Mockingbird (Inez & Charlie Foxx song)
Encyclopedia
"Mockingbird" is a 1963
1963 in music
-Events:*January 1 – The Beatles start a 5-day tour in Scotland to support the release of their new single, "Love Me Do".*January 4 – At Cortina d'Ampezzo in Italy, Dalida receives a Juke Box Global Oscar for the year's most-played artist on juke boxes....

 song written and recorded by Inez and Charlie Foxx
Inez and Charlie Foxx
Charlie Foxx and his sister Inez Foxx were an African-American rhythm and blues and soul duo from Greensboro, North Carolina. Inez sang lead vocal, while Charlie sang back-up and played guitar.Their most successful record was with their novelty composition, "Mockingbird"...

, based on the folk song "Hush Little Baby
Hush Little Baby
Hush, Little Baby is a traditional lullaby. It is thought to be American , but the author and date of origin are unknown. The lyrics promise all kinds of rewards to the child if he or she is quiet....

".

1960s

The original single was credited to Inez Foxx with vocal accompaniment by her brother Charlie, as they alternated the lyric on a syllabic basis. Considered something of a novelty song
Novelty song
A novelty song is a comical or nonsensical song, performed principally for its comical effect. Humorous songs, or those containing humorous elements, are not necessarily novelty songs. The term arose in Tin Pan Alley to describe one of the major divisions of popular music. The other two divisions...

, it was a great success for them upon its release by Sue Records (Symbol Records
Symbol Records
Symbol Records is an independent record label for jazz that promotes artistic integrity and creativity. It provides an outlet for artistic freedom and encourages new music recorded at the highest standards possible....

), reaching number 2 on the U.S. Top Black Singles / Rhythm & Blues chart and number 7 on the U.S. popular music singles chart
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 in late 1963. Chris Blackwell
Chris Blackwell
Christopher Percy Gordon "Chris" Blackwell is a British record producer and businessman, who was the founder of Island Records, acknowledged as the most successful and groundbreaking independent record company in history. Blackwell has been a music industry mogul for over fifty years...

 of Island Records
Island Records
Island Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group...

 company heard "Mockingbird" playing in a record store in Kingston, Jamaica and flew to New York City to negotiate the track's UK release; resultantly Island Records leased the Sue brand for UK distribution in order to vend the American company's output in the UK, beginning with "Mockingbird" in December 1963. However "Mockingbird" would not become a UK success until its 1969 re-issue when it scored #33.

The song was covered
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...

 by Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'BrienSources use both Isabel and Isobel as the spelling of her second name. OBE , known professionally as Dusty Springfield and dubbed The White Queen of Soul, was a British pop singer whose career extended from the late 1950s to the 1990s...

 for her 1964
1964 in music
-Events:*January 1 – Top of the Pops is broadcast for the first time, on BBC television.*January 3 – Footage of the Beatles performing a concert in Bournemouth, England is shown on The Jack Paar Show....

 album A Girl Called Dusty
A Girl Called Dusty
A Girl Called Dusty was the debut album of British singer Dusty Springfield. It was released in the UK on Philips Records in 1964.Dusty Springfield had been a member of the girl group The Lana Sisters from 1958 to 1960, and the folk-pop trio The Springfields from 1960–1963, in the latter case with...

; Springfield sang both parts of the track. "Mockingbird" was also recorded by Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...

 for her 1965 album Runnin' Out of Fools; Franklin performed "Mockingbird"—with Ray Johnson providing the counter-vocal—on the 10 March 1965 episode of the program Shindig. Franklin's version of "Mockingbird" was one of several tracks to which Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...

 company gave a single release after the singer's commercial success with Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...

 in 1967; released at the same time as Franklin's Atlantic single album "Chain of Fools
Chain of Fools (song)
"Chain of Fools" is a song written by Don Covay. Aretha Franklin first released the song as a single in 1967 and subsequently it appeared on many of her albums. It reached number one on the U.S...

"—which would reach #2—Franklin's version of "Mockingbird" scored two weeks at #94 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 in December 1967.

1970s: Carly Simon & James Taylor

Carly Simon
Carly Simon
Carly Elisabeth Simon is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and children's author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records, and has since been the recipient of two Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, and a Golden Globe Award for her work...

 and James Taylor
James Taylor
James Vernon Taylor is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000....

 recorded a remake of "Mockingbird" in the autumn of 1973. The track was released as the lead single from Simon's album Hotcakes, although it was Taylor's idea to remake "Mockingbird", which he knew from a live performance by Inez and Charlie Foxx at the Apollo Theater
Apollo Theater
The Apollo Theater in New York City is one of the most famous, and older, music halls in the United States, and the most famous club associated almost exclusively with Black performers...

 in 1965, and which song Taylor and his sister Kate Taylor
Kate Taylor
Kate Taylor is an American folk singer, originally from Boston, Massachusetts.-Biography:Kate was born in Boston and grew up with her four brothers in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where her father was Dean of the medical school at the University of North Carolina...

 had often sung for fun as teenagers. Featuring a considerable lyrical adjustment by Taylor and keyboard work from Dr. John
Dr. John
Malcolm John "Mac" Rebennack, Jr. , better known by the stage name Dr. John , is an American singer-songwriter, pianist and guitarist, whose music combines blues, pop, jazz as well as Zydeco, boogie woogie and rock and roll.Active as a session musician since the late 1950s, he came to wider...

, Robbie Robertson
Robbie Robertson
Robbie Robertson, OC; is a Canadian singer-songwriter, and guitarist. He is best known for his membership as the guitarist and primary songwriter within The Band. He was ranked 59th in Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time...

's rhythm guitar and a tenor saxophone solo by Michael Brecker
Michael Brecker
Michael Leonard Brecker was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Acknowledged as "a quiet, gentle musician widely regarded as the most influential tenor saxophonist since John Coltrane," he has been awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer and was inducted into Down Beat Jazz...

, "Mockingbird" rose to #5 in March 1974.
The Simon/Taylor version of "Mockingbird" also charted in Canada (#3), New Zealand (#6), the UK (#34) and Australia (see subsection below).

Carly Simon overcame her fear of live performing to come onstage to sing "Mockingbird" with Taylor during his 1975 tour; the duo also performed "Mockingbird" live at the No Nukes Concert at Madison Square Gardens in September 1979, the performance being recorded for the No Nukes: The Muse Concerts for a Non-Nuclear Future album and also the movie No Nukes
No Nukes (film)
No Nukes is a 1980 documentary and concert film that contained selections from the September 1979 Madison Square Garden concerts by the Musicians United for Safe Energy collective, with Jackson Browne, Graham Nash, Bonnie Raitt, and John Hall being the key organizers of the event and guiding forces...

. In recent years Taylor has performed "Mockingbird" live with his daughter (by Simon) Sally Taylor and Simon has performed the song live with her and Taylor's son Ben Taylor.

The 1999 Jim Brickman
Jim Brickman
Jim Brickman is an American songwriter and pianist. He has been named the most charted male Adult Contemporary artist to date, with six of his albums receiving Gold and Platinum status. He is known for his solo piano compositions, pop-style instrumentals, and vocal collaborations with artists...

 album Visions of Love features Carly Simon singing "Hush Little Baby"—as "Hush Li'l Baby"—which Brickman chose for Simon because "I thought it would be cool if she was singing about the mockingbird since she had a Top 5 [success with "Mockingbird"] in 1974".

Australia: Johnny O'Keefe

In Australia, the Simon/Taylor version of "Mockingbird" charted simultaneously with another version - this one featuring the original lyrics - by Johnny O'Keefe
Johnny O'Keefe
John Michael O'Keefe, known as Johnny O'Keefe was an Australian rock and roll singer whose career began in the 1950s. Some of his hits include "Wild One" , "Shout!" and "She's My Baby"...

 sung with his resident background vocalist Margaret McLaren; the two versions were ranked in tandem on the charts, peaking at #8 for four weeks beginning in May 1974. O'Keefe, who had performed "Mockingbird" in 1964 as compere of the Sing Sing Sing musical show, had recorded the track with McLaren in October 1972, the track having a single release in 1973 and appearing on the local "hit parade" in Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...

 that November around the time the Simon/Taylor version was recorded; O'Keefe, who believed that the Simon/Taylor version was effectively a cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...

 resulting from Festival Records company selling the O'Keefe version to American record companies, lobbied the Minister for Media and the Broadcasting Control Board to have his version of "Mockingbird" receive at least equal broadcasting time with the Simon/Taylor version on Australian radio.

In the Australian stage musical Shout! based on Johnny O'Keefe's life, the characters of O'Keefe and of his mother Thelma perform "Mockingbird" as part of a sequence dramatizing O'Keefe's 1975 This is Your Life appearance. The musical opened 4 January 2001 with David Campbell
David Campbell (Australian musician)
David Joseph Campbell is an Australian singer and stage performer. He has performed and recorded many different genres of music from rock to classics. He is the son of singer Jimmy Barnes.-Theatre career:...

 and Trisha Noble
Trisha Noble
Patricia Ann Ruth "Trisha" Noble is an Australian singer and actress.-Biography:Noble was born in Sydney, Australia. Her father was comedian and singer Buster Noble and her mother was the entertainer Helen De Paul....

 as respectively Johnny and Thelma; Campbell and Noble recorded their version of "Mockingbird" for the Shout! soundtrack album released that March.

Other versions

The Belle Stars
The Belle Stars
The Belle Stars were an all female British rock band, founded in London in 1980 by former members of the 2 Tone ska revival band, The Bodysnatchers.-Career:...

 reached #51 UK in October 1982 with their remake of "Mockingbird".

Toby Keith
Toby Keith
Toby Keith Covel , best known as Toby Keith, is an American country music singer-songwriter, record producer and actor. Keith released his first four studio albums — 1993's Toby Keith, 1994's Boomtown, 1996's Blue Moon and 1997's Dream Walkin, plus a Greatest Hits package for various divisions of...

 scored #27 C&W
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...

 in 2004 with a remake of "Mockingbird"; Keith was partnered by his daughter Krystal on the track which was introduced on Keith's Greatest Hits 2
Greatest Hits 2 (Toby Keith album)
Greatest Hits 2 is the title of a greatest hits package released in 2004 by American country music singer-songwriter Toby Keith. The second greatest hits package of his career, it was released by DreamWorks Records Nashville; with sales of two million copies in the United States, it has been...

album.

In 2007, Eddie Money
Eddie Money
Eddie Money is an American rock guitarist, saxophonist and singer-songwriter who found success in the 1970s and 1980s with a string of Top 40 hits and platinum albums...

 remade "Mockingbird" for his album of classic Soul covers Wanna Go Back
Wanna Go Back
Wanna Go Back is Eddie Money's eleventh album, released in 2007. In it, Money sang cover versions of popular songs from the 1960s. His daughter, Jesse Money, performed on three tracks from the album.-Track listing:...

; he was partnered by his daughter Jesse Money.

On the television series Blossom
Blossom (TV series)
Blossom is an American sitcom broadcast on NBC from January 3, 1991 to May 22, 1995. The series stars Mayim Bialik as Blossom Russo, a teenage girl living with her father and two brothers. It was created by Don Reo.- Synopsis :...

, Melissa Manchester
Melissa Manchester
Melissa Manchester is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Beginning in the 1970s, she has recorded generally in the adult contemporary genre. She has also appeared as an actress on television, in films, and on stage....

 and Joey Lawrence
Joey Lawrence
Joseph "Joey" Lawrence is an American actor, R&B-singer, and TV-host. He is known for his roles in the TV-series Gimme a Break!, Blossom, and Melissa & Joey.- Early life :...

—playing mother and son—duet on "Mockingbird" after a solo by Manchester on "Hush Little Baby". "Mockingbird" is also performed by characters in the television series Will & Grace
Will & Grace
Will & Grace was an American television sitcom that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 21, 1998 to May 18, 2006 for a total of eight seasons. Will & Grace remains the most successful television series with gay principal characters...

and in the films National Lampoon's Vacation
National Lampoon's Vacation
Vacation, sometimes referred as National Lampoon's Vacation, is a 1983 comedy film directed by Harold Ramis and starring Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, Randy Quaid, Dana Barron and Anthony Michael Hall...

(1983) and Dumb & Dumber
Dumb & Dumber
Dumb and Dumber is a 1994 picaresque or buddy comedy film starring Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels. Written and directed by the Farrelly brothers, the film follows the cross-country trek of Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunne, two good-natured but incredibly moronic friends...

(1994).

Eminem
Eminem
Marshall Bruce Mathers III , better known by his stage name Eminem or his alter ego Slim Shady, is an American rapper, record producer, songwriter and actor. Eminem's popularity brought his group project, D12, to mainstream recognition...

 also used the lullaby "Hush Little Baby" in the lyrics of his single Mockingbird (Eminem song) from his 2004 album Encore.
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