Articles by John Twang

Bernie Knee recorded the demo but the first professional recording came in 1960 when The Four Voices (Frank Posta, Allan Chase, Bill McBride and Sal Mayo) were the first to record "Sealed With a Kiss" (Peter Udell - Gary Geld). The group were winners on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts. Brian Hyland covered the song in 1962 and reached the top five. It may be interesting to note that Brian's cousin was Larry Fine of the Three Stooges. Despite his start with the novelty song of the decade his c…

Musician, actor (Moby Dick, Fire Down Below, King of Kings and The Vikings. The first black actor in the Royal Shakespeare Company) Edric Connor recorded the album "Songs From Jamaica" in 1952. On that l.p. was "Day Dah Light". Irving Burgie aka Lord Burgess was responsible for the success of Harry Belafonte as a singer from almost the beginning of a great career. "Day Dah Light" was rewritten by Irving Bergie and William Attaway as "Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)" in 1955 and it's this ver…

Jimmy Dean was the first to record "My Heart Is An Open Book" (Hal David - Lee Pockriss) with the Ray Ellis Orchestra in late 1958. It was the flip of the A side "Shark in the Bathtub". Neither tune appeared on an album for many years and remained as single releases. This was several years prior to his smoked sausage career. Cincinnati's Carl Dobkins Jr. cover was recorded in 1959 and although it took six months to take off, it sold a million after hitting the nation's top five singles. "My H…

Californians Don (Harris) and Dewey (Terry) were the first to record "Farmer John", later a hit for the Premiers, "Koko Joe" (Sonny Bono) a hit later for the Righteous Brothers and in 1957 "I'm Leaving It All Up To You" (Harris-Terry). Before Dale & Grace recorded the song, there was another duo who recorded it on the BRENT label in 1962, the Heartbreakers. They more than emulated the original by Don & Dewey. (Thanks Fred Clemens). Dale (Houston) and Grace (Broussard) got to the top of th…

From Prince Edward Island comes the music of Gene MacLellan. This would include "Put Your Hand In the Hand" and "Snowbird". Gene suffered from polio and heart problems as a child. Gene along with Robbie Robertson were members of Little Caesar and the Consuls. Gene later was a regular on CBC's the Don Messer Show and joined the cast of Singalong Jubilee where he met Anne Murray. "Snowbird" became Anne Murray's signature tune after her hit in 1970. The multi-award winner appeared on her first C…

Thomas Wayne (Perkins) is the brother of Luther Perkins, Johnny Cash's guitar player. His first release was "This Time" which was covered successfully by Troy Shondell. "Kiss Away" (Sherrill-Sutton) was covered with a good chart position by Ronnie Dove. Thomas did see chart success with "Tragedy" hitting the top five in 1959. Despite the fact that his touring band consisted of Scotty Moore, Bill Black and D.J. Fontana "Tragedy" was his only hit. Baltimore's Ronnie Dove and "Kiss Away" made it…

Born on a Mississippi plantation in the 1800's Bo Carter (Armenter Chatmon) recorded the traditional "Corrina, Corrina" in 1928. A victim of childhood polio, Texan Ray Peterson issued "Corrine, Corrina" in 1960 and took it into the top ten. Although this is anything but a wall of sound, it was produced by Phil Spector.

Dionne Warwick (Warrick) recorded "Make It Easy On Yourself" (Bacharach-David) for the original demo in 1962. On the strength of her demos Dionne gained a contract with Scepter records. This demo was released on her debut album "Presenting Dionne Warwick" in 1963. Years later Dionne hit the top forty with a concert version of the tune. The first studio version of this song was by The Isley Brothers in 1962. The group and A&R Director Luther Dixon decided to change the lyric to "Are You Lonely B…

In 1967 Shadden (Williams) and the King Lears were the first to record "Come Back When You Grow Up" (Martha Sharp). The Bobby Vee (Velline) version of "Come Back When You Grow Up" was issued later that same year and reached the top five on the Billboard chart. It was his last release to hit the top thirty.

(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.

In 1954 Bernard Hardison sang and played piano on the original version of "Too Much" (Rosenberg-Weinman) but it never charted. Elvis Presley topped the charts in 1956 with "Too Much" issued between "Love Me Tender" and "All Shook Up". "Too Much" was done after two complete takes were spliced together.

Carole King's "You've Got A Friend" is on the legendary 1971 "Tapestry" album. The song won the Grammy as "song of the year". James Taylor calls this "the best song ever written" and it comes from his 1971 album "Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon" and was recorded at roughly the same time with many of the same musicians. "You've Got A Friend" was released as a Taylor single and topped the charts. The tune won him the Grammy as "best male pop vocal performance". If you know of a recording a…

Composer/producer Bruce Welch (Cripps) was a member of Cliff Richard's backup band The Drifters, later known as The Shadows. In 1974 he recorded "Please Mr. Please". He is Olivia Newton-John's ex-fiancée. Olivia Newton-John recorded "Please Mr. Please" and took it into the top ten in 1975.

Sonny Curtis of the Crickets composed "I Fought the Law", "The Straight Life", "A Fool Never Learns", "Love Is All Around" for the Mary Tyler Moore Show and "Walk Right Back" among others. He was the first rock artist to record with the Fender Stratocaster. You'll find his named emblazoned on the entrance to Nashville's Country Music Hall of Fame as a major contributor. Soon after Buddy Holly's death the Crickets backed the legendary Everly Brothers. Don and Phil took "Walk Right Back" to t…

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.

Hoyt Axton (career details elsewhere on this blog) cut a live album at the famed Troubadour in 1962 and "Greenback Dollar" was one of the tracks. Hoyt and Ken Ramsey were the composers. The Kingston Trio (career details elsewhere on this blog) recorded "Greenback Dollar" on the 1963 album "New Frontier". "Greenback Dollar" reached the top thirty and is also the title of the group's biography.

Stephen Stills wrote "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" for ex-girlfriend Judy Collins. She does have strikingly blue eyes. First off is Stephen's demo version. The song is on the self-titled Crosby, Stills & Nash debut album issued in 1969 and was one of the tunes they sang at Woodstock. The single which was considerably shorter that this album version hit the top thirty. Yes that's Spanish you hear toward the end of the tune.

Jon Voight's brother, Angelina Jolie's Uncle, successful gambler, accomplished golfer and composer Chip Taylor (James Wesley Voight) wrote "Angel of the Morning" and "Wild Thing". You don't get more polarized that that. In 1965 The Wild Ones (Jordan Christopher (Zankoff) and the Peppermint Lounge house band:Tom Graves, Tommy Trick and Eddie Wright ) recorded Chip Taylor's (James Wesley Voight) "Wild Thing" for the album "The Arthur Sound". It was produced by the multi-talented Gerry Granahan.…