Articles by John Twang

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".

Teenage blues guitarist Bobby Parker composed and recorded "Blues Get Off My Shoulder" and the B side "You Got What It Takes" with the Paul Hucklebuck Band in 1957 and it failed to chart. Through the years others credited with the composition were: Billy Davis, Tyran Carlo, Berry Gordy, Gwen Fuqua (Gordy), Roquel Davis and even Marv Johnson. Detroit's Marv Johnson was the first act signed to Tamla records but the label wasn't large enough to distribute "You Got What It Takes" so when it hit t…

Mainly a group of studio musicians, Gator Creek (Mike and Kathie Deasy, Dee Barton and Ray Neapolitan along with sometime members Michael Omartian and Kenny Loggins) recorded their only album, self-titled, in 1970. In that release was "Dirty Boogie" used in Clint Eastwood's "Play Misty For Me" and the second track "Danny's Song" (K. Loggins) written for Kenny's brother Danny on the birth of his son Colin. A year later it was also on the debut album for Loggins and Messina, "Sittin' In". Anne…

In October of 1953 Rod Morris and the Missourians recorded "Bimbo" but couldn't get a hit even with a Capitol Records contract. The song's composition has also been credited individually to Rod Morris, Pee Wee King and Glenn O'Dell. Jim Reeves hit number one on the country chart one month later in 1953 with "Bimbo"

Torch singer Ruth Casey along with the Graham Prince Ensemble recorded "Cry" (Churchill Kohlman) as a single release a few months before Johnny Ray in 1951. Produced by Mitch Miller, Johnny Ray's cover with the Four Lads stayed at number one for eleven weeks!

In 1962 Pete Seeger's half-sister Peggy Seeger recorded "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" as composed for her by then boyfriend and now her "formal partner" Ewan MacColl. Roberta Flack's 1969 album "First Take" contains the 1972 hit cover that got to the top of the Billboard chart. "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" was the 1973 Grammy for Record of the Year. The song became a hit after being featured in the Clint Eastwood movie "Play Misty For Me".

Pioneers in gospel rock the Art Reynolds Singers "Jesus Is Just Alright" comes from the 1966 album "Tellin' It Like It Is". Gary Paxton of Skip and Flip, Hollywood Argyles and production fame was the producer of record on this release. The Doobie Brothers heard a version by The Byrds and when the Doobies second album came out in 1972, "Toulouse Street", well that's where you'll find the top forty hit.

Russell Smith composed "Third Rate Romance' and went to Montreal to witness and assist Jesse Winchester first record the song for the album "Learn to Love It". Jesse performed and recorded with The Rhythm Aces, Jeff Davis and David McDade. Russell joined with Jeff Davis and David McDade to become the original Amazing Rhythm Aces and recorded "Third Rate Romance" for their 1974 album "Stacked Deck". The single made it easily into the top ten.

Kay Armen (Armemuhi Manoogian) starred in radio, television, nightclubs, stage and movies. She was the daughter of the professional wrestler "The Terrible Turk", her brother was the wrestler Bobby Managoff. Playwright William Saroyan and cousin Ross Bagdasarian of Chipmunks fame as David Seville wrote "Come On-a My House" specifically for Kay in 1951. Later that year came the cover by George Clooney's aunt, Rosemary Clooney who took the song to number one!

The close harmonies of Don and Phil Everly hit the top ten in 1960 with Don's composition "When Will I Be Loved". They were with Warner Brothers Records at the time and this was a release on their old Archie Bleyer Cadence label. Grammy and Emmy winner Linda Ronstadt's album "Heart Like a Wheel" contains her 1974 cover and attained the number two position.

In 1955 Tommy Edwards hit the top twenty-five with "Morning Side Of the Mountain" (Manning-Stock). He released another version in 1959 and almost got to the same chart position. Donny (Puppy Love, Sweet and Innocent, Go Away Little Girl, Soldier of Love, etc) and Marie (Paper Roses) Osmond got to the top ten with their cover in 1974.

Much has be written about this tune but it seems to come down to the fact that Charles Hart had the first published recording of "Are You Lonesome To-night" (Handman - Turk) in 1927. Composer Lou Handman spent much of his career in Hollywood where he worked on "All Quiet On the Western Front" and "A Star Is Born". In 1950 the Blue Barron (Hershel Freidland) Orchestra issued a cover complete with a spoken word break. Tom Parker's wife called this one of her favourite songs and he persuaded The…

German actor and vocalist Harald Paulsen played "Mackie Messer" in the original Kurt Weill, Bertholt Brecht "Three Penny Opera". "Moritat" (Deadly Deed) or "Mack the Knife" was the opening number. Louis Armstrong & His All-Stars had the first popular English version of "Mack The Knife" (Blitzstein - Weill - Brecht) with Marc Blitzstein adding the English lyrics. Lotte Lenya, Kurt Weill's widow and star of the original 1928 German production and the 1954 Broadway adaptation was in the studio d…

One of Bing's brothers, bandleader and vocalist Bob Crosby with girl singer Marion Mann (Bateson), gave us the original recording of "Fools Rush In (Where Angels Fear To Tread)" (Mercer - Bloom) in 1940. In 1963 David's brother Ricky Nelson took the song into the top twenty.

Gus ("Banjo Joe") Cannon's Jug Stompers (Noah Lewis and Hoses Woods) were first to record the 1929 composition "Walk Right In" (Cannon). Gus played the tune even when he turned 100 years. The Rooftop Singers (Erik Darling, Bill Svanoe and Lynne Taylor) hit number one in1963.

Many think that Canada's Guess Who were first to record "Hurting Each Other" (Udell - Geldd) but it isn't so! Produced by the composers, Jimmy Clanton and the Anne Phillips Singers did it first in 1965 as the B side to "Don't Keep Your Friends Away" while the Guess Who cover was several months later on the album "Hey Ho, What You Do To Me" and not released as a single until 1966 when it hit Canada's top twenty. Carpenters hit the top five with "Hurting Each Other" in 1972 from the album "A S…

Classically trained composer, producer, conductor, arranger, pianist, singer Bobby Scott started his professional career at the age of eight. Among others he's performed with Gene Krupa and Louis Prima and won a 1962 Grammy for "A Taste Of Honey". He co-composed "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" Label owner and executive Herb Alpert's cover of "A Taste Of Honey" hit in 1965 and reached into the top ten.

Eric Weissberg of "Dueling Banjos" fame was once a member of The Greenbriar Boys (John Herald, Bob Yellin and Frank Wakefield) who first recorded Monkee Michael Nesmsith's "Different Drum" on what would be their final studio album "Better Late Than Never" in 1966. Interesting note, Bob Dylan once opened for the Greenbriar Boys. Linda Ronstadt and the Stone Poneys (Linda, Bobby Kimmel and Kenny Edwards) 1967 cover hit the top twenty.