Song: Angel of the Morning
Artists: Juice Newton/Shaggy ft Rayvon
Original artists: Evie Sands/Merrilee Rush
If you find the artist line-up above a little confusing, I apologise. I hope much will
become clearer shortly.
Let me kick-off with the easy bit. Angel of the Morning was written by a member of a
famous family – Chip Taylor. Never heard of him? Well, maybe you know his sibling –
Jon Voight – and niece – Angelina Jolie – a little better. But Chip is no one-hit wonder,
he also wrote Wild Thing which became a big hit for The Troggs.
The ‘Angel’ song was originally recorded back in 1967 by Evie Sands, but it did not
chart. The first success it enjoyed was when Merrilee Rush recorded it the following
year. It reached No 7 in the US and No 1 in Canada, Australia and New Zealand. It did
not have notable success in the UK.
Bigger US success with the song was achieved more than a dozen years later by
country-rock singer Juice Newton in1981. Her version went to No 4 in the US, selling
more than a million copies. It also reached the top five in countries such as Canada,
Australia, South Africa, Switzerland and New Zealand. It had minor chart success in the
UK reaching No 43.
There have been many cover versions of the song down the years. In 1968, PP Arnold
took it to No 29 in the UK. Subsequently, Nina Simone recorded it as did Guys ‘n’ Dolls
and The Pretenders. But the biggest success was achieved by Shaggy in 2001.
In the strictest sense I’m not sure his track Angel (featuring Rayvon) can be described
as a cover version. Apart from the use of the word ‘Angel’ there is no real overlap in the
lyrics. The song also owes much to The Joker by the Steve Miller Band, but parts of the
backing beat are definitely a homage to the Chip Taylor original. Shaggy’s Angel
reached No 1 in 12 countries – among them the US, the UK, Australia, Ireland and
Germany. Does it qualify as a cover version of Angel of the Morning? Judge for yourself
by viewing the video below.
