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Recorded in 1958 on the last session before his death, Buddy Holly's (Holley) "True Love Ways" (Holly - Petty) includes the guitar work of Al Caiola. Buddy wrote the song for his new wife, Maria Elena, as a wedding gift. It was released as a single

"Not Fade Away" (Norm Petty - Charles Hardin aka Buddy Holly) is from the album "The Chirping Crickets" which also contains "Oh, Boy", "Maybe Baby" and "That'll Be the Day". Paul McCartney now owns the Holly catalogue. A big hit peaking at number three

"Love Story" (Francis Lai - Carl Sigman) was composed for the 1970 Ryan O'Neil, Ally McGraw movie by Francis Lai. Sometimes the music is better than the movie. Carl Sigman's lyrics were added after the movie was introduced. The instrumental by Francis Lai

Late in 1960 Wayne State basketball star Jamie Coe (George Colovas) recorded "Say You" (J.B. Hicks). It was Bobby Darin who provided him with a band called The Gigolos and changed the name to Jamie Coe when Bobby signed George to his Addison label.

It's been said that Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens were close friends of Eddie Cochrane who was first to record "Three Stars" (Tommy Dee) on February 5, 1959 but it wasn't released until years after his death. Eddie died in a tragic traffic accident

After Jerry Butler left the group, The Impressions (lead Curtis Mayfield, Sam Gooden, and Fred Cash) recorded "Gypsy Woman" (Curtis Mayfield) in 1961. The single peaked at number two on the R&B chart and number twenty on the Billboard Top One Hundred.

Various composers were included in the Tony winning musical "Ain't Misbehavin'" named after the Fats Waller tune. Featured in the Broadway production was the composition "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter" (Ahlert - Young). Fred Ahlert

Billy Joe Royal recorded a number of Joe South compositions and "Yo-Yo" was one of the many from 1967. The Osmonds 1971 single cover of "Yo-Yo" peaked at number three on the Billboard Top One Hundred. The single was produced by Grammy winner Rick Hall,

Here is the demo for "Maggie May" (Rod Stewart - Martin Quittenton) by the vamping Rod Stewart. The lyric was changed a lot, thank goodness. This is the creative process at work. In 1971 Rod released his third album, "Every Picture Tells a Story" and it

"Love Hurts" (Boudleaux Bryant) was recorded first by The Everly Brothers in 1960 for the album "A Date With The Everly Brothers". The first single release came from Roy Orbison's album "Crying" in 1961 although it didn't chart in the U.S. it reached

Johnny Otis' son, Shuggie Otis (Johnny Veliotes Jr.) wrote "Strawberry Letter 23" for his 1971 album "Freedom Flight". The hit cover of "Strawberry Letter 23" came from The Brothers Johnson (George and Louis) as produced by Quincy Jones on the platinum

John D. Loudermilk composed "Angela Jones". The song was named after a girl he met in a ballroom dancing class. This writer's version was recorded in 1962. You gotta love the harpsichord. Former radio announcer in the Nashville area and one-hit-wonder

Here is the Tommy James version of "Tighter and Tighter" (Bob King - Tommy James). This was released as a non-charting 1976 single. Eventually it was released on the Tommy James album "In Touch". "Tighter and Tighter" was written and produced by Tommy

Carole King's "It's Too Late" (Carole King - Toni Stern) comes from the album "Legendary Demos". In 1971 this was on the "Tapestry" album and the result was another number one record on both the pop and AC charts for the talented one. This won the

George Cory composed the music for "I Left My Heart In San Francisco" in 1952 especially for Claramae Turner. Claramae joined the San Francisco Opera Chorus in 1940 ay age 19. After debuting at New York's Metropolitan Opera in 1954 she and her friends,

In 1966 Don Gibson became the first to record "Funny, Familiar, Forgotten Feelings" (Newberry) and reached the top ten of the Country charts. This is from the album "More Country Soul". Most unusual for Don not to have written one of his hits. "Funny,

Singer, songwriter, producer and actor Isaac Hayes (Theme From Shaft) and David Porter (Git Jiggy Wit It) composed and produced "Soul Man" in 1967. Sam (Moore) and Dave (Prater) took the single to number two on Billboard. The single won the Grammy for

Hank Williams original single "Jambalaya (On the Bayou)" (Hank Williams - Moon Mullican) was issued in 1952 featuring Chet Atkins on lead guitar. This topped the Country chart for weeks. Because of legalities Moon Mullican wasn't credited immediately with

Little Richard's (Penniman) "Tutti Futti" (Italian for all fruits) (LaBostrie - Penniman) was released in 1955. Recorded at Cosimo Matassa's New Orleans studio Huey Smith is on piano with the Fats Domino's band. The original lyrics were altered by

Little Richard (Penniman) recorded the 1956 original "Long Tall Sally" (Johnson) and topped the R&B chart while peaking at number six on the pop chart. The song was actually written by Richard Penniman, Enotris Johnson and Robert "Bumps" Blackwell.

Conway Twitty (Harold Jenkins) recorded "It's Only Make Believe" (Twitty - Nance) in 1958 and had it go to the top of the charts in the U.S., the U.K. and Canada. Wikipedia: "It is believed that Conway wrote his part of the song while sitting on a fire

Composer Cub Koda gives his version of "Smokin' in the Boy's Room" (Cub Koda - Michael Lutz) shortly before he died. Brownsville Station (Cub Koda, Mike Lutz, Henry Weck and Tony Driggins) hit with "Smokin' in the Boy's Room" from the 1973 album

For many years Kodak was considered the pinnacle of imaging, film, amateur and commercial cameras and technology. In the seventies Eastman - Kodak advertised their Kodak Film with this television commercial. It was during this time that an engineer at

"Piece of My Heart" (Jerry Ragovoy - Bert Berns) was initially recorded by Aretha's sister, Erma Franklin as a single release in 1967. This super effort was a top ten R&B hit and charted in the sixties on the Billboard Top One Hundred. Big Brother

"You Are My Sunshine" was written in 1937 by Paul Rice, leader of the Paul Rice Gang (Paul and his brother Hoke Rice with up to three other members). The recording is from 1939. At some point he sold the song to Jimmie Davis who then claimed that he

The talented singer, songwriter and pianist Laura Nyro (Nigro) wrote and recorded "Sweet Blindness". Her catalogue included hits for Blood, Sweat and Tears, Barbra Streisand and Three Dog Night. The song is on her album "Eli and the Thirteenth

"Up Where We Belong" (Jack Nitzsche - Will Jennings - Buffy Sainte-Marie) co-music composer Buffy (Beverly) Sainte-Marie recorded the tune for the album of the same name in 1996. The 1982 film "An Officer and a Gentleman" featured Jennifer Warnes and

"Looking Back" (Clyde Otis - Brook Benton - Belford Hendricks) was recorded by the soooo smooth voice of Brook Benton (Benjamin Peay) for the 1962 album "Singing The Blues". Singer, pianist, noted Freemason, television star, baseball fan and an

Norway's A-ha (Morten Harket, Magne Furuolmen and Pal Waaktaar) first recorded "Lesson One" which gradually morphed into "Take On Me" (Morten Harket - Mags Furuolmen - Pal Waaktaar) as produced by Englishman Tony Mansfield in 1984. There was chart action

Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys recorded the original instrumental of his signature tune "San Antonio Rose" (Bob Wills) in 1939. The Leon often referred to by Bob Wills is Leon McAuliffe, steel guitar soloist with the Playboys. Lyrics were added later by

Gene (Wilson) and Eunice (Levy) recorded their first single and the original and often covered "Ko Ko Mo (I Love You So)" (Wilson - Levy - Porter) in the basement studio of co-author Jake Porter in 1954. This reached number six on the R&B chart. The

In the late sixties the ABC television show about logging in the Pacific Northwest called "Here Come the Brides" theme was "Seattle" (Montenegro - Keller - Sheldon). Originally an instrumental by Hugo Montenegro and an alternate opening featuring lyrics

Gene Chandler discovered the duo and produced the Mel (Hardin) and Tim (McPherson) original "Groovy Situation" (Herman Davis - Russell Lewis) on their 1969 debut album "Good Guys Only Win in the Movies". Gene Chandler (Dixon) peaked at number eight on

"You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby" (Harry Warren - Johnny Mercer) was heard first when sung by actor, producer, film director, record, movie and television star Dick Powell in the 1938 motion picture "Hard To Get" co-starring Olivia De Havilland. Dick

In concert from the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville this is Grammy winner Vassar Clements and the Del McCoury Band with "Lonesome Fiddle Blues" (Clements). In 1975 Vassar released his Buddy Killen produced self-titled album with Charlie Daniels playing guitar

The Jewels (Rudy Jackson on lead, Johnny Torrence, Vernon Knight, Dee Hawkins and James Brown) were first to record "Hearts Of Stone" (Torrence - Ray) in November of 1954. One week later another release with better promotion and distribution, Otis

Bill Danoff of Fat City (Bill and then wife Taffy Nivert) and later The Starland Vocal Band (Bill Danoff, Taffy Nivert Danoff, Jon Carroll and Margot Chapman) gives his in concert take of the official state anthem of West Virginia, "Take Me Home Country

The Supremes (Diana Ross, Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson) had the original "Where Did Our Love Go" (Holland - Dozier - Holland) as produced by the writers. In 1964 this became the first of many chart toppers for the group. The song was the title of

It was 1956 when The Five Satins (Fred Parris, Al Denby, Ed Martin, Jim Freeman and Nat Mosley) recorded "In the Still of the Night" (Fred Parris) as a B side in the basement of a Catholic school. The classic peaked in the pop top thirty and number three

Mrs. Roy Rogers, Dale Evans (Lucille Smith) composed "The Bible Tells Me So" This cut is on the album "Jesus Loves Me" featuring Dale, Roy and the family. Nick Noble (Valkan) was first to record the song in June of 1955 when it reached number twenty-two

Mort Shuman delivers a superior version of his composition "Turn Me Loose" (D. Pomus - M. Shuman). Mort wrote the music at the request of Chancellor records. Mr. Shuman appears in the movie `The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane" with Jodie Foster. Both

Mort Shuman and Doc Pomus (Jerome Felder) wrote some of the best tunes ever released during the fifties and sixties. "I'm a Man' sounds so much better than the hit when issued by Mort Shuman. Mort left the U.S. and relocated in France where he had his own

Blake Edwards created the television series "Peter Gunn" starring Craig Stevens, Lola Albright and Herschel Bernardi in 1958. The theme was composed by Academy Award winner Henry (Enrico Nicola) Mancini and placed an Emmy and two Grammys on his mantel.

The television show "Have Gun, Will Travel" started in 1957 and featured close to 25 episodes written by Gene Roddenberey of "Star Trek" fame while being directed by the likes of Ida Lupino, William Conrad and Sam Peckinpah. The program used a closing

In 1964 Miracles members Smokey Robinson and Bobby Rogers wrote "The Way You Do the Things You Do" for The Temptations (Eddie Kendricks lead, David Ruffin, Melvin Franklin, Otis and Paul Williams). It was their first charting pop single and it peaked at

Elizabeth Cotten worked for the Seeger (Pete, Mike, etc.)Family recorded her "Freight Train" when the Chas. McDevitt Skiffle Group hit with her composition. Elizabeth recorded the song in her Washington, D.C. home for the album "Folksongs and