Search among John Twang's articles

This is Graham Nash with David Crosby and Stephen Stills and the demo for "Marrakesh Express". Graham Nash originally wrote this for The Hollies but they never recorded it. Graham wrote the song after traveling by train from Casablanca to Marrakesh in

After he left the Belmonts (Angelo D-Aleo, Carlo Mastrangelo and Fred Milano) in 1961 Dion (DiMucci) topped Billboard with "Runaround Sue" (Dion Dimucci - Ernie Maresca). The single ended up on the album of the same name. Teen idol, singer and actor

The title track of Brenda Russell's 1988 LP saw the single of "Get Here" (Brenda Russell) co-produced by Roland Orzabal of Tears For Fears. The single peaked at number thirty-seven on the R&B chart. Brenda's father, Gus Gordon was once a member of The

Xavier (Javier) Cugat and his Waldorf-Astoria Orchestra recorded one of the first versions of "Begin The Begine" (Cole Porter) in 1935, with vocalist Don Reid. The tune, written while on a Pacific cruise, was introduced along with Cole Porter's "Just One

Mark Wills (Williams) recorded "What Hurts The Most" (Jeffrey Steele - Steve Robson) for the 2003 LP "And The Crowd Goes Wild". It was not issued as a single. Rascal Flatts (lead vocalist Gary LeVox, Jay DeMarcus and Joe Don Rooney) covered "What Hurts

The working title "Love Is A Highway" led to Tom Cochrane's solo success. Obviously not intended for commercial release this is an interesting track from the twenty-fifth anniversary edition release of "Mad Mad World". This is an edited version to include

Mama Africa aka Miriam Makeba and The Skylarks with "Phata, Phata". Released in 1959, the song was inspired by an African dance. Wikipedia: "The male dancers stand in a row with their arms extended out to the front, palms to the floor, while the women pat

Former big band vocalist Monty Norman (Noserovitch) plays the original "James Bond Theme" on piano. This was written for the 1962 film Dr. No. John Barry and publishers have unsuccessfully sued Monty Norman twice claiming that it was John Barry who wrote

This is a clip from the Bert Herbison files featuring John Bettis singing "Yesterday Once More" (John Bettis - Richard Carpenter). John was the lyricist for Carpenters hits "Goodbye To Love", "Only Yesterday" and "Top Of The World"! The Carpenters

Backed by the keyboards of Isaac Hayes along with Booker T and the MGs, Johnnie Taylor's "Who's Making Love" (Homer Banks - Bettye Crutcher - Don Davis - Raymond Jackson) hit number five on the Top One Hundred and number one R&B. Composer Bettye

Shep Fields (Saul Feldman) and His Rippling Rippling Rhythm Orchestra featuring the vocal talents of Bob Goday recorded "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down" (Cliff Friend - Dave Franklin) in 1937, the year it was written. This is posted in it's entirety. For

In 1966 Van Dyke Parks recorded his composition "Come To The Sunshine". After many years of not being available the track was released on the 2011 "Arrangements, Volume 1". Van Dyke Parks collaborated on the legendary Beach Boys album "Smile" and worked

Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" (A. Cleveland - M. Gaye - R. Benson) is from the album of the same name. The single topped the Soul chart and reached number two on the Top One Hundred. Wikipedia: "Musician and songwriter Elgie Stover, who later served as

Here's the original gospel tune that inspired "Chain Of Fools". In 1967 Houston's Reverend Elijah Fair with the Sensational Gladys Davis Trio recorded "Pains Of Life" (C. Davis). Don Covay (Randolph) and The Good Timers released an instrumental of

The Rolling Stones' "Jumpin' Jack Flash" (Keith Richards - Mick Jagger) single reached number three in 1968. Although the tune was not on the LP it was recorded during the "Beggars Banquet" sessions. The single peaked at three on Billboard and topped the

The late Stevie Woods sang "Through The Years" (Marty Panzer - Stephen Dorff) on his 1981 album "Take Me To Heaven". This was not released as a single. Stevie was a cousin to actor Philip Michael Thomas of Miami Vice fame. The 1982 Kenny Rogers album

British singer and multi-instrumentalist Chaz Jankel recorded "Ai No Corrida" (Chaz Jankel - Kenny Young) on his self titled 1980 debut album. The title is Japanese for "Rope Of Love", literally. Chaz is on both lead and background vocal, guitar,

The voice of Jiminy Cricket in Walt Disney's "Pinocchio", Cliff "Ukulele Ike" Edwards issued "Side By Side" (Harry Woods) in 1927. The single, edited here to include the vocal, reached number twelve on Billboard. He is backed by stalwarts Eddie Lang, Joe

This is Alex Call and "867-5309/Jenny" (Alex Call - Jim Keller) in concert from the 2004 LP "Incredibly Thick". Alex is quoted on Wikipedia: "Despite all the mythology to the contrary, I actually just came up with the 'Jenny' and the telephone number and

Little Willie John hit with "Talk To Me, Talk To Me" (Joe Seneca) in 1958 when the single placed at number twenty on the pop chart and number five R&B. Little Willie John was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame eighteen years after his death.

Once a back-up group for LaVerne Baker, Nat King Cole and Roy Hamilton, The Cues (lead vocalist Ollie Jones, Eddie Barnes, Jimmy Breedlove, Abel DeCosta and Robie Kirk) were first to record "Burn That Candle" (Winfield Scott) in 1955 and charted on

Singer, songwriter and actor Harvey Shield (Schildkraut) lead the group Shields on "The Way I Feel Tonight" (Harvey Shield) in 1976 but the song didn't chart. Harvey was once with Episode Six, the group that spawned Deep Purple. The Bay City Rollers

The 1946 Broadway musical "St. Louis Woman" introduced "Come Rain Or Come Shine" (Harold Arlen - Johnny Mercer) when it was sung by Ruby Hill. The show was not as successful as hoped but this song became a standard. Composer Johnny Mercer's good friend

In 1931 Al Bowlly and the Roy Fox Orchestra released "Guilty" (Richard Whiting - Harry Akst - Gus Kahn) and peaked at number twelve on Billboard. This track was edited to include the vocal. Al was killed in the bombing of London in 1941 when a Luftwaffe

The 1971 LP "Tupelo Honey" includes the opening track titled "Wild Night" from one of "Them", Van Morrison. The single was actually first recorded in 1968 and rerecorded for the album, it peaked at number twenty-eight on Billboard. John Mellencamp and

11:45 a.m. June 5, 1973 CFRB, Toronto radio personality 73 year old Gordon Sinclair delivered an impassioned editorial he later titled "The Americans". This was rebroadcast on a small number of American radio stations and then spread rapidly before being

This is singer, songwriter and bassist Roger Waters and his home demo of "Money" (Roger Waters). Apparently it was recorded in his garden shed. Roger was a co-founder of Pink Floyd. The groundbreaking 1973 LP "The Dark Side Of The Moon" by Pink Floyd

Hal Kemp and his Orchestra with vocalist Deane Janis were first to record "Boulevard Of Broken Dreams" in 1933 before the movie "Moulin Rouge" was released in 1934. This track is edited to include the vocals. The 1934 Franchot Tone motion picture

Producer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and Harvard University graduate summa cum laude in visual arts Dan Wilson at the Canadian Music Week 2012 Songwriters Circle performs "Someone Like You" (Adele Adkins - Dan Wilson). In a music publication Dan

Dennis Lambert sings "Country Boy (You Got Your Feet In L.A.)" (Dennis Lambert - Brian Potter) from an evening at Joe's Pub in New York City in 2008. The songwriter is backed by The Losers Lounge. Dennis' writing and production talents have almost

Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Sam Dees sings his composition "One In A Million" from a John Peel hosted BBC radio broadcast aired in late 1991. Following contracts with the SSS International, Chess and Atlantic labels Sam started concentrating on producing

Judy Collins was first to record "Hello Hooray" (Rolf Kempf) when she issued the 1968 top thirty LP "Who Knows Where The Time Goes". Playing guitar on the release: James Burton, Stephen Stills and Buddy Emmons. Judy was a piano prodigy when she made her

In the late 1960s Dick Wagner was rejected from joining Blood, Sweat and Tears so he became the front man for a Michigan group called The Frost. During that time he wrote a tune that he said had "horrible lyrics". When he worked with Alice Cooper he

In 1941 Duke Ellington and His Orchestra released the future jazz standard "Just Squeeze Me (But Please Don't Tease Me)" (Duke Ellington - Lee Gaines) with vocalist Ray Nance. Ray was with the Duke for years as a dancer, trumpeter on "Take The 'A' Train",

Political activist Malvina Reynolds sings "What Have They Done To The Rain" she wrote in 1962 trying to stop atmospheric nuclear testing causing fall out. The lady knew how to compose songs with meaning, songs like "Little Boxes", "Turn Around" and

Originally called "Disco Baby", Harvey Scales sings "Disco Lady" (Harvey Scales - Albert Vance - Don Davis) during a live performance. Harvey wrote "Love-Itis" which hit for Mandala in their native Canada. Johnnie Taylor hit number one on both

This is the original theme to the gothic television series "Dark Shadows". Conceived as "Shadows Of The Night" this cult classic was composed by Robert Cobert and is performed here by his orchestra in 1968. The narrator is David Selby who played the

Co-writer Les Reed sings "Everybody Knows (L. Reed - B. Mason). Just a few of the successes Les co-wrote include "It's Not Unusual", "There's A Kind Of Hush", "Delilah", "The Last Waltz, "Here It Comes Again" and "Kiss Me Goodbye". The Dave Clark Five

The 1959 movie "A Hole In The Head" highlighted Frank Sinatra and Eddie Hodges singing "High Hopes" (James Van Heusen - Sammy Cahn). The song won an Academy Award for Best Original Song. The Frank Capra film also included Edward G. Robinson, Eleanor

Jackie Wilson's "Lonely Teardrops" (Berry Gordy Jr., Tyran Carlo) was initially recorded as a blues ballad but Brunswick label executives and the writers weren't happy with the product. It was Decca veteran arranger Dick Jacobs who re-arranged it. What

Hank (Hiram) Williams and his Drifting Cowboys (Don Helms, Sammy Pruett, Jerry Rivers and Jack Shook) original "I Can't Help It (If I'm Still In Love With You)" was issued as a B side yet reached number two on the Country chart in 1951. Hank is a member

This version of "Poetry In Motion" (Paul Kaufman - Mike Anthony) was recorded in 1960 but first published in 2011 by Bear Family Records. This original has King Curtis (Curtis Ousley) on saxophone and was recorded some weeks before the famous single

"Early In the Morning" aka "She Let's Her Hair Down" or a bracketed combination of those titles started with a 1968 Miss Clairol television commercial and resulted in a well known song. Who recorded the tune first as a single is hotly debated. The title

Floyd Tillman recorded "I Love You So Much It Hurts" in 1948 and charted at number six on the "Country" listing. This is a remixed stereo version of the original record. Floyd played lead guitar for Adolph Hofner and also worked with Moon Mullican and Ted

Marv Green sings "Amazed" (Marv Green - Aimee Mayo - Chris Lindsey) from his LP "Pouring Raindrops Back Into Clouds". Apparently the song was offered to Boyz ll Men and they rejected it at the time. Marv's tunes have been recorded by Willie Nelson, Jewel,

From the Wally (Waldo) Holmes LP "A Good Mix" comes the solfeggio version of "Rock The Boat" (Holmes). The trumpeter and songwriter is the leader of the jazz group Yankee Wailers. They make annual appearances at the L.A. Sweet and Hot Music Festival.

The duo Air Supply (Graham Russell and Russell Hitchcock) originally recorded the Australian single version of "Lost In Love" (Graham Russell) in 1979. The single was in excess of five minutes and became part of the album "Life Support". The next year

Grammy award winner John Oates performs (Daryl) Hall and (John) Oates' chart topping "Maneater" live at the New York 2009 Songwriters Circle Song Writing Contest June 25th, 2009 at the Bitter End in New York City. Wikipedia: "John Oates has explained that

"La Vie en Rose" (Piaf - Louiguy - Monnot) was written in 1945 and made popular by Edith Piaf (Gassion). The name "Piaff" meaning sparrow was a nickname. She was named Edith after nurse Edith Cavell. Actually the song from the LP "Chansons Parisiennes"

Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band (Clarence Clemmons, Garry Tallent and Max Weinberg) recorded "Pink Cadillac" in 1984 as the B side of "Dancing In The Dark". Until The Boss heard the Natalie Cole version he nixed women singing the song because it

His debut album "Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J." contains Bruce Springsteen's "Spirit In The Night". This and "Blinded By The Light" were late additions to the LP so few members of the band are on the track except for Clarence Clemmons, Vini Lopez and

Jerry Fuller sings his song "Young Girl" from the album "From The Vault". Jerry once toured with The Champs as their vocalist. As a songwriter Jerry was responsible for "Young World", "A Wonder Like You" and other Union Gap hits "Lady Willpower" and "Over

It was 1976 when the Isley Brothers (lead vocalist Ronald, Ernie, Marvin, O'Kelly and Rudolph Isley with Chris Jasper) released "(At Your Best) You Are Love" on the album "Harvest For The World" and dedicated it to their mother. The album got to the top

First issued on the Del-Rio label, here's H.B. Barnum's original adaptation of the march from Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker Suite". Played on a grand piano in 1962 "Nut Rocker" (Kim Fowley) is credited to Jack B. Nimble and the Quicks. Hidle Brown Barnum

Glenn Tubb and his in concert version of "Skip A Rope" (Jack Moran - Glenn D. Tubb) at the Texas Troubadour Theatre in Nashville in 2010. This is the venue built by Glenn's uncle Ernest Tubb. Henson Cargill took "Skip A Rope", with the help of The

The 1954 Broadway Tony Award winning smash "The Pajama Game" included "Steam Heat" (Richard Adler - Jerry Ross) as sung by Carol Haney with Peter Gennaro and Jim Hutchison. The musical became a successful film in 1957 and has been revived several times on

Actor, model, singer and songwriter Ophelie Winter released "Ce Que Je Suis" (Ophelie Winter - Guy Roche - Shelly Peiken) in 1998 as a track from her LP "Privacy". The next year saw the issue of the Billboard number one hit "What A Girl Wants" (Shelly

The Hollies (Graham Nash, Tony Hicks, Allan Clarke, Bobby Elliott and Bernie Calvert) "Come On Back" (L. Ransford) was recorded as a B side in 1964. The writer's name was a pseudonym for group members. "Stop, Stop, Stop" (Allan Clarke - Tony Hicks -

Kentucky country singer John Michael Montgomery introduced "I Can Love You Like That" (Maribeth Derry - Steve Diamond - Jennifer Kimball) as the first single from his 1995 platinum self-titled album. The single topped the Country chart. John's elder

The Tymes (lead vocalist George Williams, Donald Banks, Albert Berry, Norman Burnett and George Hilliard) topped the charts with "So Much In Love (Jackson - Joseph - Williams) in 1963. The single is from the top twenty LP of the same name. All-4-One

"(Themes From) The Man With The Golden Arm" (Leonard Bernstein) was featured in the Frank Sinatra 1955 vehicle of that name. Academy Award, Golden Globe and Emmy winner Elmer Bernstein composed the music for too many films and television shows to list.

From the 1976 top five album "A Day At The Races" here's Queen (lead vocalist Farrokh Bulsara aka Freddie Mercury, John Deacon, Brian May and Roger Taylor) with the initial single from the LP. "Somebody To Love" (Freddie Mercury) peaked at number thirteen

Frank J. Myers and Crystal Gayle (Webb) teamed for "You And I" (Frank J. Myers), a song written for Frank's wife on Frank's 2006 album "Scrapbook". Once the bandleader and road manager for Eddy Raven, Frank was co-writer on the massive crossover hit "I

From the album "Rockin' At The Sock Hop" is co-composer Margaret Lewis with "Reconsider Me" (Margaret Lewis - Mira Smith). Margaret joined the cast of the Louisiana Hayride in 1958.The other composer, Mira Smith was a multi- instrumentalist, songwriter,

Primo Scala and His Banjo And Accordion Band along with The Keynotes introduced "I've Got A Lovely Bunch Of Cocoanuts" (Fred Heatherton) in 1949. The songwriting credit was a pseudonym for Harold Box, Desmond Cox and Lewis Ilda. The title refers to the

Dewayne Blackwell sings "Mr. Blue" (Dwayne Blackwell) with Stephanie Davis backing him so well on the album "In The Beginning". Dewayne also wrote the Garth Brooks hit "Friends In Low Places". In 1959 The Fleetwoods (Gary Troxel, Gretchen Christopher

Wikipedia: "Composer Irving Berlin was a huge admirer of the song. Berlin reportedly said that of all the songs by other composers he had heard, he would have been most proud to have written "I Don't Want to Walk Without You". Writing of Berlin's praise

Published and recorded in 1934 by English composer, arranger, actor and bandleader Ray Noble, "The Very Thought Of You" with vocals by Al Bowlly is listed here edited to include the vocal. Al Bowlly was born in South Africa, sang in India, Indonesia and

It was Fabian (Forte) who first to recorded "String Along" (Jimmy Duncan - Robert Doyle) in 1960 and peaked at number thirty-nine on Billboard. This would be Fabian's final appearance in the top forty. Rick Nelson covered "String Along" in 1963 for his

Larry Weiss and Scott English wrote "Help Me Girl". This is Larry's version from the album "Cuts And Scratches". Larry also wrote or co-wrote "Rhinestone Cowboy", "Mr. Dream Merchant" and "Bend Me, Shape Me". Scott (Sheldon) English co-composed "Bend Me,

Johnny Nash wrote, produced and sang "I Can See Clearly Now" on the 1972 album of the same name. Obviously influenced by Bob Marley the single topped Billboard's pop and Adult Contemporary charts. Bob Marley also wrote the opening track "Stir It Up", the

From his LP "From Here To Nichternity" this is composer, guitarist and Buddhist senior teacher David Nichtern and the instrumental "Midnight At The Oasis". David's mother Claire was the first woman to win a Tony. Maria Muldaur's (D'Amato) 1973 self

"History And Hope" is the title of the 2011 Mark D. (Daniel) Sanders album that includes "I Hope You Dance" (Mark. D. Sanders - Tia Sillers). Mark taught school professionally in California and was a substitute teacher when he moved to Nashville. Lee

"(I Do The) Shimmy Shimmy" (Bill Massey - Albert Shubert) was introduced by the late Bobby Freeman and reached thirty-seven on the Top One Hundred. Philadelphia group The Orlons (lead vocalist Rosetta Hightower, Shirley Brickley, Steven Caldwell and

The 1945 motion picture "State Fair" introduced the Academy Award winning "It Might As Well Be Spring" (Oscar Hammerstein II - Richard Rodgers). This won the only film score by the composing team. The song is lip synced by Jeanne Crain and sung by Louanne

Singer, songwriter, studio musician Paul Carrack with this take on his composition "How Long". Paul hit as a solo artist and as a member of Mike + The Mechanics, Squeeze, Ace and Roxy Music. "How Long" was introduced on the 1974 album "Five-A-Side" by

This is from the soundtrack toward the end of the 1952 Charlie Chaplin film "Limelight". The film was set in London but filmed in Hollywood and co-starred Claire Bloom and Buster Keaton. Because of Charlie Chaplin's alleged communist leanings the movie

Italian opera singer Beniamino Gigli with his rendition of "Dicitencello Vuie" (Rodolfo Falvo - Enzo Fusco). Beniamino's parents did not look upon the arts as a secure career. Imagine how they felt when their son chose opera and his brother Lorenzo

From her album "One Woman's Life" (Linda Hargrove - Dean Dillon) the late Linda Hargrove sings "Tennessee Whiskey". In the seventies she performed in blue jeans unlike many of her contemporaries who worn noticeable amounts of makeup. Linda was crowned the

Shelley Peiken sings "Bitch" (Shelley Peiken - Meredith Brooks) on Song Talk Radio. Shelley also co-wrote the chart topping "Come On Over Baby (All I Want Is You)" and "What A Girl Wants". Song Talk Radio is a regular program on CJRU radio from Ryerson

Grammy winner Lalo (Boris Claudio) Schifrin wrote and performs "Mission Impossible", the theme from the popular sixties television show. Released as a single in 1967 this reached number forty-one on Billboard's pop chart and number nineteen Adult

John Kirby (Kirk) and The Onyx Club Boys (Buster Bailey, Billy Kyle, Russell Procope, Charlie Shavers and O'Neill Spencer) recorded "Undecided" (Sid Robin - Charlie Shavers) in 1938. The Ames (Urick) Brothers (Ed, Joe, Gene and Vic Ames) covered

Disco group Lipps Inc. (lead vocalist Cynthia Johnson, Roger Dumas, Terry Grant, Steven and Dana Greenberg, Joyce Lapinsky and Tom Riopelle) included "Funkytown" (Steven Greenberg) as lead single on their first album "Mouth To Mouth" in 1979. The 1980

The underrated Karla Bonoff wrote "All My Life" which became the title song of her 1999 album "All My Life: The Best Of Karla Bonoff". Karla once sang back up for Linda Ronstadt. Linda Ronstadt and Aaron Neville recorded "All My Life" on Linda's 1989