"Nobody's Child" is a song written by Cy Coben and Mel Foree and first recorded by

Hank Snow Clarence Eugene "Hank" Snow (May 9, 1914 – December 20, 1999) was a Canadian-American country music artist. Most popular in the 1950s, he had a career that spanned more than 50 years, he recorded 140 albums and charted more than 85 singles on ...

in 1949. Many other versions of this song exist.

History

It was first recorded by

in 1949 and it became one of his standards, although it did not chart for him. The song has been covered several times in the UK. It was on

Lonnie Donegan Anthony James Donegan (29 April 1931 – 3 November 2002), known as Lonnie Donegan, was a British skiffle singer, songwriter and musician, referred to as the " King of Skiffle", who influenced 1960s British pop and rock musicians. Born in Scot ...

's first album in 1956 (which went to No. 2 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

), and in 1969 Karen Young took the song to No. 6 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

and used it as the title track on her album. In 1969, a recording by

Hank Williams Jr. Randall Hank Williams (born May 26, 1949), known professionally as Hank Williams Jr. or Bocephus, is an American singer-songwriter and musician. His musical style is often considered a blend of southern rock, blues, and country. He is the son of ...

peaked at No. 46 on the US Country chart. The

Traveling Wilburys The Traveling Wilburys were a British-American supergroup consisting of Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty. Originating from an idea discussed by Harrison and Lynne during the sessions for Harrison's 1987 album ' ...

' 1990 version made it to No. 44 on the UK chart. The song lyrics are about an orphan whom no one wants to adopt because he is blind:

I'm nobody's child, I'm nobody's child
Just like a flower I'm growing wild
No mommy's kisses and no daddy's smile
Nobody wants me, I'm nobody's child.

The Beatles with Tony Sheridan

It was also covered by

Tony Sheridan Anthony Esmond Sheridan McGinnity (21 May 1940 – 16 February 2013), known professionally as Tony Sheridan, was an English rock and roll guitarist who spent much of his adult life in Germany. He was best known as an early collaborator of th ...

when he was recording in Hamburg, Germany, in June 1961 with

the Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...

as his backing group. On this song, only

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

and

Pete Best Randolph Peter Best (né Scanland; born 24 November 1941) is an English musician known as the drummer of the English rock band the Beatles who was dismissed immediately prior to the band achieving worldwide fame. Fired from the group in 1962 ...

accompany Sheridan on bass and drums. This recording was released by

Polydor Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States ...

in 1964 when the British group's popularity was at its height. Sheridan sings "Mammy's" (not "Mommy's"). He returned to studio later that year to re-record the vocal to "

Sweet Georgia Brown "Sweet Georgia Brown" is a jazz standard composed in 1925 by Ben Bernie and Maceo Pinkard, with lyrics by Kenneth Casey. History Reportedly, Ben Bernie came up with the concept for the song's lyrics – although he is not the credited lyricis ...

", another Beatles track from these early sessions, and to tape a solo acoustic version of "Nobody's Child". The latter recording was only issued in Germany.

Release details

Singles

* "

Ain't She Sweet "Ain't She Sweet" is a song composed by Milton Ager, with lyrics by Jack Yellen. It was published in 1927 by Ager, Yellen & Bornstein, Inc. It became popular in the first half of the 20th century and typified the Roaring Twenties. Like ''Happy ...

" / "Nobody's Child" – released in 1964 by

Atco Atco or ATCO may refer to: Businesses * ATCO, a Canadian diversified company involved in manufacturing, utilities, energy and technologies ** ATCO Electric, a subsidiary of the above company * Atco (British mower company), a mower manufacturing ...

in the US * "

" / "Nobody's Child" (acoustic version) – released in 1964 in Germany by

Albums

* '' The Beatles' First!'' – original German release, April 1964 * ''

The Beatles' First ''The Beatles' First!'' (subtitled ''Recorded in Hamburg 1961 - Featuring Tony Sheridan and Guests'') is a German compilation album of songs recorded in Hamburg in 1961 and 1962 by Tony Sheridan with the Beatles as his backing group. It was or ...

'' – released on August 4, 1967, in the UK * '' Very Together'' – released in October 1969 in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

* ''

In the Beginning (Circa 1960) ''In the Beginning (Circa 1960)'' is the first American packaging of the 1964 German album by Tony Sheridan and the Beatles, called " The Beatles' First !". History ''In the Beginning (Circa 1960)'' was released by Polydor Records in 1970 (ca ...

'' – released on May 4, 1970, in the US * ''

The Early Tapes of the Beatles ''The Early Tapes of The Beatles'' is the first digital repackaging of '' The Beatles' First !'', the 1964 German compilation album of Tony Sheridan and The Beatles recordings. The songs were recorded in Hamburg between 1961 and 1963. Most of t ...

'' – worldwide CD release in 1984, with two new Sheridan songs not featuring the Beatles

Personnel

– lead vocals *

– bass guitar *

– drums *

Bert Kaempfert Bert Kaempfert (born Berthold Heinrich Kämpfert; 16 October 1923 – 21 June 1980) was a German orchestra leader, multi-instrumentalist, music producer, arranger, and composer. He made easy listening and jazz-oriented records and wrote the mus ...

– producer * Peter Klemt – engineer

Traveling Wilburys

Former Beatle George Harrison recorded "Nobody's Child" with his band the

at the start of the sessions for their 1990 album '' Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3''. This was in response to an urgent request from his wife,

Olivia Harrison Olivia Trinidad Harrison (née Arias; born May 18, 1948) is an American author and film producer, and the widow of English musician George Harrison of the Beatles. She first worked in the music industry in Los Angeles, for A&M Records, where sh ...

, for assistance for the thousands of

Romanian orphans Orphanhood in Romania became prevalent as a consequence of the Socialist Republic of Romania's pro-natality policy under Nicolae Ceaușescu. Its effectiveness led to an increase in birth rates at the expense of adequate family planning and reproduc ...

abandoned in state-run orphanages following the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe. Harrison's bandmate

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

suggested the song for its relevant message. Unable to remember all the lyrics, Harrison phoned his friend Joe Brown, who gave him the first verse. He wrote a new second verse to address the plight of the children and babies in Romania, which ends with the lines "They've long since stopped their crying, as no one ever hears / And no one's there to notice them or take away their fears". Lead vocals on the recording were shared between Dylan, Harrison,

Tom Petty Thomas Earl Petty (October 20, 1950October 2, 2017) was an American musician who was the lead vocalist and guitarist of the rock band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, formed in 1976. He previously led the band Mudcrutch, was a member of the la ...

and

Jeff Lynne Jeffrey Lynne (born 30 December 1947) is an English musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the co-founder of the rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), which was formed in 1970. As a songwriter, he has cont ...

. According to Harrison, the group completed the track within 48 hours of Olivia's phone call. The Wilburys' "Nobody's Child" was released as a

charity single A charity record or charity single is a song released by musicians with most or all proceeds raised going to a dedicated foundation or charity. George Harrison's "Bangla Desh" single in 1971 is commonly acknowledged as the first ever purpose-made ...

on June 18, 1990, backed by Dave Stewart's "Lumiere". The 12-inch and CD formats also included a live version of "

With a Little Help from My Friends "With a Little Help from My Friends" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, from their 1967 album ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band''. It was written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and sung by drummer Ringo Starr (as Sgt. Pep ...

" by Ringo Starr. Proceeds from the single went to the Romanian Angel Appeal Foundation, launched by Olivia with support from the other former Beatles' wives. Derek Hayes directed a

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

for "Nobody's Child", using animation and news footage of the Romanian children. On July 23, the song was issued as the opening track of the charity album '' Nobody's Child: Romanian Angel Appeal'', which Harrison compiled from further recordings donated by artists such as Eric Clapton, Elton John,

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards. As a teenager in t ...

, Paul Simon and Stevie Wonder. Weekly charts Year-end charts

Other cover versions

Agnes Chan Agnes Meiling Kaneko Chan (; Japanese: 金子陳美齢, ''Kaneko Chan Meirin'') is a Hong-Kong-born Japanese singer, television personality, university professor, essayist and novelist. Since 1998, Chan has been a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador a ...

on her 1971 album ''Will The Circle Game Be UnBroken'' with the local Life Records. *

Billy Fury Ronald Wycherley (17 April 1940 – 28 January 1983), better known as Billy Fury, was an English singer, musician, songwriter, and actor. An early star of rock and roll, he equalled the Beatles' record of 24 hits in the 1960s and spent 332 we ...

covered the song in 1972. * Irene Ryder on her 1971 album ''Irene Ryder'' with EMI Regal Records * Max Romeo and Techniques All Stars, both versions on a 1974 split 7-inch single released by Techniques Records. *

Majda Sepe Majda Sepe, born Majda Bernard, (2 July 1937 – 11 April 2006) was one of the most successful and well recognized Slovenian singers in the time of Yugoslavia and was one of the most renowned singers of the Golden Age of Slovenian folk music. B ...

(Slovenija). Her version was titled "Sirota", translated by G. Strniša (1969). *

The Alexander Brothers The Alexander Brothers were an easy-listening folk-music duo from Scotland, who had a long career beginning in the 1950s. Career Thomas Armit "Tom" Alexander (25 June 1934 – 9 January 2020) and John "Jack" Armit Alexander (11 November 1935 ...

' biggest selling single was "Nobody's Child" in 1964.

References

External links

Ain't She Sweet / Nobody's Child
at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the ...

{{authority control 1949 songs RCA Records singles Traveling Wilburys songs The Beatles with Tony Sheridan songs Hank Williams Jr. songs Song recordings produced by Jeff Lynne Songs written by Cy Coben 1949 singles 1964 singles 1990 singles