Articles by John Twang

Irving Berlin's first Broadway musical production was "Watch Your Step" starring Vernon and Irene Castle in 1914 and introduced "Simple Melody" sung by Charles King and Sallie Fisher. In 1916 "Simple Melody" (Irving Berlin) was released by Elsie Baker aka Edna Brown and Billy Murray. In 1950 Gary Crosby and Friend (father Bing Crosby) revived "Play A Simple Melody" and peaked at number two on Billboard while selling a million copies. The B side was "Sam's Song" sung by the duo. The single be…

Bart Herbison was the Executive Director of the Nashville Songwriters Association and he hosts a Youtube feature interviewing songwriters. One of those featured was Even Stevens who plays some of "I Love A Rainy Night" (David Malloy - Eddie Rabbitt - Even Stevens). Co-writer Eddie Rabbitt took "I Love A Rainy Night" to the top of the pop, Country and Adult Contemporary charts. The track is from Eddie's 1980 platinum LP "Horizon" which also contained "Drivin' My Life Away".

The Teddy Bears (Phil Spector, Annette Kleinbard and Marshall Leib) included drummer Sandy Nelson on the 1958 classic "To Know Him Is To Love Him" (Phil Spector). The song was inspired by writing on Phil's father's tombstone. Phil Spector became infamous while Annette Kleinbard changed her name to Carol Connors and wrote "With You I'm Born Again", "Hey Little Cobra" and "The Theme From Rocky". Marshall Leib worked with Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss at A&M Records. Peter (Asher) and Gordon's (Wa…

Louis Prima and his New Orleans Gang recorded "Sing, Sing, Sing" in 1936. Louis plays the trumpet and sings, sings, sings. Benny Goodman issued his version of "Sing, Sing, Sing" introducing "Christopher Columbus" (Chu Berry) (Parts One and Two) in 1938. According to the actual 78 r.p.m. RCA Victor label the vinyl featured B. Goodman - clarinet, H. Schertzer, A. Rollini, G. Koenig, V. Mussco, - saxophones, H. James, G. Griffin, Z. Elman - trumpets, M. McEachern, S. Ballard - trombones, H. Goo…

R&B and Country are sooo close at times. The late Luther Ingram had the original "(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want To Be Right" (Homer Banks - Carl Hampton - Raymond Jackson) in 1972. The single topped the R&B chart and hit number three on the Billboard pop chart. Millie Jackson recorded "(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want To Be Right" with the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section in1974 and was nominated for two Grammy Awards for this top forty R&B performance. In 1979 Barbara Mandrell t…

Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Samba De Uma Nota So" aka "One Note Samba" (Jobim) is rightly considered a jazz standard. Five years after his death in 1994 the name of Rio de Janeiro's Galeao International Airport was changed to that of the respected composer. "Samba De Uma Nota So" (Jobim - Mendonca) "One Note Samba" was first recorded by Joao Gilberto for the 1960 LP "O Amor, o Sorriso e a Flor" which virtually introduced bossa-nova to the world. "Guitarist Charlie Byrd was invited to travel…

Sister Wynona Carr released "Operator, Operator" (Carr - Parker) in 1954. The "Sister" was added to her name when she sang gospel. The Manhattan Transfer (Tim Hauser, Laurel Masse, Alan Paul and Janis Siegel) had their first chart single with an adaptation of the original. "Operator" (William Spivery) hit in 1975 when the tune peaked at number twenty-two on Billboard. The self titled album peaked in the Billboard top forty.

Ian Axel recorded "Say Something" originally as a self-release on the 2011 album "This Is The New Year". The duo of A Great Big World (Ian Axel and Chad King) issued the tune on their debut 2013 LP "Is There Anybody Out There?" (Ian Axel - Chad King - Mike Campbell). A Great Big World with Christina Aguilera teamed for "Say Something" as a track on the release, winning them a Grammy for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. The single peaked at number four pop and number one on the Adult Contempor…

The Academy Award winning "Buttons And Bows" (Jay Livingston - Ray Evans) was written especially for the 1947 movie "The Paleface" starring Bob Hope and Jane Russell. Bob Hope sang the hit in the film. It must be remembered that Bob was a comedian. Of the many renditions of "Buttons And Bows" it is mostly associated with Dinah (Francis Rose) Shore who reached the top the charts with the song in 1948. Dinah had polio as a child yet went on to become one of the most respected recording, radio…

From the George Raft movie "Follow The Boys" aka "Three Cheers For The Boys" Dinah Shore topped the charts with her first number one hit in 1944, "I'll Walk Alone" (Sammy Cahn - Jule Styne). A musicians strike necessitated this a cappella treatment. Don Cornell (Luigi Varlaro) covered "I'll Walk Alone" in 1952 from the film "With A Song In My Heart", the story of Jane Froman. This was Don's first hit in two years after leaving the Sammy Kaye Band. The single peaked at number five.

Here is Marcella Detroit (Marcy Levy) with her take on "Lay Down Sally" (Eric Clapton - Marcy Levy - George Terry). Mary sang backup with Detroit's Bob Seger. Eric Clapton's "Lay Down Sally" peaked at number three on Billboard and is from the 1977 top ten album "Slowhand". Marcella is on backing vocals along with Yvonne Elliman. The single made a showing on both the Country and Adult Contemporary charts too.

She had a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in English and earned her doctorate in 1938. She is Malvina Reynolds who met folksingers Pete Seeger and Earl Robinson when she was in her forties. She then studied music theory and went on to compose "Little Boxes", Turn Around", "What Have They Done To the Rain" and "Morningtown Ride". The Limeliters (Glenn Yarbrough, Lou Gottlieb and Alex Hassilev) were first to record "Morningtown Ride" for the 1962 album "Through Children's Eyes, Little-Folk…

Ian Hunter (Patterson) is the appropriate title of the 1975 debut solo LP containing "Once Bitten, Twice Shy" (Ian Hunter). The single did well in the U.K. peaking at number fourteen. Ian sang lead for Mott the Hoople for the life of that band. Great White (lead vocalist Jack Russell, Audie Desbrow, Mark Kendall, Michael Lardie and Tony Montana) covered "Once Bitten, Twice Shy" in 1989 for the double platinum top ten album "...Twice Shy". The single reached number five on Billboard.

Mariachi Vargas De Tecalitan perform "Jarabe Tapatio" (Jesus Gonzales Rubio). This is a folk group that's been in existence since 1897 and continues to this day. The dance developed through the Mexican revolution. In 1941 Les Brown and his Orchestra covered the tune as "The Mexican Hat Dance" (Arr: Ben Homer). Les Brown and his Band of Renown were successful for over sixty years and put Doris Day into the spotlight. The Applejacks "Mexican Hat Rock" (Appell) charted on Billboard at numbe…

Floyd Tillman's original "Slipping Around" was recorded in 1949 and peaked at number five of the Country chart. During his career Floyd played with Adolph Hofner, Moon Mullican and Ted Daffan. Floyd's last recording came in 2002 and included the talents of Willie Nelson, George Jones, Hank Thompson, Dolly Parton, Ray Price, Connie Smith, Mel Tillis and Merle Haggard. Pop star Margaret Whiting and singing cowboy Jimmy Wakely's cover of "Slipping Around" was issued the same year and topped bot…

The popularity of "Always On Your Side" (Sheryl Crow) began on Grammy winner Sheryl Crow's 2005 vinyl LP "Wildflower" where she recorded the tune originally as a solo. Sheryl is an accomplished singer, songwriter and actress. Sheryl has dated Owen Wilson and Lance Armstrong. The single of "Always On Your Side" was a duet with Sheryl Crow and Sting (Gordon Sumner). The song peaked at thirty-three on the Top One Hundred and number twelve Adult Contemporary while charting much higher in both th…

Songwriters and members of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, Spooner (Dewey) Oldham on keyboard and harmony and Dan Penn (Pennington) playing guitar and lead vocal sing their composition "Sweet Inspiration". The Sweet Inspirations (Emily aka Cissy Houston, Estelle Brown, Sylvia Shemwell and Myrna Smith) hit number eighteen on Billboard and number five on the R&B chart in 1968 with the one-take "Sweet Inspiration" from their first and self-titled album. The group backed Elvis Presley and Aret…

This is songwriter, actor, media personality Paul Williams who recorded "Evergreen" a year after it was a hit. This is from his LP "Classics". Award winning Paul has written more hits than I. Paul's brother John was awarded the NASA Distinguished Service Medal and his brother Mentor wrote "Drift Away". Barbra Streisand's "Evergreen" was the love theme from the 1976 motion picture "A Star Is Born". The song topped the billboard chart. It's said that Paul wrote the lyric while Barbra composed…