Articles by John Twang

Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter composed The Originals Caste's "One Tin Soldier", "Don't Pull Your Love" for Hamilton, Joe Frank and Reynolds, Glen Campbells' "Country Boy (You Got Your Feet in L.A.) "Ain't No Woman (Like the One I Got) for the Four Tops. Dennis Lambert recorded "Dream On" for the album "Bags and Things" in 1972. Two years later The Righteous Brothers with Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield alternated on lead. They took "Dream On" into the top thirty.

Actor, pianist and composer Bobby Troup wrote "(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66" in 1946 and must have lead a wonderful life as he was married for years to Julie London. Note his different pronunciations on the word "route". Everyone from The Rolling Stones, Chuck Berry, John Mayer and Depeche Mode has recorded this classic. The King Cole Trio (Nat Cole, Oscar Moore and Wesley Prince) had the number one chart hit in the year it was composed. Nat King Cole (Nathaniel Adam Coles) re-recorded "Route…

The Boyer Brothers (James and Horace) cd "Songs of Worship, Volume two) contains the final track "Oh Lord Stand By Me" (Smallwood). The original vinyl was recorded in 1952. Soul Stirrers sang "Stand By Me Father" (Cooke - Alexander) with Sam Cooke's successor Johnny Taylor on lead. Ben E. King (King - Glick) recorded the secular "Stand By Me" in 1961 when it rightly hit the top ten. The same cover hit the top ten again in 1986 following the release of the movie by the same name. Note that…

The Bob Thompson Orchestra originally released "Who's Sorry Now" (Snyder - Kalmar - Ruby) in 1923. It was Connie Francis' (Franconero) father who pushed her to record "Who's Sorry Now" even though she disliked the tune. In January of 1958 the song debuted on American Bandstand and her version went top ten world-wide.

The Dells (Marvin Junior, Verne Allison, Johnny Carter, Chuck Barksdale, Mickey and Lucius McGill) recorded "(My Love Keeps On Growing) Higher and Higher" (Jackson - Smith or Davis - Miner after a lawsuit). This is arguably the original recording from their album "There Is" issued in 1967 although "Higher and Higher" was recorded years earlier as a possible single.. The Funk Brothers backed the late Jackie Wilson in 1957 and took "Higher and Higher" into the top ten. Rita Coolidge's "(Your…

Charlie Rich was once singed to Hi Records where he recorded "When Something Is Wrong With my Baby" (Hayes - Porter) in October of 1966 although it was not released as an album track until 1988 on "I'll Shed No Tears". In December of 1966 Sam (Moore) and Dave (Porter) with backup from Booker T and the MGs issued the album "Double Dynamite" and the single "When Something Is Wrong With My Baby". Yes that's the same Isaac Hayes and the same Dave Porter of Sam and Dave as the composers.

Lead singer Charles Bridges formed The New Birmingham Jubilee Singers (Charles Bridges, Leo Key, Ed Sherrill and Dave Ausbrooks) in Birmingham, Alabama in 1926. They were proficient in not only gospel but secular numbers. The gospel selection "Ain't That Good News" is till available on cd. Sam Cooke released the album "Ain't That Good News" in 1964. The secular version of "Ain't That Good News" (Sam Cooke) got to the number eleven position on Billboard.

Clara Ward was lead of the gospel Ward Singers (Gertrude and Clara Ward, Henrietta Waddy, Marion Williams, Willa Ward Moultrie and others) recorded the traditional "This Little Light of Mine" in 1952. Ray Charles was no stranger to taking gospel tunes and making them secular. "This Little Girl of Mine" (Charles) was released in 1955 and became his first top forty single even though it was a B side to "A Fool For You". The Everly Brothers cover came in 1958 and entered the top thirty.

Britain's David Martin recorded "Can't Smile Without You" (David Martin, Christian Arnold and Geoff Morrow) in 1975. In the early eighties David was the vocalist with the James Last Orchestra. In 1977 "Can't Smile Without You" was the "B Side" of the Carpenters "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft" and on the album "There's a King of Hush". The Barry Manilow album "Even Now" contains the song that reached the top ten in 1978.

"Cuando Vuelva A Tu Lado" ("When I Return To Your Side") (Grever) is the original Spanish title of "What a Difference a Day Made". The song was published in 1934. The English version with lyrics by Stanley Adams "What a Difference a Day Made" was a hit for the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra in the same year. Dinah Washington (Ruth Lee Jones) won a Grammy for her cover in 1959 when "What a Diff'rence a Day Makes" hit the top ten.

Composer Geoff Stephens conceived New Vaudeville Band in 1966 and watched as his group of studio musicians took "Winchester Cathedral" to the top chart position. On the first album is "Kind of Hush". One year later Herman's Hermits took "There's a Kind of Hush" (Reed - Stephens) to the top ten. The Carpenters (Richard and Karen) cover "There's a Kind of Hush (All Over the World) was released in 1976 got into the top twenty.

Champion Jack (William Thomas) Dupree learned "Junker's Blues" as a child and recorded the tune in 1940. He was playing piano in Detroit when Joe Louis encouraged him to enter the boxing ring. That explains the nickname after he won The Golden Gloves and over one hundred bouts. In 1949 Fats (Antoine) Domino changed the lyric of "Junker's Blues" and had his first hit with "The Fat Man" (Domino - Bartholomew) even though it was a B side. Lloyd Price's "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" is the same melody a…

Ted Black Orchestra's "Love Letters in the Sand" (C and N Kenny - Coots) featured vocalist Tom Brown in 1931 and was a top ten hit. Apparently the song was inspired by the 1881 composition "The Spanish Cavalier". Pat Boone topped the charts for five weeks in 1957 with "Love Letters in the Sand" and that's him doing the whistling.

Peggy Lee and the Dave Barbour Orchestra first recorded "Everybody Loves Somebody" (Taylor - Lane) in 1947 as the B side of "Don't Smoke In Bed". Dean Martin recorded the song twice in 1964, the first time on his "Dream With Dean" album with a small combo.Within months it was rerecorded with a full orchestra and released on another album titled "Everybody Loves Somebody". He opened his television show every night with "Everybody Loves Somebody" complete with co-composer and pianist Ken Lane…

Nick Lucas (Dominic Lucanese) first recorded "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" (Dubin - Burke) in 1929 and it was featured in the movie musical "Gold Diggers of Broadway". Millions of viewers watched Nick Lucas sing his song as Tiny Tim married "Miss Vicki" on the Johnny Carson Show. Music historian/falsetto singer and ukulele player Tiny Tim (Herbert Khaury) took "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" into the top twenty from the 1968 album "God Bless Tiny Tim".

Grammy award winning singer/songwriter/studio musician Joe South (Souter) composed "I Knew You When". The soulful Wade Flemons 1964 release came before his days with Earth, Wind & Fire. Billy Joe Royal version of "I Knew You When" comes from the 1965 album "Down In the Boondocks" and got into the top fifteen.

James Darren (James Ercolani) hit it big with a few novelty tunes like "Goodbye Cruel World", "Gidget Goes Hawaiian" and "Her Royal Majesty" but he proved more than that when he recorded great ballads including "Didn't We" (Jimmy Webb). The song got to the easy listening top forty in 1967. You can see James as an actor on "The Time Tunnel", "T.J. Hooker" and on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" as singer Vic Fontayne. It's said that James took his stage name from the Kaiser Darrin sports car of the fi…

Graham Gouldman of 10CC once played bass for the Mindbenders, among his songwriting partners was Tim Rice. Graham wrote "For Your Love" and "Heart Full of Soul" for the Yardbirds, "Bus Stop" and "Look Through Any Window" for the Hollies and for Herman's Hermits "Listen People" and "No Milk Today". Manchester's Hermit's Hermits (Peter Noone, Barry Whitham, Keith Hopwood, Karl Green and Derek Lackenby) and producer Mickie Most gave us some of the most clean cut sounds the sixties ever rendered…