Articles by John Twang

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 Marsden and he and the group The Pacemakers recorded it with much success. Timi Yuro (Timotea Auro) had talent and vocal power at the tender age of 14. So much that the voice coach for Frankie Laine gave her free lessons. Grammy winner Timi Yuro's cover…

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, Steve Butts and Chan Daniels) 1961 cover reached Billboard's top thirteen position. Al Jardine is lead on The Beach Boys "Cottonfields" from the 1969 "20/20" album. According to Wikipedia it wasn't a North American success although it did chart,…

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 topped the Country and the Pop charts as well in 1975. Freddy has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and can be seen as an actor in Robert Redford's 1988 release "The Milagro Beanfield War". Good movie!

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 then Here Come the Brides television shows. Of his seven top forty singles "Easy Come, Easy Go" in 1970 was one of the four that made it into the top ten. When Bobby retired from the stage he became an Emergency Medical Technician working with pa…

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 Platters took the song to the top of the charts in 1958. This was the last Mercury Record to be issued as a 78 rpm.

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 recorded the first English version, Frank Sinatra and the Nelson Riddle arrangement got to the Billboard top thirty and the top of the easy listening chart in 1966 with "The Summer Wind" (Meier - Mercer) from his "Strangers In the Night" album.

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 Jones and Jerry Burgan) cover featuring altered lyrics hit the number three position on Billboard's top one hundred. "You Were On My Mind" is from their first album with the same title as the hit single.

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 Edward, Maxine and Bonnie) 1960 cover also hit the top ten featuring their usual smooth interpretation of a song. "The Old Lamplighter" is from the "Town and Country" album.

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 Award. The Chordettes recorded "Never On Sunday" the same year, hit the top fifteen and it became one of their last chart successes.

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 and The Supremes" single topped the charts in 1969 with the background provided by Maxine and Julia Waters. Motown owner Berry Gordy "found" the song for Diana.

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 - Friday) was on that release. Fellow New Orleans musician Al Hirt covered "Java" in 1963 on the album "Honey In the Horn". The single hit the top five! In 1964 Al won the Grammy for his efforts.

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 1952 as The Bob-O-Links, The G-Clefs (Teddy Scott, Chris Scott, Ilanga Scott, Tim Scott and Ray Gibson) cover hit the top ten in 1961 using "Auld Land Syne" to their advantage. Interesting to note (wikipedia) Freddy Cannon played guitar on their sel…

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 trio The Springfields who hit the American charts before the Beatles, the husky voiced Dusty Springfield (Mary O'Brien), recorded her version early in 1964 and hit the top ten in America with her cover. It's on her U.K. album "A Girl Called Dus…

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 release on the A&M label reaching the number two position on the Easy Listening chart and the top thirty of Billboard's Top One Hundred the next year. The song is on the album "The More I See You".

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 the world of country and popular music. In 1968, three months after Willie's record, she issued "Johnny One Time" reaching the top five on the Adult Contemporary chart and top fifty on the pop charts. The song is on the album of the same name. Th…

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 divorce? First to record "Always On My Mind" six months before The King was Brenda Lee as the final track on the album "Brenda" in 1971 but other than showing on the Country chart, the original went nowhere. Willie Nelson won a Grammy for his top…

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, The Hollies (Allan Clarke, Graham Nash, Tony Hicks, Eric Haydock and Bobby Elliott) cover hit the top five in both the U.K. and the U.S. in 1966.

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 has My Heart)" in 1948. Both Roy Rogers and Gene Autry were fans of Eddie's singing. Sounding way too much like Dean Martin, Barry Young (Clarence Fitzgerald) took the song to the top fifteen in 1965.