Its story begins before the version the world knows was even born. The title “Stand By Me” already belonged to a gospel hymn written in 1905 by the Philadelphia minister Charles Albert Tindley. That hymn became very popular in churches throughout the American South and was recorded by various gospel groups during the 1950s. The best known adaptation before Ben E. King was the one by The Staple Singers in 1955. That was the version King himself had heard. It had made such a strong impression on him that he pushed The Drifters to record it, but the group’s manager rejected it.