The Avalons were a 1950s Doo-Wop group from Virginia that spent several years in Canada performing and they recorded their most popular song there, and since I just talked about the genre this is a good place to start.
“You Are My Heart’s Desire” was first released on the Sandryon label in Canada in 1957 and on then UNART (United Artists subsidiary) in 1958. To my knowledge this incredible song never charted in Canada or the US on either the R&B or Hot 100 charts.
“You Are My Heart’s Desire” written by George Cox, Hugh Lewis, James Dozier, Bernard Purdie and Ralph Ingram.
“You Are My Heart’s Desire” this was the first recording and release on the Sandryon label in Canada.
The song was first covered by The Manhattan Transfer in 1975 and appeared on their second eponymous album. It was not released as a single. It was titled as “Hearts Desire”, there are only five versions of this song. Had TMT not recorded it some 17 years after The Avalons, this gem of a song may well have been lost forever.
The Velons covered this song in 1979.
Here are The Echelons with a version, by the video it was recorded at a Wedding. Impressive job boys.
As I was perusing my digital music collection the other day I noticed several songs I had not listened to in quite some time. Not only that, they are songs which the artists are unknown to most and at best very little heard from. Most of them are from the 50’s thru 70’s, not surprisingly as that makes up most of the music anyway. So I thought I would run a series on these songs, and artists, some charted a song or two but many did not reach a national let alone international level of success. Most had very short and yet others had surprisingly long careers.
There is a reason I have these songs, some I found through cover versions and I backtracked to find the originals others have a relationship to another artist perhaps. Others I just happened to like. Some readers will no doubt recall a tune or two but there’s a reason I am calling them Randy’s Rarities. I hope you enjoy the music.
The Orioles with a cover of “Crying in the Chapel” gives the song the Dop-Wop sound.
The genesis of the genre of Doo-Wop or Doo-wop or Doowop is not that straightforward. This is typical of most genres, and in fact, it’s something I have hinted at most recently in my post on the origins of the Blues song. Doo-Wop songs were around for some 15 years before the genre got its name.
For a definition The Black Music Project offers this:
Doo-wop originated in the 1940s among Black youth in large cities like New York, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Detroit. The hallmark of a doo-wop song is strong vocal harmony, a wide range of vocal parts, nonsense syllables, and a teen melodrama.
Based on that definition there was certainly an evolution that led to the first recordings. Structurally it follows a chord progression of I–vi–IV–V giving the harmony and with influence from the typical Tin Pan Alley chorus consisting of an AABA layout. You recognize it when you hear it, the tenor lead and typically the deep bass voice. On the street corner of course it’s all just the voices and hand clapping. However, in the recording studio it’s rarely in a pure a cappella style where the voices substitute for all instruments. The musicians are very much in the background and more of a ” shoe-b-do-be-shoe-wop” kind of thing going on behind the lead vocal with the typical close harmony,
It’s not that important to find the very first song of the genre but it’s good to know there is a separate history as it’s often intertwined with Rock and Roll.
The very famous Mills Brothers and the Ink Spots are cited as an example of the early days that led to the style. Though the quartets often played instruments (guitar, ukulele) it’s the tight four-part harmony that gives us the general idea for the groups to follow. In fact, there is a good case to be made that the Black Youth singing on the street corners were emulating The Mills Brothers and others but they had to substitute voices for the lack of an instrument. No doubt many sang Gospel songs at church.
I have read several times that the closest to the beginning is “It’s Too Soon to Know” by The Orioles from 1948. I led with a video clip of their incredible 1953 version of “Crying in the Chapel” which is very much a quintessential Doo-Wop song. However there’s an earlier example than 1948.
The Delta Rhythm Boys were formed in 1935 and became quite famous, they sang Gospel and the popular songs of the day such as those by Hoagy Carmichael and Duke Ellington. They backed singers like Ella Fitzgerald on records and appeared in numerous radio programs and movies.
I think their 1945 rendition of the song “Just A-Sittin’ and A-Rockin'”, written by Duke Ellington, Lee Gaines, and Billy Strayhorn hits the mark. Perhaps holding a bit to the traditional style but the background stands out as a bit different.
You can actually hear the background singers saying “doo-wha” at the beginning.
“Sh-Boom” (“Life Could Be a Dream”) was a top 10 hit for the original recording by The Chords that was #2 on the R&B chart and #9 on Billboard Best Sellers in Stores chart. A somewhat sleepier cover by The Crew-Cutsreached #1 on the Billboard Best Sellers and #12 in the UK.
Clearly this next song that followed, “Earth Angel” by The Penguins, also from 1954, nails it. This is one of the best chart performances of a Doo-Wop song. It was #1 on the three R&B charts at the time (Disc Jockeys, Retail Sales, Jukeboxes) and it reached #8 on the Billboard Best Sellers in Stores chart. Clips for other huge charting Doo-Wop songs follow below with “Why Do Fools Fall in Love” by Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers in 1956 and “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” by The Tokens in 1961.
Throughout the remainder of the 1950s and well into the late 60s there were hundreds of Doo-Wop songs recorded. The Platters, The Elegants, Maurice Williams & The Zodiacs, The Diamonds, The Flamingos, Dion and The Belmonts to name just a few. Group members were Black, White and this is the first genre where several groups were integrated. Some were all male, The Platters had a female singer and some were all female groups.
What we typically refer to as a Girl Group has another history and timeline. For that, we think of groups such as the Ronettes, The Supremes, and The Chantels. For the early Doo-Wop sound, we can look to The Bobbettes with their punchy smash hit “Mr. Lee” from 1957.
“Mr. Lee” by the Bobbettes (1957)
The term “Doo-Wop” itself was first used in 1961 to describe The Marcels cover of the song “Blue Moon”. The prior versions of “Blue Moon” notwithstanding a couple of a cappella attempts would be a solo voice/orchestra type of song. While there are instruments used in this rendition it is very much driven by the vocals and those non-word syllables filling in for what might have been a stand-up bass etc. It is the best charting Doo-Wop song as it went #1 on the Hot 100, #1 on the R&B Hot Sides Chart and #1 on the UK Singles chart.
While the popularity waned in the late 1960’s we had the revivalist group known as Sha Na Na that formed in 1969. Thanks to friend Jimi Hendrix they got a gig playing Woodstock.
There have been other groups and certainly the Happy Days TV Show and movies like American Graffiti and Grease etc. have helped to keep the music alive.
I posted “Come and Go With Me” by the Del Vikings in my Music I Like series. They are still my favorite of the genre.
“Jitterbug Mary” by the Del Vikings on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1957.
Speaking of revivalists groups The Nylons were a Canadian outfit that I saw perform several times, they were quite simply fantastic.
OK, it’s now 11:27 p.m. so if there are any mistakes I’ve missed, well I can fix them tomorrow. Regardless I Doo hope you enjoy the post.
“Summertime” Covered 2773 times1. The music was written by George Gershwin with original lyrics written by DuBose Heyward and a credit given to Ira Gershwin. It was from the opera Porgy and Bess. The first recorded version was in 1935 by Abbie Mitchell under the direction of George Gershwin but not released until 1974. The first recorded version released was by Helen Jepson in 1935.
“Over the Rainbow” Covered 1768 times. The music was written by Harold Arlen and the lyrics by E.Y. Harburg. The recording for the movie The Wizard of Oz was October 7, 1938 by Judy Garland, the movie came out in August of 1939. The first record was released by Larry Clinton & His Orchestra – Vocal Refrain by Bea Wain, on March 1, 1939. Judy Garland’s recording was with Victor Young and His Orchestra, released in September of 1939, and was of course the hit song most will remember.
“Body and Soul” Covered 1553 times. The music was written by Johnny Green and the lyrics by Edward Heyman, Frank Eyton, and Robert Sour. The first recording was by Jack Hylton and His Orchestra – Vocal Refrain by Pat O’Malley released in 1930.
“All the Things You Are” Covered 1551 times. The music was written by Jerome Kern and the lyrics written by Oscar Hammerstein II. The first recording release was by Eddy Duchin and His Orchestra – Vocal Chorus by Stanley Worth. It was written for the 1939 musical Very Warm for May.
“My Funny Valentine” Covered 1489 times. The music was written by Richard Rodgers and the lyrics were written by Lorenz Hart. The first recording was by Hal McIntyre and His Orchestra – Vocal Refrain by Ruth Gaylor in December of 1944 and released in January 1945. The first vocal performance was by Mitzi Green for the stage musical Babes in Arms in 1937.
“Stardust” Covered 1202 times. The music was written by Hoagy Carmichael. First released as an instrumental by Hoagy Carmichael and His Pals in 1928. Included in this number there are about 220 plus Vocal versions, with lyrics by Mitchell Parish, first released by Chester Leighton & His Sophomores – Vocal Chorus by Chester Leighton in 1931.
“Night and Day” Covered 1072 times. The music and lyric’s written by Cole Porter. The first recording was by Leo Reisman and His Orchestra – Vocal Refrain by Fred Astaire, released in 1933. First performed by Fred Astaire and Claire Luce for the stage production of Gay Divorce. It was Ginger Rogers with Fred Astaire for the 1934 film version, which was retitled The Gay Divorcee.
“Sweet Georgia Brown” Covered 1052 times. The music and words written by Ben Bernie, Kenneth Casey and Maceo Pinkard, first released in 1925 by Ben Bernie and His Hotel Roosevelt Orchestra. There about 220 plus Vocal versions the first by Ethel Waters and Her Ebony Four.
“Moon River” Covered 1048 times. The music was written by Henry Mancini and lyrics written by Johnny Mercer. The first recording was in 1960 and released in 1961 by Henry Mancini and His Orchestra and Chorus. The first theatrical release was by Audrey Hepburn October 5, 1961. Her recording was not released until 1993.
‘Georgia on My Mind” Covered 1031 times. The music was written by Hoagy Carmichael and the lyrics were written by Stuart Gorrell. First released by Hoagy Carmichael and His Orchestra in 1930.
I am aware that other sources quote numbers of covers of various songs, and there has been special attention paid to “Summertime”. I believe the latest from the Guinness Book (2017) for 67,591 cover versions. I use Secondhandsongs.com to provide a more level look at verified covers from a database of over 145,000 songs. I like to think it’s a more balanced or “apples-to-apples” comparison. Therefore they cannot commit the resources to investigate just one song. Albeit their data shows it at #1 regardless of the number of versions. ↩︎
It’s time for me to update the Top 20 Songs. I have been running this for four years now and for this chart the totals are shown as 2021/2024 and as always, excluding Christmas songs. Statistics from Secondhandsongs.com March 2024. Special notation for songs only in the top 100 for all genre (## overall/all genre). This list includes both vocal and instrumental versions.
“Yesterday” Covered 1,009/1255 times, credited to John Lennon and Paul McCartney, written by Paul McCartney, by The Beatles. “Yesterday” is the 8th most covered song of all time (for all genre).
“Eleanor Rigby” Covered 633/789 times, credited to John Lennon and Paul McCartney, written by Paul McCartney, by The Beatles. #46 overall/all genre.
“Bridge over Troubled Water” Covered 584/695 times, written by Paul Simon, by Simon and Garfunkel. #73 overall/all genre.
“Can’t Help Falling in Love” *Covered 522/661 times, written by Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore and George David Weiss, by Elvis Presley overall #84/all genre
“Unchained Melody” *Covered 515/648 times, written by Hy Zaret and Alex North, biggest hit by The Righteous Brothers
“Let it Be” Covered 501/644 times, credited to Lennon/McCartney, written by Paul McCartney, by The Beatles
“Something” Covered 519/642 times, written by George Harrison, by The Beatles
“Hey Jude” Covered 508/640 times, credited to Lennon /McCartney, written by Paul McCartney, by The Beatles
“Michelle” Covered 522/633 times, by The Beatles
“Imagine” Covered 497/632 times, written by John Lennon and Yoko Ono1, recorded by John Lennon
“Fever” Covered 528/621 times, written by Eddie Cooley and Otis Blackwell originally sung by Little Willie John
“Here, There and Everywhere” Covered at 496/618, by The Beatles
“Blackbird”, Covered 468/618 times, by The Beatles
“And I Love Her” Covered 490/616 times, by The Beatles
“Hallelujah” Covered 300/609 times, written and first recorded by Leonard Cohen
“The Look of Love”, Covered 483/581 times, written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, by Dusty Springfield
“Norwegian Wood” (This Bird Has Flown)”, Covered 472/563, by The Beatles
“Come Together” Covered 451/532, by The Beatles
“Both Sides Now” Covered 461/ 529, written by Joni Mitchell recorded by Judy Collins
“Sunny” Covered 451/506, written and first recorded by Bobby Hebb
I’m afraid the numbers don’t lie, The Beatles have 12 of the Top 20 most covered songs. Since I first started tracking these songs year over year, The Beatles and it’s former members cover song numbers have continued to rise. If you compare my list from last year there are some songs that have been replaced. I revaluate the songs periodically and some were removed based on various factors. One being the original genre of the song, another being the number of cover versions qualifying it as a ‘Pop’ song.
The song with the biggest increase over the past three years is “Hallelujah” that has more than doubled in numbers. This however does not mean that 300 + versions have been recorded in the past three years, rather they have been documented. As you can imagine gathering statistics for anything is rarely a real time exercise. In the case of “Hallelujah” for example 16 of the newly added covers were recorded in the wake of the death of Leonard Cohen on November 7, 2016, through to the end of 2017.
New covers of any song are added to the data base as they are submitted and then verified and could have been recorded in any year.
Christmas songs are excluded from my lists as they dominate the overall cover song list, being 14 of the top 20. Pop songs seem to be of the greatest interest, however, I have listed others for Country, Folk, and many more.
The US National Music Publishers Association confirms as of March 2024 Yoko Ono has been given a song credit for “Imagine”. ↩︎
Mostly Music Covers 