Beech Tree News Network

Oh, You Didn’t Know?
You can learn some pretty cool things listening to a Sirius XM station.  The other day I was listening to 60’s on 6 and learned that Jimmy Page, yes THAT Jimmy Page, played guitar on Brenda Lee’s 1964 hit “It’s True”.  No really, it’s true.  The song peaked at #17 on Billboard’s Hot 100.  Here’s one that I actually knew: Bruce Springsteen wrote the Pointer Sisters’ hit “Fire”. 
One that I learned on a recent edition of CBS Sunday morning where they featured a profile on artist Ne-Yo, he wrote Beyoncé’s hit “Irreplaceable”.  Will I Am wrote Usher’s hit “OMG”. That one didn’t surprise me at all.  Avril Lavinge wrote Kelly Clarkson’s 2004 hit “Breakaway”.  The song was actually intended for Lavigne’s 2002 album Let Go.  The label deemed it too serious for Lavigne.  The funny thing is, if you go back and listen to Avril’s song “I’m With You” from her first album, it sounds exactly the same. I think Kelly’s fans are glad she “let go” of the song.  See what I did there?
‘90’s music fans like myself will remember Natalie Merchant’s song “Because The Night”.  But hold on Satchmo, she didn’t write it nor was she the first to record the hit.  “Because the night belongs to lovers, because the night belongs to us”, I’m playing the song in my head right now.  The steamy lyrics were actually written by Bruce Springsteen.  He gave it to his friend Patti Smith in 1978.  He thought it was more suited for Smith.  Years later, the song was covered by the group 10,000 Maniacs.  Great songs have staying power.
In 2010, Cee-Lo Green released a song called, and I can’t believe this got to radio, “F__ You”.  Mr. Green may have given the song vocals, but the song was actually written by Mr. Uptown Funk himself, Bruno Mars.  “It was the perfect marriage.  Everyone put their minds together and came up with one of the favorite tracks we’ve ever done”.  I wonder if it’s still their favorite.  Maybe just one of their favorites.
Let it be known that Jessie J wrote Miley Cyrus’ hit “Party in the U.S.A”.  I wonder how Jessie would sound on the track? And for those who don’t know Jessie J, she sang one of the songs Good Morning America started using last Summer, “Price Tag”, for their Deals & Steals segment.  I think they still used the song.  Jessie J’s version of “Party in the U.S.A. circulated online. 
Here’s a shocker: Madonna’s 1990 hit “Justify My Love” was written by Lenny Kravitz! He was actually a relative unknown at that time.  The following year Lisa Bonet promptly divorced him, convinced he was having an affair with Madge.  The hot vocals and Lenny’s background on the song did nothing to dispel the concern.
Remember American Idol winner Adam Lambert’s 2009 hit “Whattaya Want From Me”? It was written by pop star Pink.  She wrote the song for her Funhouse album but the track was shelved, eventually given to the Idol winner.  Pink’s version soon leaked online, causing a “who sang it better” debate. Christina Milan and The Dream are to blame, I mean wrote Justin Bieber’s 2009 hit “Baby”.  Prince wrote the music for Stevie Nicks’ 1981 song “Stand Back”.  Nicks did, however, write the lyrics.  Nicks couoldn’t get Prince’s song “Little Red Corvette” out of her head(who can?) and she couldn’t get the melody out of her head.  Later that night, she taped herself humming an early version of “Stand Back” based on Prince’s tune.  She played it over the phone for him.  He rushed it to the studio and put the synth to the track.  Prince wrote “Manic Monday” for one of his girl groups, but gave it to the Bangles after developing a crush on one of the group members. A relationship never came to fruition, but a great song did.
That’s just a glimpse behind the scenes of some of pop’s biggest hits.  And of course there’s Sam Smith’s “Stay With Me” which samples from Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down”.  No lawsuits, just one of many fun coincidences.