Henry Gross (born April 1, 1951) is an American singer-songwriter best known for his association with the group

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 1 ...

and for his hit song, " Shannon". Gross is considered a

one-hit wonder A one-hit wonder is any entity that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success. The term is most commonly used in regard to music performers with ...

artist; none of his other songs reached the Top 10 on the ''

Billboard 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), ...

''. However, his single "Springtime Mama" was a top 40 hit in the summer of 1976, peaking at #37.

Early years

Gross was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York City. At age 13 he performed at the New Jersey Pavilion at the World's Fair in Flushing, New York with his first band, The Auroras. By age 14 he was playing regularly in local clubs in the New York area, and spending his summers playing at

Catskill Mountains The Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a physiographic province and subrange of the larger Appalachian Mountains, located in southeastern New York. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined a ...

resort hotels. At age 18, while a student at

Brooklyn College Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn in New York City, United States. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls nearly 14,000 students on a campus in the Midwood and Flatbush sections of Brooklyn as of fall ...

, Gross became a founding member of 1950s Rock & Roll revival group,

, playing guitar and wearing the greaser clothes he wore while a student at

Midwood High School Midwood High School is a high school located at 2839 Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn, New York City, administered by the New York City Department of Education. It has an enrollment of 3,938 students. Its H-shaped building, with six Ionic order, Ioni ...

. The 18-year-old Gross was the youngest musician to perform at

Woodstock The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held from August 15 to 18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. Billed as "a ...

Going solo

Gross left Sha Na Na to become a solo singer-songwriter in 1970. He signed a recording contract with ABC Dunhill Records in 1971. While there, he did some session work for producers Tommy West and Terry Cashman. He played electric lead guitar on the

Jim Croce James Joseph Croce (; January 10, 1943 – September 20, 1973) was an American Folk music, folk and rock singer-songwriter. Between 1966 and 1973, he released five studio albums and numerous singles. During this period, Croce took a series of o ...

album, '' I Got a Name''. His own debut album had little commercial success. He continued to play at clubs and colleges until 1973, when he signed with

A&M Records A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and functions as a branch of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Interscope-Geffen-A&M. Established in 1962 by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, the label initially operated independent ...

. His first self-titled A&M album included several regional hits including "Simone", "Come On Say It", "Skin King", and a cover version of Lindisfarne's European hit, "Meet Me on the Corner". With Gross’s second A&M album, ''Plug Me into Something'', he began to achieve national recognition in ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' and ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''.

"Shannon"

Gross moved on to Lifesong Records to make his next album. He produced a single, " Shannon", a song written about the death of the dog of

Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American rock band formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and their friend Al Jardine. Distinguished by thei ...

member

Carl Wilson Carl Dean Wilson (December 21, 1946 – February 6, 1998) was an American musician, singer, and songwriter who co-founded the Beach Boys. He was their lead guitarist, the youngest sibling of bandmates Brian Wilson, Brian and Dennis Wilson, ...

, who was named Shannon. The single went

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

in the U.S. and became a worldwide hit, reaching No. 6 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and No. 5 on the ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' Top 100 in 1976. In Canada it reached No. 1 in May of the same year. It also reached No. 1 in New Zealand, and No. 32 in the UK. After this single's success, Gross released the album, ''Release''. His second single, "Springtime Mama", reached No. 37 in the US, selling nearly a million copies, and reaching No. 18 in Canada. On his next album, ''Show Me to the Stage'', Gross mixed

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

songs with

Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (December 26, 1939 – January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter who is best known for pioneering recording practices in the 1960s, followed by his trials and conviction for murder in the 2000s. S ...

and

Brian Wilson Brian Douglas Wilson (June 20, 1942 – June 11, 2025) was an American musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often Brian Wilson is a genius, called a genius for his novel approaches to pop compositio ...

influences. While the album sold well, it provided no hit singles. He also recorded

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

song "

Help! ''Help!'' is the fifth studio album by the English Rock music, rock band the Beatles and the soundtrack to their Help! (film), film of the same name. It was released on 6 August 1965 by Parlophone. Seven of the fourteen songs, including the sin ...

" for the documentary, ''

All This and World War II All or ALL may refer to: عرص Biology and medicine * Acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a cancer * Anterolateral ligament, a ligament in the knee * ''All.'', taxonomic author abbreviation for Carlo Allioni (1728–1804), Italian physician and pro ...

''; both occurred in 1976. Gross's recording career slowed, but with

CBS Records CBS Records may refer to: * CBS Records, a former name of Sony Music, a global music company * CBS/Sony, a former name of Sony Music Entertainment Japan, a Japanese music company division of Sony * CBS Records International, a label for Columbia Re ...

he made "Love Is the Stuff", and with

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

in 1981, produced the ''What's in a Name'' album with

Bobby Colomby Robert Wayne Colomby (born December 20, 1944) is a jazz-fusion drummer, record producer and television presenter. He is best known as an original member of the group Blood, Sweat & Tears, which he co-founded in 1967. He has also played with many ...

. As a session guitarist Henry performed on many records by other artists including

( I Got A Name, ABC Records 1973)

Judy Collins Judith Marjorie Collins (born May 1, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and musician with a career spanning nearly seven decades. An Academy Awards, Academy Award-nominated documentary director and a Grammy Awards, Grammy Award-winning rec ...

( Home Again, Elektra/ Asylum 1984), and

Andy Kim Andrew Kim (born July12, 1982) is an American politician and former diplomat serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States senator from New Jersey since 2024. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democ ...

(

Baby, I Love You "Baby, I Love You" is a song originally recorded by the Ronettes in 1963 and released on their debut album '' Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes'' (1964). The song was written by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, and Phil Spector, and produced by Spe ...

, Steed/Dot Records 1970). His songs have been recorded by a variety of artists including Judy Collins,

Mary Travers Mary Allin Travers (November 9, 1936 – September 16, 2009) was an American singer who found fame as a member of the 1960s folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary, along with Peter Yarrow and Paul Stookey. Travers grew up amid the burgeoning folk sce ...

Cyndi Lauper Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper ( ; born June 22, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Known for her distinctive image, featuring a variety of hair colors and eccentric clothing, and for her powerful four-octave vocal range;Jerome, ...

Jonathan Edwards Jonathan Edwards may refer to: Musicians *Jonathan and Darlene Edwards, pseudonym of bandleader Paul Weston and his wife, singer Jo Stafford *Jonathan Edwards (musician) (born 1946), American musician **Jonathan Edwards (album), ''Jonathan Edward ...

, Henry Paul, Blackhawk, Southside Johnny, Garry Tallent and Rob Stoner. In the 1980s Gross performed in the road company production of ''

Pump Boys and Dinettes ''Pump Boys and Dinettes'' is a musical written by a performance group also called Pump Boys and Dinettes, which consists of John Foley, Mark Hardwick, Debra Monk, Cass Morgan, John Schimmel and Jim Wann. The members directed and starred in the ...

'' with a cast featuring Jonathan Edwards (Sunshine) and

Nicolette Larson Nicolette Larson (July 17, 1952 – December 16, 1997) was an American singer. She is best known for her work in the late 1970s with Neil Young and her 1978 hit single of Young's " Lotta Love", which hit No. 1 on the Hot Adult Contemporary ...

(

Lotta Love "Lotta Love" is a song written and recorded by Neil Young and released on his 1978 '' Comes a Time'' album. "Lotta Love" was also covered by Nicolette Larson in 1978. Larson's version reached No. 8 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and No. 8 ...

). Gross moved to

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

in 1986 and signed a publishing deal with Pic-A-Lic Music, a company owned by songwriters Roger Cook and Ralph Murphy.

1990–present

Gross continued his songwriting and recording career in Nashville. In 1993, he released the album ''Nothing But Dreams'' on his own Zelda Records label, named after his mother. He had a Top 40 Country Radio hit, "Big Guitar" with Arista recording group

Blackhawk Black Hawk and Blackhawk may refer to: Animals * Common black hawk, ''Buteogallus anthracinus'' * Cuban black hawk, ''Buteogallus gundlachii'' * Great black hawk, ''Buteogallus urubitinga'' * Mangrove black hawk, ''Buteogallus (anthracinus) s ...

, written with his friend Henry Paul, the group's lead singer. Gross released ''I'm Hearing Things'' on Zelda Records in 2001, his first self-engineered CD. Gross performed an autobiographical one-man show called "One Hit Wanderer." According to the show's official website, performances of the show were suspended in 2020 as a result of the pandemic. He continues to write new songs while regularly recording in

Fort Myers, Florida Fort Myers (or Ft. Myers) is a city in and the county seat of Lee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 86,395; it was estimated to have grown to 95,949 in 2022, making it the List o ...

with multi-instrumentalist and recording engineer John McLane, having produced eight albums with #9 nearly completed. ''One Hit Wanderer'' (2006), ''Foreverland'' (2007), ''Rhymes and Misdemeanors'' (2011) and ''Right as Rain'' (2011). A single, "What a Christmas", was released the same year. In 2011 he also collaborated with Henry Paul and

on a trio album called ''Edwards, Gross and Paul'', AKA "The Vereens". In 2016 Gross traveled to the UK to support longtime friend Joe Brown on his "Just Joe" UK tour. Brown and Gross played a selection of songs from each of their discographies, as well as a variety of popular rock & roll and country songs. In early 2017, before leaving for the UK, Gross released two new CDs of original songs on Zelda Records: "Mixed Messages" and "Stories I've Lived To Tell" along with "New Orleans, New Orleans" – a collection of songs from a new musical comedy play of the same name, songs written by Gross and the

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...

in collaboration with playwright Ed Greenberg. In October 2017, Brown and Gross went back on tour in the UK with a live album, produced by Gross, recorded at the previous tour's first few shows. The tour ran through October and November 2017 before breaking for Christmas and continuing in January through March 2018. In 2019, while doing many shows celebrating the 50th anniversary of the

Woodstock Festival The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held from August 15 to 18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. Billed as "a ...

, Gross continued recording with multi-instrumentalist and engineer John McLane, completing and releasing the new 17 song CD, ''Too Clever (For My Own Good)'' in February 2020 on Zelda Records.

Discography

Albums

* ''Sha Na Na'' Rock and Roll Is Here To Stay (1969) Buddha/ Kama Sutra Records * ''Woodstock'' Soundtrack LP (1970) Cotillion/ Atlantic Records * ''Henry Gross'' (1972) ABC Dunhill Records * ''Henry Gross'' (1973) A&M Records (a.k.a. ''The Yellow Album''), US BB # 204 * ''Plug Me into Something'' (1975) A&M Records, US BB # 26 * ''Release'' (1976) Lifesong Records, US BB # 64 * ''All This and World War II'' (1976) 20th Century Records * ''Show Me to the Stage'' (1977) Lifesong Records, US BB # 176 * ''Love Is the Stuff'' (1978) Lifesong Records * ''What's in a Name'' (1981) Capitol Records * ''I Keep on Rockin' ''(1987) Sonet Records (currently available on Zelda Records) * ''She's My Baby'' (1989) Sonet Records (currently available on Zelda Records) * ''Nothing But Dreams'' (1992) Zelda Records * " Plug Me Into Something" Pony Canyon Records, Japan (Best of A&M series) * " Release/ Show Me to The Stage" Double CD (1992) Chiswick/ Lifelong Records UK * ''One More Tomorrow: The Best of Henry Gross'' (1996) Varese Sarabande Records * ''I'm Hearing Things'' (2000/2001) Zelda Records * " Henry Gross" (Yellow Album)/ "Plug Me Into Something" double CD Zelda Records * ''One Hit Wanderer'' (2006) Zelda Records * ''Foreverland'' (2007) Zelda Records * ''Rhymes and Misdemeanors'' (2011) Zelda Records * ''Right as Rain'' (2011) Zelda Records * ''Edwards, Gross & Paul'' (2011) Zelda Records. Trio with Jonathan Edwards (Sunshine) and Henry Paul (Outlaws, Blackhawk) * " Release/ Show Me To The Stage" Double CD (2014) RE Release Chiswick/ Lifelong Records UK * ''Mixed Messages'' (2017) Zelda Records * ''Stories I've Lived To Tell'' (2017) Zelda Records * ''New Orleans, New Orleans'' (2017) Zelda Records Songs from the new musical written and performed by Henry Gross. Libretto by Henry Gross and Ed Greenberg * "Just Joe" Performed live on tour in UK 2017/18 by Joe Brown accompanied by Henry Gross. double CD produced by Henry Gross for Joe Brown Productions, UK * "Too Clever (For My Own Good)" (2020) Zelda Records * ''Release'' (2021) (Vinyl Reissue) Renaissance Records

Singles

* ''Simone'' (1974) US CB # 94 * ''Come On and Say It'' (1974) US BB # 109 * ''Meet Me On the Corner'' (1974) US RW # 122 * ''One More Tomorrow'' (1975) US BB # 93 * ''Shannon'' (1976) US BB # 6 US AC # 13,

RIAA certification In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) operates an awards program based on the certified number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets.Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

#1 * ''Springtime Mama'' (1976) US BB # 37,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

#18 * ''Someday (I Don't Want to Have to be The One)'' (1976) US BB # 85 * ''Painting My Love Song'' (1977) US BB # 110 * ''What a Sound'' (1977) US BB # 110

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gross, Henry Living people 1951 births American rock singers American male singer-songwriters American rock songwriters Singers from Brooklyn Sha Na Na members Jewish American rock musicians Midwood High School alumni Brooklyn College alumni 21st-century American Jews Singer-songwriters from New York (state)