Spanish Harlem (song)
Encyclopedia
"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; similarly, in a 2009 radio interview with Leiber and Stoller on the Bob Edwards "Weekend Edition" 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 Jerry Leiber doing the vocal. "Since then, I've never heard the song played without that musical figure. 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."
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, and drum-beats, the song climbed the Billboard charts, eventually peaking at #15 R&B and #10 Pop. It was later ranked #349 on Rolling Stone
's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. King's version was not a hit in the UK: the record was flipped and it was the other side, "First Taste of Love", that was played on Radio Luxembourg (it reached the Top 30).
released a cover version of the song on their 1962 album, She Cried.
Aretha Franklin
released a cover version of the song in the summer of 1971 that outperformed the original on the charts, charting #1 R&B for three weeks and #2 Pop for two weeks. Aretha Franklin's version earned a gold single for sales of over one million. Dr. John
played keyboards on Franklin's version. This version hit #6 on Billboard's Easy Listening chart. Franklin also changed the lyrics slightly, from "A red rose up in Spanish Harlem" to "There's a rose in Black 'n Spanish Harlem. A rose in Black 'n Spanish Harlem."
Laura Nyro
covered "Spanish Harlem" in her live concert, at the Fillmore East
, released in 2004 on the CD Spread Your Wings And Fly: Live at the Fillmore East May 30, 1971. On November 17, 1971, Nyro released a studio version on the album Gonna Take a Miracle
. Her covers gender-shift some of the lyrics of “Spanish Harlem”. Thus, she sang “I’m goin’ to pick that rose and watch him as he grows in my garden” (originally “watch her as she grows”). She also added an original gender reference, i.e. “With eyes as black as coal he looks down in my soul.” (The original lyric is “with eyes as black as coal that look down in my soul.”) The live version also substitutes “rare rose up” for “red rose up” in the second refrain.
The song was also covered by The Mamas & the Papas
in 1966, Slim Smith
in 1968, and Kenny Rankin
in 2002. It has also been covered by Willy DeVille
, Leon Russell
, The Cats
, Geoff Love
, Percy Faith
, Janet Seidel
, Chet Atkins
, Rebecca Pidgeon
, Neil Diamond
, Bowling for Soup
, Tom Jones
, Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass
(Volume 2) and Jimmy Justice
.
Led Zeppelin
covered the song, at least in part, in a live recording of "Dazed and Confused." An example of this appears on the Led Zeppelin bootleg Get Back to L.A., a recording of their Los Angeles concert of March 25th, 1975.
Trini Lopez
recorded a version in Spanish as "Aquella Rosa" on his LP, The Second Latin Album, issued by Reprise Records
(6215). A German version, "Das ist die Frage aller Fragen," with lyrics by Carl Ulrich Blecher was recorded by Cliff Richard
(his version was a #1 hit in Germany and Austria in 1963). A Macedonian version, "Spanski Noki," with lyrics by Gjoko Georgiev and re-edition by Milan Kotlic, was recorded by Nina Spirova in the 1970s. There are also versions in French, Swedish, and Finnish.
Finally, Spector himself recorded a version of the song, which can be found on the Wall of Sound Retrospective album, released in 2006.
There have been over 150 recordings of the song.
The song is referred to in the 1972 Elton John
song, "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters
" on the Honky Château
album. The lyrics, written by Bernie Taupin, begin with "And now I know, Spanish Harlem are not just pretty words to say … now I know that rose trees never grow in New York City." The speaker is saying that the song "Spanish Harlem" had given him a romanticized image of the city, but now that he has seen it for himself, he refers to it as a "trash-can dream come true." In turn, Rob Thomas
stated in interviews that Elton's song inspired the line, "my Spanish Harlem Mona Lisa," in the 1999 Santana
song Smooth
, which Thomas wrote and sang.
The song was included in the musical revue "Smokey Joe's Cafe
".
Ben E. King
Benjamin Earl King , better known as Ben E. King, is an American soul singer. He is perhaps best known as the singer and co-composer of "Stand by Me", a U.S...
in 1960 on Atco Records
Atco Records
ATCO Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, currently operating through WMG's Rhino Entertainment.-Beginnings:Atco Records was founded in 1955 as a division of Atlantic Records. It was devised as an outlet for productions by one of Atlantic's founders, Herb Abramson, who...
, written by Jerry Leiber and Phil Spector
Phil Spector
Phillip Harvey "Phil" Spector is an American record producer and songwriter, later known for his conviction in the murder of actress Lana Clarkson....
and produced by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller
Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller
Jerome "Jerry" Leiber and Mike Stoller were American songwriting and record producing partners. Stoller was the composer and Leiber the lyricist. Their most famous songs include "Hound Dog", "Jailhouse Rock", "Kansas City", "Stand By Me" Jerome "Jerry" Leiber (April 25, 1933 – August 22, 2011)...
. During a 1968 interview, Leiber credited Stoller with the arrangement; similarly, in a 2009 radio interview with Leiber and Stoller on the Bob Edwards "Weekend Edition" 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 Jerry Leiber doing the vocal. "Since then, I've never heard the song played without that musical figure. 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."
The song was King's first hit away from The Drifters
The Drifters
The Drifters are a long-lived American doo-wop and R&B/soul vocal group with a peak in popularity from 1953 to 1963, though several splinter Drifters continue to perform today. They were originally formed to serve as Clyde McPhatter's backing group in 1953...
, a group he had led for several years. With an arrangement by Stan Applebaum featuring Spanish guitar, marimba, and drum-beats, the song climbed the Billboard charts, eventually peaking at #15 R&B and #10 Pop. It was later ranked #349 on Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. King's version was not a hit in the UK: the record was flipped and it was the other side, "First Taste of Love", that was played on Radio Luxembourg (it reached the Top 30).
Cover versions
Jay and the AmericansJay and the Americans
Jay and the Americans was a pop music group popular in the 1960s. Their initial lineup consisted of John "Jay" Traynor, Howard Kane , Kenny Vance and Sandy Deanne , though their greatest success on the charts came after Traynor had been replaced as lead singer by Jay Black.-Early years:They were...
released a cover version of the song on their 1962 album, She Cried.
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...
released a cover version of the song in the summer of 1971 that outperformed the original on the charts, charting #1 R&B for three weeks and #2 Pop for two weeks. Aretha Franklin's version earned a gold single for sales of over one million. 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...
played keyboards on Franklin's version. This version hit #6 on Billboard's Easy Listening chart. Franklin also changed the lyrics slightly, from "A red rose up in Spanish Harlem" to "There's a rose in Black 'n Spanish Harlem. A rose in Black 'n Spanish Harlem."
Laura Nyro
Laura Nyro
Laura Nyro was an American songwriter, singer, and pianist. She achieved considerable critical acclaim with her own recordings, particularly the albums Eli and the Thirteenth Confession and New York Tendaberry, and had commercial success with artists such as Barbra Streisand and The 5th...
covered "Spanish Harlem" in her live concert, at the Fillmore East
Fillmore East
The Fillmore East was rock promoter Bill Graham's rock venue on Second Avenue near East 6th Street in the East Village neighborhood of the Manhattan borough of New York City. It was open from 1968 to 1971, and featured some of the biggest acts in rock music at the time...
, released in 2004 on the CD Spread Your Wings And Fly: Live at the Fillmore East May 30, 1971. On November 17, 1971, Nyro released a studio version on the album Gonna Take a Miracle
Gonna Take a Miracle
Gonna Take a Miracle is the fifth music album by New York-born singer, songwriter, and pianist Laura Nyro. Nyro was backed up on the album by the vocal trio Labelle....
. Her covers gender-shift some of the lyrics of “Spanish Harlem”. Thus, she sang “I’m goin’ to pick that rose and watch him as he grows in my garden” (originally “watch her as she grows”). She also added an original gender reference, i.e. “With eyes as black as coal he looks down in my soul.” (The original lyric is “with eyes as black as coal that look down in my soul.”) The live version also substitutes “rare rose up” for “red rose up” in the second refrain.
The song was also covered by The Mamas & the Papas
The Mamas & the Papas
The Mamas & the Papas were a Canadian/American vocal group of the 1960s . The group recorded and performed from 1965 to 1968 with a short reunion in 1971, releasing five albums and 11 Top 40 hit singles...
in 1966, Slim Smith
Slim Smith
Slim Smith was a ska, rocksteady and reggae singer. In their book Reggae: The Rough Guide , Steve Barrow and Peter Dalton described Smith as "the greatest vocalist to emerge in the rocksteady era".-Biography:Smith first came to prominence as a member of the Victors Youth Band, who were highly...
in 1968, and Kenny Rankin
Kenny Rankin
Kenny Rankin was an American pop and jazz singer and songwriter, originally from the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City, New York.-Biography:...
in 2002. It has also been covered by Willy DeVille
Willy DeVille
Willy DeVille was an American singer and songwriter. During his thirty-five year career, first with his band Mink DeVille and later on his own, Deville created original songs rooted in traditional American musical styles. He worked with collaborators from across the spectrum of contemporary...
, Leon Russell
Leon Russell
Claude Russell Bridges , known professionally as Leon Russell, is an American musician and songwriter, who has recorded as a session musician, sideman, and maintained a solo career in music....
, The Cats
The Cats
The Cats were a rock band from Volendam, The Netherlands. Together with BZN, they were key figures of what came to be called the Palingsound , an umbrella for artists residing in Volendam...
, Geoff Love
Geoff Love
Geoff Love was a British easy-listening, and disco orchestra leader. He was born in the industrial town of Todmorden in the West Riding of Yorkshire. His father was a mixed race American-born guitarist and dancer, and his mother an actress. As a child, Love began to learn to play the violin but...
, Percy Faith
Percy Faith
Percy Faith was a Canadian-born American bandleader, orchestrator, composer and conductor, known for his lush arrangements of pop and Christmas standards. He is often credited with creating the "easy listening" or "mood music" format which became staples of American popular music in the 1950s and...
, Janet Seidel
Janet Seidel
Janet Seidel is an Australian-born jazz vocalist and pianist.Her albums, recorded with musicians including her brother, bassist David Seidel, have been nominated for prizes such as the ARIA Music Awards. Her album "Moon of Manakoora" won the Bell Award for Best Australian Jazz Vocal Album in...
, Chet Atkins
Chet Atkins
Chester Burton Atkins , known as Chet Atkins, was an American guitarist and record producer who, along with Owen Bradley, created the smoother country music style known as the Nashville sound, which expanded country's appeal to adult pop music fans as well.Atkins's picking style, inspired by Merle...
, Rebecca Pidgeon
Rebecca Pidgeon
Rebecca Pidgeon is a British actress and singer-songwriter. She has maintained a recording career while also acting on stage and in feature films. She is married to the American writer and director David Mamet.-Early life:...
, Neil Diamond
Neil Diamond
Neil Leslie Diamond is an American singer-songwriter with a career spanning over five decades from the 1960s until the present....
, Bowling for Soup
Bowling for Soup
Bowling for Soup is an American pop-punk band which originally formed in Wichita Falls, Texas in 1994...
, Tom Jones
Tom Jones (singer)
Sir Thomas John Woodward, OBE , known by his stage name Tom Jones, is a Welsh singer.Since the mid 1960s, Jones has sung many styles of popular music – pop, rock, R&B, show tunes, country, dance, techno, soul and gospel – and sold over 100 million records...
, Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass
Herb Alpert
Herbert "Herb" Alpert is an American musician most associated with the group variously known as Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass, or TJB. He is also a recording industry executive — he is the "A" of A&M Records...
(Volume 2) and Jimmy Justice
Jimmy Justice
Jimmy Justice is the name of:* Jimmy Justice , English pop singer* Jimmy Justice , pseudonym of a video activist in New York City...
.
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
covered the song, at least in part, in a live recording of "Dazed and Confused." An example of this appears on the Led Zeppelin bootleg Get Back to L.A., a recording of their Los Angeles concert of March 25th, 1975.
Trini Lopez
Trini Lopez
Trini Lopez is an American singer, guitarist and actor.-Career:Lopez was born in Dallas, Texas, on Ashland Street in the Little Mexico neighborhood. He began his entertainment career in Dallas playing at the Vegas Club, a nightclub owned by Jack Ruby...
recorded a version in Spanish as "Aquella Rosa" on his LP, The Second Latin Album, issued by Reprise Records
Reprise Records
Reprise Records is an American record label, founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operated through Warner Bros. Records.-Beginnings:...
(6215). A German version, "Das ist die Frage aller Fragen," with lyrics by Carl Ulrich Blecher was recorded by Cliff Richard
Cliff Richard
Sir Cliff Richard, OBE is a British pop singer, musician, performer, actor, and philanthropist who has sold over an estimated 250 million records worldwide....
(his version was a #1 hit in Germany and Austria in 1963). A Macedonian version, "Spanski Noki," with lyrics by Gjoko Georgiev and re-edition by Milan Kotlic, was recorded by Nina Spirova in the 1970s. There are also versions in French, Swedish, and Finnish.
Finally, Spector himself recorded a version of the song, which can be found on the Wall of Sound Retrospective album, released in 2006.
There have been over 150 recordings of the song.
The song is referred to in the 1972 Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
song, "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters
Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters
"Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters" is a song from the Elton John album Honky Château. It reflects Bernie Taupin's take on New York City after hearing a gun go off near his hotel window during his first visit to the city. The song's lyrics were partly inspired by Ben E...
" on the Honky Château
Honky Château
Honky Château is the fifth studio album by British singer/songwriter Elton John, released in 1972. In 2003, the album was ranked number 357 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. It was certified Gold on 7/24/1972 and Platinum on 10/11/1995 by the R.I.A.A...
album. The lyrics, written by Bernie Taupin, begin with "And now I know, Spanish Harlem are not just pretty words to say … now I know that rose trees never grow in New York City." The speaker is saying that the song "Spanish Harlem" had given him a romanticized image of the city, but now that he has seen it for himself, he refers to it as a "trash-can dream come true." In turn, Rob Thomas
Rob Thomas (musician)
Robert Kelly "Rob" Thomas is an American rock recording artist and songwriter. He is the primary songwriter and lead singer of the band Matchbox Twenty. Thomas also records and performs as a solo artist...
stated in interviews that Elton's song inspired the line, "my Spanish Harlem Mona Lisa," in the 1999 Santana
Carlos Santana
Carlos Augusto Alves Santana is a Mexican rock guitarist. Santana became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band, Santana, which pioneered rock, salsa and jazz fusion...
song Smooth
Smooth (song)
"Smooth" is a collaboration between latin rock band Santana and Rob Thomas of the rock group Matchbox Twenty. The song was written by Thomas and Itaal Shur, sung by Thomas, and won three Grammy Awards, including Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals.-Concept...
, which Thomas wrote and sang.
The song was included in the musical revue "Smokey Joe's Cafe
Smokey Joe's Cafe
Smokey Joe's Cafe is a musical revue showcasing 39 pop standards, including rock and roll, rhythm and blues songs written by songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller...
".