I vaguely remember a Three Dog Night platter from the early '70s called Our B Side.
I forget what the A side was.
If we hadn’t listened to Side B, we would have missed out on Hound Dog. It was the flip side of Don’t Be Cruel (1956). Life as we know it would have been drastically different.
“Shambala” on ABC/Dunhill 4352 (1973)
It finally appeared on CD on their first box set. It must have been an extra song recorded in the studio for Led Zeppelin III (?).
Ozzy Osbourne had a B side called “One Up the B Side”. It’s actually a pretty cool song, and unavailable on CD.
Yep. And for that reason it was one of the most sought after 45s of all time. I also remember it being a staple on various Get The Led Out shows. There was also a re-release of this 45 on cassingle (remember cassingles?) before the CD re-release.
The one B-Side I remember playing the most was American Pie – since the song covered both sides.
I liked Boz Scagg’s version of “We’re All Alone” (flipside of “Lido Shuffle” and, oddly enough, “What Can I Say”) better than the Rita Coolidge version (a top ten hit).
That’s because Paul Revere was a freakin’s genius when it came to the business of music. Most of the group’s early hits (“Louie, Louie,” “Kicks,” “Hungry”) were written by someone else. Revere (and Mark Lindsay) figured out early on that their performances were putting money into someone else’s pocket, so they put their own music on the B side, to ensure they’d get writer’s royalties for at least one side of the record.
“Don’t Be Cruel”/“Hound Dog” was a double a-side and was listed as such in the charts. Both sides together comprise the #1 single. (Source: Billboard Book of Number One Songs.)
Besides, I specified making an exception for legends, didn’t I? 
hijack: Exapno, take a quick look here: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=6244135&postcount=82
It seems the Teeming Millions are a bit slow tonight.
kunilou
Interesting story about Paul Revere and the Raiders. As I said, the songs were probably hastily written but the musicianship was always good. Another fact about the group is that until 3 of them quit the group (1967 ??), they always did their own playing and singing, unlike a lot of groups of the day (Beach Boys, Monkees and lots of others) that would use studio musicians.
The Beatles caused some problems for Capitol Records back in the day when occasionally the B side of a Beatle’s single would ascend into the top 10 along with the A side. An example of this that I remember was a single released in 1965 “I Feel Fine” (A side) and “She’s A Woman” (B side), I think both those songs made it to #1. It happened again with “Penny Lane” and “Strawberry Fields Forever” (I forget which was the A and which was the B, but I think I remember one of them hit #1 and the other #3). Capitol would lose money when this happened, since they would have preferred that these songs were released on separate singles, so they could sell more records.
I always listened to every cut on every phonograph record I bought, at least once. I listen to every selection on any music CD I buy now. (If I paid for it, I’m going to listen)
One of my favorite Bruce Springsteen songs (actually a cover of a Tom Waits song) was the B side of Cover Me - Jersey Girl.
There have been some very interesting choices here!
I remembered about Mungo Jerry that “In The Summertime” was reissued in the US in 1975, and again the single had a really good, non-LP track on the flip called “She Rowed.”
Re: the above Led Zeppelin “Hey Hey What Can I Do”, it was the B-side to “The Immigrant Song”. This was the only place you could find it until the box set came out.
The B-side of Santana’s “Black Magic Woman” was an infinitely better song called “Hope You’re Feeling Better.”
Probably my favorite Doors song is “You Need Meat (Don’t Go No Further)” that was on the B-side of “Love Her Madly.” It was included on “Weird Scenes Inside The Goldmine” but that album has never been issued on CD.
If you bought the single of The Temptations’ “Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone,” there is an instrumental version on the B-side that isn’t available anywhere else.
I agree with the thought that most B-sides were abysmal, but once in awhile, they’d stick something really great on there. All you had to do was discover it.
Hey, Thudlow, I’ve got a 12" single by Blotto, with “Metal Head” on one side and “The Blotto Story” on the other. And somewhere on videotape, I have the video for “Metal Head” too!
I remember the Elvis record as Zoe does. The DJ’s were playing “Don’t be Cruel”, and it wasn’t until after people started buying the record and flipping it over that they started requesting “Hound Dog” on the radio shows. But then, the only cite I have is my own memory, which must surely be fading.
The Coasters came out with a song, “Young Blood” that was getting some air time. After record sales got rolling, the flip-side turned out to be more popular and “Searchin’” reached number one on the charts.
There were a lot of good B sides on '50’s R & R. If my boxes of '45’s weren’t out in a dark shed, I’d go pull ‘em out and start lookin’, but it’s almost bedtime.
Dave Sevilles B-Side of The Chipmunk Song is called Almost Good - a cool jazzy piano number with not a chipmunk in sight. It’s worth tracking down the 45.
National Lampoon, on their LP Goodbye Pop had a song called The B Side of Love.
Had I not flipped it over, I never would have heard Queen of the Silver Dollar by Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show.
Wasn’t as famous as Cover of the Rolling Stone, but I always kinda liked it.
It’s on the reissue of Tormato - and you can here a clip of it here;
but dont click on ‘Abeline’ - click on ‘The Silent Wings of Freedom’ :rolleyes:
I love that song.
MiM
It was the B side of the “Whole Lotta Love” single.