"Don't Play That Song (You Lied)" is a song written by

Ahmet Ertegun Ahmet Ertegun ( ; , ; July 31, 1923 – 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 championed many lead ...

and Betty Nelson, the wife of

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

singer Ben E. King. It was first recorded by King and was the title track on his third album '' Don't Play That Song!'' (1962). The song reached number 2 on the U.S. R&B singles chart and number 11 on the

pop chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include re ...

when released as a single on

Atco Records ATCO Records is an American record label founded in 1955. It is owned by Warner Music Group and operates as an imprint of Atlantic Records. After several decades of dormancy and infrequent activity under alternating Warner Music labels, the com ...

in 1962. In Europe, it ranked at number 10 in Italy on

FIMI The Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana (FIMI) or the Federation of the Italian Music Industry is an umbrella organization that keeps track of virtually all aspects of the music recording industry in Italy. It was established in 1992, when ...

National Charts between 1962 and 1963.

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...

covered the song for her nineteenth studio album, ''

Spirit in the Dark ''Spirit in the Dark'' is the seventeenth studio album by American singer Aretha Franklin, released in August, 1970, by Atlantic Records. It received critical acclaim, but met with sloping sales, despite continued hit singles. " Don't Play Tha ...

'', released on

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

in 1970. Her version, performed with the Dixie Flyers, was released as a single in 1970 and peaked at number 1 for five weeks on the R&B singles chart and number 11 on the pop chart. Franklin's version was certified gold with sales over a million copies. It reached number 13 on the UK Singles Chart. This was the first of two covers Franklin did of songs made popular by King. The other was her cover of "

Spanish Harlem East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem, or , is a neighborhood of Upper Manhattan in New York City, north of the Upper East Side and bounded by 96th Street to the south, Fifth Avenue to the west, and the East and Harlem Rivers to the east ...

" in 1971. In 1962, the French singer

Johnny Hallyday Jean-Philippe Léo Smet (; 15 June 1943 – 5 December 2017), better known by his stage name Johnny Hallyday, was a French rock and roll and Pop music, pop singer and actor, credited with having brought rock and roll to France. During a career ...

released a single with a French adaptation of the song under the title ''Pas Cette Chanson !'' Other acts to have recorded or performed the song include Keith Locke and

The Quests The Quests was a Singaporean pop band. Founded in 1961 by guitarist Chong Chow Pin, lead guitarist Raymond Leong, bassist Henry Chua, and drummer Lim Wee Guan, they are considered the most successful Singapore band of the 1960s. History Fo ...

, Peppino di Capri,

Adriano Celentano Adriano Celentano (; born 6 January 1938) is an Italian singer-songwriter, actor, showman, and filmmaker. He is dubbed ''Il Molleggiato'' ('the springy one') because of his energetic dancing. Celentano's many albums frequently enjoyed both com ...

in 1977 and

Mariah Carey Mariah Carey ( ; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Songbird Supreme" by ''Guinness World Records'', Carey is known for her five-octave voc ...

. It was also performed to great acclaim on the first season of ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American Music competition, singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It a ...

'' by

Kelly Clarkson Kelly Brianne (born Kelly Brianne Clarkson, April 24, 1982), known professionally as Kelly Clarkson, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Rising to fame after winning the American Idol season 1, first season of ''Ameri ...

, the eventual winner. More recently Sam Moore duetted the song with Bekka Bramlett on his 2006 album '' Overnight Sensational.'' The British soul singer

Beverley Knight Beverley Knight (born Beverley Anne Smith, 22 March 1973) is an English singer, songwriter, actress and radio personality. She released her first album, ''The B-Funk'', in 1995. Heavily influenced by American soul music icons such as Sam Cooke ...

included a cover of the song on her 2016 album '' Soulsville''.

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...

recorded the song for his 2022 studio album, '' Only the Strong Survive''.

References

1962 songs 1962 singles 1970 singles 1977 singles Ben E. King songs Aretha Franklin songs Bruce Springsteen songs Songs written by Ahmet Ertegun Atco Records singles 2022 singles {{1960s-R&B-song-stub