John Twang's most read articles

"On Broadway" was composed by music legends Barry Mann , Cynthia Weil , Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller . When Phil Spector discovered The Crystals they were all in high school. Their version of "On Broadway" from the 1962 album "Twist Uptown", later titled "He's a Rebel" was the first version to be released. The Cookies were the first to actually record "On Broadway". The original Cookies were Margie Hendrix, Ethel "Earl-Jean" McCrea, and Pat Lyles. They ceased to exist as the…

Shawn Elliott was on Roulette records when he recorded "A Walkin' Miracle". He would go on to record for Atlantic, London and others, before moving onto acting. His Broadway credits include: "City of Angels" and "Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris". As "Santiago", he released a disco album in 1976, "Mr. Love". The Essex (Rodney Taylor, Walter Vickers, Rudolph Johnson, Billy Hill a…

In 1934 Kelly Pace and inmates of Cummins Prison Farm in Gould, Arkansas were the first to record "Rock Island Line". It was part of the Lomax collection of American folk music. Leadbelly (Huddie Ledbetter) recorded the tune a couple of years later and brought it to popularity. Britain 's Lonnie Donegan record was released in 1955 with the Chris Barber Jazz Band and it reached the top ten there.

Dick Glasser wrote and released "I Will" on Liberty Records in 1964 under the pseudonym Dick Lory. From Liberty, he went to Warner Brothers Records where he produced The Everly Brothers as well as Freddy Cannon. After Warner's he moved to Reprise producing hits by The Vogues. In the seventies Dick was managing MGM Records' country division in Nashville and there he produced C. W. McCall's chart topping "Convoy,". Vic Dana was discovered as a tap dancer by Sammy Davis Jr. This influenced the…

Ernie Maresca of "Shout! Shout! Knock Yourself Out" fame is often associated with Dion ("The Wanderer", "Runaround Sue" and "Lovers Who Wander") and was part of "The 1929 Depression". He co-authored "Child of Clay" with Jimmy Curtiss. Not the blues singer nor the Singing Brakeman but the "Honeycomb" guy, Jimmie Rodgers hit with "Child of Clay" in 1967 when it got into the top thirty and was his last charted record. The tune was a real departure for the rather unique Mr. Rodgers.

Sonny Curtis of the Crickets composed "I Fought the Law", "The Straight Life", "A Fool Never Learns", "Love Is All Around" for the Mary Tyler Moore Show and "Walk Right Back" among others. He was the first rock artist to record with the Fender Stratocaster. You'll find his named emblazoned on the entrance to Nashville's Country Music Hall of Fame as a major contributor. Soon after Buddy Holly's death the Crickets backed the legendary Everly Brothers. Don and Phil took "Walk Right Back" to t…

Although it was written for Kay Starr, she turned it down so Lynn Howard and the Accents first recorded "Walkin' After Midnight" (Block - Hecht) in 1956 as a single and the B side of "Red Thunderbird". At first Patsy Cline also declined to record "Walkin' After Midnight" and after cutting it in one take during a 1957 session she watched her first hit climb up the country charts to number two and a top twenty hit on the pop chart. The song was on her first album "Patsy Cline".

"Uno Tranquillo" (One Quiet Man) was composed by Daniele Pace, Lorenzo Pilat and Mario Panzeri and it was a 1967 Italian hit for Riccardo Del Turco. The British group The Tremeloes (originally back up band for Brian Poole) hit in 1968. Their version is known as "Suddenly You Love Me".

Brother and sister Buddy and Ella Johnson recorded "Since I Fell For You" (Buddy Johnson) with Buddy's big band in 1945. Leon "Lenny" Welch's cover hit the top five in 1964. The single is the lead track on his album "Since I Fell For You".

The Beach Boys recorded "California Girls" (Brian Wilson - Mike Love) with lead vocals by Mike Love on the 1965 album "Summer Days (and Summer Nights)". The single, influenced by Brian's LSD experimenting, reached number three on Billboard and featured the famed Wrecking Crew. The 1985 hit cover of "California Girls" by Van Halen member at the time, David Lee Roth and background vocals from Beach Boy Carl Wilson is from the album "Crazy From the Heat". Christopher Cross also sings background…

Artie Kornfeld along with Steve Duboff were the Changin' Times. In 1965 they wrote and recorded " The Pied Piper ". It became one of the most covered records ever. Artie Kornfeld was also the co-writer of " Dead Man's Curve " by Jan and Dean and was the co-writer and producer of the 1967 hit by the Cowsills " The Rain, The Park & Other Things ". He is best known as the music promoter for the 1969 original Woodstock Festival . In 1966 Crispian St. Peter (Robin Peter Smith) hit…

Ray Price had his first hit in the fifties with "Crazy Arms", Don't Let the Stars Get In Your Eyes" and "Release Me". In the sixties it was "Make the World Go Away" and "City Lights". In the seventies": "For the Good Times" and in 1973 the number one country tune "You're the Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me". Songwriter and All-American quarterback Jim Weatherly composed "Neither One of Us Wants to Say Goodbye", "Midnight Train to Georgia" (Midnight Plane to Houston) and "You're the B…

Nella Dodds first released "Come See About Me" (Holland-Dozier-Holland) as a single on the Wand label in 1964 and it reached #74 on Billboard's Top 100. This triggered the release of the Supremes (Diana Ross, Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson) single from the album "Where Did Our Love Go" and it hit the top of the charts in America.

"Fool on the Hill" originally recorded by Paul McCartney as a solo demo is followed by the studio version from the Magical Mystery Tour released in 1967. Brazil 's Sergio Mendes hit the top ten with "Fool On The Hill" in 1968.

Grammy Award winners Peter (Yarrow), Paul (Stookey) and Mary (Travers) recorded "And When I Die" in 1966 for the "Peter, Paul and Mary" album. Composer extraordinaire Laura Nyro (Nigro) gave us "Stoned Soul Picnic", "Wedding Bell Blues", "Stoney End", "Sweet Blindness", "Eli's Comin'", "Save the Country" and "And When I Die", recorded it a year later for her debut album "More Than a New Discovery". Two years later the album was re-released as "Laura Nyro" and in 1973 as "The First Songs".…

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 Buffett, Shawn Colvin and Jerry Jeff Walker. Husband and wife team The Captain (Daryl Dragon) and (Toni) Tennille's 1976 cover, "Muskrat Love" reached the number four position on Billboard's top one hundred. The tune is on their second album "Song of…

One of the greatest and most successful singer/composers of the rock era Neil Sedaka (Juilliard School of Music 1947) was one of the original creators of the “Brill Building” sound and was the first to sign with Don Kirshner and Al Nevins at Aldon Music. When he graduated high school he formed The Tokens, the same group that hit with "The Lion Sleeps Tonight". Neil recorded "Solitaire" (co-composed with Phil Cody) in 1972 while on a successful British tour. The Carpenters recorded "Solitaire…

Although some radio listeners thought them to be African-American, the white group The Homeland Harmony Quartette formed in 1935. In 1947 group member Lee Roy Abernathy composed "Everybody's Gonna Have A Wonderful Time Up There" known later as "The Gospel Boogie". Lee Roy also wrote campaign tunes for Franklin D. Roosevelt and ran for the governorship of Georgia in 1958. A decade later "A Wonderful Time Up There" was a top five hit for Pat Boone.

It's been said that Jimmy Cliff (James Chambers) was reggaes' first world wide star. His initial recordings came in 1962. In 1970 Cat Stevens (born Stephen Demetre Georgiou and having converted to Islam now Yusuf Islam) produced "Wild World" for Jimmy and it became an international success. This song about actress Patti D'Arbanville was featured on the "Tea for the Tillerman" album also in 1970 and became a hit for Cat Stevens too in North America.

Jackie Ralph and Cliff Edwards were the lead vocalists for The Bells, formerly The Five Bells. Frank Mills (Music Box Dancer) was with the group. "Fly Little White Dove, Fly" was a hit in their native Canada where they also recorded a French version for the Quebec market, after all they were formed in Montreal. This is posted to simply show the beauty (my opinion) of the French version before playing the hit which did get onto the Billboard charts.