First released by The Valiants (1957).
Hit versions by Little Richard (US #10/R&B #4/UK #8 1958), The Swinging Blue Jeans (US #43/UK #11 1964).
Also recorded by Los Teen Tops (1959).
From the wiki: “‘Good Golly Miss Molly’ was written by John Marascalco and producer Robert ‘Bumps’ Blackwell. Although it was first recorded in 1956 (during two separate sessions in July and October 1956 at J&M Studios, New Orleans) by Little Richard, Blackwell – after leaving Specialty Records (Little Richard’s label) to manage Sam Cooke – produced another version, by The Valiants, that was rush-released to radio and stores in late 1957 only to be quickly eclipsed when Richard’s recording was finally, belatedly released in January 1958.
First commercial release by Sue Raney & The Nelson Riddle Orchestra (November 1957).
First performed by Barbara Cook & Robert Preston (December 1957).
Hit versions by Anita Bryant (US #30 1959), Peggy Lee (UK #30 1961).
Also recorded by Sonny Rollins (1958), The Beatles (1962 & 1963).
From the wiki: “‘Till There Was You’ was written by Meredith Willson for his 1957 musical play (and, later, movie) The Music Man, the original cast album for which was released in 1957. The first recording of the song to be commercially released came even before the original cast album release in January 1958. Promotional copies of a 45-rpm single were released on November 26, 1957 (before the Broadway premiere on December 19) featuring The Nelson Riddle Orchestra and 17-year-old vocalist Sue Raney.
“Jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins recorded an instrumental version of “Till There Was You” in 1958. Anita Bryant had the first chart success with the song, making the Billboard Top 40 in 1959. Peggy Lee charted UK Top-30 the same year in Great Britain in 1961 with her recording of “Till There Was You”.
“Paul McCartney, of The Beatles, was introduced to Peggy Lee’s music by his older cousin, Bett Robbins, and it would be the only Broadway song the group performed or would record. ‘Till There Was You’ became part of the Beatles’ repertoire in 1962 and was first recorded by them as part of their failed audition for Decca Records in January 1962. The George Martin-produced version, recorded in July 1963, would appear in the UK on With The Beatles, the group’s second album, in November 1963. ‘Till There Was You’ would also be the second of five songs The Beatles performed during their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, 1964.
First recorded by Buddy Holly (US #82/UK #30 1958).
Other hit versions by The England Sisters (UK #33 1960), Showaddywaddy (UK #7 1975), Nick Berry (UK #2 1992).
Also recorded by Herman’s Hermits (1965), The Hollies (1980).
From the wiki: “‘Heartbeat’ is a rockabilly song credited to Bob Montgomery and Norman Petty, and recorded originally by Buddy Holly in 1958. It was the last Buddy Holly single to be released during his lifetime. It charted low on the Billboard Hot 100 but has proven to be more popular in the UK, where Holly’s recording went Top-30. The England Sisters, also known as the Dale Sisters, recorded a cover in 1960 that peaked at #33 on the UK Singles chart.
“‘Heartbeat’ covers would subsequently reach the UK Top Ten twice: In 1975, for ’50s & ’60s revival band Showaddywaddy, and again in 1992 with the arrangement Nick Berry recorded as the theme to the Heartbeat TV series.
“Herman’s Hermits — who had originally been named The Heartbeats after the song — recorded the song in 1965. The Hollies, who had named themselves after Buddy Holly, made their only attempt at having a hit remake of a Buddy Holly song with a 1980 single release of ‘Heartbeat’ that failed to chart.”
Written and first recorded by Johnny Smith (1954).
Also recorded by Chet Atkins (1957).
Hit versions by The Ventures (US #2/R&B #13/UK #8 1960), The John Barry Seven (UK #11 1960), The Ventures (as “Walk, Don’t Run ’64” US #8 1964).
From the wiki: “‘Walk, Don’t Run’ is an instrumental composition written and first recorded by jazz guitarist Johnny Smith in 1954. In 1957, Chet Atkins recorded a version of ‘Walk, Don’t Run’ that appeared on his Hi-Fi in Focus album.
“It was the Atkins recording the Tacoma-based instrumental rock band The Ventures heard before releasing their own version of the tune as a Surf Rock single in spring 1960 on Dolton Records, which quickly became a hit.
“The Ventures’ version is believed to be one of the first ‘surf’ songs to make the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at #2. In the UK, the tune was covered by the John Barry Seven (before Barry began scoring movie music for the likes of James Bond, Born Free, and Midnight Cowboy) whose cover of the Ventures’ arrangement peaked at #11 on the UK Singles Chart.”
Written and first recorded by James “Wee Willie” Wayne (1951).
Also recorded by Professor Longhair (1951), Louis Jordan (1952), Holy Modal Rounders (1964).
Popular versions by Richard Hayes (US #15 1952), Dr. John (1972), The Clash (1980).
From The Originals: “It’s almost a miracle we actually know this is a James Wayne song, for he was locked away in a madhouse for arson. All the while his royalties went in someone else’s pockets, not to mention the shrewd and obscure label boss Bob Shad, who signed for as many of Wayne’s compositions he could lay hands on. Here’s poor James in his mental institution claiming authorship to anyone he bumps in to.
First recorded (as “My Boy Lollypop”) by Barbie Gaye (1956).
Hit version by Millie Small (US #2/UK #2/IRE #1 1964).
From the wiki: “‘My Boy Lollipop’ (originally written as ‘My Girl Lollypop’) was written in the mid-1950s by Robert Spencer of the doo-wop group The Cadillacs, and is usually credited to Spencer, Morris Levy, and Johnny Roberts. It was first recorded in New York in 1956 by Barbie Gaye. A cover version, recorded eight years later by Jamaican teenager Millie Small, with very similar rhythm, became one of the top-selling ska songs of all time.
First recorded by Robert Maxwell (1953).
Hit versions by Frank Chacksfield & His Orchestra (US #2/UK #9 1953), Vic Damone (US #10 1953), Roy Hamilton (R&B #5 1954), The Platters (US #56/AUS #59 1960), Righteous Brothers (US #5/UK #48 1965).
From the wiki: “‘Ebb Tide’ was written in 1953 by composer-harpist Robert Maxwell. (The song’s build-up is reminiscent of ocean waves coming in and out, to and from the shore; thus, ‘ebb tide’.) Playing the harp, Maxwell’s multi-tracked arrangement, still a novelty when released in March 1953, did not chart. Frank Chacksfield & His Orchestra released a more traditionally arranged instrumental version of ‘Ebb Tide’ in June 1953 which did ‘hit’, peaking at #2 in the U.S. and #9 in the U.K.
“Lyricist Carl Sigman would soon add verses to the melody. Vic Damone released the first vocal arrangement of ‘Ebb Tide’ in September 1953. Other charting vocal versions of ‘Ebb Tide’ were released by Roy Hamilton (1954), The Platters (1960), and the Righteous Brothers (1965). For the Righteous Brothers, this Top-5 hit would be their last recording produced by Phil Spector.”
First recorded by Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs & The Foggy Mountain Boys (C&W #21 1960).
Hit version by Ricky Skaggs (C&W #1 1982).
From the wiki: “‘Crying My Heart Out Over You’ was co-written by Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, and originally recorded in 1960 by Flatt & Scruggs, whose version peaked at #21. It was covered in 1982 by Ricky Skaggs, his third Country hit and the first of eleven #1 hits for him on the Country chart.”
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 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 The Royals (1952).
Hit version by The Pips (US #6/R&B #1 1961).
From the wiki: “‘Every Beat of My Heart’ is a rhythm and blues song by legendary band leader and disc-jockey Johnny Otis (‘Willie and the Hand Jive‘). It was first recorded in 1952 by a group Otis had discovered and groomed, the Royals (later to be known as Hank Ballard & the Midnighters).
“The Royals were first formed as the Four Falcons by guitarist and songwriter Alonzo Tucker in Detroit in 1952. In the group’s early years, various Four Falcons’ members included Jackie Wilson, Little Willie John, Freddie Pride, and Levi Stubbs, who all went on to become stars in their rights solo or with other groups after leaving the Royals.
Inspired by “Dreaming Blues” Roy Brown & His Mighty-Mighty Men (1950).
Recorded (as a demo) by Glenn Reeves (1955).
Hit version by Elvis Presley (US #1/C&W #1/UK #2 1956).
From the wiki: “‘Heartbreak Hotel’ was written in 1955 by Mae Boren Axton, a high school teacher with a background in musical promotion, and Jacksonville-based singer–songwriter Tommy Durden. The lyrics were based on a report in The Miami Herald about a man who had destroyed all his identity papers and jumped to his death from a hotel window, leaving a suicide note with the single line, ‘I walk a lonely street.’
“It has been alleged that the songwriting of ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ was not wholly original; that the rolling piano, and song’s basic chord structure, was copied note-for-note from Roy Brown’s 1950 R&B hit ‘Dreaming Blues’. Brown would also become known as the writer and original performer of B.B. King’s sole Top-40 hit, ‘The Thrill is Gone‘.
“Axton and Durden give different accounts of how their song was written: Durden’s account is that he had already written the song and performed it with his band the Swing Billys before he presented it to Axton; Axton’s account is that Durden had only penned a few lines of the song, and asked her to help him finish it.
Written and first recorded (as “Leavin’ It All Up to You”) by Don & Dewey (1957).
Hit versions by Dale & Grace (US #1/R&B #6 1963), Donny & Marie (US #4/C&W #17/UK #2 1974).
Also recorded by Linda Ronstadt (1970).
From the wiki: “‘I’m Leaving It All Up to You’ was written and first recorded by the Rock ‘n’ roll and Doo-wop duo Don & Dewey in 1957. Don & Dewey were Don ‘Sugarcane’ Harris and Dewey Terry, both of Pasadena, California. Both Don and Dewey played guitar, with Dewey often doubling on keyboards. When not playing guitar or bass, Don occasionally played the electric violin, a skill for which he subsequently became well known under the name of ”Sugarcane’ Harris’. ‘Wrecking Crew’ drummer Earl Palmer played frequently on their sessions.
“In 1970, Harris re-emerged from semi-retirement to a wider rock audience, playing violin on the Hot Rats solo album by Frank Zappa, with Captain Beefheart (vocals) on ‘Willie The Pimp’ and on the lengthy instrumental jam, ‘The Gumbo Variations’. Harris went on to play on many more solo Zappa, and Mothers of Invention, albums.
First recorded by Roy Hawkins (R&B #6 1951).
Other hit version by B.B. King (US #15/R&B #3 1969).
From the wiki: “‘The Thrill Is Gone’ was written by West Coast Blues musician Roy Hawkins and Rick Darnell in 1951. Hawkins’ recording of the song reached #6 in the Billboard R&B chart in 1951. In 1970, “The Thrill Is Gone” became a major hit for B.B. King.
“In the late 40s and early 50s, King was a disc jockey at radio station WDIA, Memphis, and it was there he first heard (and played) the Hawkins original. King decided to produce his own recording of ‘The Thrill is Gone’ in 1969, but was unhappy with the results until producer Bill Szymczyk called King late one night to suggest adding orchestral strings to the song’s arrangement. The song’s polished production and innovative use of strings marked a departure from both the original song (and previous Blues recordings, in general) and King’s earlier recordings.
Written by Junior Parker and first recorded by Little Junior’s Blue Flames (1953).
Hit version (as a B-side) by Elvis Presley (C&W #10 1955).
Also recorded by Junior Wells (1967), The Band (1973), Neil Young (1983).
From the wiki: “The original recording of ‘Mystery Train’ was written by Herman ‘Junior’ Parker and recorded by him (billed as Little Junior’s Blue Flames) at Sun Studios in 1953. And, of the many groundbreaking songs recorded by Elvis Presley during his storied career, ‘Mystery Train’ has come to be regarded key to understanding his unique place in the Rock and Roll canon, with Sam Phillips, as producer of both the Parker and Presley recordings, serving as mid-wife.
First recorded by Clyde McPhatter (US #19/R&B #6 1957).
Hit version by Tom Jones (US #5/MOR #1/CAN #1 1969).
From the wiki: “‘Without Love (There is Nothing)’ is a song written by Danny Small and originally recorded by Clyde McPhatter (‘A Lover’s Question’) in 1957. Tom Jones recorded his popular version in 1969, reaching the Top 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1970.”
First recorded by “Big Mama” Thorton (R&B #1 1953).
Also recorded by Jack Turner & His Granger County Gang (1953), Eddie Hazelwood (1953), Betsy Gay (1953), Tommy Duncan & the Miller Brothers (1953), Freddie Bell & The Bell Boys (1955).
Hit version by Elvis Presley (US #1/C&W #1/R&B #1 1956).
From the wiki: “Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller wrote ‘Hound Dog’ as a 12-bar Blues song. It was first recorded in Los Angeles by Willie Mae ‘Big Mama’ Thornton in August 1952, and became her only hit record. Credited with contributing to the evolution of R&B into Rock and Roll, Thornton’s recording of ‘Hound Dog’ is listed as one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll, and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in February 2013.
“In August 1952, R&B bandleader Johnny Otis invited 19-year-old songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller to his home to meet Blues singer Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton, a ‘foul-mouthed three-hundred pound R&B singer’. Leiber recalled: ‘We saw Big Mama and she knocked me cold. She looked like the biggest, baddest, saltiest chick you would ever see … I had to write a song for her that basically said, ‘Go fuck yourself.’ Leiber and Stoller wound up writing a Southern Blues lament, ‘the tale of a woman throwing a gigolo out of her house and her life.’
Written and first recorded by Chan Romero (AUS #3 1959).
Also recorded by Little Tony (1959), The Beatles (1963, released 1994).
Hit versions by The Swinging Blue Jeans (US #21/UK #5 1964), Mud (UK #8 1974), The Georgia Satellites (US #45/ROCK #13 1988).
From the wiki: “‘”Hippy Hippy Shake’ was written and recorded by 17-year old Chan Romero in 1959. That same year, it reached #3 in Australia. A cover version by Italian rocker Little Tony appeared in the same year and found moderate success in the UK and Italy.
First recorded by Sonny Dae & His Knights (1954).
Hit version by Bill Haley & His Comets (B-side US #36 1954 |A-side US #1/R&B #3/UK #1 1955).
From the wiki: “‘Rock Around the Clock’ was written (as ‘We’re Gonna Rock Around the Clock Tonight!’) in 1952 by Max Freedman and James Myers (the latter under the pseudonym ‘Jimmy De Knight’). Although first recorded by Italian-American band Sonny Dae & His Knights in March 1954, the more famous version by Bill Haley & His Comets is not, strictly speaking, a cover version. Co-writer Myers claimed the song had been written specifically for Haley but, for various reasons, Haley was unable to record it himself until April 1954.
“According to the Haley biographies Bill Haley by John Swenson and Rock Around the Clock by Jim Dawson, the song was first offered to Haley in the wake of his first national success ‘Crazy Man, Crazy’ in 1953. Haley and his Comets began performing the song on stage but Dave Miller, his producer, refused to allow Haley to record it for his Essex Records label. Haley himself claimed to have taken the sheet music into the recording studio at least twice, with Miller ripping up the music each time.
First recorded by Darrell Glenn & The Rhythm Riders (US #6/C&W #4 1953).
Other hit versions by The Orioles (US #11/R&B #1 1953), Rex Allen (US #8/C&W #4 1953), Ella Fitzgerald (US #15 1953), Art Lund (US #23 1953), June Valli (US #4 1953), Elvis Presley (recorded 1960 |US #3/MOR #1/UK #1 1965).
Also recorded (as “Selassie Is the Chapel”) by Bob Marley & The Wailers (1968).
From the wiki: “‘Crying in the Chapel’ was written by Artie Glenn for his son, Darrell, to sing. Darrell recorded it while still in high school in 1953, along with Artie’s band the Rhythm Riders, and the record went Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song went on to become one of the most-covered songs of 1953, with additional charted versions recorded by The Orioles (‘C.C. Rider‘), Rex Allen, Ella Fitzgerald, Art Lund, and June Valli. (The Orioles’ recording would be used two decades later in the soundtrack of American Graffiti.)
First recorded by Roy Hamilton (US #12/R&B #2 1958).
Also recorded by The Four Seasons (1964), The Graham Bond Organization (1965).
Other hit versions by Mel Tillis & Sherry Bryce (C&W #11 1974), Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen (US #56 1975), Isaac Hayes (US #18/Soul #11 1979).
From the wiki: “‘Don’t Let Go’ was written by Jesse Stone, and was first a hit for Roy Hamilton (‘Unchained Melody‘) in 1958 before covers by Mel Tillis, Commander Cody, and Isaac Hayes charted in the 1970s.
“One of the more interesting of many cover recordings done of ‘Don’t Let Go’ was produced by The Four Seasons in 1964; very much against their archetypical sound. The 1965 cover by The Graham Bond Organization (including bassist Jack Bruce and drummer Ginger Baker) was one of the first Rock tracks to feature the Mellotron.
“Stone was the leader of a Jazz band during the 1920s that included Coleman Hawkins. In 1936, with the assistance of Duke Ellington, Stone was booked to perform at New York City’s famed Cotton Club, and would later become a staff arranger/writer at the Apollo Theater. He would go on to join Atlantic Records as songwriter and producer, where he wrote ‘Shake, Rattle & Roll‘ under the pseudonym ‘Charles Calhoun’, first recorded by ‘Big’ Joe Turner.”
First recorded (as “In Other Words”) by Kaye Ballard (1954).
Hit versions by Eydie Gorme (US #20 1958), Joe Harnell (US #14 1962).
Also recorded by Peggy Lee (1960), Frank Sinatra (1964).
From the wiki: “‘Fly Me to the Moon’, originally titled ‘In Other Words’, was written in 1954 by Bart Howard and first recorded for a B-side by Kaye Ballard. In 1954, Bart Howard had already been pursuing a career in music for more than 20 years. He played piano to accompany cabaret singers but also wrote songs, with Cole Porter being his idol.
“In response to a publisher’s request for a simpler song, Bart Howard wrote a cabaret ballad in waltz time which he titled ‘In Other Words’. A publisher tried to make him change some lyrics from ‘fly me to the moon’ to ‘take me to the moon’ but Howard refused to do this. Many years later Howard commented that ‘… it took me 20 years to find out how to write a song in 20 minutes.’
“Kaye Ballard made the first commercial recording of ‘In Other Words’ in April 1954. Other versions of it would be recorded the next few years by other artists. The first chart appearance of ‘In Other Words’ was in 1958 when Eydie Gorme took the song into the Top 20, and it was nominated for a Grammy Award.
First recorded (as “The Pale Faced Indian”) by Marvin Rainwater (1959).
Hit versions by Don Fardon (US #20/UK #3 1968), The Raiders (US #1 1970), 999 (UK #51 1981).
Also recorded (as “National Reservation”) by Laibach (1994).
From the wiki: “‘Indian Reservation (The Lament of the Cherokee Reservation Indian)’ was written by John D. Loudermilk, and first recorded in 1959 by Marvin Rainwater. Released as ‘The Pale Faced Indian’, Rainwater’s release stayed unnoticed.
“The song refers to the forcible removal and relocation of Five Civilized Tribes, including the Cherokee people, from the southeastern states of Georgia, Florida, Mississippi and Alabama to the southern Indian Territory in present-day Oklahoma. The removal of these tribes throughout the 1830s is often referred to as the ‘Trail of Tears’. The removal of the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek and Seminole came on the heels of President Andrew Jackson’s key legislation, Indian Removal Act of 1830.
Written and first recorded (as “That’s All Right, Mama”) by Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup (1946).
Hit versions by Marty Robbins (C&W #7 1955), Elvis Presley (UK #3 2004).
From the wiki: “The song was written by Arthur ‘Big Boy’ Crudup, and originally recorded by him in Chicago in September 1946. Some of the lyrics are traditional blues verses first recorded by Blind Lemon Jefferson in 1926. It was less successful than some of Crudup’s previous recordings, but was rereleased under the title ‘That’s All Right, Mama’ and issued as RCA’s first Rhythm & Blues record on their new 45 rpm single format, on bright orange vinyl.
