The pretenders stand by me5/29/2023 Image Credit: Isaiah Trickey/FilmMagic/Gettyįor many artists, "Stand by Me" has become something of a sacred text. Clark is faithful to the fragile sentiment of the song but he completely recasts composition, abandoning the signature bass line and gospel undertones as he turns it into a loping country-rock song for southern Californian canyons. That's not to say she doesn't tear into them: Tina sings with so much passion that you have to wonder whether she needs somebody to stand by her at all.įormer Byrd Gene Clark recorded his version of "Stand by Me" during the sessions for 1971's White Light and while it lay in the vaults until 2002, it's a thing of beauty. Slowing the tempo down and adding thick washes of organ (plus Ike's chicken-scratch guitar), this groove is so heavy that it almost makes Tina's vocals seem beside the point. It's not easy to find the funk in "Stand by Me," but leave it to Ike & Tina Turner to discover it in a place where nobody else was looking. It sounds like the obligatory slow number at a Saturday night dance where the band is anxious to return to the ravers. The Kingsmen were just two years past "Louie Louie" when they cut "Stand by Me." In the Sixties, that was an eternity, but where other garage bands had gotten tougher, aiming to sound like the Yardbirds or Rolling Stones, the Kingsmen stayed true to their frat roots, layering cheapo organ over an insouciant crawl through the classic bass riff. An alternate take even speeds up the tempo. King's bass groove for B side "My Little Girl." Harmonies boom over the track, and the sweet, romantic arrangement gives it a gospel-gone-pop feel. Long before Kendrick Lamar's "i" sampled the guitar line from A side "Who's That Lady," the Isleys ripped Ben E. Steve Cropper spins out winding, inventive riffs on his guitar, and then there's Otis, who sings with passion but pointedly avoids turning the lyrics into a desperate plea: He seems to be enjoying the groove as much as the rest of us. The bass line remains, but the overall attitude is lighter, even mischievous, thanks to a horn section that offers color rather than punctuation. King, so maybe that's why he doesn't treat the song like a sacred text. Otis Redding cut "Stand By Me" in 1964, just three years after Ben E. The track appeared toward the end of his modestly-titled 1963 LP I Am the Greatest! and nearly cracked the top 100. Chuck D once hosted an ESPN documentary that made the case for Ali's influence on hip-hop, but before the heavyweight champ claimed to have tussled with a whale, handcuffed lightning and thrown thunder in jail, he recorded this Ben E.
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