Ten Favorite Dark Songs: The Dark End of the Street (#2)

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As those puppies continue to warm my heart (I wish my allergies weren't so bad, I'd get another one!) I'll look at another song from my list of favorite "dark" songs, songs that have the word dark in the title. This one is an all-time favorite, but the most difficult thing was picking a version! #2: The Dark End of the Street - Linda Ronstadt Name someone, and they've recorded this song. Seriously. Percy, Aretha, the Flying Burrito Brothers, even Archie Campbell from Hee Haw fame. Chips Morman (who won a Grammy for writing the BJ. Thomas song "(Hey Won't You Play Another) Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song") wrote this in 1967, and the first recorded version was by an R&B singer named James Carr. Believe it or not, the Archie Campbell version was the first time I heard this (he did an album where he sang mostly R&B and pop songs [and I'm not kidding, and it doesn't sound nearly as bad as it sounds], duetting with Lorene Mann). From there, I've heard countless versions. There are versions I love and versions that make me shake my head in disgust. But you know that, with that great voice of hers and her ability to interpret any song and make it her own, Linda Ronstadt's 1974 rendition had to be the representative version for this great, great song. The Dark End of the Street Written by Chips Morman and Dan Penn Recorded by Linda Ronstadt From Heart Like a Wheel, 1974 Oh, darlin', please don't cry: