| Song | Artist/Date/Label | Remade by | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Radio Free Europe | R.E.M. 1981 Hib-Tone 0001 |
R.E.M. (1983 for I.R.S.) |
| Rag Mop | Johnnie Lee Wills c.12-49 Bullet 696 | Ames Bros. (12-5-49), Lionel Hampton (12-29-49), Joe Liggins, Mighty Blue Kings |
| Ragtime Cowboy Joe | Bob Roberts 4-23-12 Victor 17090 | David Seville & Chipmunks |
| Rains Came, The | Big Sambo & House Wreckers 1962 Eric 7003 | Sir Douglas Quintet |
| Rainy Jane | Neil Sedaka 1969 SGC 008 | Davy Jones |
| Rainy Night In Georgia | Tony Joe White 1969 on lp Monument 18133 ...Continued | Brook Benton, Hank Williams Jr. |
| Ramblin' Rose | Jerry Lee Lewis 10-21-61 Sun 374 | Ted Taylor, MC-5, Wayne Kramer |
Do I have to point out that this is a different song from Nat King Cole's hit?
| Ram-Bunk-Shush | Lucky Millinder 1952 King 4534 | Bill Doggett, Ventures |
| Rave On! | Sonny West 11-57 Atlantic 1174 | Buddy Holly (1-26-58), Waylon Jennings, Steeley Span, Commander Cody |
| Raw-Hide | Link Wray 1958 (cut for Cadence) on CD Sundazed 11137 White Lighting; Lost Cadence Sessions '58 (2006) | Link Wray (1958 for Epic) |
| Reach Out For Me | Lou Johnson 1963 Big Top 3153 | Dionne Warwick |
| Ready For Love | Mott The Hoople 1972 on lp Columbia 31750 All The Young Dudes | Bad Company (11-73) |
| Ready Or Not (aka Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie) | Sam The Sham & Pharaohs 1967? (lp charted 3-11-67) on lp MGM 4422 Greatest Hits | Jay & Techniques (2-7-67) |
A record by Happy Louie titled "Apple Peaches Pumpkin Pie" (MGM 13620) is not the same song.
| Real Wild Child see Wild One |
| Reason To Believe | Tim Hardin 4-25-66 on lp Verve Folkways 3004 Tim Hardin 1 | Bobby Darin (11-1-66), Rod Stewart, Carpenters |
| Red Hot | Billy Emerson 5-31-55 Sun 219 | Billy Lee Riley, Bob Luman, Sam The Sham & Pharaohs, Robert Gordon, Brian Setzer |
| Red Red Wine | Neil Diamond 1967 Bang 556 | Vic Dana, Tony Tribe, UB-40 |
| Red Roses For A Blue Lady | John Laurenz 1948 (rel. 11-48) Mercury 5201 | Vaughn Monroe (12-15-48), Guy Lombardo & His Royal Canadians (12-22-48), Vic Dana, Bert Kaempfert, Wayne Newton |
| Red Sails In The Sunset | Lew Stone 7-35 UK Regal Zonophone 1786 | Guy Lombardo, Mantovani, Bing Crosby, Tab Hunter, Platters, Fats Domino |
| Release Me (And Let Me Love Again) | Eddie Miller 1949 4-Star 1407 | Jimmy Heap, Ray Price, Esther Philips, Engelbert Humperdinck |
| Remember What I Told You To Forget | Four Tops 1972 on lp Dunhill 50129 Keeper Of The Castle | Tavares |
| Remember You're Mine | Ray Vernon 1957 Cameo 109 | Pat Boone |
Cameo 109 was issued twice, with "I'll Take Tomorrow (Today)" on some copies in place of "Remember You're Mine."
| Respect | Otis Redding 7-9-65 Volt 128 | Rationals, Vagrants, Aretha Franklin |
| Respectable | Isley Bros. 10-14-59 on lp RCA Victor 2156 Shout! | Isley Bros. (11-9-59, RCA Victor 7657), Yardbirds, Outsiders |
| Revolution Will Not Be Televised, The | Gil Scott-Heron 1970 Flying Dutchman 26011 | Gil Scott-Heron (1974 on lp Flying Dutchman 10613), Soul Rebels |
| Rhinestone Cowboy | Larry Weiss 1974 20th Century 2084 | Glen Campbell |
| Rich Woman | Li'l Millet & His Creoles 10-25-55 Specialty 565 | Canned Heat, Fabulous Thunderbirds, Yockamo All-Stars, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss |
| Ride, Ride, Ride | Lynn Anderson 7-66 Chart 1375 | Brenda Lee (12-15-66) |
| Riders In The Sky (Cowboy Legend) (aka Ghost Riders In The Sky) | Burl Ives 2-17-49 Columbia 38445 | Vaughn Monroe (3-14-49), Peggy Lee (4-18-49), Gene Autry (8-16-49), Ramrods, Outlaws, Johnny Cash |
| Ridin' The Storm Out | REO Speedwagon 1973 on lp Epic 32378 Ridin' The Storm Out | REO Speedwagon (1977, on lp Live: You Get What You Play For) |
| Riding With The King | John Hiatt 1983 on lp Geffen 4017 Riding With The King | B.B. King & Eric Clapton |
| Right String But The Wrong Yo-Yo, The | Douglas Finnell & Royal Stompers 11-29 Brunswick 7123 | Speckled Red (4-8-30, 1956), Piano Red (1950, 1956, 1962 as Dr. Feelgood & Interns, 1965), Carl Perkins. Danny Shirley & Paino Red (as "Yo Yo") |
| Right Time, The (aka [Night Time Is] The Right Time) | Nappy Brown 10-1-57 Savoy 1525 | Ray Charles (10-28-58) |
| Right Time Of The Night | Peter McCann 1976 20th Centruy 2314 | Jennifer Warnes |
| Ring Dang Doo | Demetriss Tapp 1964 Brunswick 55274 | Sam The Sham & Paraohs |
| Ring Of Fire | Anita Carter c. 11-62 Mercury 72073 | Johnny Cash (3-25-63), Animals, Carlene Carter, Wall Of Voodoo, Social Distortion, Frank Zappa, Dick Dale, Bob Dylan et al. |
Anita Carter's recording is titled "Love's Ring Of Fire" on her Sings Folk Songs Old And New album.
| Rings | Running Bear And Goldstein 1971 (early) Amos 160 | Lonnie Mack, Cymarron, Tompal & Glaser Bros, Lobo, Alex Harvey, Rueben Howell, Leo Kottke |
| Rising Sun Blues (aka House Of The Rising Sun) | Ashley & Foster 9-6-33 Vocalion 2576 | Homer Callahan (as "Rounder's Luck," 4-11-35), Georgia Turner (9-15-37), Roy Acuff, Josh White, Almanac Singers, Leadbelly (1945, 1948), Doc Watson & Clarence Ashley (1960 for Folkways), Bob Dylan, Animals, Frijid Pink, Santa Esmeralda et al. |
The melody is based on a centurys-old English ballad. It's been suggested that the song evolved from a 1928 recording called "The Risin' Sun" by Texas Alexander (Okeh 8673), but I don't hear the connection. According to folklorist Alan Lomax, the lyrics as we generally know them were formalized by Georgia Turner and Bert Martin in 1937.
As to whether there ever was a New Orleans brothel named the Rising Sun, nobody knows for sure. It's also been suggested the song was about a women's prison with a rising sun emblem on its entrance.
Ivy Smith's 1927 "Rising Sun Blues" (Paramount 12436) is a different song.
| River is Wide, The | Forum 1966 Penthouse 504 | Forum (1967 for Mira), Grassroots |
| Rivers Of Babylon | Melodians 1969 Jamaican Beverly's 138 | Boney M, Steve Earle, Neville Bros. |
| Rock And Roll Heaven | Climax 1973 Rocky Road 30072 | Righteous Bros. |
| Rock And Roll, Hoochie Koo | Johnny Winter 6-9-70 Columbia 45260 | Rick Derringer, Suzi Quatro |
| Rock And Roll Love Letter | Tim Moore 1975 Asylum 45276 | Bay City Rollers |
| Rock Around The Clock, (We're Gonna) | Sonny Dae & His Knights 3-20-54 (release date) Arcade 123 | Bill Haley & Comets (4-12-54), Sex Pistols |
| Rock Island Line | Kelly Pace & Group 10-34 on 78 album Library Of Congress AFS L 8 Negro Work Songs And Calls (1943) | Leadbelly (many times, first in 1937), Weavers, Lonnie Donegan, Stan Freberg, Don Cornell, Johnny Cash, Little Richard & Fishbone, Rev. Peyton's Big Damn Band et al. |
In the early 1900s, the Rock Island Company bought a railroad line which cut across Arkansas, through Little Rock and into West Memphis.
| Rock Lobster | B-52's 1978 B-52's Records (no #) | B-52's (1980 for Warner Bros.) |
| Rock Love | Lula Reed 11-29-54 King 4767 | Fontane Sisters |
| Rock Me Baby see Rockin' & Rollin' |
| Rock The Joint | Jimmy Preston & Prestonians 5-49 Gotham 188 | Bill Haley & Saddlemen (1952), Bill Haley & Comets (1957), Long John Baldry, Rev. Horton Heat |
| Rock-A-Beatin' Boogie | Esquire Boys 1952 Rainbow 200 | Treniers (9-9-53), Bill Haley & Comets (9-22-54), Esquire Boys (1954 for Guyden), Buddy Morrow |
| Rockin' And Rollin' (aka Rock Me Baby) | Lil' Son Jackson 12-16-50 Imperial 5113 | B.B. King (many times), Muddy Waters, Jeff Beck |
| Rockin' Good Way, A | Priscilla Bowman (& the Spaniels) 7-30-58 Abner 1018 | Dinah Washington & Brook Benton, Peaches & Herb, Shakin' Stevens & Bonnie Tyler |
| Rocky Road Blues | Bill Monroe & Blue Grass Boys 2-13-45 Columbia 36907 | Gene Vincent, Ronnie Self, Dwight Yoakam |
| Rocky Top | Osborne Bros. 11-16-67 Decca 32242 | Chet Atkins, Dillard & Clark, Everly Bros., Lynn Anderson, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Dolly Parton, Osborne Bros. (1996 as "Rocky Top 96"), Phish, et al. |
| Rolene | Mink DeVille 1978 on lp Capitol 11780 Return To Magenta | Moon Martin |
| Roll And Tumble Blues (aka Rollin' & Tumblin') | Hambone Willie Newbern 4-14-29 Okeh 8679 | Muddy Waters, Canned Heat, Cream, Johnny Winter, Jeff Beck, Bob Dylan |
| Room To Move | Climie Fisher 1988 on lp Capitol 48338 Everything | Animotion |
| Rose Garden see I Never Promised You A Rose Garden |
| 'Round Midnight | Cootie Williams 8-22-44 Hit 7119 | Dizzy Gillespie (2-7-46), Thelonious Monk (11-21-47), Chet Baker, Bud Powell, Betty Carter, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Bill Evans, Sun Ra, Ella Fitzgerald, Stan Getz, Carmen McRae, MJQ, Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins, Mel Tormé, Wes Montgomery, Sarah Vaughn et al. |
Cootie Williams added an eight-bar interlude when he cut it, taking a share of the composers' credit. The third writer's name on Williams' record, lyricist Bernie Hanighen (misspelled on the label), wrote revised words reflecting the "'Round Midnight" theme. Cootie Williams filed a new copyright on the song in November, 1944 and it's likely that only then did Monk learn of the new lyrics and co-credits. Frustratingly, he only received one third of the royalties generated by a song he essentially wrote.
Williams' version was the B-side but it garnered a fair amount of attention at the time.
Many of the artists listed recorded the song more than once.
| Route 66, (Get Your Kicks On) | King Cole Trio 3-15-46 Captiol 256 | Bing Crosby & Andrew Sisters, Bobby Troup, Rolling Stones, Asleep At The Wheel, Manhattan Transfer et al. |
| Rub It In | Layng Martine 1971 Barnaby 2041 | Billy "Crash" Craddock |
| Rubber Biscuit | Chips 1956 Josie 803 | Blues Bros. |
| Ruby Baby | Drifters 9-19-55 Atlantic 1089 | Dion, Billy "Crash" Craddock |
| Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town | Waylon Jennings 9-8-66 on lp RC Victor 3825 Love Of The Common People | Mel Tillis (12-9-66), Roger Miller (1-26-67), Johnny Darrell, Kenny Rogers & First Edition |
| Run Around (aka Runaround) | Three Chuckles 1953 (summer) Boulevard 100/X 0066 | Fleetwoods |
"Run Around" was originally the Three Chuckles' B-side.
| Runaway Train | John Stewart 1987 on lp Cypress 661-117-1 Punch The Big Guy | Rosanne Cash |