. . . . . .Versus . . . . . . ©2001JCMarion
One of the most famous "battle" of the versions is certainly the competition over "Little Darlin'" by the Gladiolas on Excello, with the original, and the cover by the Diamonds for Mercury. This pairing was covered in great measure in a previous issue (#21). Another well known battle was The Jayhawks "Stranded In The Jungle" covered by The Cadets which also was previously discussed (#12). This time we will discuss other famous versions of the same tune that have been the object of conjecture and opinion for many years.
The first one was the classic R & B tune "Hearts of Stone" which
was originally done by an L.A. group called The Jewels for the small independent
label R & B ( # 1301). As the tune started to gather steam on the West Coast,
Otis Williams & The Charms cut their own version for the Syd Nathan Cincinnati
based King / Federal / DeLuxe combine on DeLuxe (# 6062). Their version began
to get great airplay in the Midwest cities of Chicago, Kansas City, and the
home base in Cincinnati. The Charms also got good play on the East Coast, but
not in New York where Alan Freed stuck with the original and other area d.j.'s
followed suit. Personally I have always felt that this was no contest, that
The Jewels were far superior in their unique sound and version of the tune which
features a heavy insistent back beat, a stomping sax break, and a wild and almost
out of control feel. However, many of course did not agree as The Charms version
far outsold the original and appears in many more collections of vintage R &
B songs.
A sincerely felt love ballad was the battleground again as a lesser known group
on a small label from the West Coast recorded an original that was soon covered
by an Eastern group on an established label. The Colts were an unknown quartet
who recorded a great song called "Adorable" which was released on
Mambo #112 (which was soon renamed Vita and kept the release number 112). The
group produced a smooth pop based sound and the record began strong in both
Los Angeles and San Francisco areas. This record soon caught the ear of the
powers that be for Atlantic Records, the R & B giant based in New York.
They felt the song would be a good vehicle for their established group The Drifters,
now without their former lead singer Clyde MacPhatter. The Drifters version
was soon released on Atlantic #1078 and immediately took off in sales and airplay.
Both versions of the song are good performances but the Drifters release shows
all the earmarks of the superior production facilities and talents from Atlantic
Records. Predictably, the version by The Drifters soon took over the airwaves
and became a good seller for the group and today very few remember the original
take by The Colts.
Clyde MacPhatter recently featured with The Drifters and now a successful solo
artist and also did a couple of well received duets with Ruth Brown. Looking
for material for a recording session in early 1957, the folks at Atlantic Records
were high on a recent release by a Philadelphia vocal group called Lee Andrews
& The Hearts. This group had recorded a few tunes on the Rainbow label that
went nowhere, but once they had recorded for noted Philly labels Gotham and
Grand, they were the toast of the city. Grand #157 was a song called "Long
And Lonely Nights" and featured the unique sound of the group to full advantage.
They used an all encompassing sound of Andrews lead and four part background
harmony almost as one voice. Instead of a heavy pronounced backbeat, many of
the group's ballads featured a soft shuffle rhythm which was a throwback to
the sound of the late forties-early fifties that was perfected by The Orioles.
This sound gave the Hearts an advantage of being accepted by a lot of pop music
stations that ordinarily would shy away from the harder edged R & B groups
of the day. As the Hearts version of the song began to be played on the East
Coast, Clyde went into the Atlantic studio and cut his own version of the tune,
an impassioned plea of anguish about a lost love. Clyde McPhatter, as always,
gave a superb reading of the song and the release on Atlantic #2657 began to
get airplay. Clyde had recently covered a Paul Perryman record ("Just To
Hold My Hand") and this cover did even better. Neither version made the
national pop charts but were given their shot on local radio. In New York it
seemed a 50-50 split was the result, while in the Philly-Baltimore-D.C. area,
the version by Lee Andrews & The Hearts was the more popular. Chess Records
even took over national distribution of the record for the group and this gave
their side an edge in the Midwest. Both versions of the song are interesting
and result in some great listening.
Then there is the (some say) strange case of the 1958 dramatic ballad "You
Cheated". The song is a powerful musical indictment of an unfaithful soulmate
and I first heard it in a version by The Slades which was released on a local
Texas label Domino #500, its first release. Reportedly it was selling well in
the Houston and New Orleans area and was quickly picked up for national distribution
by Allied Record Distributors. Almost at that very time it was covered by a
group called The Shields for the Tender label based in Los Angeles on #513.
Their version was quickly picked up by Randy Woods Dot label and now the battle
was on for national supremacy. It was no contest as Dot Records covered the
country and The Shields version was the bigger seller. They were the ones who
appeared with Dick Clark at the Hollywood Bowl, and went on to make many national
in person shows. The Slades were soon relegated to the mostly forgotten list
of R & B performers of the fifties. The strangeness of this contest comes
from the fact that some people continue to claim that The Slades and The Shields
were one and the same ! There is a story of disatisfaction with the small Domino
label and a L.A. recut after a secret contract signing, and a payoff by Dot
Records and other such rumor and innuendo. I personally don't believe such stories,
but they are the stuff of which R & B legends are made.
Two further examples differ in that a number of years passed between the release
of the original with the cover, but in these cases the public's perception has
been altered by the success of the cover version. The first example is that
of one of the most intense and atmospheric songs ever recorded in this field
- "The Wind" by The Diablos which was released by Detroit's Fortune
label in mid 1954 on #511. The force of Nolan Strong's lead singing, the feel
and sound of the background harmony, the dramatic recitation in the middle,
all had the effect of producing an instant classic. For years this song (along
with "Gloria") was the litmus test of all new aspiring vocal groups
in the country. Six years later at the dawn of a new decade, a New York group
The Jesters did their take on "The Wind" for Winley #242. The group
had some success with "So Strange" and "Please Let Me Love You"
in the late 50s so they were not unknowns. Their version of the song hit a responsive
note with listeners in the New York and Philadelphia areas, and although it
was not anywhere a national hit it did cause Fortune Records to hurredly re-issue
the original by The Diablos. In the late 60s and early 70s, The Jesters were
mainstays on the oldies circuit and "The Wind" became their signature
tune. Today more than forty years after the cover version was released, radio
stations with an oldies format are always being requested to play the record.
Very few have ever heard or heard of the Diablos original which is too bad,
not to disparage The Jesters, but to give credit to the originators of the song.
A similar situation exists with recorded versions of the song "That's My
Desire", a tune that made a star out of Frankie Laine in the late forties.
In 1957 The Channels recorded a devastating version of the song in their unique
triple lead-solo bridge (used so effectively on their huge hit "The Closer
You Are") on Gone 5012. The record did well in the New York and Philadelphia
areas and added to the popularity of the group. Three years later Dion &
The Belmonts recorded their version for the Laurie label on #3044. The Belmonts,
a White vocal group from the Bronx already had a number of national hits since
1957. The put another pop standard on the flip side called "Where Or When"
and the record went on to become a big hit during the year of 1960. "Where"
with its catchy sax intro and shuffle beat got as high as number three on the
national pop charts and was a million seller. This popularity spilled over for
their version of "That's My Desire" in which they incorporate The
Channels style of three part harmony on the main chorus and Dion's solo vocal
on the bridge. It was certainly a creditable effort on the tune, so much so
that it has displaced the original version by Earl Lewis & The Channels
in the minds of most listeners so much so that they are surprised to find out
The Belmonts did not do the original version of the song. Ditto for Dion's (with
the DelSatins) "Ruby Baby" from 1963 supplanting The Drifters original
from 1956, and again The Belmonts (without Dion) and their 1961 recording of
"Tell Me Why" originally done by The Rob-Roys with Norman Fox on Backbeat
in 1957.
These are a few examples of competing versions of the same song by vocal groups,
both in cover versions and later re-makes and how they affected the very history
of the music. There are other similar instances of this happening, but these
are most of the major efforts within the R & B and vocal group frame work.
So it is left to the listener to pick their favorite but at the same time remember
the effort of the originators of the song and not let them be tossed onto the
scrapheap of musical history.