4 Covers That Made Big Chart Splashes in 1977

Everybody tries cover songs during their career at some point or another. In fact, many acts deliver at least one per album. When you consider that, you realize what a small percentage of them turn into huge hits.

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In 1977, several cover songs made it through the logjam and enjoyed great pop chart success. See if you remember these hits that were first done by someone else.

“(Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher And Higher” by Rita Coolidge

If you’re going to cover a song that was done in the heyday of R&B, you’d better come up with some sort of slant on it. Competing directly with the original is never a good idea. Jackie Wilson’s original, frenzied take on “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher And Higher” earned its spot in the pantheon of soul music in 1967. A decade later, Rita Coolidge changed the title slightly to “(Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher And Higher”. She also slowed the tempo down and delivered a sultry vocal. The changes were enough to make the familiar song sound new again. Coolidge’s version came up just shy of topping the charts, stalling at No. 2.

“Southern Nights” by Glen Campbell

The great Allen Toussaint wrote and first recorded “Southern Nights” for his album of the same name in 1975. Toussaint ladled some sound effects on his production that made the memories he conjured in the lyrics sound almost like a dream. Two years later, Campbell, who had not too long before given his pop career a huge boost with his rendering of “Rhinestone Cowboy”, lent the song a more straightforward rendering. Campbell took a liking to the song because, as an Arkansas native, he could relate to Toussaint’s reflections. Like “Rhinestone Cowboy”, “Southern Nights” also topped the pop charts for Campbell.

“When I Need You” by Leo Sayer

Leo Sayer had scored one hit in America with the quirky “Long Tall Glasses (I Can’t Dance)” in 1974, prior to his 1976 LP Endless Flight. Produced by Richard Perry, who was at the top of his game as a hitmaker around that time, the album turned Sayer into a worldwide star. First came “You Make Me Feel Like Dancing”, which flirted with disco without completely abandoning the pop lane. Then it was “When I Need You”, which showed his ability to handle a tender ballad. Albert Hammond, who wrote it with Carole Bayer Sager, recorded it first in 1976. But Sayer had the big hit. “When I Need You” hit the top of the US pop charts in May 1977.

“Blinded By The Light” by Manfred Mann’s Earth Band

Bruce Springsteen wrote and recorded “Blinded By The Light” for his 1973 debut album Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. in 1973. He did so at the request of Columbia exec Clive Davis, who wanted more commercial material from The Boss. A few years later, Manfred Mann’s Earth Band was casting about for songs when Mann got a listen to the song. Somewhere in that wordy, slyly funky original, Mann heard the makings of a prog rock epic. The two versions barely resemble each other. But in a somewhat unlikely twist, Mann’s take worked its way to No. 1 in 1977.

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