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Billy Strange
William Everett Strange (September 29, 1930 – February 22, 2012) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, guitarist, and actor. He began as a session musician with The Wrecking Crew, a famous session band of the 1960s and 1970s, and was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum as a member of that ensemble in 2007. Biography Early life Billy Strange was born in Long Beach, California, on September 29, 1930. Recordings and songwriting Strange teamed up with Mac Davis to write several hit songs for Elvis Presley, including "A Little Less Conversation", the theme from ''Charro!'', and "Memories". Strange also composed the musical soundtrack for two of Presley's films ''Live a Little, Love a Little'' and '' The Trouble with Girls''. He also wrote " Limbo Rock" which was recorded by The Champs and Chubby Checker. Strange recorded arrangements of James Bond movie themes for GNP Crescendo Records and provided the instrumental backing and arrangement for Nancy Sinatra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joan O'Brien
Joan Marie O'Brien (February 14, 1936 – May 5, 2025) was an American actress and singer. She made a name for herself acting in television shows in the 1950s and 1960s and as a film co-star with Cary Grant, Elvis Presley, John Wayne, and Jerry Lewis. Background Joan O'Brien was born to David and Rita O'Brien on Valentine's Day 1936, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The family moved to California when O'Brien was a child and enrolled her in dance classes when she was eight years old. O'Brien graduated from Chaffey Union High School in Ontario, California. O'Brien died following a battle with Alzheimer's disease on May 5, 2025, at the age of 89. Career O'Brien's singing abilities came to the attention of entertainer and Country Music Hall of Fame member Cliffie Stone, who hired her as a regular performer on his television show '' Hometown Jamboree'' before her high school graduation. In 1954, she became a regular on '' The Bob Crosby Show'' and stayed until shortly before the sho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Memories (Elvis Presley Song)
"Memories" is a 1968 song originally recorded by Elvis Presley. It was written by Billy Strange and Mac Davis demo sang by Phil Johnson (Last Freight Train, Lying Cheating Stealing, Lonely One) specially for Presley to perform on '' Elvis'', his comeback TV special that would air on NBC on December 3, 1968. Later Mac Davis recalled to ''Billboard'': "They had asked for a song about looking back over the years, and oddly enough, I had to write it in one night. I stayed up all night at Billy Strange's house in Los Angeles. He had a little office set up in his garage. I wrote it right there." Released in the United States in 1969 accompanied by "Charro", the title song from the movie ''Charro!'', on the B-side, "Memories" reached number 35 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for the week of April 12, 1969. The song is also included on the album '' Elvis'', the soundtrack album for the NBC TV special at which it was first performed. For the TV show itself the song was recorded live, but th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sloop John B
"Sloop John B" ( Roud 15634, originally published as "The John B. Sails") is a Bahamian folk song from Nassau. A transcription was published in 1916 by Richard Le Gallienne, and Carl Sandburg included a version in his '' The American Songbag'' in 1927. There have been many recordings of the song since the early 1950s, with variant titles including "I Want to Go Home" and "Wreck of the John B". In 1966, American rock band the Beach Boys recorded a folk rock adaptation that was produced and arranged by Brian Wilson and released as the second single from their album ''Pet Sounds''. The record peaked at number three in the U.S., number two in the UK, and topped the charts in several other countries. It was innovative for containing an elaborate ''a cappella'' vocal section not found in other pop music of the era, and it remains one of the group's biggest hits. In 2011, the Beach Boys' version of "Sloop John B" was ranked number 276 on ''Rolling Stone''s list of "The 500 Greatest S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 their vocal harmonies, adolescent-oriented lyrics, and musical ingenuity, they are one of the most influential acts of the rock era. The group drew on the music of older pop vocal groups, 1950s rock and roll, and black R&B to create their unique sound. Under Brian's direction, they often incorporated classical or jazz elements and unconventional recording techniques in innovative ways. The Beach Boys formed as a garage band centered on Brian's songwriting and managed by the Wilsons' father, Murry. Jardine was briefly replaced by David Marks during 1962–1963. In 1963, they enjoyed their first national hit with " Surfin' U.S.A.", beginning a string of top-ten singles that reflected a southern California youth culture of surfing, car ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rockabilly Hall Of Fame
The original Rockabilly Hall of Fame was an organization and website launched on March 21, 1997, to present early rock and roll history and information relating to the artists and personalities involved in rockabilly. Headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, its first induction certificate was issued on November 16, 1997, for singer Gene Vincent. The creation of Bob Timmers, the not-for-profit entity maintained a website that was supported in part by the fans and artists of the music it represented. The site had a UK representative (Rod Pyke) and Canadian representative (Johnny Vallis). Over 5,000 "legends" on Official web site. were listed on the web site, and about 400 were "inducted". Inductions were restricted to artists with notable performances prior to (and including) 1962. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Somethin' Stupid
"Somethin' Stupid", or "Something Stupid", is a song written by C. Carson Parks. It was originally recorded in 1966 by Parks and his wife Gaile Foote, as Carson and Gaile. A 1967 version by Frank Sinatra and his daughter Nancy Sinatra became a major international hit, reaching number one on both the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and the UK Singles Chart. In 2001, a cover version by British vocalist Robbie Williams and Australian actress Nicole Kidman reached number one in the UK Singles Chart. Carson and Gaile version In the early 1960s, Carson Parks was a folk singer in Los Angeles. He was an occasional member of The Easy Riders, and also performed with The Steeltown Three, which included his younger brother Van Dyke Parks. In 1963, he formed the Greenwood County Singers, later known as The Greenwoods, who had two minor hits and included singer Gaile Foote. Before the Greenwoods disbanded, Parks and Foote married and, as Carson and Gaile, recorded an album in 1966 for Kapp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most Important People of the Century, most popular entertainers of the 20th century. Sinatra is among the List of best-selling music artists, world's best-selling music artists, with an estimated 150 million record sales globally. Born to Italian Americans, Italian immigrants in Hoboken, New Jersey, Sinatra began his musical career in the swing era and was influenced by the easy-listening vocal style of Bing Crosby. He joined the Harry James band as the vocalist in 1939 before finding success as a solo artist after signing with Columbia Records in 1943, becoming the idol of the "Bobby-soxer, bobby soxers". In 1946, Sinatra released his debut album, ''The Voice of Frank Sinatra''. He then signed with Capitol Records and released several albums wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
You Only Live Twice (soundtrack)
''You Only Live Twice'' is the 1967 soundtrack for the fifth James Bond film of the same name. It was composed by Bond veteran John Barry. At the time, this was his fourth credited Bond film. The theme song, " You Only Live Twice", was sung by Nancy Sinatra, the first non-British vocalist of the series, with music by Barry and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse. The soundtrack has previously been available in two versions on CD – the first, a straight reissue of the LP soundtrack, and the second, an expanded reissue including several previously unreleased tracks. The film soundtrack was recorded at CTS Studios, London. It debuted on the top 40 of the ''Billboard'' 200 album chart on 19 August 1967, and went up to 27. Alternative theme An earlier version of the film '' You Only Live Twice'''s theme song, also entitled " You Only Live Twice", with a similar arrangement and lyrics but different melody (and without the distinctive cascading strings), sung by an uncredited Julie Rogers, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
GNP Crescendo Record Co
GNP Crescendo Record Co. is an independent record label founded in 1954 by Gene Norman ''(né'' Eugene Abraham Nabatoff; 1922–2015). It started as a producer of jazz, then expanded into many other genres, including comedy, rock, and ''Star Trek'' soundtracks. Currently GNP Cresendo is run by Gene Norman's son, Neil Norman. History After hitchhiking from New York to Los Angeles, Norman promoted concerts at the Shrine Auditorium, The Hollywood Bowl and the Pasadena Civic Center, hosted popular radio shows on KFWB and KLAC, and opened his own nightclubs, the Crescendo and The Interlude, on the Sunset Strip. The Crescendo hosted a wide swath of jazz legends and comedians, from Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday to Lenny Bruce, Mort Sahl, Don Rickles, Dick Gregory, Woody Allen and Bob Newhart. Norman often paid acts their weekly rate for a single night's engagement. The inspiration for the label was to issue live recordings made at concerts promoted and orga ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Bond
The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have written authorised Bond novels or novelisations: Kingsley Amis, Christopher Wood (writer), Christopher Wood, John Gardner (British writer), John Gardner, Raymond Benson, Sebastian Faulks, Jeffery Deaver, William Boyd (writer), William Boyd, Anthony Horowitz and Charlie Higson. The latest novel is ''On His Majesty's Secret Service'' by Charlie Higson, published in May 2023. Additionally, Charlie Higson wrote a series on Young Bond, a young James Bond, and Samantha Weinberg, Kate Westbrook wrote three novels based on the The Moneypenny Diaries, diaries of a recurring series character, Miss Moneypenny, Moneypenny. The character—also known by the code nu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chubby Checker
Chubby Checker (born Ernest Evans; October 3, 1941) is an American singer and dancer. He is widely known for popularizing many dance styles, including the Twist, with his 1960 hit cover of Hank Ballard & The Midnighters' R&B song " The Twist", and the pony dance style with the 1961 cover of the song " Pony Time". His biggest UK hit, " Let's Twist Again", was released one year later (in 1962). That year, he also popularized the song " Limbo Rock", a previous-year instrumental hit by the Champs to which he added lyrics and its trademark Limbo dance. He also introduced other dance styles such as The Fly. In September 2008, "The Twist" topped ''Billboard''s list of the most popular singles to have appeared in the Hot 100 since its debut in 1960, an honor it maintained in an August 2013 update of the list. In 2014, Checker was inducted into the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame, and he was selected for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2025. Early life Check ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Champs
The Champs are an American rock and roll band, most famous for their Latin-tinged 1958 instrumental single "Tequila (The Champs song), Tequila". The group took their name from that of Gene Autry's horse, Champion, and was formed by recording studio, studio executives at Autry's Challenge Records (1950s), Challenge Records to record a A-side and B-side, B-side for the Dave Burgess (guitarist), Dave Burgess single (music), single "Train to Nowhere". The intended throwaway track became more famous than its A-side, as "Tequila" went to No. 1 in just three weeks, and the band became the first group to go to the top spot with an instrumental that was their first release. The song was recorded at Gold Star Studios in fall 1957, and in 1959 won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance. It sold over one million copies, an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
