This week we’re looking at tunes that were hits multiple times by multiple artists, and today’s song might hold the record for most number of hit covers. The song is “Everlasting Love” and it was a hit for Robert Knight, Love Affair (in the UK), Carl Carlton, Rex Smith & Rachel Sweet, and Gloria Estefan. Wow!
“Everlasting Love” was written by the team of Buzz Cason and Mac Gayden. They were both prolific studio musicians, sometime songwriters, and more frequent producers, recording with artists such as Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, Kenny Rogers, the Crickets, Linda Ronstadt and the Stone Poneys, Joe Simon, John Hiatt, Kris Kristofferson, Jerry Jeff Walker, Leonard Cohen, and Simon & Garfunkel.
The first recording of “Everlasting Love” was released by R&B singer Robert Knight in July of 1967. This version, produced by Cason and Gayden peaked at #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #14 on Billboard’s R&B chart. Knight recalled that he first heard the song at the actual recording session in Nashville:
“I didn’t sing it [as] written. I made some changes to fit my voice, and I didn’t do it note for note. They had the melody going too fast, and it was jamming, it wasn’t doing right, it wasn’t sounding right. So I started what you call a steady step. I start singing a beat and a half: ‘hearts-go-a-stray’—like that. It wasn’t like that in the beginning, and I think that’s what got ‘Everlasting Love’ off the ground.”
In December of 1967, the British group Love Affair released their recording of “Everlasting Love” in Europe. Their version kept Knight’s versions off the UK charts and hit #1 in the UK. It also placed in the top twenty in Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, and West Germany, although it wasn’t released as a single in the U.S.
A half-dozen years later, singer Carl Carlton recorded his cover of “Everlasting Love.” Released in July of 1974, Carlton’s single hit #6 on the Billboard Hot 100, #11 on Billboard’s Hot Soul Singles chart, and #15 on Billboard’s Easy Listening chart. It was also a top twenty hit in Canada.
Fast forward another half-dozen years and heartthrobs Rex Smith and Rachel Sweet released their version of “Everlasting Love,” complete with revised lyrics and a new third verse. Their single, released in June of 1981, reached #32 on the Billboard Hot 100, #34 on the Cash Box Top 100, and #31 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart. This version was also a top twenty hit in Denmark, South Africa, and Switzerland.
Finally, singer Gloria Estefan included a Latinized dance-club version of “Everlasting Love” on her 1994 album of covers, Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me. Her single, released in January of 1995, went to #27 on the Billboard Hot 100, #5 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart, and #1 on Billboard’s Dance Club Play chart.
And there’s more. Australian band the Town Criers had a #1 hit with their cover of “Everlasting Love” in 1968. French singer Joe Dassin had a hit with a French-language version of the song in 1968. In 1977, Dutch singer Patricia Paay had a top forty hit with the song in Belgium. Narvel Felts and Louise Mandrell both had hits with the song on the country charts in 1979. German singer Sandra made “Everlasting Love” into a global dance-club hit in 1987. UK boy band Worlds Apart had a moderate hit with the song in the UK in 1993. And Jamie Cullum recorded a version of “Everlasting Love” for the 2004 movie Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason; his version reached the top twenty in the UK, Denmark, and the Netherlands.
That’s a lot of covers and a lot of success for a single song! Which version is your favorite?
