It has since been covered by many artists, including charting versions by Betty Everett in , the Swinging Blue Jeans in , and Linda Ronstadt in , whose version was a number 1 hit in the United States. He originally intended to cut "You're No Good" with Dee Clark but, he recalled: "when I went to rehearsal with the tune, it was so negative, I said, 'Hey, guys don't talk negative about girls, because girls are the record buyers.
No, I better pass on that. I told the engineer 'Let's do it again, and let's mic those foot sounds, 'cause it really gave it a hell of a beat. Linda Ronstadt began performing "You're No Good" to close her live shows in early , after her band member Kenny Edwards suggested it. She first included it in her setlist while opening for Neil Young. Ronstadt recorded her album Heart Like a Wheel with producer Peter Asher in mid at the Sound Factory ; "You're No Good" was a last-minute choice for recording, and while the song was Ronstadt's suggestion, Asher recalls: "It was an odd coincidence.
We played it at a faster tempo live, which we did on that recording [ie. They were fantastic. Ronstadt would recall: "Ed Black, who played six-string guitar and pedal steel, started to play a rhythm riff on his Les Paul. Kenny Edwards Andrew Gold added a sparse drum track, giving me a basic track to sing over.
We did a few takes, picked one we liked, and then Andrew, who always played guitars and keyboards went to work with Peter Asher and began to work up layers of guitar, piano and percussion tracks. Linda Ronstadt's version of "You're No Good" became the song's most successful cover.
The track ascended to number 1 on the Billboard Hot chart dated February 15, , her only song to reach that position. Buoyed in part by the success of "You're No Good", the album Heart Like a Wheel , which was released in late , was a major success, eventually going double Platinum and topping the Billboard album chart.
