Stand by Me (song)
Stand by Me is an American rhythm & blues hit by Ben E. King from 1961, which is one of the early transition songs to musical style of Soul.
Genesis
Ben E. King was the former lead tenor of the vocal group the Drifters, which he had abandoned in favor of a solo career. His last recording session with the Drifters from May 19, 1960 rendered the top hit Save the Last Dance For Me, the King could not get them to stay with the Drifters. Therefore, a recording session for him was scheduled as a soloist for 27 October 1960.
Together with the orchestra by Stanley Applebaum and the occupation Ernie Hayes ( piano ), Al Caiola (guitar), Lloyd Trotman ( bass), Gary Chester ( drums), Phil Kraus ( percussion) with the background chorus of Elise Bretton, Lillian Clark and Myriam Workman were recorded three tracks, but until the scheduled end of the session was still half an hour. The producers Leiber / Stoller asked King if he still could play something that would be included in the session. He took up a piece that would not receive the Drifters. On the basis of two gospel title King Stand By Me had written, in which the reliability of a woman's love is called for, what should be done always. To this end, the producers improvised an arrangement that changed the bass lines and dug the bottom of the bass drum for a scratchy sound on. The B-side On the Horizon was recorded only on 27 March 1961, an entirely different cast. Stand by Me are as writers Ben E. King and Elmo Glick, with the latter name hid behind the pseudonym of Leiber / Stoller. The collaboration of three authors raised questions about the shares of each author to the composition.
Publication
The Drifters Title Save the Last Dance for Me came in October 1960 in the Rhythm & Blues charts, while Stand by Me / On the Horizon until half a year later in April 1961 with the catalog number. Atco # 6194 was placed onto the market. The Atco parent label Atlantic Records had no very great confidence in the Solo Arts by Ben E. King and initially opted for the Doc Pomus / Phil Spector composition First Taste of Love as an A- side. However, when the airplay clearly favored Stand by Me, presented by the Atlantic single. It was worth it, since Stand by Me persisted for four weeks in the first rank of the R & B charts and was able to advance to fourth in the pop charts.
For those shown in U.S. cinemas starting August 8, 1986 eponymous film (the corpse ) was based on a novella by Stephen King, Atlantic released the single 1986 new. Ben E. King's song became the title song of the film. In Germany the film was Stand by Me -. The secret of a summer from February 26, 1987 Atlantic Records, therefore, published in September 1986 Ben E. King's title again, reaching a ninth of the pop charts. Shortly thereafter, Stand by Me was also used in an advertisement for Levi Jeans. In the UK, the song reached after the publication in February 1987 No. 1 on the singles chart, mainly due to the jeans commercials. The single release 26 years ago, however, came out at No. 27, also in Germany was the single after the publication in March 1987 and successfully reached the 2nd place in the hit parade.
Cover versions
The title received a BMI Award and countless times gecovert, including in 1962 by Adriano Celentano in Italian ( with the title " Pregherò " ), Muhammad Ali ( the 1964 was still called " Cassius Clay" and the song as a B- side his single I Am the Greatest brought out in March 1964), Otis Redding ( April 1964), Earl Grant ( October 1965 ), Spyder Turner ( December 1966 ), Sonny & Cher (LP in Case You're in Love, March 1967 ) David & Jimmy Ruffin ( October 1970 ), John Lennon ( LP rock ' n ' Roll and Single May 1975), Ry Cooder (LP Chicken Skin Music, January 1976), Narvel Felts (LP Doin ' What I Feel, October 1976), Mickey Gilley ( May 1980), Maurice White ( August 1985), The California Raisins ( October 1987), Little Milton (October 1995), 4 The Cause ( August 1998) or Lemon Ice (Single, September 2006 and LP One, September 2007), Rachael Cantu ( March 2013 ).
Stand by Me is listed as number 121 on the list of the 500 best songs of all times of the music magazine Rolling Stone. 1999 called BMI Stand by Me is the fourth most performed song in the 20th century with over 7 million performances.