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In 1963 Herbie Hancock joined the Miles Davis Quintet and the now fourteen-time Grammy winner and Academy Award winner Herbie Hancock released his first album, "Takin' Off" and that introduced "Watermelon Man" (Hancock). The tune reached the top ten

In 1948 Jimmy Wakely (Wakeley) had the first recording and his first number one hit with "One Has My Name (The Other Has My Heart)" which also featured Mary Ford. Eddie Dean (Glosup), his wife Lorene and Hal Blair composed "One Has My Name (The Other

Herman's Hermits (Peter Noone, Keith Hopwood, Barry Whitwam, Derek Leckenby and Karl Green) issue of "Bus Stop" (Graham Gouldman) can be found as the second track on their 1966 album "Both Sides of Herman's Hermits". Produced at the Abbey Road Studios,

Elvis Presley recorded "Always On My Mind" (Christopher - James - Carson) in 1972 as the flipside of "Separate Ways" shortly after his divorce. He reached the top twenty. It's on the album "Separate Ways". What else would you issue after a public

While he was with RCA and under the production guidance of Chet Atkins and Felton Jarvis Willie Nelson released "Johnny One Time" (Frazier - Owens) in July. At four feet nine inches, Brenda Lee (Tarpley) is unique with the number of hits she supplied

Actress/composer/singer/child star and legend Petula Clark's "Call Me" (Tony Hatch) was the title of her 1965 extended play and was on her "I Know A Place" album. Under the guidance of Her Alpert, Chris Montez' (Montanez) "Call Me" was his debut single

Singer/actress Dionne Warwick (Warrick) issued the 1963 album "Presenting Dionne Warwick" and it contained the original "Wishin' and Hopin' (David - Bacharach). The single release was the B side to "This Empty Place". An original member of the hit folk

More a pop group than R&B artists, The Four Tunes (Pat Best, Jimmy Gordon, Jimmie Nabbie and Danny Owens) first recorded "I Understand (Just How You Feel)" (Pat Best) and took it into the R&B and the Billboard pop chart top ten in 1953. Formed

In 1958 New Orleans legendary pianist/composer/arranger and producer Allen Toussaint went into the studio and composed the album "The Wild Sounds of New Orleans" using the name Tousan. The entire lp was written in the studio. "Java" (Toussaint - Tyler -

Johnny (Bristol) and Jackey (Beavers) recorded "Someday We'll Be Together" (Brisrol - Beavers - Fuqua) in 1961. The Diana Ross and The Supremes cover is just Diana and not the Supremes although it was released as a group effort. This final "Diana Ross

Oscar nominee, member of the Hellenic Parliament and political activist Maria "Melina" Mercouri starred in the 1960 Greek movie and sang "Pedia Tou Pirea", "Never On Sunday" (Hadjidakis). The film became an international hit and the song won the Academy

The Kern "Kay" Kyser Orchestra featuring vocalist Mike Douglas and the Campus Kids hit the top ten in 1946 with the fox trot "The Old Lamplighter" (Simon - Tobias). It's from the album "Huggin' and Chalkin'". Grand Ole Opry stars, The Browns (Jim

Canadian folk artists Ian (Tyson) & Sylvia (Fricker/Tyson) recorded "Someday Soon" and "You Were On My Mind" (Sylvia Tyson) on their third album "Northern Journey" in 1964. In 1965 We Five's (Michael Stewart, Beverly Bivens, Peter Fullerton, Bob

Jorgen Ingmann gave us the hit "Apache" in 1961 and his wife Grethe Ingmann gave us "Sommerwind" (Mayer - Bradtke) in 1965. It was recorded in Baden Baden originally in German then a Danish version called "Sommervind" followed. Although Wayne Newton

The Three Suns (brothers Morty Nevins and Al Nevins with their cousin Artie Dunn) recorded the original instrumental "Twilight Time" (Nevins - Nevins - Dunn) in 1944. Manager Buck Ram added the lyric to "Twilight Time" in the forties and his group The

Mama Cass Elliott (Ellen Cohen) recorded "Easy Come, Easy Go" (Hildebrand - Keller) in 1969 for the album "Bubblegum, Lemonade and Something For Mama". With Sal Mineo as his mentor teen idol/actor/singer Bobby Sherman landed a regular spot on Shindig

Duane Dee reached the top fifty of the Country charts in 1968 with "Before the Next Teardrop Falls" (Keith - Peters) which was cut at Nashville's Columbia Recording Studio. The Grammy winning, bi-lingual late Freddy Fender (Baldemar Huerta) version

He often referred to himself as "King of the 12-string guitar" and indeed he may have been that good. The legendary Lead Belly (Huddie Ledbetter) recorded "Cotton Fields" (Ledbetter) in 1940. The Highwaymen (Dave Fisher, Bob Burnett, Steve Trott,

Former Golden Gloves boxer and gospel singer, Roy Hamilton's "Hurt" (Crane - Jacobs) hit the top ten on the R&B charts in 1954. According to Wikipedia his first R&B hit was "You'll Never Walk Alone" a copy of that was sold by a sailor to Gerry

Supposedly Jimmy Webb and Linda's cousin Susan Ronstadt broke up and that inspired Jimmy to compose "By the Time I Get To Phoenix". According to Wikipedia the first record he purchased was a Glen Campbell release. Jimmy wrote more hits than anyone to

The incredible Gene Pitney composed "He's A Rebel" and in his words he wrote it specifically for the Crystals as a follow-up to "Uptown" even though other sources say he was writing it for the Shirelles. Three time Grammy winner Vikki Carr's

Webb Pierce released "I Ain't Never" (Tillis - Pierce) in 1959 and it got to the number two position on the Country chart, top thirty on the Billboard Pop chart. Pam's daddy, Mel Tillis gave us his version in 1972 and it topped the country chart. The

Ray Peterson gave us his four-octave voice and a number of memorable tunes including "Give Us Your Blessing" (Barry - Greenwich) which got to number seventy on Billboard in 1963. Featuring the production talents of George "Shadow" Morton, The

Alabama's Ernest Ashworth's recording of "Talk Back Trembling Lips (Loudermilk) hit the top spot on the Country chart in 1963. It's from his album "Hits of Today and Tomorrow" and earned him the "most promising male artist of the year" award.. The

The personable singer/actor Steve Lawrence (Sidney Liebowitz) was first to record "I've Got To Be Me" (Walter Marks) when he sang it during the Broadway show "Golden Rainbow" in which he starred with his wife Eydie Gorme (Garmezano). The song was

Dianne (Hall) and Annita (Ray) issued "A Groovy Kind Of Love" (Wine - Sager) on Scepter Records in 1965. It was never officially released in North America. After backing Wayne Fontana (Game of Love) for many moons The Mindbenders (Bob Lang, Ric

Grammy and Emmy winner Tony Bennett (Benedetto) hit the top twenty of the Billboard chart with "Blue Velvet" (Wayne - Morris) in 1951. The Polish Prince, Bobby Vinton's cover hit number one in 1963. This is from his album "Blue On Blue"

Fred Neil was at one time a demo singer and appeared playing guitar on the demo version of Bobby Darin's "Dream Lover". The same Fred Neil composed the hit "Everybody's Talkin'" for Nilsson. Fred's first solo album in 1965 was sans drums, "Bleecker

"The Little Sparrow" Edith Piaf (Gassion) and Les Compagnons de les Chanson hit with "Les Trois Cloches" (Gilles - Herrand) in 1952. It was inspired by a real person, Jean Francois Nicot. Bert Reisfeld added the English lyric in 1948. The Browns (Jim

Elvis Presley recorded "Danny" (Wise - Weisman) in 1958 for the movie King Creole in which he played the character Danny Fisher. It was not used on the original soundtrack but is found on the 1997 release as a bonus track. Conway Twitty (Harold

In 1957 Buddy Holly named the original tune "Cindy Lou" for his niece. The title was changed to "Peggy Sue" for drummer Jerry Allison who co-wrote the tune and was trying to impress majorette Peggy Sue Gerron, his future wife, at the time. In 1958

As the Jay Hawks they hit the top twenty with "Stranded in the Jungle" in 1956. As the Marathons they got into the top twenty again with "Peanut Butter" in 1961. The Vibrations' (Dave Govan - Don Bradley - Carl Fisher, Ricky Owens and James Johnson)

Although it wasn't a national hit Bobby Mitchell and the Toppers were first to record "I'm Gonna Be A Wheel Someday" (Hayes - Domino - Bartholomew) in 1957 and it sold well in many regions culminating with a spot on American Bandstand. Two years later

Even though they recorded their tracks separately, Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell released the duet "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" (Ashford - Simpson) in 1967 and hit the top twenty. This is from their album "United" featuring the Funk Brothers. In 1968

Recorded by gifted composer Mark James (Francis Zambon) in 1968 "Suspicious Minds" was released and went nowhere. After several takes on the tune early on a January morning, Elvis Presley topped the charts in 1969 with his cover. This would be his

Written by Barry and Robin Gibb in 1975. The Bee Gees (Barry, Maurice and Robin Gibb) "Come On Over" was on the trio's 1975 album "Main Course". "Come On Over" is the Olivia Newton-John album title issued in 1976. The album hit number two on the

On his 1972 self-titled album "Willis Alan Ramsey" you'll find the song "Muskrat Candlelight". Shelter label owner Leon Russell plays keyboard on the album. His songs have been covered by the likes of Waylon Jennings, The Bellamy Brothers, Jimmy