Songs with Earlier Histories Than the Hit Version

Help support this site! Consider clicking an ad from time to time. Thanks!

 
« Go Back to Previous Page «  

Tagged: Gene Pitney

1960s, Country

Hello Mary Lou (Goodbye Heart)

First recorded by Johnny Duncan (1960).
Hit version by Rick Nelson (US #9/UK #2 1961).

From the wiki: “‘Hello Mary Lou’ was written by Gene Pitney (‘Pretty Flamingo‘) and Father Cayet Mangiaracina, first performed and recorded by Johnny Duncan in 1960, and later recorded by Rick Nelson in 1961. Duncan’s recording took place at Norman Petty Studio, in Clovis, NM – where Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison, Buddy Knox, Waylon Jennings and others had also recorded – with Petty producing.

“Nelson’s recording features an influential guitar solo by James Burton (who is often cited as an influence by later guitarists such as Queen’s Brian May), and appeared on the Rick is 21 album (1961) – the first album to credit his first name as ‘Rick’; previous albums were credited to ‘Ricky Nelson’ … as was the promotional single.”

Read more →

1960s, Pop

Pretty Flamingo

First recorded (as “Flamingo”) by Gene Pitney (1966).
Hit versions by Tommy Vann & the Echoes (US #125 1966), Manfred Mann (US #29/UK #1/CAN #2/AUS #3/NZ #1/IRE #1 1966).
Also performed by Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band (1975).

“‘Pretty Flamingo’ was written by American songwriter and producer Mark Barkan. His first major success as a writer was with ‘The Writing on the Wall’, a 1961 U.S. Top-5 hit for Adam Wade which he co-wrote with Sandy Baron and George Paxton (credited as George Eddy). Barkan had further success with Lesley Gore’s Top-5 hit ‘She’s a Fool’ (co-written with Ben Raleigh). He would later go on to write material for The Monkees, The Archies, and, perhaps most notoriously, The Banana Splits whose theme song — ‘The Tra La La Song (One Banana, Two Banana)’ — Barkan co-wrote with Ritchie Adams (‘Tossin’ and Turnin”, ‘After the Lovin”) and with whom he was the music director for the two seasons The Banana Splits Adventure Hour was televised.

“‘Pretty Flamingo’ describes a woman — whom ‘all of the guys call […] ‘Flamingo’, ’cause her hair glows like the sun and her eyes can light the sky’ — for whom the singer has fallen and his plans to win her affection. Barkan’s daughter said that it was based on a girl who lived above a parking lot in his neighborhood: Barkan and his friends used to call out to her.

Read more →