60s Cover Tunes Pt. 2 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Kingston Trio

This was the Hippie Anthem of the 60s. But not so fast, the folk protest movement of the early 60s claims this song as well. Dino Valenti wrote this in '64 and the Kingston Trio released it in June of '64. Another folk group the We Five had a minor hit with it barely cracking the US Billboard Top Forty in November '65. So when the Youngbloods finally got a hold of it in '67, the Beatnik generation had already made a statement with this song.

But for some reason the initial Youngbloods issue barely made it into Billboard's Top Hundred in '67.

It wasn't until '69 that it was revived and became a Top Ten Billboard hit.

Answer: Tina Mason

The envelope please. It's Tina Mason by a nose with no more than a three week gap over the Liverpool 5. But this one is a bit skewed - "Any Way That You Want Me" was the B side to "Finders Keepers" on Capitol in the USA.
Evie Sands, who normally recorded Chip Taylor songs first bypassed this one until '69. It stayed for a record 17 weeks on Billboard's Top Hundred for a song that did not enter the Top Fifty. Evie actually tied the record with another artist whom I can't recall right now. Was it Trini Lopez?

Answer: Ian and Sylvia

As a Canadian I should have known Ian and Sylvia did it first in '64. They are famous folk artists in Canada. Sylvia Fricker wrote it and released it on the Vanguard label.
The We Five had a Top Five hit with it in the fall of '65 in the USA and Canada, but could not sustain that momentum on their next single.
Crispian St. Peters released it in the USA and Canada in '67 barely squeaking into the Billboard's Top Forty.

Answer: Beach Boys

Well this was a bit of a trick question. The Beach Boys, of course. But if you recall my proclivity for treachery on my previous quiz on covers, then you can expect some of the same.
There's a bit of a twist to this release. Only in Canada as far as I know was "Little Honda" issued as a single not an EP. Most of the world released it as an EP (U.K.,USA,etc..). The flip to "Little Honda" in Canada was "When I Grow Up" which was an A side hit in most countries. Because it was an EP in the USA most of you may have assumed that it was an EP in Canada as well. Which would have made the Hondells single the first to be issued in Canada. Some of you may have gotten it right by mistake. Whichever the case, I was trying to make you believe that it was obvious by trying to be too obvious, to make you think that it was too obvious. And in reality I was trying to be obvious in not being too obvious. Was that not obvious to everyone. I rest my case.
Oh yeah the Super Stocks version was an album cut only.

Answer: The Living Daylights

After extensive research on the internet, I decided not to accept Second Hand Songs' word for it without some concrete evidence. There's a site titled Field's Fab Forty 23rd April. If you google that you will find the exhaustive research on who did the English version first.
The Rokes did the first version ever in Italian. The Skope from Holland did an English version titled "Be Mine Again" in English, but something got lost in the translation from Italian to Dutch to English. So when the Rokes wanted to record the English version the title was translated to "Let's Live for Today". They recorded it and went back to England to have it released but someone else in the recording industry had the Living Daylights record and release it first in the U.K.
The full details are on the site I mentioned. The Grass Roots evidently were in the right place at the right time and recorded it within a week of the Living Daylights' version. But the empirical evidence points to the Living Daylights releasing it first.

Answer: P.P. Arnold

Cat Stevens penned "The First Cut is the Deepest" as an album cut only in the UK. The first single release was by P.P. Arnold in April '67 in the UK on the Immediate label. Norma Frazer was released in Oct. '67 on the Coxsone label named after the owner who produced it.
My fave version is the Koobas released in May '68 in the UK. It was issued in the USA on Capitol in Feb '69.

Answer: Greenbriar Boys

Michael Nesmith performed part of it on an early episode of the Monkees, but did not release it on vinyl until '72. Stone Poneys featuring Linda Ronstadt had a mega hit.
However it was Greenbriar Boys, a Bluegrass group, who released it first on the "Better Late than Never" album in '66. Linda was a fan of theirs when she bought the LP and heard it.

Answer: The Ronettes

The Ronettes had it released near the end of the Philles demise in '66. Phil Spector sorta produced it but he did not put much effort behind the production. Ninety-nine was the best it could do on Billboard's Top Hundred.
The Beach Boy's best cover ever, in my opinion. Carl produced it and it was their last successful song in North America in the 60s era. "Breakaway" and "Cottonfields" would be major hits in Europe afterwards but not in North America.

Answer: Barry McGuire

Here's another one where the release date is unclear. What is clear is who recorded it first. The Mamas and Papas backed up Barry McGuire and used the same backing track that would be used on their single release. The overwhelming consensus is that Barry McGuire recorded it first for his LP in December '65.

Answer: David Cassidy

Captain and Tennille allegedly recorded and released it first on their "Love Will Keep us Together" LP in June '75, but did not release it as a single.
Bruce Johnston produced David Cassidy's "The Higher they Climb, the Harder they Fall" and wrote "I Write the Songs" which was released as a single (David Cassidy) in the UK on June 20 '75. So to avoid confusion I used the single release as the criteria.
Barry Manilow released his single November '75.
Bruce Johnston released "Going Public" LP in '77 with "I Write the Songs".