Dedicated to the Ones

The version of the song "Dedicated To the One I Love" that is probably the best known today is the one performed by The Mamas and Papas, as seen in the 1967 video below.

My memory of the song takes me back to the Shirelles' version, which was actually given two releases about a year apart. The original 1959 single was apparently ignored by the disc jockeys. When the same record was re-released later, which I didn't grasp was a cover, something about the market had changed ... it became a hit.

But, as I've recently learned, the original version of the song was put out in 1957 by the 5 Royales. It was written by two members of that band -- Ralph Bass and Lowman Pauling. The video below is that version. It's funny, now I like both the M&Ps' effort and the original by the 5 Royales better than the one by the Shirelles, which I liked just fine at the time.

Change is good. See what you think.