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Once a member of The New Christy Minstrels, the late pianist/singer/composer Gayle Caldwell wrote "Cycles" which can be found on the album "All Is One". Should you desire a break, she can be seen in the movies "Wild, Wild Winter" and "Wild On The Beach"

In 1966 C. (Clarence) Carson Parks and his wife Gaile Foote recorded "Something Stupid" (C. Carson Parks) for their album "San Antonio Rose". Frank and Nancy Sinatra's "Something Stupid" dominated the charts in 1967. The pretty guitar part is played by

"Softly As I Leave You" started life in 1960 as "Piano" (Softly) (Tony De Vita - Giorgio Calabrese) by Italian singer Mina (Mazzini). This was the Italian entry at the San Remo Music Festival. Hal Shaper wrote the English lyric and it was he who changed

Johnny Mathis had his first chart hit with "Wonderful, Wonderful" (Sherman Edwards- Ben Raleigh). This reached number fourteen on Billboard's Top One Hundred. The Tymes (George Williams, Donald Banks, Albert "Ceasar" Berry, Norman Burnett and George

Pat Boone's younger brother and Dot Records label mate, Nick Todd (Nicholas Boone) was first to record "Tiger" (Ollie Jones) in 1958. Label owner Randy Wood didn't want him to use the "Boone" name so Randy had it changed to "Todd" essentially "Dot"

"Crazy" was written by Willie Nelson in 1961. Billy Walker turned down the song. This is from Willie's Liberty Records 1962 debut album "... and Then I Wrote". In 1962 the Patsy Cline cover of "Crazy" was recorded in one take. It hit number two on both

Written by Bobby Womack and his sister-in-law Shirley, "It's All Over Now" (B. Womack - S. Womack) was first recorded by the five Womack brothers as The Valentinos (Bobby, Dwayne, Cecil, Friendly Jr. and Harry) in 1964. This Sam Cooke produced single

Produced by co-composer Jeff Barry in 1963, The Raindrops (Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich) "Hanky Panky" (Barry - Greenwich) was written in less than a half-hour to be the B side of "That Boy John". The issue was really a demo for a doo-wop group called

Originally "Autumn Leaves" was a French song called "Les Feuilles Mortes" (The Dead Leaves) with music composed by Joseph Kosma and lyrics by poet Jacques Prevert. Italian born, French actor/singer Yves Montand (Ivo Lici) introduced the song in the 1946

In 1973 singer/actress Thelma Houston (Jackson) recorded "Do You Know Where You're Going To" (Michael Masser - Gerald Goffin) but it was released only in New Zealand. Two years later "Theme From Mahogany" was produced by co-composer Michael Masser and

"Two Hearts" (Stone - Williams) came on the scene with The Charms (Otis Williams, Bob Smith, Rolland Bradley, Joe Penn and Richard Parker) in 1954. The single peaked at number eight on the R&B chart. It was Otis Williams who co-produced and arranged

The Four Flickers (Larry and Henry Strzelecki, Ray Snider and Johnny Campbell) recorded "Long Tall Texan" (Henry Strzelecki) in 1959. The group changed their name to The Four Counts and toured the Southern boarder states. The successful Murray Kellum

Rock and roll pioneer Chuck Berry introduced "Back in the U.S.A." in 1959 when the single peaked at number thirty-seven. The first time it appeared on an album was in 1962 and "More Chuck Berry". The Linda Ronstadt cover of "Back in the U.S.A." hit the

"Church Bells May Ring" (Tony Middleton) was first recorded by The Willows (Tony Middleton, Richie Davis, John Steele, twins Ralph and Joe Martin) in 1956. That's Neil Sedaka playing the chimes. This peaked in the R&B top twenty. In the same year the

The 1978 Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band album "Stranger in Town" contains the tracks "We've Got Tonight" (Seger), "Hollywood Nights", "Old Time Rock and Roll" and "Still the Same". The single edit from the singer, songwriter and accomplished

Guy Lombardo and the Royal Canadians featuring the vocals of brother Carmen Lombardo first issued "Don't Blame Me" (Jimmy McHiugh - Dorothy Fields) in 1933 and reached the top ten. This is from the movie "Dinner at Eight". The song was also featured in

Former big band singer Ruth Brown (Weston) and her Rhythmakers recorded "Somebody Touched Me" (Nugetre) for Atlantic Records in 1954 but it did not chart. In 1958 Buddy Knox and the Rhythm Orchids (Buddy Knox, Jimmy Bowen, Dave Alldred and Don Lanier)

Chicago's Nick Noble (Valkan) reached the top forty in 1967 with "Moonlight Swim" (Ben Weisman - Sylvia Dee). Many people know the song from the Elvis Presley 1961 motion picture "Blue Hawaii". The movie was one of the top ten grossing films of that

Singer/songwriter/motion picture and Broadway actor Mac Davis composed "In The Ghetto (The Viicious Circle)". The 1969 Elvis Presley comeback happened for many reasons and the primary one was his recording of the chart topping "In The Ghetto" on the

The instrumental "Delicado" was first recorded by the composer, Rio de Janeiro's Waldir Azevedo, in 1950 although his name was spelled "Waldyr" on the original Decca label and according to other sources it's "Valdir". Canadian bandleader, conductor and

Thanks to Russ and Gary's website for much of this information: "Writing of "My Boy Lollipop" is veiled in controversy. By most accounts, "My Girl Lollypop" was written by Bobby Spencer of the doo-wop group The Cadillacs with the group's manager Johnny

"That's What Friends Are For" (Bacharach - Sager) was first recorded by Rod Stewart for the 1982 soundtrack of " Night Shift". This was not issued as a single. Dionne Warwick's multi-Grammy winning cover was from the 1985 album "Friends" featuring Elton

Barry Mason co-composed many hits for Engelbert including "The Last Waltz" (Les Reed - Barry Mason). The first recording by Barry Mason is from 1976 and the second from 2006. Engelbert Humperdinck's (Gerry Dorsey) "The Last Waltz" hit the top thirty on

Composer Dallas Frazier sang "There Goes My Everything" on a televised country music special in which he mentions Jack Greene on the introduction. From the 1966 album of the same name Jack Greene hit the top ten of the Country chart with "There Goes My

Seventeen year old Bobby Freeman composed and recorded "Do You Want To Dance" in 1958. His effort peaked at number five on the Top One Hundred and number two on the R&B chart. Britain's Cliff Richard and the Shadows issued "Do You Want To Dance" as a

The Temptations (Paul Williams, Dennis Edwards, Melvin Franklin, Eddie Kendricks and Otis Williams) original recording of "War" (Norman Whitfield - Barrett Strong) is a track on their 1970 album "Psychedelic Shack". This was not issued as a single because

"Endless Love" was originally sung by Shea Chambers and produced by composer Lionel Richie in the Franco Zeffirelli movie of that name. Shea was the music supervisor for televison shows Boston Public, 90210 and Melrose Place. Lionel Richie and Diana Ross

The first recording of "Help Me Make It Through the Night" (Kristofferson) is from the 1970 album "Kristofferson". Details on the award winning Kris Kristofferson are available elsewhere in this blog. Sammi (Jewel Faye) Smith had the hit cover of "Help

"Goodnight My Love" (Motola - Marascalco) by Jesse Belvin was produced by co-author John Marascalco in 1956. A twelve year old Barry White is playing piano. This peaked at number seven on the R&B chart. According to Wikipedia "The writing credit does

Roaring Lion was born in the Caribbean with the name Hubert Raphael Charles and later changed it to Rafael de Leon. He wrote the original "Mary Ann" (Roaring Lion) in 1941. Hamilton "Terry" Gilkyson and The Easy Riders (Richard Dehr and Frank Miller)

"Ninety Miles an Hour (Down a Dead End Street) was composed by the team of Hal Blair and Don Robertson who wrote a lot of music for Elvis Presley and his movies. Don played piano for Elvis, Chet Atkins, Duane Eddy and Nat "King" Cole. This is country

In November of 1964 The Wall of Sound was more than evident when The Ronettes (Ronnie Spector nee Bennett, Estelle Bennett and Nedra Tailey) released "Walkin' in the Rain" (Mann - Weil - Spector). Recorded in one take with Veronica on lead the single

Once a member of The Brotherhood of Man, Heather Wheatman aka "Sunny" (Leslie) recorded "Doctor's Orders" (Stephens - Greenaway - Cook) and it became a U.K./European hit. Sunny and her sister Yvonne were once session singers working with Frank Zappa, Tom

The best selling recording artist of the twentieth century, Bing (Harry) Crosby recorded "I Apologise" (Hoffman - Goodhart - Nelson) for Decca in 1931. The original charted at number three. Former vocalist with the Earl Hines Band, Billy Eckstine's

Here is the original main theme to the 1960 Otto Preminger motion picture "Exodus" (Ernest Gold) featuring the composer Ernest Gold (Ernst Goldner) with the Sinfonia of London. This won the Academy Award for Best Original Score while Ernest Gold won Best

The Motown team Holland - Dozier - Holland composed "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) in 1964 when it was recorded by Marvin Gaye. This was prodiuced by Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier. This bit of perfection made it to number six on the pop chart and

Here is a cut from the soundtrack of the 1967 film "A Countess From Hong Kong" written, directed and produced by Charlie Chaplin. It's his composition "(Love) This Is My Song". The movie starred Marlon Brando and Sophia Loren but still failed at the box

Band leader James Last co-composed "Happy Heart" (Hans Last - Jackie Rae). Apparently he had thrown away the tune when it was found by his wife who asked him to record it. The late James Last was the most commercially successful bandleader of the second

The Quinto Sisters (Bonnie, Chris, Cindy, Elaine, Lee and Renee) were first to record the Johnny Marks Christmas classic "A Holly Jolly Christmas". This is from their Columbia album "Holly Jolly Christmas". The Jewish Mr. Marks also wrote "Rudolph the Red

Producer and writer Paul Vance composed "Gina" with Leon Carr. This can be found on his 1966 album "Ma Vie, My Life". Paul co-composed "Tracey", "Playground in My Mind" and "Itsy, Bitsy, Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini", Leon Carr is at least

"I Don't Care If the Sun Don't Shine" (Mack David) was originally the B side of the 1950 top twenty hit "Valencia" for Tony Martin (Alvin Morris). At one time Tony was the vocalist on radio's "George Burns and Gracie Allen Show". Patti Page (Clara

Curly Putman composed and recorded "My Elusive Dreams" in 1967 and peaked at number forty-one on the country chart. This man's delivery and writing talents should have combined for a more lucrative recording career in the country field. Tammy Wynette

Paul Evans had hits of his own with novelties like "Seven Little Girls Sitting in the Back Seat" and "Happy Go Lucky Me". Paul was co-author of "Roses Are Red (My Love)" (Paul Evans - Al Byron). Paul is an active session singer in the New York City area.

This is the demo for "Johnny Will" (F. Tobias - P. Evans) recorded by singer/songwriter Paul Evans who wrote the music. You can find it on the c.d. release "Happy Go Lucky Me". Second only to Elvis Presley came the record selling power of Pat (Charles

Wikipedia: ""Kiss" started as a short acoustic demo consisting of a single 12-bar blues verse. Prince gave the song to the funk band Mazarati for their debut album. Mazarati and producer David Z drastically reworked the song, giving it a stripped-down

Dedicated to the First Lady of Mexico, the wife of President Emilio Portes Gil, "Maria Elena" (Lorenzo Barcelata) was written in 1932. Although Lawrence Welk was first to bring the tune to an American audience in 1941, the melody didn't become a hit until

In 1968 "Little Green Apples" (Bobby Russell) was written for the incredibly talented Roger Miller. Recorded with producer Jerry Kennedy in a January session for the album "A Tender Look At Love", the single hit the top forty pop, top ten Easy Listening

Ken Hirsch co-composed "Two Less Lonely People in the World" with Howard Greenfield who co-authored so many hits with Neil Sedaka and others. Ken performed it at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville. Australia's Air Supply (Graham Russell and Russell

The first hit song written by Graham Gouldman was "For Your Love" in 1965 when he was eighteen. Graham went on to success not only as a songwriter but as a member of 10CC. He was also a member of the Mindbenders for a brief time. Brian Auger plays the

The epitome of party records may well be The Five Du-Tones (Willie Guest, LeRoy Joyce, Frank McCurrey, James West and Andrew Butler) and "Shake a Tail Feather" (Hayes - Williams - Rice) from 1963. This release charted in the fifties on Billboard.