Articles by John Twang

"Love Me With All Your Heart" originated with the Cuban trio Los Hermanos Rigual (Carlos, Mario and Pedro Rigual) as "Cuando Calienta el Sol" (Carlos and Mario Rigual) in 1961. The marvellous harmony of The Ames (Urick) Brothers (Ed, Vic, Joe and Gene Ames) brought the tune to the Anglo market in 1962 and for some reason it didn't click with the public. The Ray Charles (Offenberg) Singers 1964 cover peaked at number three on Billboard while topping the Adult Contemporary chart. This group…

The prolific John D. Loudermilk composed "The Little Bird" for the album "Twelve Sides of John D. Loudermilk" in 1961. Singer and actress Marianne (Mariane) Faithfull's 1965 version of "This Little Bird" reached top ten in the U.K. and top forty in the U.S. She wears the title 'Baroness Sacher-Masoch". This is from Wikipedia: "Her half-brother is Simon Faithfull. Her father, Major Robert Glynn Faithfull, was a British Army officer and professor of Italian Literature at Bedford College of Lond…

The talents of Lee Hazlewood teamed with then girlfriend Suzi Jane Hokom for the initial recording of "Summer Wine" in 1966. The 1967 single "Sugar Town" contains "Summer Wine" as the B side. "Sugar Town" peaked at number five while a re-release of "Summer Wine" hit the top forty. This is from the 1968 album "Nancy and Lee". Lee Hazlewood composed the song and produced both versions while Billy Strange arranged and conducted her many hits.

The Everly Brothers were first to record "Chains" (Carole King - Gerry Goffin) complete with tambourine (?) sound effects in 1962. It wasn't released until many years later. The Beatles cover is on their first album "Please, Please Me" and that's George Harrison on lead vocal. This was produced by George Martin and engineered by Norman "Hurricane" Smith. It released in the U.S. on the Vee-Jay label's "Introducing The Beatles" in 1964. Later it emerged on the Capitol album "The Early Beatles…

In 1963 The Chiffons (Judy Craig, Patricia Bennett, Sylvia Peterson and Barbara Lee) hit the number one position with their first single, "He's So Fine" (Ronald Mack) as produced by The Tokens. George Harrison began writing "My Sweet Lord" while on tour with Delaney & Bonnie in Copenhagen. George was hesitant to record a song with the word "Lord" in the title and had fellow Apple label mate and friend Billy Preston cut the tune for the album "Encouraging Words" which was co-produced by George…

Originally written as a tribute to Duke Ellington saxophonist Johnny Hodges and titled "Duke's Stomp", Ray Noble and his orchestra recorded "Harlem Nocturne" (Earl Hagen) with session man Jack Dumont. Recorded Aug. 8, 1940, with Earle Hagen, composer/arranger, in the trombone section. Earl Hagen composed themes for television shows: Andy Griffith Show, I Spy, Mod Squad and the Dick Van Dyke Show. The Viscounts (Harry Haller, Bobby Spievak, Joe Spievak, Larry Vecchio and Clark Smith) "Harlem N…

Grammy winner Big Maybelle's (Mabel Smith) "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" (D. C. Williams) was released in 1955 and produced by the Quincy Jones. Cowboy Jack Clement of Sun Records produced the Jerry Lee Lewis 1957 recording of "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" (Dave "Curlee" Williams - Roy Hall) which peaked at number one on both the country and the R&B charts while climbing to number three pop for "The Killer".

Once a member of "The Hollywood Flames" and "Bob" of "Bob and Earl", Bobby Day composed and recorded "Littler Bitty Pretty One" in 1957 which got into the top sixty. The same year Thurston Harris and the Sharps peaked at number six on Billboard's pop chart and number two R&B. The Sharps went on to record "Papa-Oom-Mow, Mow" as The Rivingtons. Once the lead vocalist of Billy Ward and the Dominoes and founding member of The Drifters, Clyde McPhatter took the song to the top twenty again in 1…

Bobby Day (Byrd) recorded "Over and Over" as the B side of the highly successful "Rockin' Robin". The tune peaked in the top forty and was a double sided hit. "Little Bitty Pretty One" was another song in his repertoire. The Dave Clark Five (Dave Clark, Mike Smith, Lenny Davidson, Rick Huxley and Denis Payton) featured vocalist Mike Smith with "Over and Over" on the "Glad All Over" album. The single topped the charts in 1965 as part of the British Invasion. They were inducted into the Rock a…

The Drifters(Johnny Moore, Gene Parsons, Johnny Terry and Charles Thomas) single of "Ruby Baby"(Leiber - Stoller) was released in 1956 and peaked at number ten. This was after Clyde McPhatter left the group and sold his portion of the group name to his manager. From "All Music": This basically doomed the group to a permanent revolving-door lineup. From that day forward, all of the members of The Drifters were salaried employees, earning as little as $100 a week even into the early '60s, and get…

In 1958 The Drifters (Bobby Hendricks, Gerhart Thrasher, Tommy Evans and Charlie Thomas) original recording of "Drip Drop" (Leiber - Stoller) produced by the composers featured Bobby Hendricks on lead vocal. The single made it into the top sixty. Over the years there have more people in the group than there may be in my hometown. The Dion (DiMucci) 1963 remake of "Drip Drop" with back up by the Del-Satins and the guitar of Al Cailoa showed off this man's talent and this is one of those tunes…

Former member of the Weavers, activist, the once blacklisted folk singer and man of the people, Pete Seeger composed the music for "Turn, Turn, Turn (to everything there is a season)" adapted from the Bible and the Book of Ecclesiastes in 1959 and recorded the song in 1962 for his album "The Bitter and The Sweet". The Byrds (David Crosby, Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, Michael Clarke and Chris Hillman) second album "Turn, Turn, Turn" contains this number one hit from 1966.

Bessie Banks recorded the original "Go Now" (Banks - Bennett) in 1963. Co-composer Larry Banks was her husband. This version produced by Leiber and Stoller touched the top forty on Cashbox. The Moody Blues (Denny Laine, Clint Warwick, Graeme Edge, Mike Pinder and Ray Thomas) featuring Denny Laine on lead vocal with "Go Now" was released in 1964 on the album "The Magnificent Moodies". The single peaked at number ten on Billboard. Denny and Paul McCartney formed "Wings" in 1971.

Don Gibson's career often crossed over from country to pop and "Sweet Dreams" is just one example. This is the first MGM recording from 1955 which hit the top ten on the country chart. In 1956 "The young sheriff and his country deputies", Faron Young took the song to number two on the country chart from his album "This Is Faron Young". Faron had dated Billie Jean Jones before her marriages to Hank Williams and Johnny Horton. Don Gibson recorded it again in 1960 with the Anita Kerr Singers…

The gifted Don Gibson nicknamed "The Sad Poet" wrote and recorded "I Can't Stop Loving You" in 1957 and it peaked the next year in the country top ten while it entered the Billboard top one hundred. It was released as the B side of "Oh, Lonesome Me" which was also the title of his first RCA album. Ray Charles recorded the wonderful "Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music" in 1962. From that LP the single "I Can't Stop Loving You" topped all kinds of charts everywhere. The B side was "Bor…

Johnny Valentine was first to record "Sandy" (Terry Fell) in 1958. If you have any information on "Johnny Valentine", please let me know. Peaking at fifteen in 1959 was Larry Hall and his one hit, "Sandy". Posted by Sandra Estlow: "My sister dated Larry Hall when they attended Rancho Alamitos High School in Garden Grove, CA in 1958. He use to come over to our house and play his songs on our piano. One day he came by and was playing this song but he didn't have a title for it or all the word…

From the 1967 album "The Magic Garden" comes The Fifth Dimension (Billy Davis Jr, Florence LaRue, Marilyn McCoo, Lamonte McLemore and Ron Townson) track "The Worst That Could Ever Happen" (J. Webb). Billy Davis Jr. takes the lead vocal as composer Jimmy Webb conducted the orchestra on this cut. The Brooklyn Bridge (Fred Ferrar, Mike Gregorio and Les Cauchi) featuring Johnny Maestro (Mastrangelo) reached number three on Billboard in 1969 with their cover of "The Worst That Could Happen". That'…

This is the demo for Lynyrd Skynyrd's (Ronnie Van Zant, Bob Burns, Ed King, Allen Collins and Gary Rossington) "Freebird" (Collins - Van Zant) from the Muscle Shoals tapes before Billy Powell joined the group from roadie to keyboardist. This power ballad was on their 1973 debut album "(Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd)" and others. The single included producer Al Kooper on organ and was issued late the next year then peaked in the top twenty in 1975. The live version is close to fifteen minu…