[78-L] two hits - same song

[Joe Scott]

Thanks. Presley didn't really cowrite, or personally ever claim he had cowritten, anything in the '50s (he did really cowrite a few songs in the '60s), those were just the Colonel taking credit in Elvis's name as part of an agreement made for financial reasons, a la the way Goodman, Hampton, Jimmy Dorsey, etc. used to grab part of the publishing money because they could (Goodman admitted much later in an interview that he tended not to have written anything on those "-Goodman" tunes). That would take you down to 21 out of 53, about 40%. But I'm not sure what caused you to select particular artists and tunes for the survey, and if there is a more hard and fast methodology such as only looking at top 3 on Billboard (or whatever), that does tend to reduce accidental bias.
Regarding "it was more common for them to do this than it was for other types of performers," it would be interesting to look at the R&B number ones of 1945-1951, for instance, and see what the fraction there was. Many R&B performers from Louis Jordan to Roy Milton to Charles Brown to John Lee Hooker to Chuck Willis wrote or cowrote many of their own tunes years before Haley's "Rock Around The Clock."
Joseph Scott
----- Original Message -----
From: Jeff Lichtman
Sent: 04/25/14 08:12 PM
To: 78-L Mail List
Subject: Re: [78-L] two hits - same song

At 04:16 PM 4/24/2014, you wrote: >Or if you don't worry about rocker cred as such and just look at the biggest pop hits of 1957-1959, Wilbert Harrison didn't write "Kansas City," Johnny Horton didn't write "The Battle Of New Orleans," . . . > >Joseph Scott I didn't say that rock and roll performers wrote all their own material - just that it was more common for them to do this than it was for other types of performers. I did a little research - I looked up records from 1955 through 1957 and divided them into rock and roll and other types of pop. I then counted the instances where the piece was written or co-written by the performer. I didn't try to be comprehensive - I just wanted a big enough sampling that the results would mean something. Of the 53 rock and roll records I surveyed, 24 were written at least in part by the performers. Of the 54 non-rock-and-roll records, 5 were written or co-written by the performers. It's possible that there was some sample bias in my survey, or that my samples were too small. Still, in the cases I considered, the rate of artists performing their own material is almost 5 times higher for the rock and roll records. I think this is pretty easy to explain. Tin Pan Alley was still in full swing at that time, and they mostly didn't write rock and roll songs. They would write songs for anyone who wanted to record them, and singers like Perry Como and Dean Martin were happy to perform these songs. The rock and rollers didn't have a whole industry of established songwriters, so they had to write their own stuff more often. Here are the records I considered. I'll mark the ones where the performer contributed to the composition with ****: Rock and Roll **** Ain't That a Shame - Fats Domino **** Ain't That a Shame - Pat Boone Black Denim Trousers and Motorcycle Boots - The Cheers **** Bo Diddley - Bo Diddley **** Earth Angel (Will You Be Mine) - The Penguins (some sources credit Curtis Williams of The Penguins as songwriter) Flip Flop and Fly - Joe Turner I Hear You Knocking - Smiley Lewis **** Maybellene - Chuck Berry **** Rock Around the Clock - Bill Haley Hearts of Stone - The Fontane Sisters Only You - The Platters (written by Buck Ram, manager of The Platters) Tweedle Dee - LaVern Baker **** Sincerely - The Moonglows **** **** The Wallflower (Dance with Me Henry) - The Peaches **** **** Tutti Frutti - Little Richard **** **** Blue Suede Shoes - Carl Perkins **** Blue Suede Shoes - Elvis Presley **** Don't Be Cruel - Elvis Presley **** **** Be-Bop-A-Lula - Gene Vincent **** **** I'm in Love Again - Fats Domino **** See You Later Alligator - Bill Haley Hound Dog - Elvis Presley (the Big Mama Thornton version was too early for my survey) The Fool - Sanford Clark The Green Door - Jim Lowe **** Why Do Fools Fall in Love - Frankie Lyman **** The Great Pretender - The Platters (again, written by the manager of The Platters) **** Heartbreak Hotel - Elvis Presley **** **** I Put a Spell on You - Screamin' Jay Hawkins **** Ooby Dooby - Roy Orbison I Gotta Know - Wanda jackson **** Honky Tonk - Bill Doggett **** **** All Shook Up - Elvis Presley **** Wake Up Little Susie - The Everly Brothers **** Diana - Paul Anka **** **** Party Doll - Buddy Knox **** **** That'll Be the Day - Buddy Holly **** Jailhouse Rock - Elvis Presley Little Darlin' - The Diamonds **** Peggy Sue - Buddy Holly **** **** School Day - Chuck Berry **** Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On - Jerry Lee Lewis Sittin' in the Balcony - Eddie Cochrane **** Susie Q - Dale Hawkins **** Bye Bye Love - The Everly Brothers **** Raunchy - Bill Justis **** Raunchy - Ernie Freeman Raunchy - Billy Vaughn Reet Petite - Jackie Wilson **** Rock and Roll Music - Chuck Berry **** Oh Boy - Buddy Holly Great Balls of Fire - Jerry Lee Lewis **** Come Go with Me - The Del-Vikings **** Butterfly - Charlie Gracie Butterfly - Andy Williams Non-Rock-and-Roll Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White - Perez Prado The Yellow Rose of Texas - Mitch Miller, Autumn Leaves - Roger Williams The Ballad of Davy Crockett - Bill Hayes The Ballad of Davy Crockett - Fess Parker The Ballad of Davy Crockett - Tennessee Ernie Ford Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing - The Four Aces Melody of Love - Billy Vaughn Sixteen Tons - Tennessee Ernie Ford, Learnin' the Blues - Frank Sinatra Moments to Remember - The Four Lads Let Me Go Lover - Joan Weber A Blossom Fell - Nat King Cole Honey Babe - Art Mooney Ko Ko Mo - Perry Como Hard to Get - Gisele Mackenzie The Naughty Lady of Shady Lane - The Ames Brothers That's All I Want from You - Jaye P. Morgan It's a Sin to Tell a Lie - Somethin' Smith and the Redheads Lisbon Antique - Nelson Riddle The Wayward Wind - Gogi Grant The Poor People of Paris - Les Baxter Que Sera Sera - Doris Day Memories Are Made of This - Dean Martin Moonglow and Theme from "Picnic" - Morris Stoloff I Almost Lost My Mind - Pat Boone Hot Diggity - Perry Como **** Canadian Sunset - Eddie Heywood and Hugo Winterhalter **** Allegheny Moon - Patti Page Tonight You Belong to Me - Patience and Prudence Standing on the Corner - The Four Lads Ivory Tower - Cathy Carr On the Street Where You Live - Vic Damone Band of Gold - Don Cherry More - Perry Como **** The Happy Whistler - Don Robertson **** True Love - Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly Love Letters in the Sand - Pat Boone Young Love - Tab Hunter, So Rare - Jimmy Dorsey Don't Forbid Me - Pat Boone Singing the Blues - Guy Mitchell Round and Round - Perry Como Tammy - Debbie Reynolds The Banana Boat Song - Harry Belafonte **** A White Sport Coat (and a Pink Carnation) - Marty Robbins **** Gone - Ferlin Husky Honeycomb - Jimmie Rodgers Dark Moon - Gale Storm Moonlight Gambler - Frankie Laine It's Not for Me to Say - Johnny Mathis **** Marianne - Terry Gilkyson **** (this is a traditional song, but I'm giving credit for the adaptation) Chances Are - Johnny Mathis Send for Me - Nat King Cole **** Rainbow - Russ Hamilton **** - Jeff Lichtman jeff at swazoo.com Check out Swazoo Koolak Photography at http://swazoo.com/ _______________________________________________ 78-L mailing list 78-L at klickitat.78online.com http://klickitat.78online.com/mailman/listinfo/78-l