American singer-songwriters Carly Simon and James Taylor recorded a remake of "Mockingbird" in the autumn of 1973. The song was originally written and released by Inez and Charlie Foxx in 1963, while the new version by Simon/Taylor was issued as the lead single from Simon's fourth studio album Hotcakes in 1974. It was Taylor's idea to remake "Mockingbird", which he knew from a live performance by Inez and Charlie Foxx at the Apollo Theater in 1965, and which song Taylor and his sister Kate Taylor had often sung for fun as teenagers.