Money (That's What I Want)

"Money (That's What I Want)"
Single by Barrett Strong
B-side	Oh I Apologize
Released	August 1959
Format	45rpm, 78rpm
Genre	R&B
Length	2:39
Label	Tamla T-54027 Anna A-1111
Writer(s)	Janie Bradford/Berry Gordy
Barrett Strong singles chronology
"Let's Rock" (1959) "Money (That's What I Want)" (1959) "Yes, No Maybe So" (1960)

"Money (That's What I Want)" is a 1959 hit single by Barrett Strong for the Tamla label, distributed nationally on Anna Records. The song was written by Tamla founder Berry Gordy and Janie Bradford, and became the first hit record for Gordy's Motown enterprise.

Contents 1 Overview 2 Cover versions 3 "I Need Some Money" 4 The Beatles' version 5 Cultural references 6 Notes 7 References

Overview

Anna Records was operated by Gwen Gordy, Anna Gordy and Billy 'Roquel' Davis. Gwen and Anna's brother Berry Gordy had just established his Tamla label (soon Motown would follow), and licensed the song to the Anna label in 1960, which was distributed nationwide by Chicago-based Chess Records in order to meet demand; the Tamla record was a resounding success in the Midwest. The song features Strong curtly demanding that money is what he needs, more than anything else. The single became Motown's first hit in June 1960, making it to #2 on the US R&B chart and #23 on the US pop chart.^[1] The song was listed as #288 on Rolling Stone's "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".

Cover versions

Although the song has been covered by a myriad of artists, with several of them reaching significant positions in a variety of charts - for example, The Kingsmen reached #16 on the Billboard Hot 100, and Bern Elliott and the Fenmen reached #14 on the UK singles chart. The best known cover versions were performed by The Beatles and by The Flying Lizards, whose version peaked at number twenty-two on the dance charts ^[2].

The Flying Lizards' version has been used in many places, including the film soundtracks for The Wedding Singer, Empire Records, Charlie's Angels and Lord of War, and it has also been used in the television shows Nip/Tuck and Ashes to Ashes.

The following incomplete list is a random selection:^[3]

Artist	Year	Album	Comments
Avengers, Avengers	1999	Died for Your Sins
B-52's, B-52's
Babys, Babys	1976	Anthology
Backbeat Band, Backbeat Band	1994	Backbeat
Beatles, Beatles	1963	With The Beatles
Bern Elliott and the Fenmen	1963		Reached #14 on the UK Singles chart
Bloodstone	1976	Train Ride to Hollywood[4]
Blues Brothers, Blues Brothers
Bob Rivers	2000	Chipmunks Roasting On an Open Fire
Bobby Freeman
Boyz II Men	2007	Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA
Bruno Mars	2010	Doo-Wops & Hooligans tour
Buddy Guy	1968	A Man and the Blues
Chambers Brothers, Chambers Brothers	1965	People Get Ready[5]
Cheap Trick	1988	Caddyshack 2
Danny Tenaglia feat Roxy
Dave Davies
Deighton Family, Deighton Family	1988	Acoustic Music to Suit Most Occasions[6]
Diana Ross	1977	An Evening with Diana Ross
Doors, Doors	1967	Live at the Matrix 1967
Dr. John	1994	Television
Dwight Twilley
Etta James	1964	Etta James Rocks the House
Everly Brothers, Everly Brothers	1965	Beat & Soul
Flying Lizards, Flying Lizards	1979	The Flying Lizards
Freddie and the Dreamers	1963	Freddie and the Dreamers
Freddy Fender
Great White	1988	Recovery: Live!
Hal Blaine	1966	Drums! Drums! A Go Go[7]
Hanson	1998	Live from Albertane
Hurriganes	1978	Hanger	Song is titled as "Money" in this album. And lyrics are littlebit different, because Remu Aaltonen has a strange English.
Ike & Tina Turner
Jerry Lee Lewis	1961	Jerry Lee's Greatest
Jimi Hendrix			Hendrix covered the song when a member of Curtis Knight & the Squires on the album Knock Yourself Out
Jimmy Barnes
Joey Dee & the Starliters
John Belushi	1978	Animal House
John Lee Hooker	1966	It Serves You Right to Suffer
John Lennon	1969	Sweet Toronto	Released as Live Peace in Toronto 1969 by the Plastic Ono Band during Lennon's solo career.
Josie and the Pussycats	2001	Music from the film Josie and the Pussycats
Jr. Walker & the All Stars	1966	Road Runner
Kaisers, Kaisers	1997	Squarehead Stomp!
Kingsmen, Kingsmen	1963	The Kingsmen in Person	Released as a single: 1964 #16 on Billboard Hot 100 #17 on Cashbox
Knickerbockers, Knickerbockers	1965	Jerk & Twine Time
Led Zeppelin	1972	-	Encore at 19 June concert
Little Richard	1967	The Explosive Little Richard
Liverbirds, Liverbirds
Lonnie Mack
Lou Christie
Miracles, Miracles	1961	Hi... We're The Miracles
Paul Revere & the Raiders
Pearl Jam	2005	Pearl Jam 2005 North American and Latin American Tour
Pretenders, Pretenders	1984	Revenge of the Killer B's, Vol. 2[8][9]
RC Succession
Rembrandts, Rembrandts
Renée Geyer	1978	Winner
Popcorn and the Mohawks	1960		Released as a single
Rolling Stones, Rolling Stones	1964	The Rolling Stones (EP)
Ronnie Milsap	1985	Lost in the Fifties Tonight
Roy Orbison	1970	The Big O
Sandrine
Scissor Sisters
Searchers, Searchers	1963	Meet The Searchers
Secret Machines	2005	The Road Leads Where It's Led
Shakers, Shakers	1963	Let's Do the Slop, Twist, Madison, Hully Gully...[10][11]
Shonen Knife
Smashing Pumpkins, Smashing Pumpkins	2000	The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music
Sonics, Sonics	1965	Here Are The Sonics
Stooges, Stooges	1973	Heavy Liquid	Although Heavy Liquid was released in 2005, the recordings are dated 1973.
Storys, Storys	2008	The Bank Job
Supremes, Supremes	1966	The Supremes A' Go-Go
Thee Midniters
Todd Rundgren	1972	Something/Anything?	The recording is part of a medley entitled "Overture--My Roots".
Tragically Hip, Tragically Hip
Trashmen, Trashmen	1964	Surfin' Bird
Undertakers, Undertakers	1963		(Released as a single)
Waylon Jennings	1964	Waylon at JD's
Who, Who

The song was featured in the movie National Lampoon's Animal House in which it was performed by John Belushi. When the Blues Brothers band covered the song 18 years later on their Blues Brothers & Friends: LIVE! From Chicago's H.O.B album it was performed by John's brother James Belushi in the role of Brother Zee Blues along with Elwood Blues and Sam Moore.

Also, the song was used in the Beatles biopic Backbeat performed by a band composed of alt-rock musicians (including Soul Asylum's David Pirner, R.E.M.'s Mike Mills, and Nirvana's Dave Grohl). It was mimed in the film by the actors playing the Beatles.

"I Need Some Money"

"I Need Some Money"
Single by John Lee Hooker
from the album That's My Story
B-side	No More Doggin´
Released	June 1960
Format	45
Recorded	New York City February 9, 1960
Genre	Blues
Length	2:25
Label	Riverside 438
Producer	Orrin Keepnews

"I Need Some Money," a song John Lee Hooker may have been performing live for some time previous to 1959, has lyrics that are similar to "Money (That's What I Want)". For example, even though the music is different, the first verses are:

"The best thing in life is free
But you can give it to the birds an' bees
I need some money, Need some money. Oh yeah, what I want"

versus:

"The best things in life are free
But you can keep 'em for the birds and bees
Now give me money, (that's what I want) that's what I want."

The question of which lyrics came first never seems to have been settled in any formal way; John Lee Hooker has full composition credits for "I Need Some Money", and it has been independently covered by other artists such as James Blood Ulmer and The Doors.

The Beatles' version

"Money (That's What I Want)"
Song by The Beatles from the album With The Beatles
Released	November 22, 1963
Recorded	July 18, 1963
Genre	Beat
Length	2:47
Label	Parlophone
Producer	George Martin
With The Beatles track listing
14 tracks Side one "It Won't Be Long" "All I've Got to Do" "All My Loving" "Don't Bother Me" "Little Child" "Till There Was You" "Please Mister Postman" Side two "Roll Over Beethoven" "Hold Me Tight" "You Really Got a Hold on Me" "I Wanna Be Your Man" "Devil in Her Heart" "Not a Second Time" "Money"
Music sample "Money (That's What I Want)"

The Beatles recorded "Money (That's What I Want)" in seven takes on July 18, 1963 with their usual lineup. A series of piano overdubs was later added by producer George Martin. The song was released in November 1963 as the final track on their second United Kingdom album, With The Beatles.^[12]

According to George Harrison, the group discovered Strong's version in Brian Epstein's NEMS record store (though not a hit in the UK, it had been issued on London Records in 1960). They had previously performed it during their audition at Decca Records on January 1, 1962. They also recorded it six times for BBC radio. A live version, taped at a concert date in Stockholm, Sweden in October 1963, was included on Anthology 1.^[12]

Cultural references

• Chumbawamba borrowed the chorus of this song for their song "Snip Snip Snip". However, for legal reasons, this portion of their song had to be removed from the version released on the album Shhh. (The original version, which also samples a number of other money-related songs, can be found on their unreleased album Jesus H. Christ.)
• In the film This Is Spinal Tap, the band plays a parody song "Gimme Some Money" in a flashback to their skiffle days.
• The theme song for movie Rogue Trader.
• On Disney's D-TV, there was a music video playing the song along with money-related scenes from six short films: "The Klondike Kid" (1932), "Scrooge McDuck and Money" (1967), "The Delivery Boy" (1931), "Mickey's Nightmare" (1932), "Get Rich Quick" (1951) and "Plane Crazy" (1928).
• The 1990s cartoon, Tiny Toon Adventures, featured an episode where Montana Max, kid billionaire & antagonist on the show, sang the song & even had his own video to go along with it; the audio used, however, was the Barrett Strong version of the song.
• In the 1985 Miami Vice episode, "Made for Each Other", the original Barrett Strong version is played in the opening scene as the vice squad raid a warehouse where counterfeit money is printed.
• Used frequently in the 1994 Ted Danson film Getting Even with Dad.
• A portion of the Barrett Strong version is also used in the background of the 1987 civil-rights documentary Eyes on the Prize, in episode three, "Ain't Scared of Your Jails" (which deals with the 1960 lunch-counter sit-ins in Nashville, Tennessee, and the Freedom Riders).
• The song is used in the opening credits of the 2009 Mark Burnett television show Shark Tank.
• The song passes on the Empire Central Radio on the game Mafia II.
• The Flying Lizards' version appears in a 2011 TV commercial for Taco Bell.

Notes

References

• Lenny Carlson, "John Lee Hooker Vintage Blues Guitar", Mel Bay Publications, 1996.