Songs with Earlier Histories Than the Hit Version

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Category: Rock ‘n Roll

1960s, Rock 'n Roll

Do Wah Diddy Diddy

First recorded (as “Do-Wah-Diddy”) by The Exciters (US #78/R&B #47 1963).
Other hit versions by Manfred Mann (US#1/UK #1 1964), 2 Live Crew (R&B #62 1987), The Blue Melons (UK #70 1996), DJ Otzi (UK #9 2001).

From the wiki: “‘Do Wah Diddy Diddy’ was written by Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich, and first recorded by The Exciters, in 1963. The Exciters were formed from an all-girl group, The Masterettes, before adding a male singer and renaming themselves The Exciters after auditioning for producers Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. Their first hit record, arranged by George ‘Teacho’ Wiltshire and produced by Leiber and Stoller for United Artists Records, was ‘Tell Him’, which reached #4 on the U.S. Top-40 chart in early 1963. (The song had previously been recorded unsuccessfully, as ‘Tell Her’, by Gil Hamilton later known as Johnny Thunder.) According to Jason Ankeny at AllMusic, the Exciters ‘signified a sea change in the presentation and perception of femininity in popular music, paving the way for such tough, sexy acts as the Shangri-Las and the Ronettes.’

“Trivia: Dusty Springfield was on a stop-over in New York City en route to Nashville to make a country music album with the Springfields in 1962, when she heard the Exciters’ ‘Tell Him’ playing while taking a late-night walk by the Colony Record Store on Broadway. The song helped Springfield decide to embark on a solo career with a Pop/Soul direction.

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1960s, Rock 'n Roll

California Sun

First recorded by Joe Jones (US #89 1961).
Hit version by The Rivieras (US #5 1964).

From the wiki: “‘California Sun’, is a song credited to Henry Glover and Morris Levy. Originally recorded by the 35-year-old New Orleans-born singer-songwriter Joe Jones, and released by Roulette Records in the winter of 1961, it peaked at #89 on the charts. The most successful version, the Rivieras’ cover, recorded in 1964, reached #5 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart.”

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1960s, Rock 'n Roll

I Call Your Name

First recorded by Billy J. Kramer & The Dakotas (UK B-side #1 1963).
Hit album version by The Beatles (1964).

From the wiki: “John Lennon wrote the song prior to the formation of The Beatles. In 1963, he gave the song to Billy J. Kramer of The Dakotas, another Liverpool band signed to Parlophone by George Martin. Later, Lennon was reportedly dissatisfied with the Dakotas’ arrangement of his song as well as its position as a B-side (to the UK #1 ‘Bad to Me’, also written by Lennon-McCartney), so The Beatles recorded their own version, releasing it in the US on The Beatles’ Second Album and in the UK on the EP Long Tall Sally. The Beatles’ recording features George Harrison playing a Rickenbacker 360/12 guitar, giving to the world for the first time the distinctive sound of the famous guitar. ‘I Call Your Name’ was to have been included in the movie soundtrack to A Hard Day’s Night but was rejected in favor of ‘You Can’t Do That’.”

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1950s, Rock 'n Roll

Do You Want to Dance

Written and originally recorded by Bobby Freeman (US #5/R&B #2 1958).
Other hit versions by The Shadows (UK #2/NETH #1 1962), Del Shannon (US #43 1964), The Beach Boys (US #12 1965), Bette Midler (US #17 1972).

From the wiki: “‘Do You Want to Dance’ is a song written by Bobby Freeman and recorded by him in 1958. Cliff Richard and The Shadows’ version of the song reached #2 in the United Kingdom in 1962, despite being a B-side. It reached #8 in the United States when released by the Beach Boys in 1965 as ‘Do You Wanna Dance?’, and a 1972 cover by Bette Midler (‘Do You Want to Dance?’) reached #17.

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1950s, Rock 'n Roll

The Twist

Written and first recorded by Hank Ballard & the Midnighters (early 1958, released 1993)
Based on “Is Your Love For Real” by The Midnighters (1957).
First released by Hank Ballard & the Midnighters (B-side US #28/R&B #16 November 1958 |A-side re-release US #28/R&B #6 1960).
Other hit version by Chubby Checker (US #1/R&B #2/UK #44/AUS #20 1960 |US #1/R&B #4/UK #14/AUS #3 1962).

From the wiki: “Songs about doing ‘the twist’ date back to nineteenth-century minstrelsy, including ‘Grape Vine Twist’ from around 1844. In 1938 Jelly Roll Morton, in ‘Winin’ Boy Blues’, sang, ‘Mama, mama, look at sis, she’s out on the levee doing the double twist’ – a reference to both sex and dancing in those days.

“In 1957, the Midnighters’ Hank Ballard and Cal Green had already had written a song together called ‘Is Your Love for Real’, which they released on the Federal label with no apparent chart success. So, they used ‘Is Your Love for Real’ as the template for a new song by simply putting new words to the older melody and retitling it ‘The Twist’. (‘The Twist’ would, in turn, serve as the template for the Midnighters’ first Top-10 pop hit, ‘Finger Poppin’ Time’ [#7, 1962].)

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1960s, Rock 'n Roll

Twist and Shout

First recorded (as “Shake It Up, Babe”) by The Top Notes (1961).
Hit versions by The Isley Brothers (US #17/R&B #2 1962), The Beatles (US #2/UK #1 1963).

From the wiki: “In 1961, a year after Phil Spector became a staff producer at Atlantic Records, he was asked to produce a single by an up-and-coming Philadelphia vocal group, the Top Notes (sometimes named ‘Topnotes’): ‘Shake It Up, Babe.’ This was before Spector had perfected his ‘Wall of Sound’ technique, and the recording lacked all of the energy the Top Notes exhibited in its live performances. Also, rather ironically, even though ‘twist’ was in the title, Spector chose to arrange the song in a pseudo-Bossa nova style, it being the dance fashion of the day.

“Songwriter Bert Russell felt Spector had ruined the song, and went out to show Spector how the song should be done. When the Isley Brothers decided to record the song in 1962, Russell opted to produce, and thus demonstrate to Spector, what he had intended to be the ‘sound’ of the record.

“The resulting recording captured the verve of an Isley Brothers live performance, and became the trio’s first record to reach a Top 20 position in the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart (peaking at #2 on the R&B chart).

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1950s, Rock 'n Roll

Rave On

Co-written and originally recorded by Sonny West (Feb 1958).
Hit version by Buddy Holly (US #37/UK #5 1958).

From the wiki: “‘Rave On’ is a 1958 song written by Sonny West, Bill Tilghman and Norman Petty, first recorded by Sonny West and released in February 1958. The hit version was recorded later that same year by Buddy Holly, and was one of his six songs to chart in 1958.”

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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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1950s, Rock 'n Roll

The Girl Can’t Help It

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First recorded by Little Richard (R&B #7/UK #9 1956).
Also covered by The Animals (1964), The Everly Brothers (1965), The Flamin’ Groovies (1969), Led Zeppelin/The Nobs (1970), Mick Ronson (1975), Darts (as “Daddy Cool/The Girl Can’t Help It” UK #6 1977), Bonnie Raitt (as “The Boy Can’t Help It” (1979), Babes in Toyland (2001).

From the wiki: “‘The Girl Can’t Help It’ is the title song to the film The Girl Can’t Help It, composed by songwriter Bobby Troup (‘Route 66’, ‘Girl Talk’, ‘The Meaning of the Blues’). The recording was released in December 1956 and peaked at #49 on the Billboard Top 100 singles chart (also UK #9 and US R&B #7 ), and is included in the Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Originally, Fats Domino was lined up to record the track, which was not written to be a Rock song. The movie, The Girl Can’t Help It, was originally intended as a vehicle for the American sex symbol Jayne Mansfield, with a satirical subplot involving teenagers and rock ‘n’ roll music. The unintended result has been called the ‘most potent’ celebration of Rock music ever captured on film. The original music score included the title song performed by Little Richard. Reportedly, the producers had wanted Elvis for ‘The Girl Can’t Help It’, but Elvis’s manager Tom Parker demanded too much money.

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1960s, Rock 'n Roll

The Crying Game

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Originally recorded by Dave Berry (UK #5 1964).
Other hit versions by Brenda Lee (US #87 1965), Boy George (US #15/UK #22/CAN #1 1992).

From the wiki: “‘The Crying Game’ was first released by UK singer Dave Berry in July 1964. Session guitarist Big Jim Sullivan played lead guitar on this song, and Jimmy Page supported. Berry’s single peaked at #5 in July 1964, his highest-charting UK single to date. But, his original arrangement gained greater international interest in 1992, when it (along with a cover by Boy George) was used as the theme song for the film The Crying Game.

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1960s, Rock 'n Roll

Got My Mind Set on You

Originally recorded (as “I’ve Got My Mind Set On You”) by James Ray (1962).
Hit version by George Harrison (US #1/UK #2/AUS #1 1988).

From the wiki: “‘I’ve Got My Mind Set on You’ was written by Rudy Clark and originally recorded by James Ray in 1962. Standing just 5′ tall, Ray first recorded as Little Jimmy Ray. He recorded ‘Make Her Mine’ in 1959, but it was unsuccessful and by 1961 Ray was destitute and living on a rooftop, though still performing in clubs.

“Songwriter Rudy Clark befriended him, and persuaded Gerry Granahan of Caprice Records to sign him. Using the name James Ray, his first recording was of Clark’s song, ‘If You Gotta Make a Fool of Somebody’. The record was a hit on both the Pop and R&B charts. The single was issued in the UK in 1962 as well, and the song was performed by The Beatles before being discovered by Freddie and the Dreamers, who took their cover of it into the UK Top 5 the year after.

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1950s, Rock 'n Roll

Louie Louie

Written and first recorded by Richard Berry & The Pharoahs (1955).
Inspired by “El Loco Cha Cha” (Ricky Rillera & The Rhythm Rockers, ca. 1954).
Also recorded by Rockin Robin Roberts & The Wailers (1961), Paul Revere & The Raiders (US #103 1963).
Hit version by The Kingsmen (US #2 1963).

From the wiki: “By some accounts ‘Louie Louie’ is the world’s most recorded rock song with over 1,600 versions and counting (with many more amateur versions appearing regularly on YouTube and elsewhere). Richard Berry was inspired to write the song in 1955 after listening to and performing the song ‘El Loco Cha Cha’ with Ricky Rillera & The Rhythm Rockers. [Note: While the title of the song is often rendered with a comma (‘Louie, Louie’), in 1988 Berry told Esquire magazine that the correct title of the song was ‘Louie Louie’, with no comma.]

“Berry released his version in April 1957, originally as a B-side, with his backing band The Pharaohs. It became a regional hit on the West Coast, particularly in San Francisco. When the group toured the Pacific Northwest, other local R&B bands began to play the song, increasing its popularity. The track was then re-released as an A-side. However, the single never charted on Billboard’s national R&B or Pop music charts even though Berry’s label reported that the single had sold 40,000 copies. After a series of unsuccessful follow-ups, Berry sold his portion of publishing and songwriting rights for $750 to the head of Flip Records in 1959.

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