Songs with Earlier Histories Than the Hit Version

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Tagged: Crazy Horse

1970s, Country

I Don’t Want to Talk About It

First recorded by Crazy Horse (1972).
Hit versions by Rod Stewart (US #46/UK #1 1977), Everything But The Girl (UK #3 1988), Rod Stewart (rerecording MOR #2 1989).

From the wiki: “‘I Don’t Want to Talk About It’ was written by Danny Whitten, and first recorded and released by Whitten’s band (and Neil Young’s backup group), Crazy Horse, on their 1971 eponymous album.

“In 1975, Rod Stewart recorded the song at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Sheffield, Alabama, for his album Atlantic Crossing. Released as a promotional single in 1977, Stewart’s arrangement topped the UK Singles chart, although peaking at only #46 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 1988, the UK duo Everything but the Girl released their cover version, from the Idlewild album, as a single which peaked in the UK at #3 but did not chart in the US.

“Stewart recorded a new arrangement of ‘I Don’t Want to Talk About It’ in 1989, for the album Storyteller – The Complete Anthology: 1964–1990. This arrangement did not chart on the Hot 100 but did peak at #2 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.”

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1970s, Country

Love is a Rose

Written and first recorded by Neil Young (1974, released 1977).
Inspired by “Dance Dance Dance” Neil Young (1971, released 2007).
“Dance Dance Dance” also recorded by Crazy Horse (1971), The New Seekers (US #84 1972).
Hit version by Linda Ronstadt (US #63/C&W #5 1975).

From the wiki: “‘Love Is a Rose’ was written by Neil Young in 1974 for the unreleased album Homegrown. It was later released in 1977 on his compilation Decade album. The melody for ‘Love Is a Rose’ was taken from yet another previously unreleased Neil Young song ‘Dance Dance Dance’, written in 1971, which finally saw release in 2007 on the Live at Massey Hall album. Young’s longtime backing band Crazy Horse also recorded ‘Dance Dance Dance’ in 1971 on their album Crazy Horse, and The New Seekers released ‘Dance Dance Dance’ as a single in 1972, a version that peaked at #84 on the Billboard Hot 100.

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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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