Songs with Earlier Histories Than the Hit Version

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Tagged: Chris Kenner

1960s, R&B

Something You Got

Written and first recorded by Chris Kenner (1961).
Hit version by Alvin Robinson (US #54/R&B #6 1964).
Also recorded by Moody Blues (1965), Wilson Pickett (1966), Herman Hitson (1966), Bruce Springsteen (1974).

From the wiki: “‘Something You Got’ was written by New Orleans R&B singer and songwriter Chris Kenner (‘Land of 1000 Dances‘, ‘I Like It Like That‘) who released it in 1961 as a single, with ‘Come and See About Me’ on the B-side, and as an album track on the 1966 album Land of 1000 Dances. Covered later with some acclaim by Wilson Pickett (who also covered Kenner’s ‘Land of 1000 Dances’), ‘Something You Got’ charted only with the 1964 version recorded by Alvin Robinson.”

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1960s, R&B

I Like It Like That

First recorded by Chris Kenner (US #2/R&B #2 1961).
Also recorded by The Nashville Teens (B-side 1964).
Other hit version by The Dave Clark Five (US #7/CAN #3/AUS #12 1965).

From the wiki: “‘I Like It Like That’ was written by Chris Kenner (‘Land of 1000 Dances‘) and Allen Toussaint (‘Java‘, ‘Yes We Can Can‘), and was first recorded by Kenner in 1961.

“In 1964, The Nashville Teens recorded the song as a B-side to their hit single ‘Tobacco Road‘. ‘I Like It Like That’ was later covered by The Dave Clark Five in 1965, who scored a US Top-10 hit and their seventh gold single.

“The Bobbettes (‘Mr. Lee’) recorded an answer-song in 1961 to Kenner’s recording, titling it ‘I Don’t Like It Like That’.”

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1960s, Soul

Land of 1000 Dances

Written and first recorded by Chris Kenner (US #77 1962).
Also recorded by Danny & The Memories (1965).
Other hit versions by Cannibal & The Headhunters (US #30 1965), Wilson Pickett (US #6/R&B #1/UK #22 1966).

From the wiki: “Written and first recorded by Chris Kenner in 1962, ‘Land of 1000 Dances’ is famous for its ‘na na na na na’ hook added by Cannibal & The Headhunters in their 1965 version. (The ‘na na na na na’ hook happened by accident when Frankie ‘Cannibal’ Garcia, lead singer of Cannibal & The Headhunters, forgot the lyrics. The melody to that section of the song was also created spontaneously, as it is not on Kenner’s original recording.) The song’s best-known version was Wilson Pickett’s 1966 single release, from the album The Exciting Wilson Pickett, which became an R&B #1 and Billboard Top 10 hit, his highest-charting Pop song.

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