The Sloop John B. by the Beach Boys dates to 1917.
Elvis had hits with Love Me Tender (1861) and Are You Lonesome Tonight? (1926).
Other examples? Though I’m a grump, I love new interpretations of old music, so Brit (and beyond) examples are welcome.
Elvis’s “It’s Now Or Never” uses the melody from “O Sole Mio”, which was written in 1898.
Several that are even older…
Simon and Garfunkel’s “Scarborough Fair” can be traced back to an old English ballad, though their arrangement was modern.
Pete Seeger’s “Turn! Turn! Turn!” (with was a hit for the Byrds) takes its lyrics from the Old Testament Book of Ecclesiastes.
Thin Lizzy’s first hit, “Whiskey In the Jar”, is a traditional Irish song.
Keep going…
FTR, I have Elvis’s “Whiskey in the Jar.” Quite appalling!
“Puttin’ on the Ritz” by Taco comes to mind.
While not a hit per se, I still rock out to Rainbow’s “Difficult to Cure”, based on Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony (which is too old for this survey, I just realized…)
The *Poco Allegretto *movement from Brahms’s Symphony No. 3 (1883) provides the melody to the Dave Matthews/Santana song Love of My Life.
Dream a Little Dream of Me was first recorded in 1931 but was a big hit for Cass Elliott in 1968.
Another one: Georgia on My Mind was written in 1930 but the most famous version was Ray Charles’ 1960 recording.
Tommy Edwards’ 1958 hit, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_All_In_The_Game"It’s All in the Game", was based on a 1911 composition by Charles Dawes who later became Calvin Coolidge’s Vice President.
Although not a hit single, Traffic’s 1970 album John Barleycorn Must Die is named after a very old English folk song that has its roots in pre-Christian Anglo-Saxon times.
Red River Valley. I remember hearing it as a rock song from the 1950s. Uh, not that I was alive in the 50s but the song was from the 50s or early 60s. The rock version. The original is 19th century I think.
Louise Tucker’s 1983 “Midnight Blue” (so lonely without you) used the melody of Beethoven’s Pathetique. Barry Manilow’s “Could It Be Magic” began and ended with Chopin’s Prelude in C Minor (I just found that last one out- I thought it was something by Beethoven also.)
The Allman Brothers had a hit with “Statesboro Blues,” which was written by Willie McTell sometime in the 1920s, and originally recorded by McTell in 1928.
There is a house in New Orleans…
I would like to add Black Betty, but that one seems to date to the 18th century and oddly enough is probably about a gun.
I’m Henery the Eighth, I Am was written in 1910, but was a big hit for Hermans Hermits in 1965.
Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony (1808) got discofied into Walter Murphy’s ‘A Fifth of Beethoven’ (1976)
I was going to add “Winchester Cathedral,” but it turns out to have been written in the '60s, despite the anachronistic sound.
Not sure of these would fit the OP’s specifications exactly, but I’ll put them out anyway:
– The melody of “A Lover’s Concerto” by the Toys (1965) was based on Bach’s “Minuet in G Major.”
– Similarly, the organ part of Procol Harum’s “Whiter Shade of Pale” (1967) was supposedly inspired by Bach’s “Air on a G String” and “Sleepers Wake.”
“Stagger Lee,” recorded by, basically, everyone, apparently dates to 1910 and refers to a murder that occurred in 1895, according to Wikipedia.
Waaay before the time span specified, but the 1965 hit “Lovers’ Concerto” by The Toys was rearranged and given lyrics by Sandy Linzer and Denny Randell based on the Minuet in G Minor written before 1725 by Christian Petzoldt and collected and harmonized in that year by none other than Johann Sebastian Bach.
Along the same lines, and fitting the definition, Sergei Rachmaninoff wrpote his Piano Concerto No. 2 between 1900 and 1902; the theme from the adagio final movement was adapted to serve as the basis for Eric Carmen’s 1976 “All by Myself.”
Judy Collins had a #5 hit with “Amazing Grace,” written in 1772.
In 1967, the Fifth Estate had #11 hit single of “Ding Dong the Witch is Dead” from 1939.
A lot of blues rock musicians of the 60s and later had successful songs that were remakes of older blues songs.
For instance, The Rolling Stone’s had “Love in Vain,” a Robert Johnson song from the 30s.
Led Zeppelin’s “When the Levee Breaks” is based on a Memphis Minnie song from 1929.
Cream had an FM radio hit with Skip James’s “I’m So Glad” from around 1931.