Tuesday Tunes 182: Stand

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Last week I played you songs about courage and encouragement, and in their comments some suggested other songs for that theme. A couple of these had the word ‘stand‘ in their titles, and that struck me as a good theme in itself. So I’m giving it a go, and as I have quite a list of these it may be more than one go. But definitely no Tammy Wynette involved! So here is my first set of stand or standing songs for your delight and delectation.

It’s a bit of a cheat but I just had to start with this one:

Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing in the Shadow was released as a single in September 1966 by The Rolling Stones, but not on a studio album. It peaked at #5 in the UK, #9 in the US and #8 in Canada. The track was recorded during the sessions for what became their Between The Buttons album, which came out in January 1967, but didn’t make the album, which in the UK didn’t provide any singles. It was however included on the UK release in November 1966 of their compilation album Big Hits: High Tide And Green Grass, which I requested and received that year as a Christmas present, and played it to death, much to the ‘enjoyment’ of Mum and Dad!

This next one was written by a former schoolteacher, and as it deals with the slightly creepy aspects of that I doubt it would be released today. I still like it though:

The Police released Don’t Stand So Close To Me as a single in September 1980, as the lead track from their Zenyatta Mondatta album, which came out the following month. The single reached #1 in the UK and sold more than a million copies here, and peaked at #10 in the US. The album was also a UK #1 and reached #5 in the US, selling more than 1m copies in the UK and 3m in the US – mine was one of those purchases.

For my next tune I’m going with the other straight stand song in this set. This was one that was suggested in last week’s comments, but I would have played it anyway. I couldn’t possibly omit a classic like this:

Ben E. King started his career as the lead singer of The Drifters, and then went on to a very successful solo career.  Stand By Me was co-written by him with Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, and was first released in April 1961, reaching #4 in the US and #27 in the UK. It was re-released in 1986 to tie in with the movie of the same name, which is where the video comes from (a nice movie, if you haven’t seen it). Second time around it got to #1 in the UK, also making #9 in the US. To date it has sold more than 1.6m copies in the US and 1.2m in the UK, which qualifies it here as Double Platinum. There have been many cover versions, notably by John Lennon, but none comes close to the original for me.

I tried to find a live performance of this next one. There are plenty of them, but they mostly seem to have been recorded from miles away and sound quality isn’t great. So it is, I’m afraid, the record company’s official audio version, complete with their poor grammar:

You’re Still Standing There was the closing track on Steve Earle’s sixth album, I Feel Alright, which was released in May 1996. The album peaked at #106 in the US but did much better here in the UK, getting to #44. As I’ve said often before, I’ve been a fan of his since his first album, and have the full set in my collection. This was released during the days when I had a long car commute around the North Circular Road in London, and it accompanied me on many of those journeys. The vocals on this were shared by Lucinda Williams, another long time favourite of mine.

I began today with one of the two biggest bands of the 60s in the UK, so perhaps I should close with the other? OK, here goes:

They look so young! As the video said, that was The Beatles playing I Saw Her Standing There in 1963. It seems like another era! This was the opening track on the band’s debut UK album, Please Please Me, which was released in March 1963 and got to #1. In the US, due to the usual record company shenanigans, their first album was called Introducing…The Beatles which, as a result of a contractual cock up, wasn’t released until January 1964, just ten days before their second US album! It reached #2 in their chart, and has sold more than a million copies. The song didn’t feature on a UK single, but it was the B-side to the US release of I Want To Hold Your Hand, which came out on Boxing Day 1963. The A-side went to #1, as it did here with a different B-side, and I Saw Her Standing There charted at #14 in the US, due to their odd (to us) custom of giving both sides of the same piece of vinyl their own listings.

That’s all for this week, though I have a feeling I may be returning to this theme as there are some well known songs I haven’t played, as well as some less well known ones which are in my collection. I’ll see you again in a few days, as long as we haven’t all been blown or washed away by then. Stay safe, take care 😊

46 thoughts on “Tuesday Tunes 182: Stand”

  1. Sorry I’m late but am still catching up. I love all the standing songs. It was 60 years ago that the Beatles performed on the Ed Sullivan show and I and my friend screamed our heads off in my parents’ living room.

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  2. Pingback: January | Take It Easy

  3. Whatever your subject or prompt you never disappoint or surprise us, Clive this post is no exception although I couldn’t find “I’ll Stand by You” courtesy of Sir Rod-smile- maybe you have saved the best till last…lol xx

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  4. As always you do an awesome set no matter your topic and this stand/standing is yet another great list.
    Thanks so much for participating and sharing at SSPS 294. See you again next week!

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  5. This was a wonderful post today, Clive; I truly enjoyed your great selection of ‘standing’ songs. Opening with the Stones and closing with the Beatles was a stroke of brilliance! Each song had special significance; they all kept me company as I languished in the waiting room of my doctor’s office! This was a terrific way to spend an afternoon. Great post!

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  6. Hi Clive. Good theme and choices! Not familiar with Steve Earle one but enjoyed all! As you say there are some more good ones for another post. Without Googling, possibly Pretenders, Bob Marley and the Wailers, Libertines, Zeppelin?

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  7. All good songs! I had to play the Rolling Stones tune as I didn’t remember it from the title. Good song. Love The Police song (played it just because) but never saw the video and never knew the meaning. Thanks for that tidbit. Steve Earle was new to me; I liked him! Nice post, Clive!

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    • Thank you, Maddie. I’m glad you enjoyed them, and especially Steve Earle. I’m a big fan of his, have all his albums and have seen him in concert. Plenty more like that if you liked this one!

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  10. There are so many great songs that fit the category. Once you start thinking about it more, it’s amazing how many there are.

    I recall your previous post about instantly recognizable openings and Stand By Me is one of those for sure.

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    • It’s mid afternoon here, but I wish you a good morning too. I thought that might be, but there’s no way I’d play Tammy Wynette 🤣

      We’re having quite a lot of weather at present – the named storms are rattling through the alphabet, having gone from H to J in what seemed like minutes. Hope it’s better there 😊

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      • I would have been shocked if you would have played Tammy Wynette’s song. LOLOL!!

        Presently the weather is good here. Who knows what next week could hold. Still have snow on the ground, but is supposed to warm up by the end of the week. 🙂

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      • Not my thing, is it?

        Hopefully it will warm up for you and clear the snow. Other parts of the country have been worse hit than us – very strong storms causing travel chaos. I just stay inside in the warm and dry 😊

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  12. Great music Clive and the Steve Earle song was new to me. There is an upcoming SLS theme February 25, 2024 – Song that were not originally released as an album single and Standing in the shadows would work great for that.

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    • Thanks, Jim, glad you enjoyed it. As I said to Stevie I expected the Steve Earle one to be new for most: you probably had to have had the album to know it.

      Thanks for the heads up for SLS. That one would work well, and so would a lot of Beatles singles, amongst others! It was common here for singles not to be included on albums, though they often found their way onto the US album release.

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  15. Stand by Me my favourite of this collection and I loved the film. Not one of my favourite Beatles songs. Yes they do look young, my mother would read articles in her women’s magazines about the psychology of young girls obsession with Beatles. Girls like eleven year old me often choosing baby faced Paul as their favourite, a sort of safe transition from childhood into the dangerous world of men! Of course my mother said all the new pop stars would not last…

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