Saved (Leiber and Stoller song)

"Saved" is a gospel and R&B-flavored song written by Leiber and Stoller and first recorded by Rock and Roll Hall of Famer LaVern Baker in 1960. The tongue-in-cheek song is written from the perspective of someone who had lived a fast, loose life but is then "saved" and is now standing on a corner preaching to the passers-by.

On May 1, 1960, the recording reached No. 39 on the US Billboard charts.^[1]

Personnel

The musicians on the Baker recording include Gary Chester drums, Dick Vance and Taft Jordan trumpets, Rudy Powell alto sax, Al Sears tenor sax, Bert Keyes piano, Eddie Costa vibes, Phil Spector guitar, Abbie Baker bass, and Sticks Evans bass drum. The arrangement was by Howard Biggs.^[2]

Cover versions

• Billy Fury & the Gamblers, 1965
• Judy Henske, 1966
• Elvis Presley (as part of a medley with "Where Could I Go but to the Lord" and "Up Above My Head"), 1968
• Lulu, 1970
• The Band, 1973
• Brenda Lee, 1976
• Elkie Brooks, 1977
• Andrew Strong, 1992
• Smokey Joe's Cafe: The Songs of Leiber and Stoller, 1995, Grammy Award winner in 1996
• Shirley Johnson, 2002^[3]

References

1. ‘’The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits’’, Billboard Books, NY 1992
2. LaVern Baker, ‘’Soul in Fire: The Best of LaVerne Baker’’, CD, Atlantic Recording Corporation, 1991, liner notes
3. "Cover versions of Saved written by Jerry Leiber,Mike Stoller". SecondHandSongs. Retrieved 2014-06-07.