Articles by John Twang

Kit Carson (Liza Morrow) was first to record "Band of Gold" (Jack Taylor - Bob Musel) in 1955 and it peaked at the eleventh position. He never drank and never smoked, he was known as a top-ranked golfer and former big band vocalist. Close friend to Dean Martin and Willie Nelson, Don Cherry sang the "Mr. Clean" jingle in the late fifties/early sixties and made more money from those royalties than he did from his recordings. Don took "Band of Gold" to number four in 1955. It was my pleasure…

Carole King recorded "It's Going To Take Some Time" (Carole King - Toni Stern) for her album "Music" in 1971. The Carpenters (Karen and Richard) hit cover came one year later from the album "A Song For You" along with the hits: "Top Of The World", "Hurting Each Other", "I Won't Last a Day Without You" and "Goodbye to Love". The single hit number twelve on Billboard and second place on the Easy Listening chart.

The Clovers (Harold Lucas, Matthew McQuarter, Harold Winley, Bill Mitchell and Billy Mitchell) biggest hit was "Love Potion Number Nine" (Jerry Leiber - Mike Stoller). The single was released in 1959 and peaked at number twenty-three on both the pop and R&B charts. The Searchers (Tony Jackson, John McNally, Mike Pender and Chris Curtis) recorded the album "Meet The Searchers" in 1963. The next year the single hit the Billboard pop chart reaching number three with Tony Jackson's double-tracke…

Composer, performer and member of the Louisiana Hayride Carl Belew appears with his take on "Lonely Street" (Carl Belew - Kenny Sowder - B.W. Stevenson). This track is from his 1967 album "Lonely Street". Andy Williams' hit peaked at number five and hit twenty on the R&B chart in 1959. The single comes from the album of the same name.

Born in Lord Melody (Fitzroy Alexander) recorded the original "Mama Look at Boo-Boo" as "Boo-Boo Man" (Lord Melody) in 1956 for the album "Calypso Festival - Limbo in Trinidad". In the sixties he toured with Harry Belafonte. Born in Harlem, New York activist, humanitarian, actor and singer Harry Belafonte (Bellanfanti) lived the first years of his life in Jamaica with his grandmother. When he returned to NYC and attended the American Negro Theatre in the forties he and Sidney Poitier became c…

Children's story teller Roald Dahl left many treasures, one was "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". The 1971 movie "Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" had music composed by Anthony Newley including "The Candy Man" (Leslie Bricusse - Anthony Newley). The hit cover by Sammy Davis Jr. and the Mike Curb Congregation comes from the album "Sammy Davis Jr. Now". This was Sammy's only chart topper on both the top one hundred and the Easy Listening charts.

Throat singer Paul Pena's "Jet Airliner" (Paul Pena) comes from his 1973 album "New Train" but the release didn't happen until 2000. On the album were Jerry Garcia and the Persuasions. The sessions had been produced by Ben Sidran who played keyboard for Steve Miller at the time. In 1977 The Steve Miller Band recorded the track after Ben Sidran brought it to Steve's attention. It was cut for the album "Book of Dreams". The single peaked at number eight. The album cover focused on a winged hors…

Fiddle and banjo expert John Hartford (Harford) composed "Gentle On My Mind" (John Hartford) in 1967 and it's on his album "Earthwords and Music". You can hear John pickin' on The Byrds "Sweethearts of the Rodeo" and he would often appear on both "Glen Campbell's Goodtime Hour" and "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour". John won several Grammys for "Gentle On My Mind" and his contributions to the soundtrack of "O Brother, Where Art Thou". Glen Campbell released the album and single "Gentle On M…

Jamaica's ska, reggae, rock steady group The Paragons (John Holt, Garth Evans, Bob Andy and Howard Barrett) issued "The Tide Is High" (John Holt) as part of the album "On The Beach" in 1967. The truly eclectic Blondie (Deborah Harry, Chris Stein, Gary Valentine, Clem Burke, Frank Infante and Jimmy Destri) released their version in 1980 and watched it top the charts. You'll find the track on the album "Autoamerican". Former Playboy bunny, waitress, secretary and go-go dancer Debbie Harry has…

The late Cilla Black was the first to record "Alfie" (Burt Bacharach - Hal David). The movie is set in England and the producers wanted a British entertainer to sing the tune. After Sandie Shaw rejected it, Cilla Black had a major U.K. hit. Composer Burt Bacharach played the piano and arranged her 1966 session. Sonny Bono produced Cher's version from the album "Cher" and it was used for the actual movie. This cover hit the top forty on Billboard. It's been said that Burt Bacharach disliked th…

Once nicknamed "Cloclo" Claude Francois co-wrote "Comme d'habitude" (As Usual) in 1967 (Claude Francois - Jacques Revaux). Virtually an unknown in English speaking North America, Claude sold seventy million discs throughout his career. From one of many concert performances the legendary Paul Anka sings "My Way" (Anka - Francois - Revaux) to which he added the English lyric. Although Paul Anka didn't think The King should record the song, Elvis Presley's 1977 CBS special "Elvis in Concert:"…

The Isley Brothers' (Rudolph, O'Kelly, Ernie and Ronald Isley) "I'm Gonna Knock On Your Door" (Aaron Schroeder - Sid Wayne) was released without much chart success in 1959 as part of the album "Rock Around the Clock". Surprisingly to me at least, Hugo and Luigi were responsible for this RCA Victor issue. Archie Bleyer produced actor/singer Samuel "Eddie" Hodges' cover that reached number twelve in 1961. Eddie was fourteen years old at the time. After he was drafted Eddie received a B.A. in ps…

Brill Building writers Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart (Harshman) hit with "I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight" and composed "The Monkees Theme" in 1966. This was just one of close to twenty-five songs they composed for the group. The Monkees (details elsewhere on this blog) sing a bit of the Italian version, then the recognizable theme itself.

Matt Monro (Terence Parsons) recorded "Born Free" (John Barry - Don Black) for the film soundtrack where it appeared over the closing credits. Co-composer Don Black was Matt Moro's manager and the song won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1966. Pianist Winifred Atwell was Matt's mentor and gave him his stage name. Roger Williams' (Louis Weertz) cover was his last hit and peaked at number seven on Billboard's top one hundred, number one on the adult contemporary chart. Roger's name…

Jamaican reggae musicians The Melodians (Brent Dowe, Tony Brevett and Trevor McNaughton) recorded and issued the biblically based "The Rivers of Babylon" (Brent Dowe - Trevor McNaughton) in 1970. According to Wikipedia: Brent Dowe, the lead singer of the Melodians, said that he had adapted Psalm 137 to the new reggae style because he wanted to increase the public's consciousness of the growing Rastafarian movement and its calls for black liberation and social justice. Like the Afro-Protestant R…

Guitarist Phil Upchurch has worked with legends like Michael Jackson, George Benson, Quincy Jones, Woody Herman, B.B. King, Bo Diddley, Oscar Brown, Dizzy Gillespie, John Lee Hooker, Curtis Mayfield and Stan Getz. In 1961 The Phil Upchurch Combo released the instrumental "You Can't Sit Down" (Dee "Raindrops" Clark - Kal "Cameo-Parkway owner" Mann - Cornell Muldrow) and sold a million! Two years later The Dovells (Len "Barry" Borisoff, Arnie Silver, Jim Mealey and Jerry Gross) hit number three…

Emmy winner, singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, producer Randy Edelman composed "Weekend In New England" (Randy Edelman). Randy is married to the gifted Jackie DeShannon. Barry Manilow released this adult contemporary chart topper in 1976 from the album "This One's For You". The single peaked at number ten on Billboard.

Daniel Boone (Peter Green) released "Daddy, Don't You Walk So Fast" (Geoff Stephens - Peter Callander) as his first single using that name in 1971. This made him a one-hit wonder in the U.K. when it hit the top twenty. The song comes from the album of the same name. The next year Daniel became an official one-hit wonder in North America with "Beautiful Sunday". In 1972 Wayne Newton reached number three on the adult contemporary chart and peaked at number four on the top one hundred with his c…