Angel of the Morning

Chip Taylor wrote it in 1967, reportedly in about 20 minutes, and has said it feels like it came through him and is nearly the same song as "Wild Thing". Evie Sands cut the first version around June 1967 on Cameo, but the label collapsed two weeks after release; Connie Francis reportedly turned it down as too risque. Merrilee Rush and the Turnabouts recorded the hit, in January 1968 at American Sound Studio in Memphis with Chips Moman and Tommy Cogbill producing; it reached 7 on the Hot 100 and earned a Grammy nomination. Newton's version, from Juice, was produced by Richard Landis. Wikipedia says she would never have thought of recording it, though she recognized it immediately when it was played for her; she said she thinks they did a really excellent version. Rush has said she could not listen to Newton's version because Newton changed a little bit of the melody.

Newton's single reached number 4 on the Hot 100, number 1 for three weeks on the adult contemporary chart in April 1981, number 22 on the country chart, number 1 in Canada, 2 in Australia, 5 in New Zealand and 43 in the UK; it is certified gold in the US and earned a Grammy nomination. The song is about the morning after a one-night stand. Her video is described by Wikipedia as the first country music video on MTV, a framing Whiskey Riff disputes, calling it a pop record. She re-recorded it in 1998 for The Trouble with Angels.