Young Blood (The Coasters song) explained

Young Blood
Type:single
Artist:The Coasters
B-Side:Searchin'
Released:March 1957
Recorded:February 15, 1957
Genre:Rhythm and blues
Label:Atco 6087
Producer:Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller
Prev Title:One Kiss Led to Another
Prev Year:1956
Next Title:Idol with the Golden Head
Next Year:1957

"Young Blood" is a song written by Doc Pomus along with the songwriting team Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller that first became a hit by The Coasters in 1957.

Structure

Musically, the song follows a minor blues structure, built mostly around three chords (i7, iv7, V7) except for the bridge (IV, VI, III, V). The lyrical theme is one typical of early rock and roll: boy meets girl, then meets girl's father, who does not approve of boy; so the boy departs, but cannot stop thinking about the girl, declaring "You're the one, you're the one, you're the one."

The Coasters' version

"Young Blood" was originally recorded by The Coasters and released as a single together with "Searchin'" in March 1957 by Atco Records (#6087). This song is compared to the cleaner cut song "Standing on the Corner" from the musical The Most Happy Fella. Their version can also be heard on The Very Best of the Coasters album. It topped Billboard's R&B chart and reached #8 on the Billboard Hot 100.[1]

The Coasters' version is ranked #414 on Rolling Stones list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, the group's only song on the list.[2]

The song was included in the musical revue Smokey Joe's Cafe.

Chart history

Weekly charts

Chart (1957)Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[3] 8
U.S. Billboard R&B[4] 1
U.S. Cash Box Top 100[5] 15

Year-end charts

Personnel

The Beatles' cover version

Young Blood
Artist:the Beatles
Album:Live at the BBC
Released:30 November 1994
Recorded:1 June 1963
Genre:Pop
Length:1:56
Label:Apple Records
Producer:Terry Henebery

The Beatles played "Young Blood" in their Cavern Club repertoire. It is one of twelve songs recorded by them in July 1962 on a tape, which was re-purchased by Paul McCartney at a Sotheby's auction in 1985.[8] [9]

A previously unreleased version performed by The Beatles (for the BBC radio show Pop Go the Beatles broadcast on June 11, 1963) is included on their album Live at the BBC, released in 1994. It was recorded at the BBC Paris Studio, London on June 1, 1963, and George Harrison is the lead vocalist on this recording; the tempo is moderately fast, considerably faster than in the original.[10] [11]

Personnel

Personnel per The Beatles Bible[12]

Bad Company cover

Young Blood
Cover:Young_Blood_-_Bad_Company.gif
Type:single
Artist:Bad Company
Album:Run with the Pack
B-Side:Do Right by Your Woman
Released:March 1976
Recorded:1975
Genre:Rock
Length:2:37
Producer:Bad Company
Prev Title:Feel Like Makin' Love
Prev Year:1975
Next Title:Honey Child
Next Year:1976

Bad Company recorded the song on their 1976 LP Run with the Pack. It was released as a single, reaching the Top 20 in the United States and the Top 10 in Canada.[13]

Cash Box called it "a straight ahead rock -out version of a great song."[14] Record World said that "The group recaptures the flippant attitude of the original with Paul Rodgers providing the dynamic tension."[15]

Chart history

Weekly charts

Chart (1976)Peak
position
Canada RPM Top Singles[16] 9
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[17] 20
U.S. Cash Box Top 100[18] 22

Year-end charts

Chart (1976)Rank
Canada [19] 102
U.S. (Joel Whitburn's Pop Annual)[20] 136

Other cover versions

"Young Blood" has been covered by several other artists, including a live performance by Leon Russell at the 1971 Concert for Bangla Desh, who was accompanied by a stageful of world-class musicians including George Harrison, Eric Clapton and Ringo Starr; another performance was included in Russell's three disk set Leon Live; a 1983 version by Beach Boys guitarist Carl Wilson that served as the title track to Youngblood (his second solo album); and a version by Bruce Willis in The Return of Bruno (1987). The Grateful Dead are known to have soundchecked the song. "Young Blood" was performed by Flash Cadillac and the Continental Kids (as "Johnny Fish and the Fins") in a Season Two episode of Happy Days. The song appeared on Jerry Lee Lewis's 1995 album of the same name. For the 1995 Doc Pomus tribute album Till The Night Is Gone - A Tribute To Doc Pomus released by Rhino Records, The Band also recorded a cover, which later appeared on the re-release of their 1996 album High on the Hog.

The song was sung by season 10 American Idol contestant Scotty McCreery during the Leiber & Stoller week of the competition.

Notes and References

  1. Book: Whitburn, Joel . Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Joel Whitburn . 2004 . Record Research . 125.
  2. Young Blood . https://web.archive.org/web/20071002044643/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/6596259/young_blood . dead . October 2, 2007 . Rolling Stone . November 3, 2006.
  3. Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 -
  4. Book: Whitburn, Joel . Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Joel Whitburn . 2004 . Record Research . 125.
  5. Web site: Cash Box Top 100 Singles, June 22, 1957 . April 25, 2021 . January 28, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230128093421/http://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/50s_files/19570622.html . dead .
  6. http://www.musicoutfitters.com/topsongs/1957.htm Musicoutfitters.com
  7. The Coasters: The Complete Singles As & Bs 1954-62, Acrobat Licensing LTD., ADDCCD3180, 2016, UK
  8. Web site: A Beatles' Recording Timeline: First and Best . November 3, 2006 . https://web.archive.org/web/20060825204256/http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/mdcarey/1stbest.htm . August 25, 2006.
  9. Web site: August 29 . BeatleLinks - A Day In The Life . November 3, 2006.
  10. Web site: Live at the BBC . JPGR . November 3, 2006.
  11. Web site: Beatles Recording Variations . November 3, 2006.
  12. Web site: Young Blood The Beatles Bible. www.beatlesbible.com. 16 March 2008. en-GB. 5 July 2017.
  13. Web site: Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada . Collectionscanada.gc.ca . 1976-05-22 . 2021-04-26.
  14. News: CashBox Singles Reviews. March 27, 1976. 26. 2021-12-11. Cash Box.
  15. Record World. March 6, 1976. 1. 2023-03-06. Hits of the Week.
  16. Web site: Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada . Collectionscanada.gc.ca . 1976-05-22 . 2021-04-26.
  17. Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 -
  18. Web site: Cash Box Top 100 Singles, May 15, 1976 . April 25, 2021 . April 25, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210425143056/http://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/70s_files/19760515.html . dead .
  19. Web site: Top Singles – Volume 26, No. 14 & 15, January 08 1977 . . . January 22, 2016.
  20. Book: Whitburn, Joel . 1999 . Pop Annual . Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin . Record Research Inc. . 0-89820-142-X.