Search among John Twang's articles

This is Austrian composer Franz Winkler with sister Albertine (Seifert) singing "Fliege mit mir in die Heimat" (Franz Winkler) as recorded in 1939. During World War Two the song was adopted by the German Luftwaffe. Malia Rosa added the English lyric in

Paul Simon recorded this demo in 1967 and although the lyric "At The Zoo" is nowhere to be heard, this is obviously the road to the hit. This was written for "The Graduate" but not used in the film. The track is contained on the bootleg LP "The Alternate

Paul Simon sings the original "I Am A Rock" The track is from the LP "Paul Simon Song Book" released in 1965 only in the United Kingdom. This was the one single issued from the album. From the classic (Paul) Simon and (Art) Garfunkel 1966 album "Sounds

Originally written by the group Steam (lead vocalist Gary DeCarlo, Paul Leka, and Dale Frashuer), they hastily recorded "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" as a B side. In 1969 this topped the Billboard chart and peaked at number twenty-two on the Soul chart

Dennis Morgan performs "I Wouldn't Have Missed It For The World" (Charles Quillen - Kye Fleming - Dennis Morgan) at a songwriters showcase. Dennis has had hits with Eric Clapton, Garth Brooks, Aretha Franklin and Barbara Mandrell. Multi-Grammy winning

Michael Sembello with the demo of "Mirror, Mirror" (Dennis Matkosky - Michael Sembello). This is the same singer who scored with the chart topping "Maniac" from the "Flashdance" soundtrack. Michael worked with Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson. The

This was for a potential Broadway musical that didn't materialize for him so composer Hoagy Carmichael asked Johnny Mercer, years later a co-founder of Capitol Records, to write a lyric. It took Johnny months of struggling to find the right words. When he

English supergroup Traffic (Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, Dave Mason and Chris Wood) issued "Feelin' Alright" (Dave Mason) from their 1968 self-titled top twenty LP. Joe Cocker's cover of "Feeling Alright" was first issued in 1969 on his debut album "With

Ester (Esther) Dean recorded the demo of "What's My Name" and was in the background of the hit. Ester voiced characters in "Ice Age: Continental Drift" and was part of the cast on the "Pitch Perfect" movies . Rihanna (Fenty) issued "What's My Name"

The 1961 album "Human" by Tommy (Clarence) Hunt introduced "Don't Make Me Over" (Hal David- Burt Bacharach). Tommy sang lead on The Flamingos 1959 hit "I Only Have Eyes For You". Former session singer Dionne Warwick's (Warrick) first LP "Presenting" in

This is the Jackie DeShannon demo of "Heart In Hand" (Jackie DeShannon - Sharon Sheeley). Jackie couldn't have sounded more like Brenda Lee if she tried harder. The composers collaborated on over eighty songs including "The Great Imposter" for the

Country songwriter, singer and piano player Little David Wilkins wrote "Coming On Strong". It's included on the album "Hero". Brenda Lee reached number eleven on the Billboard Top One Hundred with "Coming On Strong" in 1966. This track is from the album

Bob Crewe co-authored "Big Girls Don't Cry" (Crewe - Gaudio) and this is his "Generation" with the big band take on the hit. Other than most of the Four Seasons hits he was almost responsible for "Tallahassee Lassie", "Silhouettes", "Lucky Ladybug",

Ray Henderson, Joe Young and Sam M. Lewis wrote "I'm Sitting On Top Of The World" in 1925. The first recording of the song came in October of that year when Art Gillham aka The Whispering Pianist aka Barrel House Pete entered the studio. Less than two

In 1963 Carolyn (Caroline) Crawford had just become a teenager when she won a talent contest. The prize was a contract with Motown Records. One of three singles she recorded was "My Smile Is Just A Frown (Turned Upside Down)" (Robinson - Bradford -

The community of Kowlagia is on Lake Martin in Alabama. It was named after the legendary aboriginal. A wooden statue was placed near the lake. The song "Kaw-Liga" was written by Hank Williams in a cabin that he owned by the lakeside. Possibly a distant

The 1969 album "Rock Salt And Nails" contains the first version of Steve Young's "Seven Bridges Road". The road also known as Woodley Road has existed for over one hundred years and is near Montgomery, Alabama. Guitarist James Burton played on the session

Bob (Relf) and Earl (Nelson) recorded "Harlem Shuffle" (Relf - Nelson) and reached number forty-four on Billboard in 1963. Barry White is on the keyboard. The Rolling Stones 1986 cover of "Harlem Shuffle" is from the album "Dirty Work". Bobby Womack is

Buddy Johnson's Orchestra introduced "A Woman, A Lover, A Friend" (Syd Wyche) in 1959 as a B side. Lee Thomas is the vocalist. "Mr. Excitement" Jackie Wilson covered "A Woman, A Lover, A Friend" in 1960 topping the R&B chart and reaching number

Big Joe Turner recorded "Chains Of Love" (A. Nugetre) in 1951 as written by Doc Pomus. Doc (Jerome Felder) sold the copyright to Ahmet Ertegun for $50.00. The single peaked at number two on the R&B chart. Apparently this was the first successful

Chicago doo-wop group The El Dorados (lead Pirkle Lee Moses Jr., Louis Bradley, Jewel Jones, James Maddox and Richard Nickens) released "At My Front Door" (J. Moore - A. Abner) in 1955 hitting the top of the R&B chart and seventeen pop. Pat Boone

Songwriter Greg Douglass on guitar with vocalist Rose Cox in concert doing "Jungle Love" (Greg Douglass - Lonnie Turner) at Sounds Like San Diego in 2015. Greg, who played with both Greg Kihn and Hot Tuna, wrote the song with the Steve Miller Band's bass

Although it may seem like an unlikely pairing Ella Fitzgerald teamed with The Ink Spots (lead vocalist Bill Kenny, Billy Brown, Hoppy Jones and Herb Kenny) and topped the charts in 1944 with "Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall" (Doris Fisher - Allan

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (Bob Carpenter lead vocals, Jimmie Fadden, Jeff Hanna and Jimmy Ibbotson) included "Bless The Broken Road" (Marcus Hummon - Bobby Boyd - Jeff Hanna) on the 1994 album "Acoustic". What other band uses a washboard on occasion?

The Nairobi Trio consisting of three "gorillas" were part of The Ernie Kovacs Show in the fifties. Ernie played the cigar smoking character while a variety of others played the remaining two. Often celebrities were involved in the suits. These included

French singer, songwriter Michael Polnareff recorded "Ame Caline" (Polnareff) in 1967. He also recorded the song in English as "If You Loved Me". Yet another bit of vinyl of which I am most fond is "Soul Coaxing (Ame Caline)", a 1968 instrumental

Composer, singer, poet and playwright Labi (Afolabi) Siffre sings "It Must Be Love" from the 1972 LP "Crying, Laughing, Loving, Lying". The song was originally issued as a single in 1971 and hit the U.K. top twenty. Recording artists who covered his music

Producer, manager, singer, songwriter Keith Diamond (Alexander) sings "Suddenly" (Billy Ocean - Keith Diamond) at a private Christmas party in 1996. Keith died of a heart attack one month after this was recorded. It was Keith who produced the Bill Ocean

Screenwriter, Tin Pan Alley tunesmith and versatile songwriter Bob Merrill (Levan) wrote "Feet Up (Pat Him On The Po-Po)". When Bob started writing he could neither read music or play an instrument. Many of his songs were hits for Guy Mitchell. Former

Bob Merrill (Levan) wrote "Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania", one of the many hits he wrote for Guy Mitchell including "Truly, Truly Fair", "She Wears Red Feathers" and "Sparrow In The Treetop". Bob's inspiration for the song occurred at a boxing match when the

Recorded at the Club Tequila Showroom at the Fiesta Hotel in Las Vegas this is co-writer Paul Richmond singing "Shining Star" (Paul Richmond - Leo Graham). Paul is a Grammy nominated producer, songwriter and bassist who has opened for acts like Culture

The first song by NSYNC (Justin Timberlake, Lance Bass, JC Chasez, Joey Fatone and Chris Kirkpatrick) to hit the Billboard top ten was "(God Must Have Spent) A Little More Time On You" (Carl Struken - Evan Rogers) from their self-titled debut album. The

Here is The Supremes (Diana Ross, Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson) demo of "Baby Love" (Holland - Dozier - Holland). At Berry Gordy's insistence the tune closely followed the formula for "Where Did Our Love Go". Mr. Gordy is one wise man. The 1964 hit

Udo Jurgens (Bockelmann) sang "Warum Nur, Warum" (Only Why, Why) (Udo Jurgens) at the 1964 Eurovision contest as the Austrian entry sung in German. The song was only moderately successful. The underrated Matt Monro (Terence Parsons) recorded the better

Shirley Ellis (Elliston, nee O'Garra) released "The Clapping Song (Clap Pat Clap Slap)" (Lincoln Chase) in 1965. The million seller reached number eight in the U.S. and number six in the U.K.. Lincoln Chase also wrote the Shirley Ellis hits "The Nitty

"The Ziegfeld Follies of 1936" saw the premiere performance of "I Can't Get Started" (Ira Gershwin - Vernon Duke) when it was sung by Eve Arden to Bob Hope. The first recording came from Hal Kemp and his Orchestra featuring vocalist Skinny Ennis when it

"Peter Cottontail" was written in 1949 by Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins. This is the same writing duo that produced "Frosty The Snowman" the next year. Mervin Shiner was first to record the song and peaked at number eight on Billboard in 1950. Merv was a

Chuck (Harold) Willis had a number eight R&B hit with "Feels So Bad" (Willis) in the summer of 1954. This appears on the LP "Chuck Willis Wails The Blues". Wikipedia "he paid the band out of his own pocket without ever deducting taxes. ... When he

New York City area bandleader Gus Coletti sang the demo for "Wear My Ring Around Your Neck" (Bert Carroll - Russell Moody). Gus also sang with doo-wop group The Clusters (Henry Ferro, Joe Gugliaro, Donnie Milo, Tom Mordente and Charlie Scardina). Scotty

In the early fifties James (Hans) Last was crowned the best bassist in Germany. Later James and his orchestra sold hundreds of millions of albums through out the world. Mr. Last composed "No Words" in 1969 and it appears on his 1971 release

Smiley Lewis (Overton Lemons) hit the R&B charts at number eleven with "One Night" (Dave Bartholomew - Pearl King) in 1956. This included the lyric "one night of sin is what I'm now paying for". Smiley grew up in the same area as songwriter, producer

"I've Lost You" (Steve Barlby) was written for Iain Matthews (Ian Matthews MacDonald) by Alan Blaikley and Ken Howard using a pseudonym. Recorded in 1969 it was a track on Iain's first solo LP "Matthews' Southern Comfort". Covered in 1970 by Elvis

Tunesmiths Arthur Kent and Ed Warren wrote "Take Good Care Of Her" in 1961, the year it became number seven on Billboard's Top One Hundred, number twenty R&B for Adam (Patrick Henry) Wade. During the mid-seventies Adam was the host of the CBS

This is Jimmy Breedlove and the demo for "Hard Headed Woman" (Claude Demetrius). Jimmy was a member of The Cues (Eddie Barnes, Abel DeCosta, Ollie Jones and Robbie Kirk), a group formed to back up various singers on Atlantic Records in the fifties.

Chet Atkins produced Don Robertson singing "I'm Yours" (Don Robertson - Hal Blair) in 1968. The song was written for the wedding scene in the movie "Blue Hawaii" but it wasn't used. Elvis Presley recorded "I'm Yours" in 1961 and it appeared on his LP

Ernesto De Curtis and his brother Giambattista De Curtis were supposedly requested to write "Torna a Surriento" by the mayor of Sorrento to celebrate Prime Minister Giuseppe Zanasdelli's 1902 vacation in the area. Mario Massa was first to record the song

Merle Travis wrote the bulk of "Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)" (Merle Travis - Tex Williams). Merle wrote the classic "Sixteen Tons" and "Dark As A Dungeon". Merle was also noted for his finger picking style of playing the guitar. Merle was a

"Amoureuse" was initially written and recorded by French singer, producer and songwriter Veronique Sanson for her 1972 LP of the same name. Veronique married Stephen Stills in 1973. Veronique Sanson teamed with lyricist Gary Osbourne to write and record

The 1998 animated film "The Prince Of Egypt" had Sally Dworsky and Michelle Pfeiffer singing the original "When You Believe" (Stephen Schwartz). This is from the soundtrack. Singer, songwriter Sally Dworsky acted and/or sang in The Wizard, The Lion King,

Jan (Berry) And Dean (Torrence) first recorded "Dead Man's Curve" (Jan Berry - Roger Christian - Brian Wilson - Artie Cornfeld) for the 1963 LP "Drag City". The actual Dead Man's Curve is real. The hit version of "Dead Man's Curve" was issued as a Jan

Jules Bihari owned Kent Records and had Lowell Fulson on the roster in 1967. Lowell recorded "Tramp" (Lowell Fulson - Jimmy McCracklin) that year and Jules took an initial dislike to the recording. Despite that, the song hit number five on Billboard's

The first musical production from Paramount Pictures was "Innocents Of Paris", a 1929 motion picture that introduced the film's star Maurice Chevalier singing "Louise" (Leo Robin - Richard A. Whiting) with Leonard Joy's orchestra. Maurice topped the

George Goehring, together with Rod MacDonald, Ellen Bukstel and Nicole Yarling perform "Lipstick On Your Collar" (George Goehring - Edna Lewis). George pitched the song personally to Connie Francis during a surprise visit to her New Jersey home where he

Allen Toussaint plays "Brickyard Blues (Play Something Sweet)" (Toussaint) at the 1976 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. Allen often used his mother's maiden name Naomi Neville for some of his compositions. Sylvester (James) and The Hot Band

Legendary producer, songwriter, pianist and arranger Allen Toussaint wrote "Mother-in-Law". This is his version recorded at New York City's Bottom Line on February 6, 1987. Allen produced the 1957 Lee Allen hit "Walking With Mr. Lee" and Chris Kenner's "I

The Academy Award winning song "Long Ago (And Far Away)" (Jerome Kern - Ira Gershwin) debuted in the 1944 Rita Hayworth, Gene Kelly and Phil Silvers movie musical "Cover Girl". This was Columbia's first Technicolor musical. Martha Mears dubbed Rita

I Will Survive Gloria Gaynor (Fowles) topped the Billboard and U.K. pop charts with "I Will Survive" (Freddie Perren - Dino Frekaris) in 1979. The gay anthem single is from her top ten platinum album "Love Tracks" and was issued as a B side to a cover of

Bobby Goldsboro had "Lizzie And The Rainman" (Kenny O'Dell - Larry Henley) on the 1972 LP "California Wine". Apparently the idea for the song took root after writers Kenny O'Dell or Larry Henley watched the movie "The Rainmaker" and the character named

Fats (Antoine) Domino and long time collaborator Dave (Davis) Bartholomew wrote "Valley Of Tears:" and charted at number eight pop, number two R&B in the summer of 1957. This track is from the LP "This Is Fats" and was the first of his many singles to

You may know this tune as "Beer Barrel Polka", "Roll Out The Barrel" or "The Barrel Polka" (Jaromir Vejvoda). It was written as an instrumental in 1927. This became "Polka Of Modrany" and then "Skoda lasky" (Wasted Love) when lyrics were added by Vaclav

Classic country songwriter Hank Cochran supplied wife Jeannie Seely with the number two Billboard Country hit "Don't Touch Me" in 1966. The Grammy Award winning track inched onto the pop chart and was her first Monument single from the LP "The Seely

Published in 1928 "I'll Get By (As Long As I Have You)" (Fred E. Ahlert - Roy Turk) was a hit in 1929 for Aileen Stanley (Muggeridge). Eileen and her elder brother Stanley were a sister/brother vaudeville act known as Stanley and Aileen. When Stanley left

The Bee Gees (Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb) intended their tune "Desire" for the 1978 album "Spirits Having Flown". After weeks of working on it, "Desire" was dropped from the LP. This is the original Barry Gibb demo. During a 1979 session Andy Gibb

It was during the Bee Gees 1977 sessions for "Saturday Night Fever" that Barry Gibb and Bee Gees band member Blue (Derek) Weaver wrote and Barry recorded "(Our Love) Don't Throw It All Away" with brother Maurice. This was not public until the "Bee Gees

Dutch group Focus (Thijs van Leer, Jan Akkerman, Cyril Havermans and Pierre van der Linden) released the LP "Moving Waves" aka "Focus II" in 1971 with "Hocus Pocus" (Thijs van Leer - Jan Akkerman) as the opening track. An edited version was issued as a

Kenny Nolan wrote "A Penny For Your Thoughts" by Marion Jarvis as her second single in 1975. Tavares (Antone, Arthur, Feliciano (father of the four brothers), Perry and Ralph Tavares) covered "A Penny For Your Thoughts" in 1982 on the LP "New

Composers Chips Moman and Bobby Emmons perform "Luckenbach, Texas (Back To The Basics Of Love)" at The 2010 Songwriters Roundtable at the Dothan Civic Center in Alabama. When the song was written the writers gave the tune to Waylon Jennings because his

The Five Stairsteps (lead vocalist Clarence Jr, Alohe Jean, Dennis, James and Keni Burke) had a good year in 1970 when they recorded "Ooh Child (Things Are Gonna Get Easier)" (Stan Vincent) and reached number eight on the Billboard pop chart and fourteen

Emmy winner, Golden Globe winner and Tony Award winner, singer, actor Richard Kiley was part of the original 1965 Broadway cast recording of "The Man From La Mancha" where he sang "The Impossible Dream (The Quest)" (Mitch Leigh - Joe Darion). Stage

"Xanadu" as sung by songwriter Jeff Lynne. In 2000 it was recorded for the "All Over The World" compilation. The label refers to the band E.L.O. but it was done in studio by Jeff Lynne on vocals, guitars, bass and drums with Marc Mann on keyboards. Other

The duo of (Mike) Shepstone and (Peter) Dibbens released "Please Tell Her" (Shepstone - Dibbens) as a B side in 1974. Glen Campbell's first daughter, Debbie once sang with the Oklahoma band Buckwheat. Solo she issued "Please Tell Him That I Said Hello"

This version of Paul Williams "The Family Of Man" (Paul Williams - Jack Conrad) is from the 1974 LP "A Little Bit Of Love". Three Dog Night's (Danny Hutton, Chuck Negron, Cory Wells) 1972 hit "The Family Of Man" came from the previous year's album

Ray Nobles Orchestra with vocalist Val Rosing and the only song Val recorded with this orchestra. They first recorded "Try A Little Tenderness"(Jimmy Campbell - Red Connelly - Harry M. Woods) in 1932. The song was edited here to include the vocal. After

Demetriss Tapp released "Ring Dang Doo" (Robert F. Tubert - Joy Byers) in 1964. Demetriss was once dubbed "the white Tina Turner" even though she is essentially a Country artist. Sam The Sham (Domingo Samudio) and The Pharaohs' (originally: Russell

The American Quartet (lead vocalist Billy Murray, John Bieling, William Hooley and Steve Porter) recorded "Billy (She Always Dreams Of Bill)" (Joe Goodwin - James Kendis - Herman Paley) when the song was published in 1911. Lead singer Billy Murray

The 2013 Rock Meets Classics Tour was recorded at The Big Box in Kempten, Germany with composer Eric Bazilian, a founding member of The Hooters, singing his song "One Of Us". Eric has said "I wrote that song one night, the quickest song I ever wrote, to

Co-founder of The Electric Flag, Barry Goldberg was the first to record "(I've Got to Use My) Imagination" (Gerry Goffin - Barry Goldberg) for the 1973 LP "It's Not The Spotlight" produced by Bob Dylan and Jerry Wexler! This is the first I've heard of

Tom Douglas sings "The House That Built Me" (Tom Douglas - Allen Shamblin) The song was offered to Blake Shelton but when it was heard by Miranda Lambert she expressed her deep desire to record it. Tom recorded the hit in 20016 for a mixed media

In September of 1960 Mickey (Baker) and Sylvia (Robinson) were first to record "It's Going To Work Out Fine" (Rose Marie McCoy - Sylvia McKinney). The recording remained unissued until 1990 when Bear Family released it on the "Love Is Strange" box set.

Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart (Harshman) with their interesting demo of their song "Words" for the Monkees. This appears on the LP "Butterfly Effect". On their own, Boyce and Hart hit with "I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight". The Monkees (lead vocals:

Released as a single in 1968 "Stand By Your Man" (Tammy Wynette - Billy Sherrill) became TammyWynette's signature song. The tune was the title of her next album and included the vocal background supplied by The Jordanaires and topped the Country chart,

Here is Dave Crawford conducting the orchestra with his version of the 1976 hit "Young Hearts Run Free" (Dave Crawford). Dave was a seasoned radio disc jockey and also was employed as a producer at Atlantic Records where he worked with The J. Geils Band,

Tommy Dorsey's Orchestra recorded "Once In A While" (Bud Green - Michael Edwards) in 1937 and topped the charts. Co-composer Michael Edwards was an organist, violinist and arranger. Bud Green wrote "Sentimental Journey", "Alabamy Bound" and "Flat Foot

The original 1935 Broadway George and Ira Gershwin, Dubose Heyward musical soundtrack of "Porgy And Bess" features Anne Brown and Todd Duncan singing "I Loves You, Porgy". The selection is edited here to focus on the lyric. Countless stage productions of