Stand By Me - Single Version

Every now and then, we stumble upon a song that's not so much notable for the song itself, as for the number of quirky facts around it. Such is the case with this cover of "Stand By Me," which earns its own entry. This is of course the famous "Stand By Me," written by the sensational team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and first made famous by Ben E. King. Not that you'd know it from listening to the beginning. We'll leave it up to you to judge if it makes a successful transition to a country and western song. We haven't heard such a genre jump since novelty-lounge-singer Richard Cheese got a hold of "Beat It." This was country-and-western singer Mickey Gilley's only Top 40 US Billboard hit, so we have a "one-hit wonder" as far as the Hot 100 is concerned. However, Gilley has been storming the US and Canadian Country charts since 1974 with his first US Country #1 "Room Full of Roses" til the end of the '80s with four singles from his Chasin' Rainbows album. So frankly Gilley has just as much call to laugh at the Billboard chart, rather than the other way around. Gilley is also the first cousin of both musician Jerry Lee Lewis and televangelist Jimmy Swaggart. Sure, you knew they were related, right? Especially with Swaggart's 1986 comment that rock music was "the new pornography."

Now at last we can talk about the song! This cover of the song was used in the soundtrack of the 1980 film Urban Cowboy, starring John Travolta and Debra Winger. It's notable for trying to stuff John Travolta into a stereotypical cowboy costume at the most stereotypical of cowboy bars. Yes, this is the 1980s John Travolta, looking more like a Welcome Back Kotter Sweathog than a Pulp Fiction mobster. You couldn't imagine somebody who looks more out of place if you cast Mr. Spock as Spongebob Squarepants. And the bar is named "Gilley's" after - you guessed it - Mickey Gilley himself, who also has a role in the film. It's a real place, complete with mechanical bull. Now, don't you dare think of this film as a flop. It banked more than $50 million worldwide.