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Sha Na Na (album)
''Sha Na Na'' (also known as ''Shanana'') is the second album by American doo-wop and rock & roll group Sha Na Na, issued in 1971. While the group's first album consisted of versions of well-known songs, their second collection was divided equally between cover versions and original songs, most of which were written by Scott Simon, the group's piano player. Reception Jim Allen of AllMusic Guide reviewed a compact disc compilation of this album and the debut, calling the music "reverential but energetic updates, making them seem fresh and vital for the new generation and keeping that crucial sense of fun intact". Track listing Side one #"Yakety Yak" (Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller) – 1:43 #" Jailhouse Rock (Leiber, Stoller)" – 2:08 #"Duke of Earl" (Gene Chandler, Earl Edwards, Bernice Williams) – 1:50 #"Tell Laura I Love Her" (Jeff Barry, Ben Raleigh) – 3:15 #"Blue Moon" (Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers) – 2:25 #"I Wonder Why" (Melvin Anderson, Rica ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sha Na Na
Sha Na Na was an American rock and roll and doo-wop revival group formed in 1969. The group performed a song-and-dance repertoire based on 1950s hit songs that both revived and parodied the music and the New York City street culture of the 1950s. After gaining initial fame for their performance at the Woodstock Music and Art Fair, made possible with help from their friend Jimi Hendrix, the group hosted ''Sha Na Na'', a syndicated variety series that ran from 1977 to 1981. Billing themselves as "from the Streets of New York", members were frequently outfitted in gold lamé or leather jackets and sported pompadour or ducktail hairdos. The group's name was taken from a series of nonsense syllables ("sha na na na, sha na na na na") in the song " Get a Job", originally recorded by the Silhouettes. The final lineup featured original members Donny York and Jocko Marcellino, and longtime member Screamin' Scott Simon, who joined in 1970. Everyone else from the original band ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Duke Of Earl
"Duke of Earl" is a 1962 US number-one song, originally recorded by Gene Chandler. It is the best known of Chandler's songs, and he subsequently dubbed himself "The Duke of Earl". The song was written by Chandler, Bernice Williams, and Earl Edwards. This song was a 2002 inductee into the Grammy Hall of Fame. It has also been selected by The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of the 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. Original version by Gene Chandler The song originated from warm-up exercises by the Dukays, a vocal group that included Chandler (under his original name, Eugene Dixon) and Earl Edwards and that had already had some success on the R&B chart. The group would regularly warm up by singing "Do do do do..." in different keys. On one occasion, Dixon changed the syllables he was singing to include Earl's name, and the chant gradually became the nonsense words "Du..du..du..Duke of Earl". The pair worked on the song with regular songwriter and mentor Bernice Williams, an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jack Hammer (songwriter)
Earl Solomon Burroughs (September 16, 1925 – April 8, 2016), known professionally as Jack Hammer, was an American pianist, singer, and songwriter, credited as the co-writer of " Great Balls of Fire". Life and career Burroughs was born in Grovetown, Georgia, but grew up in California. In the early 1950s, he moved to New York City, where he worked as an MC at the Baby Grand Theatre. He began writing songs, one of his earliest being " Fujiyama Mama", recorded by Annisteen Allen, Eileen Barton, and a few years later by Wanda Jackson. After starting to use the pseudonym Jack Hammer, he also wrote "Rock 'n' Roll Call", recorded by the Treniers and Louis Jordan. He also recorded several singles in the mid-1950s, including "Football Rock" on Decca, and "Girl Girl Girl" on Roulette. Hammer wrote a song, "Great Balls of Fire", and submitted it to songwriter Paul Case, who liked the title but not the song itself. Case passed the idea to Otis Blackwell, and commissioned him to write ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Otis Blackwell
Otis Blackwell (February 16, 1931 – May 6, 2002) was an American songwriter whose work influenced rock and roll. His compositions include "Fever" (recorded by Little Willie John), " Great Balls of Fire" and " Breathless" (recorded by Jerry Lee Lewis), " Don't Be Cruel", " All Shook Up", and " Return to Sender" (with Winfield Scott; recorded by Elvis Presley), and " Handy Man" (recorded by Jimmy Jones). Biography Blackwell was born in Brooklyn, New York. He learned to play the piano as a child and grew up listening to both R&B and country music. His first success was winning a local talent contest ("Amateur Night") at the Apollo Theater in Harlem in 1952. This led to a recording contract with RCA and then with Jay-Dee. His first release was his own composition " Daddy Rolling Stone", which became a favorite in Jamaica, where it was recorded by Derek Martin. The song later became part of The Who's mod repertoire. Enjoying some early recording and performing success, he f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Balls Of Fire
"Great Balls of Fire" is a 1957 popular song recorded by American rock and roll musician Jerry Lee Lewis on Sun Records and featured in the 1957 movie '' Jamboree''. It was written by Otis Blackwell and Jack Hammer. The Jerry Lee Lewis 1957 recording was ranked as the 96th-greatest song ever by ''Rolling Stone''. It is written in AABA form. It sold one million copies in its first 10 days of release in the United States, making it one of the best-selling singles at that time. Background and Composition "Great Balls of Fire" is best known for Jerry Lee Lewis's original, which was recorded in the Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, on October 8, 1957, using three personnel: Lewis (piano/vocals), Sidney Stokes (bass), and a session drummer, Larry Linn, instead of the usual Sun backups Jimmy Van Eaton (drums) and Roland Janes (guitar). Lewis was quoted in the book ''JLL: His Own Story'' by Rick Bragg, (pg 133), as saying "I knew Sidney Stokes, but I didn't know him that well eith ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
I Wonder Why
"I Wonder Why" is a doo-wop song, written by Melvin Anderson with lyrics by Ricardo Weeks. The song was first recorded by Dion and the Belmonts. Background It is sung from the point of view of a man telling his girlfriend that he loves her but does not know why. The song is noted for Carlo Mastrangelo bass part. Chart performance "I Wonder Why" was released as Laurie Records' first single, (number 3013), and was the group's first national pop chart hit, in 1958. The song went to number 22 on the Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o .... Notable cover versions *A cover was sung by Showaddywaddy in 1978, reaching number 2 in the UK Singles Chart. References 1958 songs 1958 debut singles Dion DiMucci songs Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients Doo- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Rodgers
Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was an American Musical composition, composer who worked primarily in musical theater. With 43 Broadway theatre, Broadway musicals and over 900 songs to his credit, Rodgers was one of the best-known American composers of the 20th century, and his compositions had a significant influence on popular music. Rodgers is known for his songwriting partnerships, first with lyricist Lorenz Hart and then with Oscar Hammerstein II. With Hart he wrote musicals throughout the 1920s and 1930s, including ''Pal Joey (musical), Pal Joey'', ''A Connecticut Yankee (musical), A Connecticut Yankee'', ''On Your Toes'' and ''Babes in Arms.'' With Hammerstein he wrote musicals through the 1940s and 1950s, such as ''Oklahoma!'', ''Flower Drum Song'', ''Carousel (musical), Carousel'', ''South Pacific (musical), South Pacific'', ''The King and I'', and ''The Sound of Music''. His collaborations with Hammerstein, in particular, are celebr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lorenz Hart
Lorenz Milton Hart (May 2, 1895 – November 22, 1943) was an American lyricist and half of the Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart. Some of his more famous lyrics include "Blue Moon"; " The Lady Is a Tramp"; "Manhattan"; " Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered"; and " My Funny Valentine". Life and career Hart was born in Harlem, New York City, the elder of two sons, to Jewish immigrant parents, Max M. and Frieda (Isenberg) Hart, of German background. Through his mother, he was a great-grandnephew of the German poet Heinrich Heine. His father, a business promoter, sent Hart and his brother to private schools. (His brother, Teddy Hart, also went into theatre and became a musical comedy star. Teddy Hart's wife, Dorothy Hart, wrote a biography of Lorenz Hart.) Hart received his early education from Columbia Grammar School and entered Columbia College in 1913, before switching to Columbia University School of Journalism, where he attended for two years. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blue Moon (1934 Song)
A blue moon refers either to the presence of a second full moon in a calendar month, to the third full moon in a season containing four, or to a moon that appears blue due to atmospheric effects. The Calendrical_calculation, calendrical meaning of "blue moon" is unconnected to the other meanings. It is often referred to as “traditional”, but since no occurrences are known prior to 1937 it is better described as an invented tradition or “modern American folklore”. The practice of designating the second full moon in a month as "blue" originated with amateur astronomer James Hugh Pruett in 1946. It does not come from Full_moon#Native_American, Native American lunar tradition, as is sometimes supposed. The moon – not necessarily full – can sometimes appear blue due to atmospheric emissions from large forest fires or volcanoes, though the phenomenon is rare and unpredictable (hence the saying “once in a blue moon”). A calendrical blue moon (by Pruett's definition) is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ben Raleigh
Ben Raleigh (June 16, 1913, New York – February 26, 1997, Hollywood) was an American lyricist and composer responsible for a number of major hits, including " Dungaree Doll", "Wonderful! Wonderful!", "Hold on Girl", " She's a Fool", " I Don't Wanna Be a Loser", " Laughing on the Outside (Crying on the Inside)", “Love is a Hurtin' Thing”, “Tell Laura I Love Her” and " That's How Heartaches Are Made". His songs were recorded by artists such as Eddie Fisher, Nat King Cole, Johnny Mathis, Aretha Franklin, Bobby Darin, The Monkees, Dinah Shore, Lesley Gore, Ray Peterson and Lou Rawls. "Tell Laura I Love Her" reached No.1 in the United Kingdom in 1960. "Laughing on the Outside (Crying on the Inside)" peaked at No.3 in the United States in 1946. Raleigh composed the theme song, "Rango", with Earle Hagen for the 1967 ABC situation comedy '' Rango'' . He also composed the theme song to ''Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!'' with David Mook. Hanna-Barbera attempted to buy him out, but ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jeff Barry
Jeff Barry (born Joel Adelberg; April 3, 1938) is an American pop music songwriter, singer, and record producer. Among the most successful songs that he has co-written in his career are " Tell Laura I Love Her" (written with Ben Raleigh and a number 1 hit in the UK Singles Chart when it was recorded by Ricky Valance in 1960), " Do Wah Diddy Diddy", "Da Doo Ron Ron", " Then He Kissed Me", " Be My Baby", " Chapel of Love", and " River Deep - Mountain High" (all written with his then-wife Ellie Greenwich and Phil Spector); " Leader of the Pack" (written with Greenwich and Shadow Morton); " Sugar, Sugar" (written with Andy Kim); "Without Us" (written with Tom Scott), and " I Honestly Love You" (written with Peter Allen). Early life Barry was born in Brooklyn to a Jewish family. His parents divorced when he was seven, and his mother moved him and his sister to Plainfield, New Jersey, where they resided for several years before returning to New York. Chart success In 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tell Laura I Love Her
"Tell Laura I Love Her" is a teenage tragedy song written by Jeff Barry and Ben Raleigh. It was a US top ten popular music hit for singer Ray Peterson in 1960 on RCA Victor Records, reaching No. 7 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. Later that same year, it was recorded and released by Ricky Valance in the United Kingdom, where it went to the No. 1 spot on the UK Singles Chart. The song has been a hit in 14 countries, and has sold over seven million copies. Content The song tells the tragic story from a witness' perspective of a young man named Tommy who is in love with Laura and wants to marry her, so he enters a stock car race, despite being the youngest and most inexperienced driver, hoping to win and use the prize money to buy Laura a wedding ring. The second verse tells how his car overturns and bursts into flames, although nobody knows what had happened. Tommy is fatally injured and his last words are "Tell Laura I love her... My love for her will never die". In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
