"Chains Of Love", a

12-bar blues The 12-bar blues (or blues changes) is one of the most prominent chord progressions in popular music. The blues progression has a distinctive form in lyrics, phrase, chord structure, and duration. In its basic form, it is predominantly based on ...

, was written by

Doc Pomus Jerome Solon Felder (June 27, 1925 – March 14, 1991), known professionally as Doc Pomus, was an American blues singer and songwriter. He is best known as the co-writer of many rock and roll hits. Pomus was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall ...

(a.k.a. Jerome Solon Felder).

Background

Pomus who sold the copyright to

Ahmet Ertegun Ahmet Ertegun (, Turkish spelling: Ahmet Ertegün; ; – December 14, 2006) was a Turkish-American businessman, songwriter, record executive and philanthropist. Ertegun was the co-founder and president of Atlantic Records. He discovered and ch ...

in 1950 for $50.00 (referencing Doc Pomus and his family). Since Ertegun owned the copyright from that point forward, he had legal right to claim the song as his own which he did using the pseudonym "A. Nugetre".

Big Joe Turner recording

The first recording by

Big Joe Turner Joseph Vernon "Big Joe" Turner Jr. (May 18, 1911 – November 24, 1985) was an American singer from Kansas City, Missouri. According to songwriter Doc Pomus, "Rock and roll would have never happened without him." His greatest fame was due to ...

(as Joe Turner) was in 1951, reaching number 2 on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' R&B

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...

.. Turner's version was his first success on the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

label established by Ertegun.

Popular cover versions

*In 1956, the song was

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

Pat Boone Patrick Charles Eugene Boone (born June 1, 1934) is an American singer and actor. He was a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. He sold more than 45 million records, had 38 Top 40 hits, and appeared in mo ...

, whose version made no. 10 on the ''Billboard''

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

. *Another commercially successful version was by

Bobby Bland Robert Calvin Bland (born Robert Calvin Brooks; January 27, 1930 – June 23, 2013), known professionally as Bobby "Blue" Bland, was an American blues singer. Bland developed a sound that mixed gospel with the blues and R&B. He was descr ...

, whose recording reached no. 9 on the R&B chart and no. 60 on the Hot 100 in 1969.Whitburn, ''Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-1995'', p.35 *American country music artist Mickey Gilley released this song in October 1977 as the third and final single from his album, ''First Class''. The song reached number 9 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles chart, and number 7 on the Canadian RPM Country Tracks chart in Canada.

Other cover versions

Other covers include: *

The Hollywood Flames The Hollywood Flames were an American R&B vocal group in the 1950s, best known for their No. 11 hit "Buzz-Buzz-Buzz" in 1957. Early years They formed as The Flames in 1949, in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, at a talent show where memb ...

released a version of the song as a single in 1958. *Johnny Burnette & The Rock 'N' Roll Trio (1957) *

Sam Cooke Samuel Cook (January 22, 1931 – December 11, 1964), known professionally as Sam Cooke, was an American singer and songwriter. Considered to be a pioneer and one of the most influential soul artists of all time, Cooke is commonly referred ...

(1962) * B. B. King (1962) *

The Drifters The Drifters are several American doo-wop and R&B/Soul music, soul vocal groups. They were originally formed as a backing group for Clyde McPhatter, formerly the lead tenor of Billy Ward and his Dominoes in 1953. The second group of Drifters, f ...

(1965) *

Little Richard Richard Wayne Penniman (December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020), known professionally as Little Richard, was an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Described as the " ...

(1973) *

Lou Rawls Louis Allen Rawls (December 1, 1933 – January 6, 2006) was an American record producer, singer, composer and actor. Rawls released more than 60 albums, sold more than 40 million records, and had numerous charting singles, most notably his s ...

(1992) *

Irma Thomas Irma Thomas ( Lee; born February 18, 1941) is an American singer from New Orleans. She is known as the "Soul Queen of New Orleans". Thomas is a contemporary of Aretha Franklin and Etta James, but never experienced their level of commercial succ ...

(1992).

References

1951 songs 1951 singles 1956 singles 1958 singles 1959 singles Songs written by Ahmet Ertegun Big Joe Turner songs Bobby Bland songs Little Richard songs Pat Boone songs The Hollywood Flames songs Atlantic Records singles Songs with lyrics by Doc Pomus {{1950s-single-stub