Untitled Document

B

	Song	Artist/Date/Label	Remade by
	Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You	Joan Baez 1962 on lp Vanguard 2122 In Concert	Association, Led Zeppelin, Great White

The story of "Babe," written as a simple folk tune in the late 1950s, is among the most complex I've encountered. Around 1960 at UC Berkeley, there was a late-night radio show with live acoustic music. All were welcome and, true to the folk tradition, it was usually a mix-and-match affair among performers. One regular was sophomore Janet Smith. Another contributor was Anne Johannson, whose repertoire included her composition "Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You." Smith expressed interest in a couple of her songs and, after asking if she could learn them, jotted down the lyrics.

Janet Smith transferred to Oberlin and continued playing at informal hootenannies. In 1962, Joan Baez played a show at the college and accepted an invitation to attend a living room "hoot." Baez took a liking to some songs Smith played and asked her to send a tape of them, including "Babe," to her manager. The subject of the songs' origins and/or authorship never came up.

The publisher affiliated with Vanguard Records (Joan Baez's label) later sent Janet Smith a letter asking if she had written "Babe." In the meantime, Joan had recorded the song and included it on her In Concert album. Initial pressings had no writer's credit for "Babe." Smith located Anne, who had since married UC professor Glen Bredon. This led to a 1964 Joan Baez songbook rightfully listing Anne Bredon as the author.

Fast forward to the 1980s when Janet Smith heard her son's copy of "Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You" by Led Zeppelin. Noticing their album credits for the song read "Trad, arr. by Jimmy Page," Smith got curious and again tracked down Anne, now living on the east coast. As folkies, neither Janet nor Anne had been familiar with Led Zeppelin. Royalty statements to Bredon from Vanguard's Reyerson Publishing had dwindled as Baez's album sales slowed, so she hadn't had reason to think about it.

Anne authorized Janet to pursue their case with Zep's publisher Superhype, agreeing to split any proceeds 50/50. Superhype claimed that since Page learned the song from Joan's album—one with no writing credit, leading him to assume it was an old song—and that Led Zeppelin's arrangement and recording made the song famous, they should share in the rewards. Eventually things were worked out such that subsequent pressings of Zep's version would list Anne Bredon, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant. (Anne gets 50% of the royalties and Page and Plant split the other half). Interestingly, Baez's recording still/now credits only Anne, although I've also seen it as "Anne H. Bredon (by assignment from Janet Smith)."

Anne Bredon has written many other songs and is still involved in music and the arts in northern California.

Baby Blue

Laurels 1959
on CD The Echoes- Baby Blue Blue Lion 416 (2000)

Echoes (12-60)

Brooklyn vocal group the Laurels (no relation to the Laurels who first recorded "Baby Talk") cut "Baby Blue" in 1959 but couldn't find any takers for the song. The following year the group replaced a couple of members, changed their name to the Echoes, rerecorded "Baby Blue" and had a hit in early 1961.

Baby Face

Jan Garber Orch. w/ Benny Davis 6-29-26
Victor 20105

Art Mooney, Little Richard, Bobby Darin, Wing & A Prayer Fife & Drum Corps.

Baby I Love Your Way

Peter Frampton 1975
A&M 1738

Peter Frampton (1975, on lp Frampton Comes Alive)

Baby Let Me Follow You Down see Don't Tear My Clothes

Baby Let's Play House

Arthur Gunter 11-16-54
Excello 2047

Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Link Wray, John Prine, Dave Edmunds

Likely inspired by Eddy Arnold's 1951 hit "I Wanna Play House With You" (RCA Victor 0476).

Baby Let's Wait

Young Rascals 1-7-66
on lp Atlantic 8123 Young Rascals

Royal Guardsmen

Baby, Please Don't Go

Joe Williams' Washboard Blues Singers (aka Big Joe Williams)
10-31-35 Bluebird 6200

Big Joe Williams (1941 on Bluebird 8969, 1947 for Columbia, 1958 for Delmark), Muddy Waters, Them, Amboy Dukes, AC/DC et al

Not the same Joe Williams (né Joseph Goreed) who sang with the Count Basie band, hence the added moniker "Big."

The melody for "Baby Please Don't Go" was taken from "Don't You Leave Me Here," released by Harvey Hull (Gannett 6106) and by Sunny Boy & His Pals (Champion 15283). The Hull and Sunny Boy records are the same recording, done April 8, 1927.

Baby Talk

Laurels 1958
Spring 1112

Jan & Dean

Baby The Rain Must Fall

Wee Three Trio 1964
on lp Ava AS53 Baby The Rain Must Fall ost

Glenn Yarbrough

The soundtrack has an instrumental version by composer Elmer Bernstein, as well as the vocal by the Wee Three Trio.

Baby You Come Rollin' Across My Mind

Jesse Lee Kincaid 1967
Captiol 5906

Peppermint Trolley Company

Back On The Street Again

Steve Gillette 1967
on lp Vanguard 79251

Sunshine Company

Back When My Hair Was Short

Gunhill Road 1972
on lp Kama Sutra 2061

Gunhill Road (1973, Kama Sutra 569)

The first pressing of their album had a version different from the subsequent hit. The original was slower and had numerous drug references in the lyrics (produced by Kenny Rogers!). After the single took off, it and two other re-recordings, and an additional track, were substituted on the LP. The earlier issue was dated 1972 while the later, common one was 1973. Both used the same number although the songs were in a different order.

Bad Boy see Brown Gal

Bad Boy

Larry Williams 8-14-58
Specialty 658

Beatles

Bad Case Of Lovin' You

Moon Martin 1978
on lp Capitol 11787 Shots From A Cold Nightmare

Robert Palmer

Ball And Chain

Big Mama Thornton & Her Houndogs 1-25-68
Arhoolie 520

Janis Joplin (4-13-68, 1970), Big Mama Thornton (1969, 1975, 1979)

Thornton had previously recorded the song for the small California label Baytone, but to date, it's not been issued. A live 1967 performance by Janis Joplin with Big Brother & Holding Company, which includes "Ball And Chain," has since been released but I doubt this tape was made with the intent of public issue.

Ballad Of Lucy Jordon

Dr. Hook & Medicine Show 1973 (spring)
Columbia 3-10032

Marianne Faithfull, Belinda Carlisle, Dennis Locoierre

Ballad Of Paladin

Johnny Western 8-58
Columbia 41260

Johnny Western (1961, on lp Columbia 1788 Have Gun, Will Travel), Duane Eddy (5-10-62)

The theme song from the TV show Have Gun, Will Travel.
Melodic elements of "The Ballad Of Paladin" are similar to Les Paul & Mary Ford's 1955 Hummingbird (Capitol 3165).

Banana Boat (Song) see Day Dah Light

Battle Of New Orleans

Jimmie Driftwood 10-27-57
on lp RCA Victor 1635 Newly Discovered Early American Folk Songs

Johnny Horton (1-27-59), Jimmie Driftwood (4-27-59, on RCA Victor 7534), Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

Based on the 19th century song "The Eighth Of January."

Following the success of Johnny Horton's hit, Driftwood's album was reissued (with the same label number) under the title Battle Of New Orleans.

Be Careful Of Stones That You Throw

Little Jimmy Dickens 10-14-49
on lp Harmony 7311 Best (1964)

Luke The Drifter (aka Hank Williams), Dion

Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy

Sensational Epics 1967
Warner Bros 7168

Tams

Beautiful People see My Beautiful People

Beauty Is Only Skin Deep

Miracles 4-13 & 29-64
on lp Tamla 271 Away We A Go-Go (1966)

Jimmy Ruffin, Temptations (5-10 & 11-66)

Beddy Bye see Strangers In The Night

Before And After (Losing You)

Fleetwoods 11-12-64
Dolton 302

Chad & Jeremy (3-3-65)

Before The Next Teardrop Falls

Duane Dee 1967
Capitol 5986

Freddy Fender

Bell That Couldn't Jingle, The

Paul Evans 1962
Kapp 499

Bobby Vinton, Bobby Helms, Burt Bacharach, Herb Alpert

Bend Me Shape Me

Outsiders 3-23-67
on lp Capitol 2636 In

Models, American Breed

Bésame Mucho

Emilio Tuero 1941
Mexican Victor???

Andy Russell, Jimmy Dorsey, Carmen Miranda, Coasters, Beatles, Placido Domingo, Diana Krall et al.

Based on Enrique Gránados' "Nightingale Aria" for his 1914 opera Goyescas.

beschwipste Drahtkommode, Die (aka The Crazy Otto)

Der schräge Otto 1954
German Polydor 22 009

Johnny Maddox

Fritz Schulz-Reichel was a German pianist whose nickname was Der schräge Otto or Crazy Otto. His 2-sided medley of American and German songs, done in ragtime style, became quite popular in his homeland. ("Die beschwipste Drahtkommode" translates to "The Drunken Piano" or "The Tipsy Ivories.") Then Amercian Johnny Maddox copied this medley for the US market, titling it "The Crazy Otto."

Betcha By Golly, Wow see Keep Growing Strong

Bette Davis Eyes

Jackie DeShannon 1975
on lp Columbia 33500 New Arrangement

Kim Carnes

Better Be Good To Me

Spider 1981
on lp Dreamland 5007 Between The Lines

Tina Turner

Beyond The Sea see La Mer

Big Boy Pete

Don & Dewey 1-20-59
Specialty 659

Olympics, Kingsmen (as "Jolly Green Giant")

Big City Miss Ruth Ann

Heroes Of Cranberry Farm 1970
Jamie 1386

Gallery

Big Noise From Winnetka, The

Bob Haggart & Ray Bauduc 10-14-38
Decca 2208

Bob Crosby & Orch. (numerous times), Gene Krupa, Cozy Cole, World's Greatest Jazz Band, Bette Midler

Haggart (bass and whistling) & Bauduc (drums) were part Bob Crosby's band and the instrumental "Big Noise" was the B-side of a full Crosby recording. The two worked up this showpiece in which Bauduc ends up rhythmically playing Haggart's bass strings with his drum sticks while Bob fingers a solo. Haggart provides the main part of the melody with his whistling.

Bigger They Come The Harder They Fall, The (aka The Harder They Come)

Jimmy Cliff 1971
UK Island WIP 6110

Jimmy Cliff (1972 for Mango, 1976 for Warner Bros.), Joe Jackson, Rockers Revenge, Keith Richards, Jerry Garcia

Cliff reworked his original as the title song for the 1972 epic reggae film The Harder They Come. He also recorded an interim version (also titled "The Bigger They Come The Harder They Fall") that was included on the 2003 expanded CD issue of the soundtrack.

Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home (aka Won't You Come Home Bill Bailey)

Arthur Collins c. 6-02
on cylinder Columbia 872

Arthur Collins (1902 for Edison), Bob Roberts (c. 1904), Louis Armstrong, Bobby Darin, Ella Fitzgerald

There was a real Bill Bailey, a black vaudeville performer, whose late night partying supposedly prompted his wife to lock him out. Songwriter Hughie Cannon suggested Bailey spend the night in a hotel with the hope his wife would beg for his return. At least that was Cannon's view when he composed the song. Bailey himself often denied this version of its genesis but regardless, it makes a good story.

"Bill Bailey" was introduced by John Queen in the minstrel show Town Topics and Collins was the first to record it. Its popularity inspired a number of sequels such as "I Wonder Why Bill Bailey Won't Come Home" and "Since Bill Bailey Came Back Home."

Billy (I Always Dream Of Bill)

Anna Chandler 1911 (rel. 3-11)
on cylinder Edison Amberol 833

American Quartet (7-27-11), Orrin Tucker w/ Wee Bonnie Baker, Kathy Linden

Birdland see We Like Birdland

Birds Of A Feather

Joe South 1967
Capitol 2060

Paul Revere & Raiders

Black & White see Ink Is Black

Black Angel Blues (aka Sweet Little Angel)

Lucille Bogan 12-17-30
Brunswick 7186

Robert Nighthawk, Tampa Red, B.B. King (1956 and many other times), Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy et al.

Black Betty

Lead Belly (aka Leadbelly) 4-1-39
on 78 album Musicraft 223/224 Negro Sinful Songs

Leadbelly (1948 for Folkways), Ram Jam, Tom Jones

Alan Lomax made a 1933 field recording of "Black Betty" sung by James "Iron Head" Baker and a group of fellow Sugarland, Texas prisoners. It has been issued on various Rounder Records compilations.

Leadbelly's record was issued as part of a multi-disc (alternately four or five) 78 set on Musicraft Album 31.

Black Magic Woman

Fleetwood Mac 2-22-68
on lp Epic 26446 English Rose

Santana

Blinded By The Light

Bruce Springsteen 1972
Columbia 45805

Manfred Mann

Blowin' Away

Laura Nyro 11-29-66
on lp Verve Folkways/Verve Forecast 3020 More Than A New Discovery

5th Dimension

Nyro's album (her first) was issued under various titles including More Than A New Discovery, The First Songs and with no title. The song order also changed.

Blue

Bill Mack c. 3-58
Starday 360

Kenny Roberts, Le Ann Rimes (1993, 1996)

Bill Mack had Patsy Cline in mind when he wrote this but she never got to cut it before her death in 1963.

Blue Christmas

Doye O'Dell 1948
Exclusive 65X

Russ Morgan (8-31-49), Hugo Winterhalter, Ernest Tubb, Billy Eckstine, Elvis Presley

Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain

Roy Acuff & His Smoky Mountain Boys 8-2-45 (1947)
Columbia 37822/20357

Elton Britt (5-21-46), Elvis Presley, Willie Nelson

Blue Monday

Smiley Lewis 12-14-53
Imperial 5268

Fats Domino, Buddy Holly, Dave Edmunds

Blue Moon

Glen Gray & Casa Loma Orch. w/ Kenneth Sargent 11-16-34
Decca 312

Frankie Trumbauer & Orch (11-20-34), Connie Boswell (1-15-35), Billy Eckstine, Elvis Presley, Marcels, Herb Lance & Classics, Mavericks

The melody for this song had various titles and lyrics prior to becoming "Blue Moon." It was first written as "Prayer (Oh, Lord Make Me A Movie Star)" to be sung by Jean Harlow in Hollywood Revue—an unproduced 1933 film. Then it became "The Bad In Every Man," sung by Shirley Ross in the 1934 stage production Manhattan Melodrama.

Blue Moon Of Kentucky

Bill Monroe 9-16-46
Columbia 20370/37888

Elvis Presley, Bill Monroe (1954 for Decca), Ray Charles

Blue Turns To Grey see When Blue Turns To Grey

Blue Velvet

Tony Bennett 7-17-51
Columbia 39555

Clovers, Moonglows, Bobby Vinton

Blue Yodel # 8 (aka Muleskinner Blues, aka Good Morning Captain)

Jimmie Rodgers 7-11-30
Victor 23503

Maddux Bros., Bill Monroe, Woody Guthrie, Joe D. Gibson, Fendermen, Dolly Parton, Cramps, Van Morrison

The Fendermen's hit was based on Joe D. Gibson's arrangement.

Blueberry Hill

Sammy Kaye w/ Tommy Ryan 5-31-40
Victor 26643

Glenn Miller (6-13-40), Gene Autry (8-20-40), Louis Armstrong, Fats Domino

While Gene Autry introduced the song in the film The Singing Hill, Kaye's was recorded before Autry's commerically-issued version.

Boat Song, The (aka If I Had A Boat)

Lyle Lovett 1985
on lp Fast Folk 208 Fast Folk Musical Magazine October 1985

Lyle Lovett (1987 for MCA/Curb)

Bo Jangles (aka Mr. Bojangles)

Allen Damron 1967(?)
WAM 6874

Bobby Cole, Jerry Jeff Walker (1968 for Atco, 1977 for MCA), Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

Singer/poet/actor Allen Damron managed the Austin, Texas folk club the Chequered Flag in the later 1960s. The venue helped develop the "Austin sound" and featured many Texas performers in their early years. Damron made some live recordings of Jerry Jeff Walker compositions, had this 45 pressed (perhaps 1,000 copies) and gave them away at the club.

In November, 1967 Jerry Jeff Walker performed "Mr. Bojangles," with accompaniment by David Bromberg, on New York City's WBAI radio. The show's host, Bob Fass, recorded Walker and Bromberg's in-studio performance and continued to feature it on his Radio Unmentionable program. In fact, Fass was so captivated by the song, he played it repeatedly for weeks, sometimes multiple times in an evening. Bob Fass created demand for "Mr. Bojangles" before it was even put to vinyl! This version was later issued on Walker's 1969 album Five Years Gone (Atco 297). It may have been done prior to Allen Damron's, but it wasn't recorded with the intent of being issued.

Jerry Jeff's demo of the song—cut after the WBAI performance—was issued on his 1999 CD Best Of The Vanguard Years. At the time, Vanguard passed on the song, leading Walker to Atlantic/Atco Records where he made his hit version.

Walker is ambiguous regarding the exact order of these "Bojangles" recordings in his 1999 autobiography Gypsy Songman. My take is: Walker's WBAI, Damron's, Walker's Vanguard demo, Jerry Cole's, then Walker's Atco hit. Regardless, Allen Damron's was the earliest done for release—as well as the first to hit the streets.

Boll Weevil Song, The see Mississippi Boweavil Blues

Bonanza

Marty Gold 1959
on lp RCA Victor 2163 Swingin West (1960)

Buddy Morrow, David Rose, Al Caiola, Johnny Cash, Lorne Green

Marty Gold and Buddy Morrow both cut theirs in 1959, likely around the same time. Gold's was mastered earlier but without recording dates, it's hard to be definitive that his was first.

Boom Boom

John Lee Hooker 10-26-61
Vee Jay 438

Animals, John Lee Hooker (many more times)

Boom Boom Boomerang

Ginny Wright & Tom Tall 1955
Fabor 121

DeCastro Sis.

Boot Scootin' Boogie

Asleep At The Wheel c. 4-90
on CD Arista 8550 Keepin' Me Up Nights

Brooks & Dunn

Born A Woman

Patty Michaels 1966
Epic 10034

Sandy Posey (3-15-66), Gloria Taylor

Born Free

Matt Monro 2-20-66
Capitol 5623

Roger Williams (6-1-66), Hesitations

From the film of the same title.

Born In Chicago

Paul Butterfield Blues Band 12-64
on lp Elektra S-78 Folksong '65

Paul Butterfield Blues Band (1965), Nighthawks, George Thorogood, Chicago Blues Reunion

Born To Lose

Ted Daffan's Texans 2-20-42
Okeh 6706/Columbia 37667

Ray Charles

Written by Daffan, under the name Frankie Brown, following a chance remark at a poker game.

Bossa Nova, Baby

Tippie & The Clovers 10-19-62
Tiger 201

Elvis Presley (1-22-63)

Bottle Of Wine

Judy Collins 3-21-64
on lp Elektra 280/7280 The Judy Collins Concert

Tom Paxton, Fireballs, Havalinas

Bounty Hunter

Nomads 1961
Rust 5028

Al Caiola

As the B-side to Al Caiola's "Bonanza," "Bounty Hunter" wasn¹t really a hit but both he and the Nomads were credited on the original sheet music and it was included on Caiola's Golden Hit Instrumentals album. Certainly it must've gotten attention somewhere, if not nationally.

The song does bare some resemblance to Duane Eddy's "Rebel Rouser" (Jamie 1104, 1958)

Boy Named Sue (aka A Boy Named Sue)

Shel Silverstein 12-14-68
RCA 74-0158

Johnny Cash (2-24-69)

Boy Watcher (aka Girl Watcher)

Ginger Thompson 1968 (January?)
1-2-3 1702

O'Kaysions (spring 1968), Christine Day

This song has a confusing history! In 1962 16-year-old Pat Parker & The Way Mates had a record out (two different versions, both on Skyland 1000) titled "Boy Watcher." It was credited to the Way Mates' manager Buck Trail, a pseudonym (along with Buck Killette) used by writer Ron Killette. Parker's recording bears little resemblance to the O'Kaysions' "Girl Watcher" hit though. Jump to early 1968 for Ginger Thompson's "Boy Watcher," also credited to Buck Trail, and you hear what the O'Kaysions copied. It's unclear how the song went from Parker's to Thompson's arrangement. The O'Kaysions' record credited not only Trail but group member and manager Wayne Pittman. Ron Killette sued Pittman, they came to an agreement but ended up back in court disputing the settlement as well as engaging in slander accusations.

Boys

Shirelles 1960
Scepter 1211

Beatles

Brand New Me, A

Jerry Butler 4-5-69
Mercury 72960

Dusty Springfield (fall 1969)

Brandy (aka Mandy)

Scott English 1972
Janus 171

Barry Manilow

Apparently Manilow changed the title to avoid confusion with the Looking Glass hit "Brandy (You're A Fine Girl)."

Brazil see Aquarela do Brasil

Breakfast At Tiffany's

Deep Blue Something 1992
on CD Doberman 3278-2 11th Song

Deep Blue Something (1995 for Interscope)

Breezin'

Gabor Szabo/Bobby Womack 3-71
Blue Thumb 200

George Benson

Brickyard Blues (aka Play Something Sweet)

Frankie Miller 1974
on lp Chrysalis 1052 Highlife

3 Dog Night, Levon Helm, Little Feat

Bring It On Home

Sonny Boy Williamson (Aleck "Rice" Miller)
1-11-63
Checker 1134

Led Zeppelin

Brother Louie

Hot Chocolate 1972 (rel. 3-23-73)
Rak 4515

Stories

Brown Gal (aka Bad Boy)

Lil Armstrong 10-27-36
Decca 1092

Lil Armstrong (1950), Jive Bombers (as "Brown Boy," 1949, 1952, as "Bad Boy,"11-30-56)

Bull Doze Blues (aka Going Up The Country)

Henry Thomas 6-28
Vocalion 1230

Canned Heat, Blazers

Some lyric lines from Texas Alexander's 1927 "Farm Hand Blues" (Okeh 8526) found their way into the song, but not enough to make it the same composition.

"Goin' Up The Country" by Barbeque Bob (Columbia 14316 D), recorded 4-13-28, is a different song.