Articles by John Twang

Prolific composer Wayne Carson (Thompson) recorded "No Love At All" (Thompson - Christopher) for Monument Records in 1970. B. J. (Billy Joe) Thomas hit the top five in 1971 with this single from the album "Most Of All".

Italian violinist Nino Oliviero composed successfully since WW2. The first movie score for Riz Ortolani was the 1962 release "Mondo Cane" (Oliviero - Ortolani). To date his film work includes "Kill Bill", "Drive", "Django Unchained" and "Inglourious Basterds" The main title, "More" earned a Grammy and a best song Oscar nomination. Jazz trombonist Kai Winding worked with the likes of Paul Desmond, Benny Goodman, Lalo Schfrin and Stan Kenton and in 1962 issued the album "Soul Surfin". The tit…

Composed in 1943 "La Mer" (Trenet) the song was not released until 1945 by singer Roland Gerbeau. The writer Charles Trenet's version was issued a year after. Singer/composer/actor/political activist and television show host Bobby Darin's (Cassotto) "Beyond the Sea" (Trenet - Lawrence) cover hit the top ten and rightly so in 1959.

Billy Walker first recorded the Willie Nelson composition "Funny How Time Slips Away" and took it into the top thirty on the country charts in 1961. Willie Nelson released his version in 1962 on the album "And Then I Wrote ...". The Joe Hinton cover got into the 1964 pop top twenty for the former gospel singer and it hit number one on the R&B listing.

Aviator and orchestra leader Roger Wolfe Kahn and his father Otto were the first father and son to appear separately on the cover of Time magazine. Jack Teagarden was once a member of his orchestra as were Joe Venuti, Gene Krupa and Artie Shaw. "Tonight You Belong to Me" (Rose - David) featuring vocalist Franklin Baur was released in 1926. The Patience and Prudence cover hit in 1956 and got into the top five. The sisters' father Mark McIntyre once accompanied Frank Sinatra on piano.

The Midnight Cowboy, trucker DJ from Dallas/Fort Worth, broadcaster Bill Mack composed "Blue". This won Bill the Grammy Award for Best Country Song of the Year 1997. The tune was recorded in 1956 and released two years later. You can find the single on the 1998 album "Bill Mack Sings His Songs" After being "discovered by Bill Mack, LeAnn Rimes hit in 1996 came from the album "Blue", the single went top ten country and top thirty on the pop chart. LeAnn's hit was a re-recording of the tune she…

The incomparable Barry Mann co-composed "Don't Know Much" with wife Cynthia Weil and Tom Snow. It appears as on his 1980 album "Casablanca". Why didn't he have anything beyond "Who Put the Bomp"? Linda Ronstadt and New Orleans Aaron Neville's number two gold hit comes from Linda's 1989 album "Cry Like a Rainstorm, Howl Like the Wind".

An American bandleader who gained in popularity after moving to the United Kingdom, Roy Fox (vocalist Barry Gray), recorded "Harbor Lights" (Kennedy - Williams) in 1937. The Platters hit the top ten in 1960 with their cover. There were so many groups who later used the moniker "The Platters": The Buck Ram Platters, Herb Reed and The Platters, The Original Platters, Sonny Turner's Platters, The World Famous Platters, Wilson Williams and His Platters, The Magic Platters, Zola Taylor's Platters,…

Pino Donaggio opened for Paul Anka during the star's 1960 Italian tour and the classically trained artist then started to focus on popular music. Pino recorded "Io Che Non Vivo (senza te)" (Donaggio - Pallavicini - Miller) translated as "I Who Can't Live (Without You)" and sang the song at the 1965 San Remo Music Festival. It was the same Pino Donaggio was scored the films "Carrie", "Dressed to Kill" and "Blow Out". The composer "Miller" is Capitol recording artist Jody Miller. Dusty Springfi…

Manager, singer, songwriter and member of the Grand Ole Opry, Merle Kilgore's relatives were named Clowers and actually lived on Wolverton Mountain. Merle and June Carter composed "Ring Of Fire. The beautiful June Carter Cash of the Carter Family sings her version from a live concert. She and Johnny married in 1968. The 1968 album "Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash" contains the hit single. It was number one on the country chart and hit the pop top twenty. Merle Kilgore, June Carter…

French singer/composer Gilbert Becaud (Silly) gave us "The Day the Rains Came", "Love On the Rocks", "What Now My Love", "It Must Be Him" and so many others including, in 1955, "Let It Be Me" (Je t'appartiens). Jill Corey (Norma Speranza) gave up her singing career when she married Pittsburgh Pirates' Don Hoak and became the first to record the English lyric composed by Mann Curtis. "Let It Be Me" first came the public's attention when she sang it for the 1957 television show "Climax". When s…

The Happiness Boys (Billy Jones, Ernie Hare) were a popular radio team in the twenties and thirties. They recorded "Does the Spearmint Lose It's Flavour On the Bedpost Overnight" in 1924. The tune was revived by "King of Skiffle", Lonnie (Anthony James) Donegan in 1959 as "Does Your Chewing Gum Lose It's Flavour On the Bedpost Overnight" (Billy Rose). Once a member of Chris Barber's Jazz band he almost topped the charts throughout the world with " Does Your Chewing Gum Lose It's Flavour On t…

Brenda Lee turned down "Misty Blue" so it was first recorded by the successor to Patsy Cline, Wilma Burgess, one month prior to the Tennessee Ploughboy. Eddy Arnold recorded "Misty Blue" (Bob Montgomery) in 1966 for the album "The Last Word in Lonesome". The single was released in 1967 coming close to topping the country chart and showing up on the pop list in the top sixty. A decade later Jackson, Mississippi's Dorothy Moore cover of "Misty Blue" hit the top ten in 1976.

Just weeks before the Presley issue, David Hill (Hess) was the first to record "All Shook Up" (Blackwell - Presley). The Elvis version stayed at the top of the charts for weeks in 1957. It's rumoured that manager "Colonel" Tom Parker (Andreas van Kuijk) insisted Elvis get composer credit. The same thing happened with "Don't Be Cruel" another Blackwell song.

Buck Owens wrote and released "Crying Time" as the B side of "I've Got a Tiger By the Tail" in 1964. Ray Charles and the Raelettes had the top ten hit in 1966 and the tune won two Grammys. "Crying Time" was also the title of the album

With the temperature soaring and global warming still being debated we present the following .... The Trapp Family Singers were the inspiration for the Broadway musical and the movie "The Sound of Music". Composed in 1941 and based on a traditional Czech carol, their 1952 release "Carol of the Drum" (Davis) was an Epiphany Carol and not a Christmas Carol. In 1958 The Harry Simeone Chorale issued the album "Sing We Now of Christmas" and the single "The Little Drummer Boy" (Simeone - Davis -…

San Francisco's Vince Guaraldi (Dellaglio) is noteworthy for recording the music used in the Peanuts cartoons and "Cast Your Fate to the Wind". It's from the 1962 album "Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus" which was inspired by the Academy Award winning movie. The tune won a Grammy and in 1963 actually charted. Shelby Flint had the vocal hit in 1966 and sang in the movie "Snoopy Come Home" as the Charles Shultz connection continues. Her version of "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" (Guaraldi - Werbe…

There are stories about Willie Nelson selling his songs for small sums. This one involves $150.00. Paul Buskirk and the Little Men featuring Hugh (Willie) Nelson first recorded "Night Life" (Buskirk - Nelson - Breeland). A legal battle had the song released as "Nite Life" which is really a blues tune and one of the most recorded songs in history. The Cherokee Cowboy, the late Ray Price recorded it for his 1963 album "Nite Life" after purchasing the song for an undisclosed amount. The song wen…