10 peculiar folk themes from the 60s

When he delivers a song that later becomes popular, the singer-songwriter is just its creator and first performer. He has no control over how others will fix it and the song's later life is quite another story. The secondary fate experienced by each of the ten folk themes below is instructive in this regard:

1957 ∙ La foule (Edith Piaf Fr)
1960 ∙ Where have all the flowers gone (Pete Seeger)
1961 ∙ She moves through the fair (Carolyn Hester)
1961 ∙ The lion sleeps tonight (the Tokens)
1964 ∙ House of the rising sun (the Animals UK)
1966 ∙ Hey Joe (Jimi Hendrix)
1967 ∙ WITHOUT HER (Harry Nilsson)
1967 ∙ Suzanne (Leonard Cohen, Can)
1968 ∙ Those were the days (Mary Hopkin UK)
1969 ∙ Streets of London (Ralph McTell, UK)

WITHOUT HER

A catchy 1967 melancholic classic by Harry Nilsson

New York singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson (1941–1994) is best known for his superb cover of the song ‘Without you’ (1971), originally released by British band Badfinger in 1970. He is also famous for his delightful own composition ‘Without her’ (1967), a sweet, sad and melodious track from his first studio LP that was subsequently covered by many artists from various backgrounds:

1967 ∙ Harry Nilsson ∙ Glen Campbell ∙ 1968 ∙ Blood, Sweat & Tears ∙ Kenny Everett ∙ Ricky Nelson ∙ Lulu ∙ Jack Jones ∙ 1969 ∙ Cilla Black ∙ Colin Blunstone ∙ Johnny Mathis ∙ Herb Alpert ∙ Julie London ∙ Astrud Gilberto ∙ Ginette Reno ∙ The Brothers Four ∙ José-José ∙ 1970 ∙ Billie Davis ∙ Salena Jones ∙ 1975 ∙ Al Kooper ∙ 1984 ∙ George Benson ∙ 2008 ∙ Neil Diamond ∙

Songs by Harry Nilsson:

∙ 1966 ∙ Good times ∙ 1967 ∙ Without her ∙ Ten little indians ∙ 1968 ∙ Everybody’s talking ∙ One ∙ The wailing of the willow ∙ 1969 ∙ (The wailing of the willow by Astrud Gilberto) ∙ 1971 ∙ Without you ∙ Jump into the fire ∙ 1972 ∙ Coconut ∙ Spaceman ∙ 1977 ∙ All I think about is you ∙

WITHOUT HER (Lyrics)

I spend the night in a chair thinking she'll be there
But she never comes
And then I wake up and wipe the sleep from my eyes
And I rise to face another day
Without her

It's just no good anymore when you walk through the door
Of an empty room
And you go inside and set a table for one, it's no fun
When you spend a day
Without her

We burst the pretty balloon, took us to the moon
It's such a beautiful thing
But it's ended now
And it sounds like a lie
If I said I'd rather die, than live without her

Love is a beautiful thing when it knows how to swing
And it grooves like a clock
But the hands on the clock tell the lovers to part
And it's breaking my heart
To have to spend another day without her

Can't go on without her
There's no song without her
It's all wrong without her
Can't go on without her

(Songwriter: Harry Nilsson, 1967)