Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Stevie Nicks, of Fleetwood Mac fame, recorded Needles and Pins in a live duet with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers released on the Pack up the Plantation (1985) LP. I understand that it reached number 37 on the Billboard Charts. My question for the group is how many other cover versions have there been of Needles and Pins. Lyrics to the Petty and Nicks release follow.Quote:Needles and Pins

I saw her today, I saw her face
It was a face I loved and I knew
I had to run away
And get down on my knees and pray
That there'd come a day
And still it begins, needles and pins
Because of all my pride
The tears I've got to hide

Oh, I thought I was smart
I'll hold her heart
And I didn't think I'd do
But know I see
She's worse to him than me
Let her go ahead, and take his love instead
And one day she will see

Just how to say please
And get down on her knees
Yeah that's how it begins
She'll feel those needles and pins
I know, I know

Why can't I stop and tell myself I'm wrong
I'm wrong, so wrong
Why can't I stand up
And tell myself I'm strong?

Because I saw her today, I saw her face
It was a face I loved and I knew
I had to run away
And get down on my knees and pray
That there'd come a day
And still it begins, needles and pins
Because of all my pride
The tears I've gotta hide
Oh needles and pins
Needles and pins
Needles and pins

Let's add a few more:Gary Lewis and the Playboys Mamas and the Papas The Searchers (of course) MIKE PENDER'S SEARCHERS The Clovers The Smokies The Ramones Jackie DeShannon Peter Noone Ultima Thule Willy DeVille

Pete,

At the beginning of the movie, "The Commitments", when Jimmy goes looking for some of his friends to start a Soul group, he goes to a wedding reception where one or two are playing a very (deliberately) wedding reception "style" (and mocking) version of "Needle and Pins", which I still remember with NO fondness at all.

I had a young secretary come up to with a great NEW song she wanted me to hear. You guessed it, Nicks/ Petty, and I'm NOT TOO fond of that one either. (Aside from the demonstration of abysmal music knowledge on her part)

I have Gary Lewis' version. It's surprisingly effective. Lewis sings it in a very quiet, vulnerable manner, which actually fits the song nicely. Heavily multi-tracked vocals, as usual with Lewis, but since it was from his first album, I believe he did all the vocal parts. More importantly, Lewis stays true to the original lyric of "I didn't think I'd lose," rather than "I didn't think I'd do."

Del Shannon did a very good cover of "Needles" for his 1,661 Seconds with Del Shannon album, which came out in 1965. He did it with The Royaltones, who were his backup band at the time. Shannon multitracked his vocals for harmonies that were more complex than those of Mike & Chris, and he does some of his trademark falsetto when he says "Get down on my kness" in the final verse--which is convenient, since he seemed to be having trouble singing in such a high key! The guitar work on Shannon's version is typically fluid for a Del Shannon record, as opposed to The Searchers' crisp guitar playing. Otherwise, it is more or less based on their version.

I know that The Ventures and probably also The T-Bones recorded "Needles." These would be instrumental covers, but I've never heard them, so I can't comment.

Incidentally, my favorite version is Jackie DeShannon's original, but The Searchers come in at a very close second. I am still amazed that Mike Pender could, and still can, sing so high in his natural voice.

SJ: I quite like the Gary Lewis version as well. The tempo is a bit faster and I wish he would slow down a bit, but it is a respectable cover. I think that he may not have been able to pull it off live though.

SJ, are you getting mixed up with the Jackie DeShannon 'original' she wrote When you walk in the room, but Sony Bono wrote Needles and Pins. I've never heard her version although I could imagine her singing it well
Mark

Mark: Jackine DeShannon does a great job on "Needles and Pins." For more information with regard to her discography and history please visit the Jackie DeShannon Appreciation Society.

Peter: I don't know how he sounds now, but in the '60s Gary Lewis would probably have needed significant support from backup singers to pull off "Needles" live. The multitracking really helps the record succeed. My opinion is that Lewis was merely an OK singer, and his records, though quite enjoyable, were very much studio productions, and I can't imagine they had as much impact when performed live.

Mark: I meant "original" as in Jackie DeShannon was, to the best of my knowledge, the first to record it. I did not mean to suggest that she wrote it--although I read an article about Jack Nitzsche that suggested that "Needles" was actually written by DeShannon and Nitzsche and that Nitzsche gave credit to himself and his friend Sonny Bono to boost Bono's morale (Bono was going through his first divorce at the time). Somehow I don't believe that story; if Nitzsche did indeed give credit to Bono when he actually co-wrote it with DeShannon, then the story must be more complex than this article would suggest. My impression is that DeShannon and Nitzsche were too friendly for him to cheat her like that. Whatever, the writer's credit is Sonny Bono-Jack Nitzsche, so Jackie DeShannon didn't make any money when The Searchers made a huge hit out of it, and unfortunately that's often what matters most in the music business.

The Vemtures did indeed record Needles and Pins, they also did instro versions of Walk in the room, Love Potion No Nine and Western Union. A vocal version of Walk in the Room was available on a very rare cassette.

One Omission from the list of artists is Cher, on this forum , I begged the question sometime back, as to what would have happened if Sonny Bono had got her to do her version first?.

Whilst no doubt a plethora of artists will start to emerge, I can add Helen Shapiro, a English Female Singer who was huge in the early sixties and recently toured with The Searchers.
I also have a "Live" version by Cliff Richard but as it has not been officially released, it would n't count.

S.J. and Peter
Thanks for the correction, I hadn't heard the JDS version which I willl seek out, I also understand from friends that Cliff Bennet and the Rebel Rousers were doing Needles on stage 2 years before the Searchers whilst Frank was Bass player
Mark

Mark: You're welcome. On the JDSAS page that Peter gave you the link to, you should be able to find a fascinating article written by Frank Allen about his relationship with Jackie DeShannon. He comments on Cliff Bennett's version and The Searchers' version of the song--although his memory seems to be a little faulty as far as the arrangement on Jackie DeShannon's version is concerned, unless there is a different version of it that I've never heard.

Roy: Thank you for your contributions. This is really a great discussion we have going here. Thank you Peter for starting it.

_LETS NOT LEAVE OUT , IT WAS THE RAMONES DOING

THIS SONG WHICH LED SIRE RECORDS TO LOOK FOR

WHERE THE SONG CAME FROM . THE RESULT WAS TWO

EXCELLENT ALBUMS FROM THE SEARCHERS IN '79

AND '80 .

Very interesting! Thanks for sharing. It's a testament to the song itself and The Searchers' talent that a cover by The Ramones would have produced such a result. How was The Ramones' version? I can imagaine it had quite a different feel from any of the versions I've heard.

I've been busy of late so have not been able to contribute to this list recently. However, just to pick up on the references to Jackie DeShannon's version of Needles and Pins, it was written by Jack Nitzsche and Sonny Bono for Jackie who was the first to record the song. Her version appears on most, if not all, her "Greatest Hits" type albums.
By the way, thanks for plugging the Jackie Deshannon Appreciation Society website, Peter. As the webmaster, I try and keep it as up to date as possible. There are some great pictures of her in the latest on-line newsletter from her recent club appearances to plug her latest album of new material.