5 Classic Songs Never Released on an Album

Music formats have evolved between singles and albums and back again. The album became the primary format for most rock and roll bands, defined by groundbreaking releases like Pet Sounds, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Dark Side of the Moon, and OK Computer.

However, some of rock’s biggest songs arrived between albums or backing album tracks released as singles. Some of the songs on the list below also became defining hits and it’s hard to imagine them not being included on an album.

It doesn’t matter how they got here and sometimes a song doesn’t fit the larger narrative of a complete album. But they’re included here, five classics never released on an album.

“How Soon Is Now?” by The Smiths

Johnny Marr’s iconic Bo Diddley tremolo riff at the start of “How Soon Is Now?” is recognized by even casual fans of the band. Marr painstakingly created the riff by running his guitar part through multiple Fender Twin Reverb amplifiers, pausing and restarting again each time the rhythmic pulse fell off the tempo. “How Soon Is Now?” is another of The Smiths’ classic B-sides, originally backing “William, It Was Really Nothing” in 1985. The band’s record label Rough Trade added it to the U.S. version of Meat Is Murder and also the compilation album Hatful of Hollow. Morrissey’s “son and heir” lyrics borrow from George Eliot’s Middlemarch and many are shocked to learn this song wasn’t intended for an album.

I am the son and the heir

Of a shyness that is criminally vulgar

I am the son and heir

Of nothing in particular

“Yellow Ledbetter” by Pearl Jam

Mike McCready wanted “Yellow Ledbetter” to be included on Pearl Jam’s debut Ten. But Eddie Vedder’s unsure vocal is the result of the singer semi-improvising lyrics just to get the idea down. It sounds unfinished as Vedder mumbles through a melody, working things out. McCready built the track around the Curtis Mayfield side of Jimi Hendrix’s playing. It’s “Little Wing” for the grunge kids and though it didn’t make the album, “Yellow Ledbetter” is a fan favorite. There’s debate among professional songwriters whether lyrics or melody matters more. “Yellow Ledbetter” may settle the argument. For decades, arenas full of Pearl Jam diehards have sung Vedder’s rough draft back at him.

Unsealed on a porch a letter sat

Then you said I want to leave it again

“Mary Jane’s Last Dance” by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

When Tom Petty recorded Wildflowers, he wanted a break from his band, though his second solo album does feature the Heartbreakers minus drummer Stan Lynch. He recorded “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” during the Wildflowers sessions and this time, Lynch appeared on the track. It would be his last with the group. Petty included the song on a greatest hits compilation in 1993, and it became a defining song for him and a fitting way for Lynch to exit the band.

She grew up in an Indiana town

Had a good-lookin’ mama who never was around

But she grew up tall and she grew up right

With them Indiana boys on an Indiana night

“Going Nowhere” by Oasis

Noel Gallagher’s prolific run to begin Oasis’ career resulted in B-sides that rivaled most group’s singles. He continued the tradition of bands like The Smiths, known as much for their outstanding B-sides as the hits. “Going Nowhere” is one of his finest choruses and it backed the single “Stand by Me” in 1997. Looking back at Be Here Now, Gallagher lamented not saving some of his B-sides for the third Oasis album. If The Masterplan had followed (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? Britpop may have had a few more good years. (Also, check out the Burt Bacharach-inspired strings.)

I’m gonna get me a motor car

Maybe a Jaguar maybe a plane or a day of fame

I’m gonna be a millionaire so can you take me there

Want to be wild ’cause my life’s so tame

Here am I, going nowhere on a train

Here am I, growing older in the rain

“Hey Jude” by The Beatles

The Beatles released “Hey Jude” as a non-album single in 1968. The B-side is “Revolution” and the single marked the debut for their record label Apple. Paul McCartney wrote the song for John Lennon’s son Julian as his parents (John and Cynthia) were separating. Though the song is an ode of optimism for Julian Lennon, it became a universal anthem, driven by the song’s epic outro. Leave it to The Beatles to write music history’s greatest non-album single.

Hey Jude, don’t make it bad

Take a sad song and make it better

Remember to let her into your heart

Then you can start to make it better

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