Stand by Me (song)

"Stand by Me" is the title of a song originally performed by Ben E. King and written by King, Jerry Leiber, and Mike Stoller, based on the spiritual "Lord Stand by Me,",^[1] plus two lines rooted in Psalms 46:2-3. There have been over 400 recorded versions of "Stand by Me", including versions by John Lennon,Lady GaGa, Otis Redding, Jimi Hendrix, U2, Usher, and Elton John.

Song information

According to the documentary History of Rock 'n' Roll, Ben E. King had no intention of recording the song himself when he wrote it.^[2] King had written the song for The Drifters, who passed on the chance to record it. It was not until after the "Spanish Harlem" recording session that he had some studio time left over. The session's producers, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, asked if he had any more songs and King played "Stand by Me" on the piano for them. They liked it and called the studio musicians back in to record it.

Mike Stoller recalls it differently: "I remember arriving at our office as Jerry and Ben were working on lyrics for a new song. King had the beginnings of a melody that he was singing a capella. I went to the piano and worked up the harmonies, developing a bass pattern that became the signature of the song. Ben and Jerry quickly finished the lyrics…"^[3] The fact that arranger Stan Applebaum could not possibly have dashed off an entire string chart at the end of a session, much less copied and distributed all the parts, supports this less dramatic version of the events.

Either way, King's record went to #1 on the R&B charts^[4] and was a Top Ten hit on the U.S. charts twice—in its original release in 1961, when it peaked at #4, and a 1986 re-release coinciding with its use as the theme song for the movie of the same name following its appearance in the film, when it peaked at #9, and also in an advertisement for Levi Jeans. It also reached #1 on the UK Singles Chart in 1987 after its re-release, mostly because of the jeans spot, originally reaching #27 on its first release.

The song was not released on an album until it had been out as a single for two years. After those two years the song appeared as track seven on King's Don't Play That Song album.

"Stand by Me" was ranked number 121 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. In 1999, BMI named it as the fourth most-performed song of the 20th century, with about 7 million performances.^[5]

Structure

The song uses a version of the common chord progression now called the 50s progression, which have been called the "'Stand by Me' changes"^[6] after the song.

Notable covers, remixes and samples

There have been over 400 recorded versions of "Stand By Me." Some of the more notable ones include:

• Jimi Hendrix also recorded his version that is most like the original, but with more use of the guitar.
• Skeletal Family covered it for their album Futile Combat.
• Max Romeo recorded a cover of the song with a reggae influenced twist.
• Ben E. King recorded a song that paraphrased it musically, "Don't Play That Song (You Lied)".^[7]
• Muhammad Ali released a 45 rpm version of the song, a track which also featured on his 1963 Columbia album I Am the Greatest (released under the name Cassius Clay).
• Little Milton recorded a version for We're Gonna Make It (1965), his first album released on Chess Records.
• The Cake recorded the song for their 1967 debut album The Cake.
• Spyder Turner's 1967 version climbed to #3 on the U.S. Billboard Black Singles chart and #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.^[8]
• Adriano Celentano released an Italian and Spanish^[9] version of this song (Pregherò) in album Non mi dir.^[10]
• The Searchers included the song on their 1963 debut album Meet the Searchers.
• Billy Joe Royal recorded a version of the song in 1968.
• Otis Redding recorded a version for his album Pain in My Heart.
• John Lennon recorded his version of the song for his 1975 album Rock 'n' Roll. Lennon's cover of "Stand by Me" was his last hit prior to his five-year retirement from the music industry. This version of the song had a more rock sound than R&B. The acoustic introduction of this version is reminiscent of Ringo Starr's "Only You (And You Alone)" from 1974. Lennon suggested Starr cover that song, and Lennon plays guitar on both songs. The B-side of the single was "Move Over Ms. L", a rare and raucous track also covered by The Who drummer Keith Moon. His son Julian Lennon also recorded a version of the song.
• Ry Cooder recorded a version for his 1976 album Chicken Skin Music
• Alvin and the Chipmunks covered the song for "When the Chips Are Down," an episode of their 1980s TV series.
• Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller have a version which was featured in the hit musical Smokey Joe's Cafe.
• Maurice White of Earth, Wind & Fire recorded his version of the song on his 1985 album Maurice White. White's remake peaked at number 6, 11 and 50 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks, Adult Contemporary and Billboard Hot 100 charts, respectively.^[11]
• Mickey Gilley performed a version which was featured in the hit 1980 film Urban Cowboy. It was a #1 country hit for him in August of that year, also reaching #22 on the Pop charts and #3 at Adult Contemporary.
• Pennywise recorded a punk cover which was originally released on the EP Wildcard in 1989.
• Ronnie Milsap recorded a gospel-altered version on his recent album Then Sings My Soul.
• Gigi D'Agostino released a dance version of this song.
• Seal covered the song on his album Soul.
• Lemmy Kilmister performed the song with Dave Lombardo and DJ Baron for the soundtrack of the 2009 Flip Skateboards video "Extremely Sorry."
• Overboard performed an a cappella version of the song for their 2008 album Castaways.
• Stephen King and Warren Zevon recorded a version for the charity compilation album Stranger than Fiction.
• Justin Mauriello recorded a version of this song in 2010 for his cover album Justin Mauriello Sings the Hits.
• Playing for Change's version was their first single recorded.
• Prince Royce recorded a bachata version of the song as his debut single, changing parts of the lyrics into Spanish. This version peaked #8 on Hot Latin Tracks and #1 on Tropical Airplay. At the Latin Grammy Awards of 2010, Royce performed a live version of the song along with Ben E. King.^[12] Royce's cover received a Lo Nuestro award for "Tropical Song of the Year".^[13]
• Danny Gokey performed the song during season 8 of American Idol. His studio recording was included on the American Idol season 8 compilation album.
• Filipino rapper Andrew E.'s song "Banyo Queen" uses the bassline of "Stand By Me", as well as containing an interpolation of the song.
• Hong Kong singer Anita Mui recorded a cantonese version of the song with the same title in 1988.
• A version of the song released by American R&B group 4 the Cause in 1998 was a #1 hit in Switzerland, reached #2 of the Austrian and German singles charts and number three in New Zealand, and was a top-ten hit in several other countries.^[14][15]
• Jay and the Americans released a cover version of the song on their 1962 album, She Cried.
• Micheal Castaldo recorded an Italian version of the song on his 2010 album Aceto.
• Lady Gaga and Sting covered a version of the song at the IHeartRadio Music Festival 2011.
• Ry Cooder
• "Dildaara (Stand By Me)", on the soundtrack for the 2011 Bollywood film Ra.One by Shafqat Amanat Ali, Vishal Dadlani, Shekhar Ravjiani, Clinton Cerejo.
• Andros Townsend and his Tottenham Hotspur team-mates

Chart performance

Ben E. King

John Lennon

Mickey Gilley

Maurice White

Prince Royce

See also

• R&B number-one hits of 1961 (USA)
• List of number-one singles (UK)
• List of number-one Billboard Hot Tropical Songs of 2010

References