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Although some radio listeners thought them to be African-American, the white group The Homeland Harmony Quartette formed in 1935. In 1947 group member Lee Roy Abernathy composed "Everybody's Gonna Have A Wonderful Time Up There" known later as "The

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance was a John Ford western from 1962 starring John Wayne and James Stewart. Burt Bacharach and Hal David wrote a song based upon the movie and called "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance', a Top 10 Gene Pitney hit that

Composer George Weiss attended the famous Julliard School of Music and co-composed such hits as "Can't Help Falling in Love", "That Sunday, That Summer", "Lullaby of Birdland" and "What a Wonderful World". He often collaborated with Benny Benjamin and

It's been said that Jimmy Cliff (James Chambers) was reggaes' first world wide star. His initial recordings came in 1962. In 1970 Cat Stevens (born Stephen Demetre Georgiou and having converted to Islam now Yusuf Islam) produced "Wild World" for Jimmy

Soprano Kasey Cisyk was a background singer for the likes of Carole King, Roberta Flack and Carly Simon. She recorded "You Light Up My Life" for the movie of the same name. Her version of the tune hit the lower portion of the charts. The film's writer

Linda Laurie hit the top fifty in 1959 with "Ambrose, Part 5". That's her voice as Ambrose altered to be so deep. After a move to California she composed the Meow Mix tune and wrote "Leave Me Alone (Ruby Red Dress)". Helen Reddy recorded the song for

Mac Davis (composer of In the Ghetto, Watching Scotty Grow and his own hits) and guitarist Billy Strange (composer of Limbo Rock) wrote "A Little Less Conversation" specifically for Elvis and the 1968 film "Live A Little, Love a Little". It hit the

Brooklyn's Neil Diamond is a man of legend and still going strong as of this date. His records for Columbia, Bang and MCA have sold millions world wide. His successful compositions include: "Sunday and I" for Jay & the Americans, the Monkees "I'm a

Sharon Sheeley was Don Everly's girlfriend, Eddie Cochrane's fiancé and the composer of Rick Nelson's "Poor Little Fool" and co-composer of the Brenda Lee hit "Dum, Dum". Sharon suggested James Marcus Smith change his stage name to P.J. Proby. In the

Ray Price had his first hit in the fifties with "Crazy Arms", Don't Let the Stars Get In Your Eyes" and "Release Me". In the sixties it was "Make the World Go Away" and "City Lights". In the seventies": "For the Good Times" and in 1973 the number one

Rodney Crowell played guitar in the Emmylou Harris Hot Band in 1975. He left the band to start his own group and produce for others including future wife Roseanne Cash. Among the hits he composed are "Shame on the Moon" for Bob Seger, "Leaving Louisiana

In 1963 "Little" Stevie Wonder (Stevland Hardaway Judkins) topped the charts with "Fingertips, Part Two". This was a jazz instrumental set for release on his debut album "The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie Wonder". A concert version was recorded in 1962

M.T.A. is the Metropolitan Transit Authority in Boston. "Charlie on the M.T.A." was composed by the team of Steiner and Hawes in 1949 as a campaign song for Walter O'Brien who was running for mayor. Walter opposed a fare increase on the M.T.A. subway.

Singer, television and film star Willie Hagara worked for the Austrian Postal Service. It was Willie who first recorded "Du Spielst 'Ne Tolle Rolle" (Hans Bradtke) in 1962. That tune became "Those Lazy Hazy Crazy Days of Summer" (Carste-Tobias) a

Jesse Stone was an in-house writer at Atlantic Records who composed "Shake, Rattle and Roll" in 1954. The blues and band singer Big Joe Turner became a rock and roll hero when he was the first to record the standard at the age of 43. Bill Haley was

As a teenager Buddy Greco (Armando Greco) was a pianist for the Benny Goodman Orchestra. When he entered his twenties he went solo and began singing. In 1962 he recorded "Mr. Lonely" for Epic Records. It became the first single release of the tune to

The Bell Sisters (Cynthia and Kay Strother) recorded "Boom, Boom (My Honey) (Milton Kellem) in 1956. The original recording was made by Roy Hogsed in late 1951 as "Gonna Get Along Without You Now" but was not released for quite some time. Patience and

The late Robert Hazard (Robert Rimato) wrote "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" and what you hear here is from a 1979 demo. In 1983 New York's Cyndi Lauper's version peaked at number two on Billboard. The Grammy and Emmy winner married actor David Thornton

Ray Eberle sang vocals for the incredible Glen Miller on the top ten hit "At Last" in 1942. If you are not familiar with Glen Miller please do a little research on line. There is too much fascinating information to post here. Other notables in his band

Van (Ivan) Morrison was part of the Irish group "Them" ("Here Comes the Night", "Baby, Don't Go") and composer of "Gloria" which became a hit for the American band "Shadows of Knight". As a solo act Van hit with the top ten "Brown Eyed Girl". Call his

The Dovells (Len Borisoff aka Len Barry was lead) sang "Wildwood Days" (Kal Mann-Dave Appell) about Wildwood, a town in New Jersey. It was on the flip side of the top ten "You Can't Sit Down" in 1963. Bobby Rydell (Robert Ridarelli) recorded that

Sam the Sham (Domingo Samudio) and the Pharaohs (Dave Martin, Butch Gibson, Ray Stinnet and Jerry Patterson, the name inspired by the movie "The Ten Commandments") hit with "Wooly Bully" and "Little Red Riding Hood". Maurice Irby composed "Ready or

The group that gave us the original version of "Walk Right In" (Rooftop Singers) Gus Cannon's Jug Stompers (Gus Cannon, Ashley Thompson, Noah Lewis) recorded "Prison Wall Blues" for Victor in 1930. John Sebastian's "Younger Girl" is remarkably similar.

P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri composed "You Baby". This the the P.F. Sloan demo take. It was first issued by The Vogues (high school friends Hugh Geyer, who is still with the touring group, Bill Burkette, Don Miller and Chuck Blasko) in 1965. The

John Lee Hooker's "Boogie Chillen" was released in 1948 and is rightly considered to be one the most influential sounds R&B to rock and roll recorded. Just listen to Led Zeppelin, ZZ Top's "La Grange" and of course Norman Greenbaum's "Spirit in the

Jan Berry and Dean Torrence attended University High School in West L.A. After football practise they would get together and sing do-wop. This eventually led to a lucrative recording career which included "Surf City", "Deadman's Curve", "Little Old Lady