| "Mockingbird" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single byInez and Charlie Foxx | ||||
| from the album Mockingbird | ||||
| B-side | "Jaybirds" | |||
| Released | 1963 | |||
| Recorded | 1963 | |||
| Genre | Soul | |||
| Length | 2:38 | |||
| Label | Symbol | |||
| Songwriters | Inez and Charlie Foxx | |||
| Inez and Charlie Foxx singles chronology | ||||
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"Mockingbird" is a 1963 song written and recorded byInez and Charlie Foxx, based on the lullaby "Hush, Little Baby".
The original single was credited to Inez Foxx with vocal accompaniment by her brother Charlie, as they alternated the lyric on a syllabic basis. Considered something of anovelty song, it was a great success for them upon its release bySue Records (Symbol Records), reaching number 2 on theU.S. Top Black Singles / Rhythm & Blues chart and number 7 on theU.S. popular music singles chart in late summer 1963.[1]Chris Blackwell ofIsland Records company heard "Mockingbird" playing in a record store in Kingston, Jamaica and flew to New York City to negotiate the track's U.K. release; resultantly Island Records leased the Sue brand for UK distribution to vend the American company's output in the U.K., beginning with "Mockingbird" in December 1963. However "Mockingbird" would not become a U.K. success until its 1969 re-issue when it scored No. 33.[2]
The song wascovered byDusty Springfield for her albumA Girl Called Dusty (1964); Springfield sang both parts of the track. "Mockingbird" was also recorded byAretha Franklin for her albumRunnin' Out of Fools (1965); Franklin performed the song (with Ray Johnson providing the counter-vocal) on the March 10, 1965, episode of the TV programShindig!. Franklin's version of "Mockingbird" was one of several tracks to whichColumbia Records company gave a single release after the singer's commercial success withAtlantic Records in 1967; released at the same time as Franklin's Atlantic single album "Chain of Fools"—which would reach #2—Franklin's version of "Mockingbird" scored two weeks at No. 94 on the Billboard Hot 100 in December 1967.
| "Mockingbird" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byCarly Simon andJames Taylor | ||||
| from the albumHotcakes | ||||
| B-side | "Grownup" | |||
| Released | January 7, 1974 | |||
| Recorded | Autumn 1973 | |||
| Studio | The Hit Factory, New York City | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 4:11 (album version) 3:45 (single version) | |||
| Label | Elektra 45880 | |||
| Songwriters | Inez and Charlie Foxx | |||
| Producer | Richard Perry | |||
| Carly Simon singles chronology | ||||
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| James Taylor singles chronology | ||||
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American singer-songwriters and then husband-and-wife duoCarly Simon andJames Taylor recorded a remake of "Mockingbird" in the autumn of 1973, and the track was released as the lead single from Simon's fourth studio albumHotcakes (1974). It was Taylor's idea to remake "Mockingbird", which he knew from a live performance by Inez and Charlie Foxx at theApollo Theater in 1965, and which song Taylor and his sisterKate Taylor had often sung for fun as teenagers. The song features a considerable lyrical adjustment by Taylor and keyboard work fromDr. John,Robbie Robertson's rhythm guitar and a tenor saxophone solo byMichael Brecker.[3]
Simon overcame her fear of live performing to come onstage to sing "Mockingbird" with Taylor during his 1975 tour; the duo also performed "Mockingbird" live at the No Nukes Concert atMadison Square Garden in September 1979, the performance being recorded for the doubleLP albumNo Nukes: The Muse Concerts for a Non-Nuclear Future (1979) and the film versionNo Nukes (1980). In recent years Taylor has performed "Mockingbird" live with his daughter (by Simon)Sally Taylor and Simon has performed the song live with her and Taylor's son Ben Taylor. On November 25, 2015, Simon sang a live duet of "Mockingbird" withStephen Colbert on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert".[4]
"Mockingbird" became an instant hit, peaking at No. 5 on theBillboard Pop singles chart and No. 10 on theBillboardAdult Contemporary chart, and was certifiedGold by theRIAA, signifying sales of one million copies in the US. The single also charted in Canada (No. 3), New Zealand (No. 7), Australia (No. 8), South Africa (No. 13), and the UK (No. 34).
Cash Box called it a "great re-working of this big 60’s hit," saying that "the fresh approach is keyed by a beautiful vocal interchange between the couple and a greatdixieland horn arrangement."[5]Record World said that "They just don't make tunes as funky as this anymore!"[6]
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United States (RIAA)[18] | Gold | 1,000,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
In Australia, the Simon/Taylor version of "Mockingbird" charted simultaneously with another version – this one featuring the original lyrics – byJohnny O'Keefe sung with his resident background vocalist Margaret McLaren; the two versions were ranked in tandem on the charts, peaking at No. 8 for four weeks beginning in May 1974. O'Keefe, who had performed "Mockingbird" in 1964 as compere of theSing Sing Sing musical show, had recorded the track with McLaren in October 1972, the track having a single release in 1973 and appearing on the local "hit parade" inAdelaide that November around the time the Simon/Taylor version was recorded; O'Keefe, who believed that the Simon/Taylor version was effectively acover version resulting fromFestival Records company selling the O'Keefe version to American record companies, lobbied the Minister for Media and the Broadcasting Control Board to have his version of "Mockingbird" receive at least equal broadcasting time with the Simon/Taylor version on Australian radio.[19]
In the Australian stage musicalShout! based on Johnny O'Keefe's life, the characters of O'Keefe and of his mother Thelma perform "Mockingbird" as part of a sequence dramatizing O'Keefe's 1975This is Your Life appearance. The musical opened January 4, 2001, withDavid Campbell andTrisha Noble as respectively Johnny and Thelma; Campbell and Noble recorded their version of "Mockingbird" for theShout! soundtrack album released that March.
| "Mockingbird" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single bythe Belle Stars | ||||
| from the albumThe Belle Stars | ||||
| B-side | "Turn Back the Clock" | |||
| Released | October 16, 1982[20] | |||
| Recorded | 1982 | |||
| Genre | Synth-pop | |||
| Length | 3:23 | |||
| Label | Stiff | |||
| Songwriters | Inez and Charlie Foxx | |||
| Producer | Peter Collins | |||
| The Belle Stars singles chronology | ||||
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The Belle Stars did a cover version of the song "Mockingbird" in 1982. It was released as their third and final cover. It peaked at No. 51 in the charts, although the single after it, "Sign of the Times", peaked at No. 3. It was the third single from the band's albumThe Belle Stars.
| "Mockingbird" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byToby Keith andKrystal Keith | ||||
| from the albumGreatest Hits 2 | ||||
| Released | November 8, 2004 | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Length | 3:32 | |||
| Label | DreamWorks | |||
| Songwriters | Inez and Charlie Foxx | |||
| Producers |
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| Toby Keith singles chronology | ||||
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| Krystal Keith singles chronology | ||||
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Janette Anne Dimech, known professionally as Jeanette, is a British-born Spanish singer. She began her musical career as a teenager as the lead singer of Pic-Nic, a Californian-style folk-pop band that topped the Spanish charts for several weeks in 1967 with their debut single "Cállate niña". This is a song very similar to 'Hush Little Baby'
Taj Mahal's soulful version on his albumDancing the Blues (1993) features a duet withEtta James.
Lloyd and Harry sing ana cappella version in the 1994 filmDumb And Dumber.[21]
Toby Keith reached No. 27 onHot Country Songs in 2004 with a cover featuring his daughter,Krystal Keith. It appears on Keith's albumGreatest Hits 2.
In 2007,Eddie Money remade "Mockingbird" for his album of classic Soul coversWanna Go Back; he was partnered by his daughter Jesse Money.
On the television seriesBlossom,Melissa Manchester andJoey Lawrence — playing mother and son – duet on "Mockingbird" after a solo by Manchester on "Hush Little Baby".
"Mockingbird" is also performed by characters in the television seriesWill & Grace[22] and in the comedy filmsNational Lampoon's Vacation (1983).
American rapperEminem also used the lullaby "Hush Little Baby" in the lyrics of his single "Mockingbird" from his albumEncore (2004).
InThe Simpsons episode "Three Gays of the Condo" (2003), Marge and Homer sing the opening from the Taylor/Simon version of the song after Marge finds a puzzle piece that has Taylor's face that is part of a jigsaw puzzle that the Simpsons put together. The same version is again parodied in the 2013 episode "Treehouse of Horror XXIV" by Selma who now has a duet partner in Bart's disembodied head being sewn to her body.
British singerDusty Springfield performed the song as a duet withJimi Hendrix on a 1968 episode of herITV variety show,It Must Be Dusty. No high quality versions appear to have survived to present day, but a viewer's film of the performance has surfaced online.[23]
In theClose Enough episode "The Canine Guy", Josh sings the Taylor/Simon opening of the song with Dogboy.
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