"Stand by Me" is a song originally performed by Ben E. King and written by King, Jerry Leiber, and Mike Stoller, inspired by the spiritual "Lord Stand by Me,"[1] plus two lines rooted in Psalms 46:2–3. There have been over 400 recorded versions of the song. The song is featured in the movie Stand By Me and also is featured on the soundtrack for the movie.
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 it for The Drifters, who passed on recording it. After the "Spanish Harlem" recording session, he had some studio time left over. The session's producers, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, asked if he had any more songs. King played "Stand by Me" on the piano for them. They liked it and called the studio musicians back in to record it.
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 cappella. 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. The personnel on the song included Romeo Penque on sax, Ernie Hayes on piano, Al Caiola and Charles McCracken on guitars, Lloyd Trotman on bass, Phil Kraus on percussion, and Gary Chester on drums.
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. The song appeared on King's Don't Play That Song! album.
"Stand by Me" was ranked 122nd 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 seven million performances.[5]
On March 27, 2012, the Songwriters Hall of Fame announced that "Stand By Me" would receive its 2012 Towering Song Award and that King would be honored with the 2012 Towering Performance Award for his recording of it.[6]
Structure[]
The song uses a version of the common chord progression now called the 50s progression, which has been called the "'Stand by Me' changes"[7] after the song.
Notable covers, remixes and samples[]
Led Zeppelin performed this song multiple times in concert, as documented in bootlegs.There have been over 400 recorded versions of "Stand by Me". Some of the more notable ones are:
- Jimi Hendrix also recorded his version that is most like the original, but with more use of the guitar.
- 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)".[8]
- Little Milton recorded a version for We're Gonna Make It (1965), his first album released on Chess Records.
- Spyder Turner's 1967 version climbed to #3 on the U.S. Billboard Black Singles chart and #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[9]
- Adriano Celentano released an Italian and Spanish[10] version of this song (Pregherò) in album Non mi dir.[11]
- The Searchers included the song on their 1963 debut album Meet the Searchers.
- Muhammad Ali (then still named Cassius Clay) recorded the song in 1964.[12][13]
- 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 was his last hit prior to his five-year retirement from the music industry. This version had a more rock sound than R&B. The B-side of the single was "Move Over Ms. L," a rare and raucous track also covered by The Who drummer Keith Moon.[14] The American single "Stand By Me" and "Move Over Ms. L" reached #20 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. In 1977, Capitol Records issued an Oldies reissue 45 on its Capitol Starline label which featured "Stand By Me" and "Woman Is the Nigger of the World."
- His son Julian Lennon recorded a live version of the song that was included on the soundtrack to the 1986 film, Playing for Keeps. A music video was also created for the song.[15]
- Ry Cooder recorded a version for his 1976 album Chicken Skin Music.
- Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller have a version which was featured in the hit musical Smokey Joe's Cafe.
- 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.
- Mink DeVille covered the song at Montreux Jazz Festival 1982.
- The Gaslight Anthem has been known to cover the first verse and chorus of the song in the key of B♭ before leading it into their single I'da Called You Woody, Joe, which is also in the same key.
- 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.[16]
- Pennywise recorded a punk cover which was originally released on the EP Wildcard in 1989.
- Timon and Pumbaa released a music video of Timon performing the song while Pumbaa gets tortured during the chorus.
- 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.
- 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.[17] Royce's cover received a Lo Nuestro award for "Tropical Song of the Year".[18]
- 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.[19][20]
- George Lam recorded the song in Cantonese in 1986, on his album 千億個夜晚 (100 Billion Nights).
- Anita Mui recorded the song in Cantonese in 1988, on her album 夢裡共醉 (Drunken Dreams).
- "Stand By Me" was the first recording made by the Playing for Change project in 2004, with interpretations of the song by musicians around the world being compiled into a video version that has had over 42 million hits on YouTube.[21]
- "Dildaara (Stand By Me)" by Shafqat Amanat Ali in the original soundtrack of Ra.One recreated by Vishal-Shekhar
- Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora and Andy Madadian recorded a version of this song on June 24, 2009. The first part of the song is sung by both Jon and Andy in Persian, while the rest continues in English.
- Plan B often performs a cover of the song during live performances, sometimes as part of a soul medley.
- Bridgit Mendler and Shane Harper covered the song on Summer Night Concerts, in Vancouver, Canada, in 2011.
Chart performance[]
Ben E. King[]
| Chart (1961) | Peak
position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot R&B Singles[22] | 1 |
| US Billboard Hot 100[22] | 4 |
| UK Singles Chart[23] | 27 |
| Chart (1986) | Peak
position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 9 |
| Chart (1987) | Peak
position |
|---|---|
| UK Singles Chart | 1 |
| Swiss Music Charts | 3 |
| Dutch Top 40 | 7 |
| Austria Top 40 | 7 |
| Sweden Singles Chart | 8 |
| Norway Singles Chart | 9 |
John Lennon[]
| Chart (1975) | Peak
position |
|---|---|
| Canadian RPM Singles Chart | 10 |
| US Billboard Hot 100[24] | 20 |
| US Cashbox Top 100[24] | 20 |
| UK Singles Chart | 30 |
Mickey Gilley[]
| Chart (1980) | Peak
position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles | 1 |
| U.S. BillboardHot 100 | 22 |
| U.S. BillboardHot Adult Contemporary Tracks | 3 |
| Canadian RPM Country Chart | 3 |
| Canadian RPM Singles Chart | 51 |
Maurice White[]
| Chart (1985)[16] | Peak
position |
|---|---|
| U.S. BillboardHot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs | 6 |
| U.S. BillboardAdult Contemporary | 11 |
| U.S. BillboardBillboard Hot 100 | 50 |
Prince Royce[]
| Chart (2010)[25] | Peak
position |
|---|---|
| U.S. BillboardHot Latin Tracks | 8 |
| U.S. BillboardLatin Tropical Airplay | 1 |
| U.S. BillboardHeatseekers Songs | 17 |