My Song Will Go On

Okay, here's one for all of you music historians. Every so often, a song is sung so well on the first take that the version that is pressed is the first one that was performed. An example of this would be Celine Dion's Emmy and Oscar winning My Heart Will Go On. She hated the song and had to be begged to record a demo. The demo was so strong that it was the vocal that was put on record and wound up being historically significant.

Can anyone recall other hit songs that resulted either from the first studio performance [[or first session)? I'm sure there are plenty but I think it's remarkable when someone can put their foot in it once and stand out. This is more incredible in light of the fact that many of today's singers record their songs line-by-line.

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"When I recorded it, I didn’t think about a movie; I didn’t think about radio,” Dion told Billboard. "I thought, 'Sing the song, then get the heck out of there.'"

According to the people involved in the making of the song, there was a lot of pushback to not include it in the soundtrack, and, as Céline recalls, it took her late husband, René Angélil, and Tommy Mottola, then-head of Sony Music Entertainment, to convince her to even record the James Horner-penned tune. [[Horner died in a 2015 plane crash at age 61.)


Fortunately for all of us, Mottola convinced the singer to get in the studio after explaining the plot of the film. And even though she was suffering from, as Dion hilariously puts it, "belly pains" and "girly days," she agreed to record a demo.


"They’re all crying. And they said, 'We’re done.' I said, 'OK, well, I’m glad that you liked the demo," she said.

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https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2017/0..._16700430.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcU0qbV70rU

The rendition on the Force MDs single Tears is reportedly the first version that was recorded by the late Antoine "TCD" Lundy. Still blows my mind.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpSMJAXASQ4

Good post,legend has it that eddie kendricks never needed more than one take in the studio,and was called-one take eddie.

Also...it is said that the great[dinah washington]often recorded when she was tipsy which more than likely resulted in one take sessions..and didn't marvin gaye often record with a studio full of folks talking and singing in the background?

I hadn't heard either of those. I'm going to look them up [[I love stories like that). Of course, Screamin' Jay Hawkins' phenomenal I Put A Spell On You was recorded while he was smashed. I don't know how many takes it took to create that masterpiece. That is the singular most hilarious thing ever put on tape.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwXai-sgM-s

Just found this:

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Frank Sinatra – pretty much any of his songs. Frank was even known by the nickname “One-take Frank” in the music industry and as “One-take Charlie” in the field of acting for his style of spontaneity. Frank would walk into a recording studio, sing a live song with a band, turn around and walk back out. Quincy Jones, who produced albums by Sinatra said, “He came in at 2 p.m., and in less than two hours we had rehearsed, had keys and routines on ten songs… Frank is one take, that’s it. If the band’s not in shape, he leaves them behind… he came in at 7, and at 8:20, baby, we went home. None of that three-month stuff.”

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http://ppcorn.com/us/top-5-famous-so...a-single-take/

Haaaaaaaaaa..frank had to get to the casino to hang with his[ratpack]!!

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Originally Posted by arr&bee

Also...it is said that the great[dinah washington]often recorded when she was tipsy which more than likely resulted in one take sessions..and didn't marvin gaye often record with a studio full of folks talking and singing in the background?

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Got To Give It Up is one of those from Marvin.
If you listen real close, you clearly hear - "Hey, Don! Hey, Don! I didn't know you were here, man!" [[referring to Don Cornelius) Found that out on one of those soul oldies Internet radio stations.