The lesser-known original version

I am truly speechless. Respectfully, I think we'll have to agree to disagree here.

Ed

 

Me and bobby Mcgee Written by Kris Kristofesen recored by Roger Miller

 

This was a country hit in 1948. In 1965 it was remade in an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink, "Everybody Loves Somebody"-style production and became a big hit for Dean Martin soundalike Barry Young.

 

Big Maybelles original recording of Jerry Lee Lewis hit Whole Lotta Shakin' going on

 

This was apparently the first big hit version with lyrics

 

Has is it been established that this was in fact the first released version, not Roy Hall?

 

The original version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yE_Z8xWYMLM

 

I wouldn't call it a "stiff" but Betty Everett's version of "You're No Good" only reached #51

Linda Ronstadt took it to #1 in 1974, but I thought it might be fun to post this version (not the original), which reached #3 in the UK in 1964, but wasn't heard much in America (#97):

The Swinging Blue Jeans - You're No Good (1964)

 

And then, of course, there's this:

The Plebs - Babe I'm Gonna Leave You (1964)

 

Before Aerosmith, even before the Yardbirds, there was Johnny Burnette's Rock n Roll Trio



With a heave, and a ho!

 

The original "My Way":

 

The original "Seasons In The Sun":

 

A minor hit for Otis Redding, a bigger one for The Black Crowes: