Young Blood

Song facts

From Wikipedia:

“Young Blood” is a song written by Doc Pomus along with the songwriting team Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller that first became a hit in 1957. The song was included in the musical revue Smokey Joe’s Cafe.

Structure

Musically, the song follows a minor blues structure, built mostly around three chords (im, ivm, V) except for the bridge (IV, VI, III, V). The lyrical theme is one typical of early rock and roll: boy meets girl, then meets girl’s father, who does not approve of boy; so the boy departs, but cannot stop thinking about the girl, declaring “You’re the one, you’re the one, you’re the one.“

The Coasters’ version

“Young Blood” was originally recorded by The Coasters and released as a single together with “Searchin’” in March 1957 by Atco Records (#6087). This song is compared to the cleaner cut song “Standing on the Corner” from the musical The Most Happy Fella. Their version can also be heard on The Very Best of the Coasters album. It topped Billboard’s R&B chart and reached #8 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The Coasters’ version is ranked #414 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, the group’s only song on the list.

The Beatles’ cover version

The Beatles played “Young Blood” in their Cavern Club repertoire. It is one of twelve songs recorded by them in July 1962 on a tape, which was re-purchased by Paul McCartney at a Sotheby’s auction in 1985.

A previously-unreleased version performed by The Beatles (for the BBC radio show Pop Go the Beatles broadcast on June 11, 1963) is included on their album Live at the BBC, released in 1994. It was recorded at the BBC Paris Studio, London on June 1, 1963, and George Harrison is the lead vocalist on this recording; the tempo is moderately fast, considerably faster than in the original.

Last updated on August 27, 2014

Lyrics