"Spanish Harlem" is a song recorded by Ben E. King in 1960 for Atco Records. The song was written by Jerry Leiber and Phil Spector and produced by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. "Spanish Harlem" was King's first hit outside of The Drifters, reaching number 10 on Billboard's pop chart and number 15 on the rhythm and blues chart.

The song has been covered by many artists, including Aretha Franklin, whose version reached number 2 on Billboard's pop chart. The song was ranked number 358 on Rolling Stone's list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time."

Background and recording

"Spanish Harlem" was written by Jerry Leiber and Phil Spector, who were inspired by the music of Ravel's Rapsodie espagnole and Debussy's Ibéria. Leiber later said, "I think that he learned a lot by just writing that song with me. By the choices that I made and what I told him to do, adjust the melody or rhythm, make this shorter and make that a little longer, whatever." The main melody was created by Spector and his then-girlfriend Beverly Ross; she was surprised to later hear the melody in the version performed by King.

The musical arrangement was credited to Stan Applebaum, and it included Spanish guitar, marimba, drum beats, soprano saxophone, strings, and a male chorus. King recorded the song during the same October 1960 session that produced "Stand by Me." The composition included a marimba pattern with descending triplets, which was later added by Stoller and became a key part of the recording. In a 1968 interview, Leiber credited Stoller with the arrangement. In a 2009 radio interview, Leiber also said that Stoller had written the important instrumental introduction to the song, though he was not officially credited. In the team's autobiography Hound Dog, Stoller explained that he created this "fill" while playing piano during a presentation of the song to Atlantic Records executives Ahmet Ertegun and Jerry Wexler, with Spector playing guitar and Leiber singing. Stoller noted that the musical figure has been used in every version of the song since.

Release

"Spanish Harlem" was first released as a B-side to a song co-written by Spector called "First Taste of Love." After radio stations began playing the song, it became popular and reached number 10 on the charts in early 1961. This was King's first hit song without the Drifters, a group he had led for many years. The track climbed the Billboard charts, reaching number 10 on the pop chart and number 15 on the rhythm and blues chart. When it was first released, the song was not a hit in the United Kingdom. However, it was re-released in 1987, following the re-release of "Stand By Me," which became a number 1 hit.

Aretha Franklin version

In July 1971, Aretha Franklin released a cover version of the song. Her version outperformed the original on the charts and included slight changes to the lyrics, such as changing "A red rose up in Spanish Harlem" to "There's a rose in Black and Spanish Harlem." Franklin's version reached number one on the US Soul charts for three weeks and number two on the Pop charts for two weeks. It was prevented from reaching number one by the song "Go Away Little Girl" by Donny Osmond. The version also reached number six on Billboard's Easy Listening chart. Aretha Franklin's version earned a gold single for selling over one million copies. Dr. John played keyboards on the recording, with Bernard "Pretty" Purdie on drums and Chuck Rainey on bass.

Cliff Richard versions

Cliff Richard released a version of the song on his 1962 album titled 32 Minutes and 17 Seconds. He also recorded a German version of the song, titled Das ist die Frage aller Fragen, with lyrics by Carl Ulrich Blecher. This version became the number one song in Germany and Austria in 1964 and also reached number one in Switzerland in 1965.

Laura Nyro version

In 1971, singer-songwriter Laura Nyro released an album called Gonna Take a Miracle, which includes songs originally performed by other artists. On this album, she sang with the help of a group called Labelle, who provided background vocals.

Dalida version

In 1961, French singer Dalida sang an Italian version of the song. The lyrics were written by Carlo Da Vinci.

Other recordings

Album: Volume 2 by Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass (1963)
Album: If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears by The Mamas & the Papas (1966)
Album: Bowling for Soup Goes to the Movies by Bowling for Soup (2005)