Ben E. King – Stand By Me

This is one of the great songs in pop history. I know I’m in the minority but I’ve always favored John Lennon’s version but…the two versions of the same song are apples and oranges. Lennon changed it and made it choppy. King’s version is as smooth as you can get…both are great to me.

King recorded this after he left the Drifters. Charles Albert Tindley wrote “Stand By Me” but it was a gospel hymn. He did copyright it but some say it goes back a century early.

The Staple Singers covered it in 1955 and King tried to get the Drifters to cover it but they rejected it. Now… let’s back it up a little…this version of Stand By Me really didn’t sound like the version we know. King took this song to songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and they modernized it and made it into the song we know today with King’s help.

The bassline was the innovation the track has been missing. It gave what had been a mournful gospel hymn the uplifting rhythm it needed. King also had the idea of asking the drummer to turn over his snare and scrape across the skin with a brush – creating that infectious groove.

Leiber, Stoller, and King were credited but they left off Tindley’s name who came up with the version of the song they heard.

The song peaked at #4 on the Billboard 100, #1 in the UK, #45 in New Zealand, and #16 in Canada (Chum Hit Parade) in 1961.

Some 25 years after the song first became a hit, it was given a new lease of life by Rob Reiner, who asked to use King’s original arrangement for a movie he was working on called Stand By Me (same version). It peaked at #1 in Canada, #9 on the Billboard 100, #45 in New Zealand, and #1 in the UK in 1986-87. It also was included in a Levi’s commercial in the UK.

A side personal note… Our band played this song when we were the house band for a club…more like the John Lennon version and I did the vocals. I had an “idea” for this song. I would look for a girl between songs and ask her…” Would you want to slow dance in a minute?” The first one I ever asked said yes. So I started the song and I did a couple verses and chorus and then I put my guitar on its stand and walked off the stage while the other guitar player played a long solo straight to the girl… and I continued to slow dance her. Sometimes the song would last 10-15 minutes much to the band’s dismay and frustration…but finally, I would come back up and finally finish it with another verse and chorus.  After the first time I did this…I had volunteers the next night. I was never a lady’s man at all…but this worked out for me… I dated a few of my dance partners…and I’m no dancer.

Jerry Leiber:  “Ben E. is not a songwriter, he’s a singer, he might have written two songs in his whole career. I would guess that this comes out of church. The whole ‘stand by me’ and the way the release takes out, it sounds like a gospel-type song.”

Stand By Me

When the night has come
And the land is dark
And the moon is the only light we’ll see
No I won’t be afraid, oh I won’t be afraid
Just as long as you stand, stand by me

So darlin’, darlin’, stand by me
Oh stand by me
Oh stand
Stand by me, stand by me

If the sky that we look upon
Should tumble and fall
Or the mountain should crumble to the sea
I won’t cry, I won’t cry, no I won’t shed a tear
Just as long as you stand, stand by me

And darlin’, darlin’
Stand by me, oh stand by me
Whoa, stand now
Stand by me, stand by me

Darlin’, darlin’, stand by me
Oh, stand by me
Oh, stand now
Stand by me, stand by me
Whenever you’re in trouble, won’t you stand by me?
Oh, stand by me
Whoa, just stand now
Oh, stand, stand by me

When all of your friends have gone

…

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

50 thoughts on “Ben E. King – Stand By Me”

  2. I agree this is one great song. That’s a great story of your band days and your dance partners. You sly dog! Thank goodness Patterson rejected the song, it really changed Ben E King’s life.

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  4. I love this song, alway have done – but my main memory of it is seeing my beloved Mink de Ville close their shows with it several times in the late 70s/early 80s. If ever a song was made for Willy’s wonderful voice it is this one.

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  6. Great song, a real classic… good on Reiner (with Stephen King’s encouragement I believe) for bringing it back to the masses in the ’80s.
    That’s a great story about the band of yours! hope you bought the other guitarist a Gatorade after that – that’s quite the guitar solo you needed him to pull off!

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    1. LOL…at first he loved it…all lead guitar players want to play lead…they can’t wait for that moment…I gave him more than he ever thought he would have! He did get tired of it but funny…I never did.

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      1. I bet they were good times. This excerpt is classic:
        ‘After the first time I did this…I had volunteers the next night. I was never a lady’s man at all…but this worked out for me… I dated a few of my dance partners…and I’m no dancer.’

        Yes, Lennon’s version that version is more animated.

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      4. We never were famous but once in a while we got a taste of what it was like…if I would have been a drug user it would have been heaven…I was offered everything under the sun…but people seem to gravitate toward musicians. I met people I never would have normally. Motorcycle gangs, owners of businesses, and some very good people. The motorcycle gangs were probably the nicest people…no one messed with us.

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      5. That’s the thing I experienced as well when hanging out in rough territory. It was often the tough crowd who I felt were more trustworthy.
        Why if you had been a drug user would it have been heaven?
        At least you got the taste. I imagine over 90% of aspiring musicians don’t ever fulfill that dream of ‘once in a while we got a taste of what it was like’.

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      6. Oh…all the drugs I could ever want…of course I said no…very politely…but they respected that.
        I agree…I was lucky…I know I told you…but playing a womans prison…we felt like The Beatles…

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      7. Staying away from drugs was a good choice. I imagine they respected you for that and found you ‘solid’.
        A woman’s prison? Who are you? Johnny Cash version 2? haha How the hell did you get a gig at a woman’s prison? Did you slow dance with them? Haha

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      8. LOL…No…the guards were strict…”don’t dare go near the inmates”…they told us some of them chopped their husbands up lol…I think they were just trying to make sure there was no trouble. Our singer at the time…his dad worked there. They were starved for entertainment…they loved us.

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      9. ‘Chopped up their husbands’. Haha Oh man did I need a good laugh this morning.
        Wow man, that’s wonderful you got to do that thanks to your singer’s dad. How many musicians can say, ‘I once played at a woman’s prison’? Not many lol

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      10. Lol not many! I’m lucky we played all we did… but that one was special… the screaming and clapping… we felt like pop stars

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      12. I once played football (soccer) against a team from a high security prison, inside the grounds, surrounded by high fences etc. There were several murderers in the team. They had to behave though, so they picked me up if they fouled me!

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      13. LOL… you know thats how the motorcycle gangs were we met…the nices down to earth people…but in your case…yea they had to be good….maybe it was your charm!

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  10. Yes, I like the Lennon version too- it’s almost another song.
    At the primary school our kids went to, often at assemblies ‘Stand By Me’ was played with someone on an acoustic and the kids sat on the floor pounding the floorboards in a loose bass rhythm at the end of each line. I’d forgotten about that till now.
    Max, the smooth operator…

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    1. They are apples and oranges. It’s something about Lennons voice with that reverb.
      You know…I’ve never been that guy…who could pick up women…I was terrible…but this was a good idea!

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  11. Great song, and some good recounts of your wildish musician days. Been there and done all that when I was a young-un with a loud guitar. Yeah, bikers tend to be pretty nice folks most of the time, well, maybe not at Altamont.

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  12. A true timeless classic. I also like John Lennon’s version a lot, but still would give Ben E King a slight edge. I had never heard of the rendition by the Staple Singers. It’s outstanding, except I never would have recognized the song!

    As for your dance story, I guess being a guitarist in a band goes a long way to attract the ladies. Slow dancing also sounds it like it has the advantage that you don’t need to know too many steps – just avoid stepping on the lady’s foot! 🙂

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    1. The song was completely different! That bass line and drums really changed it. They are apples and oranges really I think…John’s and Ben’s versions…dont really sound the same.

      I CAN’T fast dance…I don’t have rhythm like that. I was no ladies man but that worked out well for me! All you do is lean on each other and bob a little bit lol. I needed all the help I could get…and that was awesome.

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      2. Not dancing wise…. I was too self conscious…you know what I mean? I could slow dance all night…never fast though.

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  15. Total Classic. Ben’s version was only a minor UK hit at the time and there were competing covers of it, so i only vaguely knew the song when Lennon’s version came out – I loved it, there is a clip of him singing it live which was shown on the Rock show Old Grey Whistle Test I think. So that was my fave version until the 1987 reissue which hit the top spot, and I came to love this version just as much. Both versions topped my personal charts, but these days I’d give Ben the edge. Fab song, though, in any version…

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    1. I know that video you are talking about of Johns.. . the two versions were different but I did like them most….I just like the agressive nature in John’s version….and that choppy feeling and reverb.

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  16. I’ve been meaning to comment on this for ages. It’s one of my most favourite songs of all time, and I ‘collect’ versions of it on youtube. My favourite version is by The Walker Brothers but very different from John Lennon’s and closer to Ben E. King.

    If you ever find a time machine, I’ll dance with you to this!!

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