Spanish Harlem (song)

"Spanish Harlem"
Single by Ben E. King
from the album Spanish Harlem
B-side "First Taste of Love"
Released December 1960
Format 7"
Genre Soul
Length 2:53
Label Atco Records
Writer(s) Jerry Leiber, Phil Spector
Producer(s) Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller
Ben E. King singles chronology
"How Often"
(1960)
"Spanish Harlem"
(1960)
"Stand By Me"
(1961)

"Spanish Harlem" is a song released by Ben E. King in 1960 on Atco Records, written by Jerry Leiber and Phil Spector, and produced by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. During a 1968 interview, Leiber credited Stoller with the arrangement;[1] similarly, in a 2009 radio interview with Leiber and Stoller on the Bob Edwards Weekend talk show, Jerry Leiber said that Stoller, while uncredited, had written the key instrumental introduction to the record. In the team's autobiography from the same year, Hound Dog, Stoller himself remarks that he had created this "fill" while doing a piano accompaniment when the song was presented to Ahmet Ertegun and Jerry Wexler at Atlantic Records, with Spector playing guitar and Leiber doing the vocal. "Since then, I've never heard the song played without that musical figure.[1] I presumed my contribution was seminal to the composition, but I also knew that Phil didn't want to share credit with anyone but Jerry, so I kept quiet."

It was originally released as the B-side to "First Taste of Love".[2] The song was King's first hit away from The Drifters, a group he had led for several years. With an arrangement by Stan Applebaum featuring Spanish guitar, marimba, drum-beats, soprano saxophone, strings, and a male chorus, it climbed the Billboard charts, eventually peaking at #15 R&B and #10 Pop.[3] It was ranked #358 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.[4] King's version was not a hit in the UK: instead, the original A-side, "First Taste of Love", that was played on Radio Luxembourg, charting at #27.[5] In 1987, after Stand By Me made #1, the song was re-released and charted at #92.[5]

Cover versions[6]

In media

References

  1. 1 2 Gilliland, John (1969). "Show 14 - Big Rock Candy Mountain: Rock 'n' roll in the late fifties. [Part 4] : UNT Digital Library" (audio). Pop Chronicles. Digital.library.unt.edu. Retrieved 2011-04-30.
  2. Billboard Pop Chart, November 21, 1960 Retrieved January 26, 2016.
  3. Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 325.
  4. "Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. April 7, 2011. Retrieved October 1, 2015.
  5. 1 2 "The Official Charts Company - Spanish Harlem (song)". The Official Charts Company. 3 May 2013.
  6. Checkmates, Ltd., "Proud Mary" single release Retrieved January 26, 2016.
  7. Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 215.
  8. Warner, Jennifer (September 24, 2014). Respect: The Life and Times of Aretha Franklin. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. p. 31. ISBN 978-1502500007. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
  9. "Kramer: The Brill Building > Review". Allmusic. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
  10. Billy Joe Royal, "Spanish Harlem" Retrieved September 23, 2012.
  11. Nutini, Paolo. "cover on Spanish Harlem".

External links

Preceded by
"Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" by Marvin Gaye
Billboard's Best Selling Soul Singles number-one single
(Aretha Franklin version)

August 28 - September 11, 1971
Succeeded by
"Stick-Up" by Honey Cone
Preceded by
"Kleine Annabell" by Ronny
Media Control (Germany) Top 100 number-one single
"Das ist die Frage aller Fragen" by Cliff Richard

January 29, 1965 (4 weeks)
Succeeded by
"Kleine Annabell" by Ronny
Preceded by
???
Number-one hits of 1965 (Austria)
"Das ist die Frage aller Fragen" by Cliff Richard[1]

February 15, 1965 (4 weeks)
Succeeded by
"So ein Tag, so wunderschön wie Heute" by Freddy
  1. Steffen Hung. "No. 1-Hits in Austria". Austriancharts.at. Retrieved 2011-04-30.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, March 17, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.