John Twang's most read articles

The group that gave us the original version of "Walk Right In" (Rooftop Singers) Gus Cannon's Jug Stompers (Gus Cannon, Ashley Thompson, Noah Lewis) recorded "Prison Wall Blues" for Victor in 1930. John Sebastian's "Younger Girl" is remarkably similar. Warmest Spring first released "Younger Girl" on Parkway Records in 1964. In 1965 the John Sebastian composition was released on the Lovin' Spoonful (John Sebastian, Zal Yanovsky, Steve Boone and Joe Butler) debut album "Do You Believe…

Tony Award winner Glynis Johns originated "Send In the Clowns" when she played Desiree in the Stephen Sondheim 1973 musical "A Little Night Music". It's said that he wrote the song specifically for the beguiling singer, stage and screen actress. Judy Collins recorded the hit cover in 1975, it's on her album "Judith" reaching into the top forty. Again it was issued in 1977 this time getting into the top twenty. At the 1976 Grammys it won Song of the Year.

Buddy Holly is playing lead guitar on Charlie Phillips "Sugartime" (Charlie Phillips - Odis Echols) issued in 1957. Charlie went on to record the demo for "Welcome To My World" before Jim Reeves had the hit. The McGuire Sisters (Phyllis, Christine and Dorothy) cover hit number one in 1957. There is an HBO movie concerning Phyllis McGuire and her clandestine relationship with mobster Sam Giancana. The movie title "Sugar Time"! The hit version was recorded by The McGuire Sisters and both vers…

Sonny Dae (Pascal Salvatore Vennitti) and His Knights were first to record "Rock Around the Clock" (DeKnight - Freedman) in 1953 and issue the tune in 1954. Sonny was once a drummer for the Tommy Dorsey band. "Rock Around the Clock" is one of the most played songs in the universe. Bill Haley and the Comets (Marshall Lytle, Dick Richards, Joey Ambrose and over 100 members through the years) who were once called the Saddlemen released the song as the B side of "Thirteen Women" later in 1954. T…

Roger Bowling composed "Lucille" (Roger Bowling - Hal Bynum) and it's on his album "Then I'll Stop Loving Me". This was the CMA Song of the Year in 1977. It is related by John Lomax III in Nashville Music City USA, that Bowling managed to have songs recorded by unusual means: ‘Bowling had won four thousand dollars in a poker game with producer Larry Butler. Butler was about to be married again at the time and didn’t have the money, so the two agreed Butler would pay Bowling off by recording some…

Louise Cordet (Louise Boisot) is the goddaughter of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. She toured with The Beatles, Paul & Paula and Gerry & The Pacemakers and Gerry Marsden initially wrote the song "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying" for Louise in 1963. Brian Epstein managed Gerry and the Pacemakers, the first act to reach number one in the UK Singles Chart with their first three single releases. In 1964 Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying was their biggest US hit.

The following answers a request: She opened for the Beatles, she dated Elvis Presley and Jimmy Page, once married to composer Randy Edelman, she is the voice of the Bacharach,-Davis smash "What the World Needs Now Is Love", she is Jackie DeShannon (Sharon Lee Myers) who wrote hits like the Brenda Lee song, "Dum, Dum", and Marianne Faithfull's "Come and Stay With Me", for herself and the Searchers' "When You Walk In The Room", "Put a Little Love in Your Heart" was probably her biggest tune. Jac…

Buddy Clark (Samuel Goldberg) died at 37 when his plane crashed on Beverly Boulevard in Los Angeles. Five other passengers survived the 1947 accident. Buddy hit the top ten with songs like "I'll Dance at Your Wedding", "How Are Things in Glocca Mora", "Peg O'My Heart" and "Linda". Jack Lawrence composed the song at the request of lawyer Lee Eastman for his daughter. Linda Eastman became a noted photographer and wife of Paul McCartney. When growing up Jan and Dean's buddies included…

Shortly before his death in 1935 George Gershwin himself supervised Helen Jepson's recording of Porgy and Bess including the classic "Summertime". Helen sang with the Paul Whiteman Orchestra and sang along side Rudy Vallee, not only that but later she was a star with the Metropolitan Opera. The blonde beauty had a starring role in "The Goldwyn Follies" 1938 movie. During Canada's centennial year your scribe had the pleasure of visiting a small, crowded club on Crescent Street in Montreal t…

Once a guitarist on the road for Tina Charles, Bruce Woolley co-wrote "Video Killed the Radio Star" (Trevor Horne, Geoffrey Downes, Woolley) and recorded it as "Woolley and the Camera Club" on the 1979 album "English Garden" featuring Thomas Dolby on keyboards. When it was recorded by Geoffrey and Trevor and The Buggles (closely associated with Bruce) it became the first video aired on MTV and topped the charts in 1981.

The group Manfred Mann (Manfred Mann, Tom McGuinness, Paul Jones, Mike Hugg and Mike Vickers) has changed personnel and even names (Manfred Mann's Earth Band, The Manfreds) over the years. They recorded "Each and Every Day" (Mike Hugg) on the 1968 album "Mighty Garvey" In 1972 Radio Caroline and Canadian radio dj Keith Hampshire recorded the same song but titled "Daytime, Night Time". He took it into Canada's top ten five.

Mars Bonfire (Dennis Edmonton) is the composer of the rock anthem "Born to be Wild", originally intended as a ballad. The Steppenwolf (John Kay, Mike Monarch, Rushton Moreve, Goldy McJohn and brother of Mars Bonfire drummer Jerry Edmonton) tune was used in the 1969 movie "Easy Rider" and just missed the top of the charts settling at the number two position in 1968, a year before the motion picture. "Born to be Wild" was on their debut self-titled album.

(Meet me at) Midnight Mary (Raleigh-Wayne) was recorded by Jerry Cole one year after the publishers were given the song. Co-writer Artie Wayne had faith in the song and decided he could produce a better one with his buddy Joey Powers. Months later Artie received his gold record after the song hit the top ten in 1963.

Tony Renis co-composed "Quando, Quando, Quando" (When, When, When) in1962. The Italian composer, singer, actor and producer received a Golden Globe Award and Oscar nomination for "The Prayer", by Céline Dion and Andrea Bocelli, from the Quest for Camelot movie soundtrack in 1999. Pat Boone recorded a version in 1962 along with his name as one of the writers. Engelbert Humperdick (George Dorsey) had the worldwide hit in 1976.

"There Was a Crooked Little Man" was an English nursery rhyme ( www.rhymes.org.uk/there_was_a-crooked_man.htm ) first physically recorded by James Halliwell in the 1840s. It was also part of the Mother Goose Collection. Not The Singing Brakeman or the blues musician but the pop singer Jimmie Rodgers (Honeycomb) recorded it as "Crooked Little House" in 1960. The album "At Home with Jimmie Rodgers - an Evening of Folk Songs contained the rendition composed by Ersel Hickey (Bluebirds Ove…

The very talented blues balladeer Percy Mayfield wrote "Hit the Road Jack". An auto accident in 1952 left him severely injured and limited his concerts but not his songwriting. Listen to the demo. In 1961 Ray Charles recorded the classic with the Raelettes' Margie Hendricks and took the tune to the top of the charts. Calgary group, The Stampeders (Rich Dodson, Ronnie Kim and Kim Berly) with Wolfman Jack recorded the album "Steamin'" which included "Hit the Road Jack" in 1975 and got…

Petula Clark entertained the troops as a child during World War Two and even appeared in "experimental" television in the forties. Her British and European recording career shone in the fifties. She is still classified as a French chanteuse in many countries and also sang in German and Italian. Her American recording success happened with "Downtown" in 1964. She and Tony Hatch composed "You're the One" for the 1965 album "I Know a Place". Petula's version hit the top thirty in the U.K. but didn'…

"Hound Dog" started with composers Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller who produced it themselves with Big Mama Thornton in 1952. The Japanese version is included for variety because the tune was sung in just about every genre and language since it's inception. The Elvis Presley version was based on the Freddie Bell and the Bellboys interpretation he saw in Las Vegas. Elvis sang it on the Milton Berle Show then on Steve Allen's. The next day it was recorded at RCA along with "Don't Be Cruel" B…

Alex Harvey "Rings" (Alex Harvey - Eddie Reeves). According to "Songfacts" and co-composer Eddie Reeves they wrote this in honor of their friends Bob and Chris Hamilton. "We wrote the song as a special present for them about a month before their wedding. All references in the song are related to their relationship. Alex and I never thought it could be a hit song because it was so specifically about Bob and Chris. I was renting Bob's beach house while he and Chris were living in NYC for a year or…

Jim Lowe, singer-songwriter is best known for his 1956 hit "Green Door". He was also a radio personality in New York City. Jim composed "Gambler's Guitar", a hit for Rusty Draper in 1953. In 1957 he hit the top twenty with the original version of “Four Walls” (Marvin Moore, George Campbell). In 1982 he became the Program Director for WNEW-AM in New York City. Another radio personality, “Gentleman” Jim Reeves scored a little better with his version of “Four Walls” in the same year reaching bo…