Junior Soul - Stand By Me (Ben E. King Cover)

From '' Classic ''
Label: 2M Records Ltd. – 2M 1001
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: US
Released: 1987

Tracklist
A1 Personally
A2 Shelter In The Time Of Storm
A3 Forgot To Be Your Lover
A4 You Keep Me Hanging On
A5 The Chokin' Kind
B1 I've Been Trying
B2 Stand By Me
B3 To Be
B4 By The River
Written-By – Vallen Smikle
B5 Dance With Me
Written-By – Vallen Smikle

Arranged By – Willie Lindo

Musician – Andy Bassford, David Madden, Dean Fraser, Lloyd Parks, Marvin Brooks, Mortie Butler, Neville Hinds, Robbie Lyn, Robbie Shakespeare, Ronald "Nambo" Robinson, Sly Dunbar, Willie Lindo, Winston Wright
Backing Vocals – Beres Hammond, Betty Richardson, Cynthia Schloss, JC Lodge, Jackie Richardson, Pam Hall

Executive-Producer – Janet And Junior
Mixed By – Doug McClement, Junior Soul, Mikey Riley, Neville Hinds, Peter Watson, Willie Lindo

Producer – Willie Lindo

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"Stand by Me" is a song originally performed in 1961 by American singer-songwriter Ben E. King and written by him, along with Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who together used the pseudonym Elmo Glick. According to King, the title is derived from, and was inspired by, a spiritual written by Sam Cooke and J. W. Alexander called "Stand by Me Father", recorded by the Soul Stirrers with Johnnie Taylor singing lead.

It was featured on the soundtrack of the 1986 film of the same name, and a corresponding music video, featuring King along with actors River Phoenix and Wil Wheaton, was released to promote the film. It was also featured in a 1987 European commercial of Levi's 501 jeans, contributing to greater success in Europe. In 2012, its royalties were estimated to have topped $22.8 million (£17 million), making it the sixth highest-earning song of its era. 50% of the royalties were paid to King.
In 2015, King's original version was inducted into the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress, as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant", just under five weeks before his death. Later in the year, the 2015 lineup of the Drifters recorded it in tribute.

There have been over 400 recorded versions of the song, performed by many artists, notably Otis Redding, John Lennon, Muhammad Ali, 4 the Cause, Tracy Chapman, musicians of the Playing for Change project, Florence and the Machine, Weezer, and the Kingdom Choir.

Writing and recording

In 1960, Ben E. King was inspired to update the early 20th-century gospel hymn "Stand by Me" by Charles Albert Tindley, which was based on Psalm 46, "will not we fear, though the Earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea."
According to the documentary History of Rock 'n' Roll, King had no intention of recording the song himself. King had written it for the Drifters, who passed on recording it. After the "Spanish Harlem" recording session in 1960, King had some studio time left over. The session's producers, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, asked if he had any more songs. King played it on the piano for them. They liked it and called the studio musicians back in to record it.

The personnel on the song included Romeo Penque on sax, Ernie Hayes on piano, Al Caiola and Charles McCracken on guitars, Lloyd Trotman on double bass, Phil Kraus on percussion, and Gary Chester on drums, plus a wordless mixed chorus and strings. Songwriting credits on the single were shown as King and Elmo Glick—a pseudonym used by Leiber and Stoller.

Release and reception

King's record went to number 1 on the R&B charts and was a Top Ten hit on the US charts twice—in its original release, entering the Billboard chart on May 13, 1961 and peaking at number 4 on June 16, 1961, and a 1986 re-release coinciding with its use as the theme song for the film of the same name following its appearance in the film, when it peaked at number 9 on December 20, 1986 – January 3, 1987. The song is also heard in the televised advertisement of Levi's 501 jeans. In the commercial, a man wearing a black denim jeans is able to enter a nightclub whose policy is "no blue jeans".
"Stand by Me" also topped the charts in Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom upon its re-release. In the latter country, the song topped the UK Singles Chart in January 1987, mostly because of the jeans TV commercial, originally peaking at number 27 on the UK Singles Chart on its original release in Britain in 1961.

"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.
On March 27, 2012, the Songwriters Hall of Fame announced that the song would receive its 2012 Towering Song Award and that King would be honored with the 2012 Towering Performance Award for his recording of it.

"Stand by Me" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998.

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