Cover Songs

Move in a Little Closer, Baby – Randy’s Rarities

randydafoe24 Comments

“Move in a Little Closer, Baby” released in 1968 by the UK band Harmony Grass it reached #25 on the UK Singles Chart in 1969. To my knowledge the song failed to chart in the US or elsewhere. It was written by a couple of American songwriters, the lyrics were by Arnold Capitanelli who wrote over 400 songs, and the music by Robert O’Connor. The group broke up in 1970.

It’s in the Sunshine Pop subgenre that sort of peaked around 1970, and it was written very much in the style of a Mamas and Papas song. The very successful Steve Barri was Cass Elliot’s producer and he worked with similar artists like The Grass Roots, The Turtles, and Tommy Roe’s “Dizzy” turned out to be a huge hit.

Cass Elliot (as Mama Cass) released a single in the US in February of 1969 that peaked at #58 on the Hot 100, #55 in Canada and #34 in Australia. Cass had said she was unaware of the Harmony Grass version when she recorded it. I believe this to be quite likely as it was not uncommon for artists to have no knowledge of other versions of a song they came across. Often they find a song via their Producer or a Publisher and they did not list other versions on the sheet music/manuscripts. As noted, the Harmony Grass song did not chart in North America. These days you can just google it.

Elliot’s UK release in March of 1969 did not chart and the original’s brief appearance had already vanished there as well. I don’t recall hearing this version on the radio and even though it charted better, I somehow feel it’s heard less than the original that you can catch on the SiriusXM 60s channel, and no doubt your favorite oldies station has played it. It’s not a bad little tune really but not one for being covered.

According to Secondhandsongs.com it only has two English vocal covers, one of them by a Swedish DJ. Also, one in “French” and another in “Canadian French” (yes there is a difference in dialect) both from 1969 and then the one instrumental in 1970 is the last documented cover of the song. So not an unknown song but being a bit familiar I guess I am surprised it does not have more versions. So it’s a rarity, right? You’ll let me know.

I think Cass Elliot was one of the most gifted vocalists of the 60s and early 70s, and there’s a post coming at some point in the future to talk more about her.

I was going to end the post but after poking around on YouTube I found this cover of “Move in a Little Closer, Baby” by the UK/Australian group The New Seekers. It has not been documented by Secondhandsongs.com and I can’t confirm the year of recording or release. However, I did find a reference that it charted in Australia in 1972. It seems it only appears on a compilation of The New Seekers songs, supposedly recorded from 1975 to 1985.

The New Seekers group was formed by Keith Potger after his old group, The Seekers disbanded in 1969. Just another of my tangents here but speaking of Sunshine Pop, you may know The New Seekers’ 1971 international smash hit “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony)” which was a cover of The Hillside Singers original, written for and used in the famous “hilltop” Coca-Cola commercial. A lot of hills going on and there’s a long story attached to that song, for another day perhaps.

We can up the total to three English vocal covers, and seven in total so maybe this takes it out of the rarities category and into the barn-burner class. Again, you’ll let me know.

24 thoughts on “Move in a Little Closer, Baby – Randy’s Rarities”

  3. How about “barn-burner rarity”? I liked the song a lot, and don’t believe I’ve heard it before.

    When I started playing the Harmony Grass version without any intro from me, my sweety said, “Sounds very Mama Cass-ish!” Cass’s version feels like the richest though I liked all three for their uniquenesses. I don’t know if I knew about the sunshine pop subgenre but the label really fits; there’s a definite hint of the Beach Boys there.

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  4. I thought I’d heard the HG version at the time but maybe I was confusing it with the Cass version… long ago and far away. Nice enough wee ditty, not one to set the world on fire though. It does have that Mamas and Papas/ Loving Spoonful/ Move feel.

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  6. I ran across the Harmony Grass while looking for new songs a few years ago. It fit in with those other sunshine era songs really well…surprised it wasn’t more of a hit. I like their version and Cass’s version of it. Cass was great…

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