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Angel of the Morning

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"Angel of the Morning" is a hit pop song that has been recorded numerous times, and has been a charting hit single for several artists including John Stamos, Merrilee Rush, P.P. Arnold, Olivia Newton-John, Dusty Springfield, Mary Mason, Melba Montgomery, Juice Newton, and Chrissie Hynde.

Original and charting versions

Written and composed by New York-born songwriter Chip Taylor, "Angel of the Morning" was originally offered to Connie Francis to sing, but she turned it down because she thought that it was too risqué for her career. The song was next offered to Evie Sands who recorded it for Cameo-Parkway Records in 1967, but the record label went bankrupt, stranding the song in limbo. A representative from publishing company April-Blackwood then pitched the song to Memphis producer Chips Moman and Merrilee Rush. The song was subsequently recorded by Merrilee Rush and The Turnabouts, who made it into a #7 hit on the Pop music charts in the U.S.A. in late June, 1968.

In the United Kingdom, also in 1968, P.P. Arnold recorded "Angel of The Morning" and had the first hit with it in that country. Mary Mason also had a UK Top 30 hit with her version ("Angel of the Morning - Any Way That You Want Me") in 1977.

The following year, Melba Montgomery recorded this song, and she took it to #22 on the U.S. country charts in 1978. It was the last top 40 hit of Montgomery's career.

The highest-charting (and largest-selling) version in the United States was recorded and released in 1981 by country-rock chanteuse Juice Newton, hitting #1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart (for four weeks) and #4 on the Hot 100, as well as #22 on the Country chart. The recording also earned Newton a Grammy Awards nomination for Best Female Vocalist - Pop. More than one million copies of Newton's single of the song were sold in the United States, and the single reached the Top Ten in a number of other countries, including Canada and Australia. Newton recorded the song again in 1998 on her "The Trouble with Angels" album. Reggae artist Shaggy released a single entitled "Angel" in 2001 that featured a reworked tune and almost entirely new lyrics, turning it into an apology and homage to his lady love, instead of the original's tone of loss and one-night stands. This version hit #1 in the US.

More recently, Swedish singer Jill Johnson released "Angel of the Morning", with lyrics in English, in 2007 from her cover album Music Row. This version peaked at #30 at the Swedish singles chart.

Non-charting cover versions

  • Billie Davis released her version in late 1967 (Decca F 12696).
  • The American based singer Joya Landis recorded an early reggae version of this song in 1968. The Jamaican single was on the Treasure Isle label. The UK single (on Trojan TR 622) had Love Letters by Phyllis Dillon & Alton Ellis on the b-side. It also appeared on the compilation album Soul Of Jamaica a.k.a. Come Rock With Me In Jamaica, 1968 and on the Trojan compilation album Tighten Up, Volume 1, 1968. It was produced by Arthur Reid.
  • Soul singer Bettye Swann covered the song in the late 1960s, shortly after the Merrillee Rush version was released.
  • In 1995, Chrissie Hynde and The Pretenders sang their own version on the Friends soundtrack album. The song was released as a single as well, but it did not chart.
  • The short-lived British girl band Thunderbugs recorded a fresh, upbeat version of the song in their 1999 debut (and only) album, Delicious.

Film and Television

The Merrilee Rush version of the song is featured in the soundtrack of the movie, Girl, Interrupted. The Rush version is also played during a scene in the 1978 film Fingers, where it is used to accentuate the conflicted nature of the main character played by Harvey Keitel. The song was performed live by Chrissie Hynde in a 1995 episode of Friends titled "The One with the Baby on the Bus", and that version also appears in that show's soundtrack album. The song also makes an appearance in the 1996 film Jerry Maguire, with Tom Cruise's titular character singing what appears to be the original version, enthusiastically if badly. More recently, Conan O'Brien has referenced the track, during periodic ironic pledges to cease his show's use of arbitrary & stupid humor in which he presents a gorilla dressed as a nurse who uses an old-fashioned abdominal exerciser while enjoying the song. In "Branch Closing", an episode of The Office, Michael Scott sings "Levinson in the morning" to his supervisor, Jan Levinson.

Juice Newton's version can be heard in the movie Charlie Wilson's War, in Charlie Wilson (Tom Hanks)'s apartment in Washington D.C. with his mistress, just before they receive a call from Joanne Herring. Near the start of the film, it is also sung by Emily Blunt.

Versions

Versions include:

References


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