Articles by John Twang

Here is the original 1962 version of The Beach Boys' "Surfer Girl" (Brian Wilson) which was recorded by Hite Morgan and released on the Canadix label after their first release of "Surfin'. The use of brushes on the drums and the lack of electric guitar help differentiate this from the hit. This was the first song written by Brian Wilson. The track was not issued commercially until 1991. The Beach Boy's (Brian Wilson lead vocals, Al Jardine, Mike Love, David Marks, Carl and Dennis Wilson) ach…

The late Andrea True's (Truden) original "More, More, More" was recorded as a demo track in 1975 when the porn star was in Jamaica. Andrea had a bit part in the 1973 film "The Way We Were". Her several stage names included Catherine Warren, Inger Kissin, Sandra Lips and Andrea Travis. The Andre True Connection (studio musicians) re-mixed and released "More, More, More" the next year peaking at number four on the Top One Hundred and topped the Disco chart. This is the single edit. After a car…

Anita Pointer started writing "Fairytale" (Anita and Bonnie Pointer) as the result of a breakup with a married California radio announcer. The song was introduced to the public at an April 1974 Pointer Sisters concert at the San Francisco Opera House. This version was issued on the September 1974 LP "Live At The Opera House". In May of 1974 the Pointer Sisters (lead vocals Anita with Bonnie, June and Ruth Pointer) included "Fairytale" on their studio album "That's A Plenty". The song was a d…

Some knew him as Naomi Neville, Allen Orange, Clarence Toussaint and Al Tousan. New Orleans iconic producer, pianist, arranger, singer, songwriter Allen Toussaint sings his composition "Happiness" with the vocal backing of Bonnie Raitt and Etta James. Most of Allen's worldly possessions including his home and recording studio were lost in 2005 during Hurricane Katrina. The Pointer Sisters (lead vocalist June Pointer with Anita and Ruth) top twenty 1978 album "Energy" included "Happiness". St…

Supposedly recorded at Paul McCartney's Liverpool home in the late fifties this is "I'll Follow The Sun" (Lennon - McCartney). Stu Sutcliffe was with the group while the drummer was Paul's brother Michael prior to either Pete Best and Ringo Starr joining as band members. The Beatles George Martin produced "I'll Follow The Sun" was a track on the LP "Beatles For Sale". Paul McCartney: "On the record we got Ringo to tap his knees. We were thinking in terms of singles and the next one had to al…

From the 1958 album "Matt Dennis Plays And Sings Matt Dennis" Matt does the lounge thing for "Let's Get Away From It All" (Matt Dennis - Tom Adair). Matt sang and played piano for Horace Heidt's Orchestra before forming his band with vocalist Dick Haymes. The Tommy Dorsey big band recorded "Let's Get Away From It All" part one featuring Jo Stafford on lead with The Pied Pipers and part two with vocalists Connie Haines and Frank Sinatra in 1941. Ziggy Elman provides the trumpet solo. The sing…

Here is the Barbara Wyrick, the co-author's version of "Tell Me A Lie' (Barbara Wyrick - Mickey Buckins) released in 1977 from the Muscle Shoals produced album "A Taste Of". Some of the musicians involved included Mac McAnally, Lenny LeBlanc and Roger Clark. High school beauty queen Sammi Jo (Jane Jobe) peaked at number four on the Easy Listening and number twenty-one on the pop chart with "Tell Me A Lie" in 1974.

The Clovers (John Bailey, Matthew McQuarter, Billy Mitchell, Charlie White and Harold Winley) first recorded one of their last Atlantic sides, "Wishing For Your Love" (Sampson Horton) with Jesse Stone's (aka Charles Calhoun) Orchestra in 1957. The non-charting single is from the LP "Dance Party". Once known as The Bellhops in the NYC region, one-hit wonders The Voxpoppers (brothers Fred, Sal and Frankie Tamburo, Richard Bernard and Gene Shaeffer) cover of "Wishing For Your Love" came in 1958…

The 1933 movie musical comedy "Sitting Pretty" introduced "Did You Ever See A Dream Walking" (Harry Revel - Mack Gordon). The song was sung at the end of the film by Art Jarrett and Ginger Rogers in an expensive production number. This clip from the motion picture features Art's vocal. Pianist Eddy Duchin and His Orchestra with vocalist Lew Sherwood topped the charts later that year with this version of "Did You Ever See A Dream Walking". It's said that Eddy frustrated orchestra members at t…

Bassist Kenny Passarelli has played with The Elton John Band, Dan Fogelberg, Hall and Oates, Stephen Stills and Joe Walsh when he was a member of Barnstorm (Joe Walsh, Rocke Grace, Kenny Passarelli and Joe Vitale). In 2016 Kenny performed "Rocky Mountain Way" (writing credit given to all members of the band) in Sioux City, Iowa. Former Eagle Joe Walsh "I'm living in Colorado and I'm mowing the lawn. I look up and there's the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains and there's snow on them in the…

It was Louis Jordan and His Tympani Five (various line-ups) that first recorded "Ain't That Just Like A Woman (They'll Do It Everytime)" (Demetrius - Moore) in 1946 The single topped the R&B chart while peaking at number seventeen on the pop listing. The late, great Fats (Antoine) Domino revived "Ain't That Just Like A Woman" for his album "I Miss You So" in 1961 and took the song to number thirty-three on Billboard. The albumtracks were assembled from various studio sessions between 1958 an…

Many moons ago there was a television program called "Playboy's Penthouse" and this is where Cy Coleman (Seymour Kaufman) sat a the piano and sang "Witchcraft" (Cy Coleman - Carolyn Leigh). When he was six years old Cy was a child prodigy who gave a piano recital at Carnegie Hall! Frank Sinatra owned almost everything he sang and "Witchcraft" is no exception. The single peaked at number six on Billboard in 1957 just as rock and roll was ruling radio and records. Wikipedia: "At the 1st Grammy…

Walter Gross directs the orchestra for the Phil Brito (Colombrito) recording of "Five Minutes More" (Sammy Cahn - Jule Styne) from the 1946 Buster Crabbe film "The Sweethearts Of Sigma Chi". At the time the song was also released by Tex Beneke, Bob Crosby, The Three Suns and others. By age seventeen Phil was a member of traveling bands eventually working with Jimmy Dorsey and Jan Savitt. The chart topping version of "Five Minutes More" came from Frank Sinatra and was one of the top five song…

A prominent member of Nashville's A Team; in 1960 Floyd Cramer wrote and played "Last Date" using his slip note style. The instrumental reached number two on the Top One Hundred and number eleven Country. "Last Date" was kept out of the top spot by Elvis Presley's "Are You Lonesome Tonight" with Floyd playing piano. Later that year Skeeter Davis (Mary Frances Penick) issued the vocal version "My Last Date (With You)" (Davis - Bryant - Cramer) peaked at number five Country and number twenty-s…

Ann Peebles, her partner and later her husband Don Bryant and DJ Bernie Miller wrote "I Can't Stand The Rain" for the 1973 Ann Peebles album of the same name. Willie Mitchell produced the session. The single reached number six on the R&B chart and number thirty-eight on the Top One Hundred. Once the backing band for Boney M, Eruption (lead singer Precious Wilson, Eric Kingsley, Greg and Morgan Perrineau and Gerry Williams) covered "I Can't Stand The Rain" in 1978 succeeding to get to number…

Puerto Rico's Bobby (Felix) Capo emigrated to New York in the forties and joined Xavier Cugat's Orchestra. In 1955 Bobby recorded "Me Lo Dijo Adela" (Otilio Portal) translated as "Say It To Me Sweetly". In 1955 Georgia Gibbs (Frieda Lipschitz) released "Sweet And Gentle" (Thorn - Portal) with Hugo Peretti's Orchestra. The single peaked at number twelve on Billboard and higher on Cash Box. The track is on Georgia's LP "Song Favorites Of Georgia Gibbs".

The man played harmonica, keyboards, mandolin and guitar. Songwriter Todd Cerney performed "I'll Still Be Loving You" (Todd Cerney - Pam Rose - Mary Ann Kennedy - Pat Bunch) in December of 2010 at Huntsville, Alabama's Von Braun Civic Center during Jim Parker's Songwriter Series. Restless Heart's (lead vocalist Larry Stewart, John Dittrich, Paul Gregg, Dave Innis and Greg Jennings) 1987 top Country LP "Wheels" featured four number one Country hits including "I'll Still Be Loving You" as the…

The 1975 top forty album "Frampton" introduced "Nassau/Baby, I Love Your Way" (Peter Frampton). This was his first solo effort after Peter Frampton left Steve Marriott and Humble Pie. The track is edited. A concert version was issued on the next year's multiplatinum "Frampton Comes Alive!". Released as a single from the double album "Baby, I Love Your Way" peaked at number twelve on Billboard. Will To Power (lead singer Bob Rozenberg, Suzi Carr, Maria Mendez and Rachel Newman) covered "B…