John Twang's articles

Grammy winner Hillary Lindsey has also been nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe. Brett James went to Nashville as a singer and since this new century has received acclaim as a songwriter for pop and country artists. Troy Verges has also found success as a versatile songwriter. Together they perform "Blessed". The trio wrote the song and perform it here with the most horrible audio at the Let Freedom Sing series in Nashville. Lindsey and Brett are on mic while Troy plays guitar.…

The 1932 depression era Broadway musical "Walk A Little Faster" featured "April In Paris" (Yip Harburg - Vernon Duke) as staged by actor Monty Woolley and starring Beatrice Lillie. At the time neither of the composers had ever been in Paris let alone in the month of April. Toward the end of 1933 the first recording of the piece by Henry King and his Hotel Pierre Orchestra with vocalist Joe Sudy made its appearance. This is edited to include the vocal. In 1956 Count (William) Basie and His Or…

Grammy nominated Lois Blaisch was singing "Could've Been" (Lois Blaisch) at a restaurant in Thousand Oaks, California when a music industry veteran walked in. That person brought the song to Tiffany's producer George Tobin. This is the writer's version from the 1997 LP "Through Thick And Thin". Teen idol Tiffany (Darwish) 1987 first LP "Tiffany" topped the Billboard album chart and had "Could've Been" released as the third single. This peaked at the top of both the Top One Hundred and the Ad…

Singer, songwriter, producer Steven McClintock was one part of the award winning duo (David) Fertitta and McClintock during the seventies. Steven's 1999 LP "Roadwise" includes his version of "All This Time" (Steven McClintock - Tim James). The lead single from Tiffany's (Darwish) second album "Hold An Old Friends Hand" was "All This Time". The issue charted at number six on the Top One Hundred and number ten Adult Contemporary in 1988.

Philadelphia's Lee Andrews (Thompson) and The Hearts (Roy and Wendell Calhoun, Butch Curry, Ted Weems) released "Long Lonely Nights" (Andrews - Davis - Henderson -Uniman) on the Chess label in 1957. The single peaked at number forty-five on Billboard. Bobby Vinton's cover of "Long Lonely Nights" is on the album "Bobby Vinton Sings For Lonely Nights". The single reached number seventeen pop and number five on today's equivalent of the Adult Contemporary charts for this talented and likeable e…

The original lead single from the Whitney Houston 1999 LP "My Love Is Your Love" was the Rodney Jerkins production of "It's Not Right But It's Okay" (LaShawn Daniels - Toni Estes - Rodney Jerkins - Fred Jerkins III - Isaac Phillips) but this didn't become the hit. A re-mix by Thunderpuss (Barry Harris and Chris Cox) caught the attention of radio and "It's Not Right But It's Okay" was issued as the "third" single from Whitney's album. This time the song peaked at number four pop, number one D…

In 1931 the first vocal group to become country music favourites, the Carter Family (A.P., Sara and Maybell Carter) recorded "When I'm Gone" (A.P. Carter). Sara Carter sang lead. This is the group that Johnny Cash joined when he married June Carter. Luisa Gerstein and Heloise Turnstall-Behrens used the cup and clap technique in 2009 when they posted a YouTube version as "You're Gonna Miss Me" (A. P. Carter - Luisa Gerstein) calling themselves Lulu and the Lampshades. At this time they have o…

This is Seattle's Nirvana (lead vocalist Kurt Cobain, Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic) with a 1991 rehearsal take on "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (Cobain - Novoselic - Grohl) well before producer, engineer Butch (Brian) Vig polished the sound. As the lead single from the chart topping and one of the best selling albums of all time "Nevermind", the lead single "Smells Like Teen Spirit" reached number seven on the Top One Hundred along with top ten showings in most of the world.

The Bunny (Roland Bernard) Berigan Orchestra and vocalist Art Gentry were first to record "Where Are You" (Harold Adamson - Jimmy McHugh) in 1936. This is edited to include the vocal. Bunny was featured in many of the big bands of the era including Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman and Paul Whiteman. In 1962 singer and pianist Dinah Washington (Ruth Jones) issued the revised "Where Are You" and peaked at number thirty-six on Billboard. This is a track from the LP "Dinah '62". Dinah had been marrie…

Barbara Lynn (Ozen) peaked at number eight pop and topped the R&B charts with her first single "You'll Lose A Good Thing" (Meaux - Ozen) in 1962. The single in on the LP of the same name. Dr. John is among the studio musicians. Barbara plays a mean lead guitar! The late Freddy Fender (Baldemar Huerta) covered "You'll Lose A Good Thing" on the 1976 album "Rock'N'Country" and topped the Country chart while peaking at thirty-two on the Top One Hundred. Freddy was a member of Grammy winning grou…

As co-writer, Gloria Jones sings "If I Were Your Woman" (Pam Sawyer - Clay McMurray - Gloria Jones). Gloria was the first singer to record "Tainted Love" and was the girlfriend of Marc Bolan of T. Rex fame. Gloria sang backup and played keyboard for the band. While in high school she sang in a gospel group with Billy Preston. Gladys Knight and The Pips (Merald Knight, William Guest and Edward Patten) hit with "If I Were Your Woman" from the 1970 album of the same name. The single reached numb…

The most special four disc box set "On The Rural Route 7609" features John Mellemcamp's hits and unreleased music from 1976 through 2009. The demo for "Cherry Bomb" is included. Wikipedia: "Cherry Bomb is just a name of a club that I made up. The real name of the club was The Last Exit—The Last Exit Teen Club actually was the name of the place. It was a place that we went as kids. The whole world seemed to exist there. Everything that was important happened down in the basement of this church, i…

At the time John Mellencamp was known as "John Cougar", a name change by his management that he was not aware of until after the fact. His 1982 LP "American Fool" included Jack & Diane (John Mellencamp) inspired by Tennessee Williams' "Sweet Bird Of Youth". This demo is from the 2010 box set "On The Rural Route 7609". "Jack & Diane" proved to be one of John Cougar Mellencamp's biggest hits. The single hit number one on Billboard and other Amewrican national charts while reaching the same goa…

Herbert Buffum and Robert Winsett wrote "Vacation In Heaven" in 1927. The next year former vaudevillian and a star in the African-American musical theatre, Missionary Josephine Miles and pianist Sister Elizabeth Cooper recorded the song. In 1980 the most talented singer, songwriter, television personality and actor Mac Davis recorded the single "It's Hard To Be Humble. The album of the same name went gold in the U.S. The single peaked at number thirty-five pop and number ten on the Country c…

Derek and the Dominos (lead vocalist Eric Clapton, Duane Allman, Jim Gordon, Carl Radle and Bobby Whitlock) issued the LP "Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs" in late 1970. An edited single was issued in 1971 and charted at number fifty-one. A year later "Layla" (Eric Clapton - Jim Gordon) in the album version was issued as a single and reached number ten! The song's back story is worth the research. In 1992 the "Unplugged" acoustic version by Eric Clapton was released and won the Grammy fo…

Chuck (Harold) Willis recorded "What Am I Living For" (Fred Jay - Art Harris) as a B side to "Hang Up My Rock & Roll Shoes" in 1958. The single topped the R&B chart while peaking at number nine pop. The million seller was Chuck's final release before his death. In 1960 the celebrated country singer and Grammy winner Conway Twitty (Harold Jenkins) was still a rocker when he took "What Am I Living For" to number twenty-six on Billboard's Top One Hundred. After completing high school Conway was…

Lord Kitchener (Aldwyn Roberts) aka "The Grand Master of Calypso" recorded "Jump In The Line" in 1946 with the help of Rupert Nurse and his Trinidadian Troubadours. It's obvious the calypso tune influenced Gary U.S. Bonds (Anderson) to record "Twist, Twist Senora" (Anderson - Barge - Guida) in 1962. The single with Gene Barge on saxophone reached number nine on the Top One Hundred. When Gary toured England in 1963 he headlined above The Beatles.

Katrina and the Waves (lead vocalist Katrina Leskanich, Alex Cooper, Vince de la Cruz and Kimberley Rew) released "Walking On Sunshine" as their debut album in 1983. Although it is now available almost everywhere originally it was issued only in Canada on Attic Records. The LP was successful enough to result in a Canadian tour. Two years later Katrina and the Waves re-recorded many of the songs for their first Capitol issue for their self-titled LP and this time "Walking On Sunshine" (Kimber…