Articles by John Twang

Appropriately recorded in an open air bar on a summer's night are Florida singers/songwriters The Warren Brothers (Brad and Brett Warren) with "Red Solo Cup" (Brett Warren - Brad Warren - Brett Beavers - Jim Beavers). The brothers have written successful singles for a diverse group including Nickelback, Taylor Swift, Tim McGraw and Lynyrd Skynyrd. Toby Keith's (Covel) 2011 LP "Clancy's Tavern" includes the single "Red Solo Cup", the one song which Toby didn't participate in the writing. All…

Sheb (Shelby) Wooley recorded the first version of "Are You Satisfied" (Homer Escamilla - Sheb Wooley) in 1955. Two years later Sheb had the million seller "Purple People Eater". As an actor he appeared in "High Noon" and co-starred in the television series "Rawhide". Just before rock and roll controlled many music charts, Rusty (Farrell) Draper hit with "Are You Satisfied" late in the same year when the single peaked on number eleven on Billboard. In the thirties Rusty made his first radio…

Britain's Hello (Jeff Allen, lead vocalist Bob Bradbury, Vic Faulkner and Keith Marshall) were first to "New York Groove" (Russ Ballard) in 1975 for their first album "Keeps Us Off The Streets". The single reached the top ten in the U.K. and in Europe. Songwriter Russ Ballard was once a member of Unit 4 + 2 and Argent. Guitarist Ace (Paul) Frehley of Kiss issued "New York Groove" on his first solo self-titled LP in 1978. This time the tune peaked at number thirteen on Billboard. David Letter…

Danish violinist and composer Jacob Gade's 1925 " Jalousie, Tango Tzigane" was interpreted that year by Lou Reisman and his orchestra. The tune has been heard in more than a hundred motion pictures since it was written. Jacob introduced the piece at the Danish premiere of the Douglas Fairbanks silent movie "Don Q, Son Of Zorro". Frankie Laine's (LoVecchio) "Jealousy" (Gade - Bloom) was yet another Frankie Laine success in 1951 when it peaked at number three on Billboard. In 2011 a British te…

(Terry) Cashman, (Gene) Pistilli and (Tommy) West included the original "Sunday Will Never Be The Same" (Terry Cashman - Gene Pistilli) on the 1966 LP "Bound To Happen". The song was turned down by both The Left Banke and The Mamas And The Papas. Spanky (Elaine McFarlane) And Our Gang (Paul Bach, Malcolm Hale, Nigel Pickering and John Seiter) took their cover of "Sunday Will Never Be The Same" to number nine on Billboard in 1967. This is from the group's self- titled first album.

The Dionne Warwick (Warrick) single "You'll Never Get To Heaven (If You Break My Heart)" (David - Bacharach) was released in 1964 and peaked at number thirty-four on Billboard, number ten R&B, while tracking top twenty in the U.K. and Canada. This cut was the second single from the album "Make Way For Dionne Warwick" which highlighted "Walk On By". The Stylistics (Russell Thompkins Jr., James Dunn, Herb Murrell, Airrion Love and James Smith) covered "You'll Never Get To Heaven (If You Break…

"On My Own" (Burt Bacharach - Carole Bayer-Sager) was initially written for and recorded by Dionne Warwick (Warrick) for her LP "Friends" but it wasn't released. It's been said that she turned the song down. The classic "That's What Friends Are For" with Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight and Rod Stewart was lead track on the album. This version of "On My Own" was recorded with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra. Patti LaBelle (Holt) and Michael McDonald recorded this cover of "On My Own" at s…

Sam Cooke's (Cook) 1963 single "Another Saturday Night" is on the album "Ain't That Good News". The song hit the Billboard top ten and topped the R&B chart. Hal Blaine of The Wrecking Crew is the drummer. Wikipedia: "On December 11, 1964, at the age of 33, Cooke was shot and killed by Bertha Franklin, the manager of the Hacienda Motel in Los Angeles, California. After an inquest, the courts ruled Cooke's death to be a justifiable homicide." The Cat Stevens cover of "Another Saturday Night" w…

The instrumental on piccolo of "Long, Long Ago" (Thomas Haynes Bayly) was recorded in 1906 by George Schweinfest. The tune was published in 1833 as "The Long Ago". In 1939 the tune was updated by Sam Stept, Lew Brown and Charles Tobias and renamed "Don't Sit Under The Apple Tree" for the Broadway musical "Yokel Boy". The lyrics were changed when the U.S. went to war. The Glenn Miller Orchestra with vocals by Ray Eberle, Tex Beneke and The Modernaires along with Marion Hutton topped the chart…

The Troggs (lead vocal Reg Presley, Ronnie Bond, Chris Britton and Pete Staples) "Love Is All Around" (Reg Presley) was issued in 1967. The single reached number seven on Billboard. "Love Is All Around" was covered by Scottish group Wet, Wet, Wet (lead vocal Marti Pellow, Graeme Clark, Tommy Cunningham and Neil Mitchell) in 1994 for the soundtrack of the Hugh Grant and Andie MacDowell motion picture "Four Weddings And A Funeral". This time the song topped the U.K, chart and on Billboard peak…

"Little White Lies" (Walter Donaldson) was recorded shortly after it was composed in 1930. Waring's Pennsylvanians with vocal refrain by Clare Hanlon and the Three Girl Friends. Wikipedia: "Waring attended Penn State University, where he studied architectural engineering. He aspired to be in the Penn State Glee Club, but he was rejected with every audition. His Banjo Orchestra became so successful that he decided to abandon his education to tour with the band, which eventually became known as Fr…

The Allman Brothers Band (Gregg and older brother Duane Allman, Dickey Betts, Jai Johanson, Berry Oakley and Butch Trucks) issued "Midnight Rider" (Gregg Allman - Robert Kim Payne) in 1970 from the LP "Idlewild South". The single didn't chart. Wikipedia: " The album's title came from the band's nickname for a $165-a-month cabin it rented on a lake outside of Macon early in its days there, the busy comings and goings at which reminded them of New York City's Idlewild Airport." Gregg Allman's…

Funded by The Library of Congress, folklorist John Lomax and his son Alan recorded Huddie Ledbetter aka Lead Belly singing "Goodnight Irene" (Lead Belly) in 1933 while he was in a Louisiana prison. He has recorded this song many, time times. Lead Belly didn't write the tune even though he is credited, but he did rewrite many of the verses. He said he learned the tune from relatives. The Weavers (Pete Seeger, Ronnie Gilbert, Lee Hayes and Fred Hellerman) with Gordon Jenkins and his orchestra…

Aerosmith (Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Tom Haliton, Joey Kramer and Brad Whitford) recorded "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing" (Diane Warren) for the 1998 movie "Armageddon" starring Steven Tyler's daughter Liv. This was the group's first number one on Billboard and the soundtrack album also topped the charts. On the LP "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing" Mark Chesnutt covered "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing". The single place at number one on the Country chart and peaked at number seventeen on the Top On…

Composer Gary Burr sings "Love's Been A Little Bit Hard On Me" at the Durango, Colorado Songwriters Expo in 2016. That's his wife, Georgina Middleman playing guitar and singing backup. It was Gary who replaced Vince Gill in Pure Prairie League. Juice Newton's "Love's Been A Little Bit Hard On Me" was the first single from the 1982 album "Quiet Lies". The single peaked at number seven on the Top One Hundred, number four Adult Contemporary and top thirty Country.

Juice (Judy) Newton issued "The Sweetest Thing (I've Ever Known)" (Otha Young) on her first album "Juice Newton And Silver Spur" in 1975. Silver Spur consisted of composer Otha Young, Tom Keeley and assorted studio musicians. Juice went solo and six years later topped the Country and Adult Contemporary charts while reaching number seven on the Top One Hundred with "The Sweetest Thing (I've Ever Known)" in 1981. The track is from the LP "Juice".

This is The Move (lead vocalist Roy Wood, Jeff Lynne and Bev Bevan) and the original "Do Ya" (Jeff Lynne) which was issued as a B side in 1972. The first title for the song was "Look Our Baby, There's A Plane A Comin'". At this time The Electric Light Orchestra was considered as a side project for the group. In 1976 The Move with keyboardist Richard Tandy and cello, violin and backing vocalists were now known as E.L.O. and essentially covered their own "Do Ya" on the LP "A New World Record".

Based on Robert Schumann's "The Happy Farmer" here are Henry Burr (McClaskey) and Frank C. Stanley's (William Stanley Grinsted) original "Red Wing" (Kerry Mills - Thurland Chattaway) released in 1907. Both singers were once members of The Peerless Quartet. Sam Donahue and his orchestra featuring Shirley Lloyd hit the Billboard top ten with "Red Wing" in 1947. Sam played with Harry James, Benny Goodman, Billy May, Tommy Dorsey, Stan Kenton, Gene Krupa and Woody Herman.