Stand by Me

"Stand By Me" sounds like it wasn't written, that it just always existed -- it wasn't heard until Ben E. King released it as a single in the spring of 1961. Of course, that isn't the case. King wrote the song with Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and it was released as the follow-up to "Spanish Harlem," King's first big hit since leaving the Drifters. It had the same elegance as "Spanish Harlem," but there was a big difference. It was slower, statelier, anchored by one of the most memorable non-blues walking bass lines in history and King's warm, refined delivery. His performance is surrounded by a superb, subtle arrangement, where the majestic orchestra doesn't sweep in until the bridge where it cleverly disguises a key change. Best of all, "Stand By Me" played like a love song, but it wasn't. It was a testament to friendship, one of the best of its kind in pop history. Perhaps that's why it was also one of the most endearing songs of the rock era. King's peerless original was never matched and it won the hearts of many generations of listeners; in 1986 it served as the theme song to Rob Reiner's film of the same name and it went into the Top Ten again, spending more weeks on the charts this time around than it did originally, to boot. That doesn't mean that it was an impossible song to cover -- far from it, in fact. It speaks to such universal truths that it can sound good coming from just about anybody. And it does, as Mickey Gilley's 1981 reworking proves. He really doesn't depart that much from the core of the song -- he doesn't need to, it's so strong -- but in his hands, it sounds just as moving as Ben E. King's. Which is a testament not only to his performance, but the timeless creation King wrote with Leiber and Stoller.