for R&B acts including Baby Washington, Chuck Jackson, The Shirelles, and American Breed (‘Bend Me, Shape Me‘).

“Weiss wrote and first recorded ‘Rhinestone Cowboy’ in 1974 (sounding very much like Neil Diamond), where it appeared on his album Black and Blue Suite. It did not, however, have much of a commercial impact as a single, charting only on the Adult Contemporary music chart. In late 1974, however, Glen Campbell did hear the song on the radio and, during a tour of Australia, sat down to learn it.

Weiss remembers,

“‘The chorus came from the 1944 movie Buffalo Bill. In the last scene, he rides out on a white horse, in a white outfit, with long white beard and hair, and he thanks everybody for giving him such a great life. There’s another scene where he’s at his lowest point, sat on a stuffed horse in a penny arcade holding his hat in the air. I now realize that it was about trials and tribulations. In a way, I wrote the song about that without even knowing it.

‘I was so disappointed when it wasn’t a hit that I was ready to quit. But Glen told me that when the song was presented to him, he’d already heard it on the car radio and had to pull over to the side of the road. He said: ‘People told me I was mad to like it, but it just blew me away.’ The song had been turned down by everybody from Elvis Presley to Neil Diamond, but it worked better with Glen singing it. If Neil or a pop singer had sung it, it wouldn’t have meant as much.'”

– ‘How We Made Rhinestone Cowboy‘, The Guardian, May 13, 2013

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1980s, Country

Take Me Down

Written and originally recorded by Exile (1980).
Also recorded by Johnny Bristol (1981).
Hit version by Alabama (US #18/C&W #1/CAN #1 1983).

From the wiki: “Written by Exile band members Mark Gray and J.P. Pennington (‘Kiss You All Over’, ‘The Closer You Get‘), the song was originally recorded by Exile in the early 1980s. The Exile version was released the song as a single, but it failed to reach the Billboard Hot 100.

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1970s, Country

Always on My Mind

First recorded by Brenda Lee (C&W #45/CAN #40 1972).
Hit versions by Elvis Presley (C&W #16/UK #9 1972), John Wesley Ryles (C&W #20 1979), Willie Nelson (US #5/C&W #1 1982), Pet Shop Boys (US #4/UK #1/CAN #1 1988).

From the wiki: “‘Always on My Mind’ is an American country music song by Johnny Christopher, Mark James (‘Suspicious Minds‘, ‘Hooked On a Feeling‘) and Wayne Carson, recorded first by Brenda Lee in 1972.

“Wayne Carson says that he wrote the song in 10 minutes at his home in Springfield at his kitchen table and completed the song in studio with the assistance of Johnny Christopher and Mark James. Brenda Lee would be the first singer to record and release a version of ‘Always On My Mind’. Her single, however, would stall at #45 on the US Country Singles chart.

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1960s, Country

Ring of Fire

First recorded (as “Love’s Ring of Fire”) by Anita Carter (1963).
Hit versions by Johnny Cash (US #17/C&W #1/AUS #12 1963), Eric Burdon & the Animals (UK #35/AUS #10/GER #10/NETH #4 1969).

From the wiki: “Co-written by June Carter Cash (wife of Johnny Cash) and Merle Kilgore, ‘Ring of Fire’ was originally recorded by June’s sister, Anita Carter, on her Mercury Records album Anita Carter Sings Folk Songs Old and New.

“Billboard gave Carter’s recording, upon its release in January 1963, a very favorable review: ‘A most unusual tune is sold in winning fashion by the thrush who shows her own individual and exciting style here, supported by blue grass guitar work.’ Alas, although it rated enough regional radio airplay to ‘bubble under’, her single did not chart on either the Hot 100 or Hot Country Singles charts.

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1950s, Country, Pop

Let It Be Me

First recorded (in English) by Jill Corey (US #57 1957).
Other hit versions by The Everly Brothers (US #7 1960), Betty Everett & Jerry Butler (US #5/R&B #1 1964), The Sweet Inspirations (R&B #13 1967), Glen Campbell & Bobbie Gentry (US #36/C&W #14/MOR #7 1969) and Willie Nelson (US #40/C&W #2/MOR #11 1982).

From the wiki: “[O]riginally published in 1955 as ‘Je t’appartiens,’ the score was written and first recorded in French by Gilbert Bécaud (‘September Morn’). The English-language version used lyrics by Mann Curtis and was first performed in 1957 by Jill Corey in the television series Climax!. Corey’s version, with orchestration by Jimmy Carroll, was released as a single and was moderately successful.

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1960s, Country

Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love to Town

First recorded by Johnny Darrell (C&W #9/UK #2 1967).
Also recorded by The Statler Brothers (1967).
Hit version by Kenny Rogers & The First Edition (US #6/C&W #39/UK #1 1969).
See also: “Billy, I’ve Got to Go to Town” by Geraldine Stevens (1969).

From the wiki: “‘Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love to Town’ is a song written by Mel Tillis about a paralyzed veteran of a ‘crazy Asian war’ (given the time of its release, widely assumed but never explicitly stated to be the Vietnam War). ‘Ruby’ was originally recorded in 1967 by Johnny Darrell, who scored a #9 country hit with it that year. The song was made world-famous in 1969 by Kenny Rogers & The First Edition.

“In 1969, after Kenny Rogers and the First Edition’s success with the hits ‘Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)‘ and ‘But You Know I Love You’, Rogers wanted to take his group more into a country music direction. They recorded their version of ‘Ruby’ (with Rogers singing the lead) in one take. The record was a major hit for them. It made #1 in the UK, staying in the UK Top 20 for 15 weeks. In the United States it reached #6 on the Hot 100 and #39 on the country chart. Worldwide, the single sold more than 7 million copies.

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1970s, Country

Delta Dawn

Co-written and first recorded by Alex Harvey (1971).
Also recorded by Dianne Davidson (1972), Bette Midler (1973).
Hit versions by Tanya Tucker (C&W #6/CAN #3 1972), Helen Reddy (US #1/MOR #1/CAN #1/AUS #1 1973).

From the wiki: “‘Delta Dawn’ was written by written by former child rockabilly star Larry Collins and songwriter Alex Harvey (not the Scottish musician of The Incredible Alex Harvey Band fame). The first recording of ‘Delta Dawn’ was made by Harvey for his eponymous album released in November 1971. Released as a single by Capitol Records, Harvey’s ‘Delta Dawn’ did not chart. Although Harvey opened for Helen Reddy – his Capitol label mate – at the Troubadour in January 1972, Reddy made no apparent connection with any of Harvey’s compositions at that time.

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1960s, Country

Me and Bobby McGee

First recorded by Roger Miller (C&W #12 1969).
Other hit versions by Gordon Lightfoot (US #13/CAN #1 1970), Janis Joplin (US #1 1971). Jerry Lee Lewis (US #40/MOR #39/CAN #50 1971).
Also recorded by Kenny Rogers & the First Edition (1969), Kris Kristofferson (1970), The Statler Brothers (1970).

From the wiki: “Roger Miller was the first artist to record and to have a hit with ‘Me and Bobby McGee’, written by Kris Kristofferson (‘Help Me Make Through the Night‘, ‘Lovin’ Her Was Easier (That Anything I’ll Ever Do Again‘) and Fred Foster, peaking with it at #12 on the US Country chart in 1969.

“Kenny Rogers & the First Edition then covered the song (with Rogers on lead vocals), releasing it in on their album Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love To Town in 1969. Gordon Lightfoot’s 1970 recording hit #13 on the US pop chart and #1 country in his native Canada in 1970, and was also a Top-10 hit in South Africa in 1971.

“Just a few days before her death in October 1970, Janis Joplin covered the song for inclusion on her forthcoming Pearl album. Kristofferson had previously sung the song for Joplin, and singer Bob Neuwirth had taught it to her. Kristofferson, however, did not know Joplin had recorded ‘Me and Bobby McGee’ until after her death – the first time he heard it was the day after she died. Joplin’s version topped the charts in 1971 to become her only #1 single and, in 2004, her recording of ‘Me and Bobby McGee’ was ranked #148 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Kristofferson would record an arrangement of his own song for his 1970 debut album, Kristofferson.

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1970s, Country

Help Me Make It Through the Night

Written and first recorded by Kris Kristofferson (1970).
Hit versions by Sammi Smith (US #8/C&W #1 1971), Joe Simon (US #69/R&B #13 1971), Gladys Knight & The Pips (US #33/R&B #13/UK #11 1972).
Also recorded by Elvis Presley (1971), Joan Baez (1971), Jerry Lee Lewis (1971), Dottie West (1971), Bryan Ferry (1974).

From the wiki: “Kris Kristofferson wrote ‘Help Me Make It’ while sweeping floors and emptying ashtrays at Columbia Records studios in Nashville, and said that he got the inspiration for the song from an Esquire magazine interview with Frank Sinatra. When asked what he believed in, Frank replied, ‘Booze, broads, or a Bible…whatever helps me make it through the night.’

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1930s, Blues, Country

Mule Skinner Blues (aka Blue Yodel #8)

written and first recorded (as “Blue Yodel #8”) by Jimmie Rodgers (1930).
Hit versions by Bill Monroe (1940), The Fendermen (US #5/UK #32/CND #2 1960).
Also recorded by Woody Guthrie (1944), Odetta (1956).

From the wiki: “‘Mule Skinner Blues’ is a classic country song written by Jimmie Rodgers. The song was first recorded by Rodgers in 1930 and has been recorded by many artists since then, acquiring the de facto title ‘Mule Skinner Blues’ although Rodgers had originally titled it ‘Blue Yodel #8’.

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1970s, Country, Soul

(You’re the) Best Thing That Ever Happened

First recorded by Danny Thomas (1973).
First single release by Ray Price (C&W #1 1973).
Also recorded by Dean Martin (1973).
Hit versions by Gladys Knight & The Pips (US #3/R&B #1/UK #7 February 1974), The Persuaders (US #85/R&B #29 March 1974).

From the wiki: “‘You’re the Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me’ — also known simply as ‘Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me’ — is a song written by Jim Weatherly, and enjoyed two runs of popularity, each by an artist in a different genre. The song’s first run of popularity, as ‘You’re the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me,’ came in 1973. That’s when Country singer Ray Price took the song to #1 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart on October 6, 1973.

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1960s, Country, Folk

Gentle On My Mind

Written and first recorded by John Hartford (1967).
Also recorded Tompall & the Glaser Brothers (1967).
Hit version by Glen Campbell (US #62/C&W #30 1967 |US #39/C&W #44/MOR #8 1968).

From the wiki: “‘Gentle On My Mind’ won two 1968 Grammy Awards. Hartford himself won the award for Best Folk Performance. The other award, Best Country & Western Solo Vocal Performance (Male), went to Country music singer Glen Campbell for his hit version of Hartford’s song.

“Hartford reported that he was inspired to write the song after seeing the film Doctor Zhivago when his own memories took over, and that it took about fifteen minutes for him to write down the music and lyrics, and he would record it in-studio on February 2, 1967 and release it on the album Earthwords & Music. Hartford would later re-record ‘Gentle On My Mind’ in 1977 for inclusion on the album All in the Name of Love.

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1960s, Country

A Boy Named Sue

Written and first recorded by Shel Silverstein (1969).
Hit version by Johnny Cash (US #2/MOR #1/CW #1/CAN #3/UK #4 1969).

From the wiki: “‘A Boy Named Sue’ is a poem by Shel Silverstein that has been made popular by Johnny Cash. The core story of the song was inspired by humorist Jean Shepherd, a close friend of Silverstein, who was often taunted as a child because of his feminine-sounding name.

“Cash was at the height of his popularity when he recorded the song live at California’s San Quentin State Prison at a concert on February 24, 1969. The song became Cash’s biggest hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and his only top ten single there, spending three weeks at #2 in 1969, held out of the top spot by’ Honky Tonk Women’ by The Rolling Stones. The track also topped the Billboard Hot Country Songs and Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks charts that same year.

“Cash wrote that he had just received the song and only read over it a couple of times before including it in the San Quentin concert to try it out – he did not know the words and on the filmed recording he can be seen regularly referring to a piece of paper. Cash was surprised at how well the song went over with the audience. The rough, spontaneous performance with sparse accompaniment was included in the Johnny Cash At San Quentin album, ultimately becoming one of Cash’s biggest hits.

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1950s, Country

This Ole House

Written and first recorded by Stuart Hamblen (1954).
Hit versions by Rosemary Clooney (US #1/UK #1 1954), Billie Anthony (UK #4 1954). Shakin’ Stevens (UK #1 1981).

From the wiki: “Stuart Hamblen was supposedly out on a hunting expedition when he and fellow hunter, actor John Wayne, came across a tumbledown hut in the mountains, many miles from civilization. They went into the hut and there, lying amongst the rubbish and rubble of a crumbling building, was the body of a dead man. The man’s dog was still alive and, although starving, guarding his dead master’s home.

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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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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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1960s, Country, Pop

Jackson

First recorded by Billy Edd Wheeler (1963).
Also recorded bv The Kingston Trio (1963).
Hit versions by Johnny Cash & June Carter (C&W #2 1967), Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood (US #14 1967).

From the wiki: “‘Jackson’ is a song written in 1963 by Billy Edd Wheeler and Jerry Leiber, and was first recorded by Wheeler. It is best known from two 1967 releases: a pop hit single by Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood and a country hit single by Johnny Cash and June Carter, the latter duo for whom ‘Jackson’ became a signature-song.

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1970s, Country

Drift Away

First recorded by John Henry Kurtz (1972).
Hit versions by Dobie Gray (US #5/R&B #42 1973), Narvel Felts (C&W #8 1973), Uncle Cracker & Dobie Gray (US #9/MOR #1 2003).
Also recorded by The Rolling Stones (unreleased 1974).

From the wiki: “‘Drift Away’ was written by Mentor Williams (brother of songwriter Paul Williams) as a lament of the difficulties being a Nashville songwriter. John Henry Kurtz was the first to record ‘Drift Away’, for his own album, Reunion (1972), on which he was backed by some of L.A.’s finest: Skunk Baxter, Kenny Loggins, Michael Omartian, Jim Gordon, and others. Kurtz was a man of many talents: Broadway, movie and TV actor; Civil War collectibles buff (some of which were filmed for Ken Burns’ PBS-TV series, Civil War); voice-over artist (NBC Nightly News, and countless commercials); musician.

“In 1973 the song became Dobie Gray’s biggest hit, peaking at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was the final pop hit for Decca Records in the United States. In the early 1960s Gray had moved to Los Angeles, intending to pursue an acting career while also singing to make money. Born Lawrence Darrow Brown, he recorded for several local labels under the names Leonard Ainsworth, Larry Curtis, and Larry Dennis, before Sonny Bono directed him toward the small independent Stripe Records. They suggested that he record under the name ‘Dobie Gray’, an allusion to the then-popular sitcom The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis

“Gray’s first taste of success came in 1963 when his seventh single ‘Look At Me’, on the Cor-Dak label and recorded with Wrecking Crew bassist Carol Kaye, reached #91 on the Billboard Hot 100. Greater success came in early 1965 when his original recording of ‘The ‘In’ Crowd‘ (recorded later that year as an instrumental by Ramsey Lewis). Gray’s record reached #11 on the US R&B chart, and #25 in the UK.

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1980s, Country

The Closer You Get

Written and first recorded by Exile (1980).
Also recorded by Rita Coolidge (US #103/CAN #16 1981).
Hit versions by Don King (C&W #27 1981), Alabama (US #38/C&W #1 1983).

From the wiki: “‘The Closer You Get’ was written in 1980 by J.P. Pennington and Mark Gray (‘Kiss You All Over’, ‘Take Me Down‘), members of Exile. It was first recorded by Exile (who failed to gain much attention with their original arrangement) in 1980. Singer Don King also recorded it. His cover reached #27 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart in October 1981. In addition, Rita Coolidge recorded the song for her 1981 album, Heartbreak Radio, and released her version as a single. Coolidge’s single “bubbled under” the Hot 100 but charted Top-20 in Canada.

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1980s, Country

Tell Me Why

Written and first recorded by Karla Bonoff (1988).
Hit version by Wynonna Judd (US #77/C&W #3/CAN #3 1993).

From the wiki: “Early in her career, Karla Bonoff sang background vocals for Linda Ronstadt and Wendy Waldman before releasing her own debut album in 1977, titled Karla Bonoff. In 1982, Bonoff reached the Top 40 with her song ‘Personally’.

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