California Sun (1964)

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By: The Rivieras.

The Rivieras were formed in South Bend, Indiana by singer and guitarist Marty Fortson, guitarist Joe Pennell, keyboardist Otto Nuss, bassist Doug Gean, and drummer Paul Dennert. The group's manager Bill Dobson sang and played keyboards.

The Rivieras recorded "California Sun" in Chicago, Illinois with Marty Fortson on lead vocal.  It was a cover of an R&B hit by New Orleans-based singer Joe Jones (who also recorded the Top Five hit "You Talk Too Much").

The Rivieras sped it up, placed emphasis upon electric organ and electric guitar (whereas the Joe Jones version featured a brass/horn section) and changed some of the lyrics (one line had been "They twist, like this/They shimmy, now don't you hear me?")

Joe Pennell and Marty Fortson left the band after recording "California Sun" (before it became a hit) and joined the National Service.  Fortson later said that he heard the song on Armed Forces Radio while in Vietnam.

None of the Rivieras, nor Joe Jones, nor the song's writers, were from California!

Chart position:  #5 (US).

The Top Ten Songs: February 29, 1964 (US Billboard Hot 100).

1. "I Want To Hold Your Hand" (Beatles)
2. "She Loves You" (Beatles)
3. "Dawn (Go Away)" (Four Seasons)
4. "Java" (Al Hirt)
5. "California Sun" (Rivieras)
6. "Please Please Me" (Beatles)
7. "You Don't Own Me" (Lesley Gore)
8. "Navy Blue" (Diane Renay)
9. "Stop and Think It Over" (Dale & Grace)
10. "Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um" (Major Lance)

Written by: Henry Glover (born May 21, 1921 in Hot Springs, Arkansas, died Apr 07, 1991 in St. Albans, New York) and Morris Levy (born Aug 27, 1927 in The Bronx, NY, died May 21, 1990 in Ghent, New York.)

Henry Glover also wrote "The Peppermint Twist" (Joey Dee & The Starlighters, #1 US).

Morris Levy owned the company that published "California Sun", and is said to be the first to begin the practice of receiving songwriting credits on his acts' releases, which allowed him to collect more money.

At one point, after befriending DJ Alan Freed, Levy copyrighted the term "rock & roll," collecting money from the use of it, even by Freed himself, who had coined it.

Morris Levy also sued John Lennon for infringement of a lyric from a Chuck Berry song that he owned, "You Can't Catch Me", used in the Beatles song "Come Together". Lennon agreed to record an oldies album, "Rock And Roll", using three of Levy's copyrights.

Morris Levy was eventually convicted of extortion in 1986.

Originally by: Joe Jones, whose version peaked at #89 in 1961.

Also by:  Willis Jackson (1962), Ricardo Ray Orchestra (1968), Ola & the Janglers (1970), The Ramones (1977), Dick Dale (1994).


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The Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss) (1964) (1990)

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By: Betty Everett (born November 23, 1939 in Greenwood, Mississippi, died August 19, 2001 in Beloit, Wisconsin.)

Betty Everett first began playing the piano and singing at church at 9 years old. In 1957, she moved to Chicago to pursue a music career, recording for various small labels before being discovered by Calvin Carter, the A&R director for Vee-Jay Records, which signed Everett in 1963.

Her first Vee-Jay single that year was "You're No Good", which only reached #51. It later became a #1 hit for Linda Ronstadt.

Her next single was a song she did not want to record it, feeling that it was silly and childish. "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss)" became her biggest hit.

In 2000, Everett made her last public performance on the PBS television special Doo Wop 51. She died in her home on August 19, 2001 at 61 years old.

Chart position: #6 (US), #1 (US R&B), #34 (UK).

The Top Ten Songs: April 18, 1964 (US Billboard Hot 100).

1. "Can't Buy Me Love" (Beatles)
2. "Twist and Shout" (Beatles)
3. "Suspicion" (Terry Stafford)
4. "Hello Dolly!" (Louis Armstrong)
5. "Do You Want To Know A Secret" (Beatles)
6. "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss)" (Betty Everett)
7. "Glad All Over" (Dave Clark Five)
8. "She Loves You" (Beatles)
9. "Don't Let The Rain Come Down" (The Serendipity Singers)
10. "Dead Man's Curve" (Jan & Dean)

Written by: Rudy Clark.

Clark also wrote such songs as "Good Lovin'" (The Young Rascals, #1 US in 1966,) "Everybody Plays the Fool" (the Main Ingredient, a Top 5 hit in 1972,) and "I've Got My Mind Set On You" (George Harrison, #1 US in 1987.)



Also by: Cher, whose 1990 version was a Top 40 hit in the US, and reached #1 in the UK, Austria, Ireland, Norway, and Poland. It sold over 6 million copies worldwide. It was featured in the film Mermaids.

Originally by: Merry Clayton, recorded in 1963 when she was only 15 years old.

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Dancing In The Street (1964)

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• David Bowie and Mick Jagger - Dancing In The Street (MP3)

By: Martha and the Vandellas, formed in 1960 in Detroit Michigan and fronted by Martha Reeves (born July 18, 1941 in Eufaula, Alabama).

They were the second most-successful girl group on the Motown label, after the Supremes. The name Vandella was said to be a combination of a street that Martha Reeves lived near, Van Dyke Street, and Della Reese, Reeves' favorite singer.

They had 13 Top 40 US hits and and seven Top 40 UK hits, including "(Love Is Like A) Heat Wave", "Jimmy Mack", "I'm Ready For Love", "My Baby Loves Me", and "Nowhere to Run".

In 1995, Martha and the Vandellas were inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the second girl group to be inducted and the fifth Motown group to be inducted.

"Dancing In The Street" was first introduced to Martha Reeves on a demo sung by one of its writers, Marvin Gaye (born Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. April 2, 1939, died April 1, 1984.) At first Reeves didn't like the song, but still decided to modify the melody and record the song, putting herself into it and making it her own.

The sound of the drums, played by Benny Benjamin, was enhanced by Gaye played a second drum set, and by Ivy Jo Hunter, who banged on a crowbar to add to the sound.

The song was recorded in only two takes!

In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked "Dancing In The Street" at #40 on their list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

That same year, the original instrumental backing track, along with many other Motown tracks, was officially released as part of  the collection Motown Master Recordings: Original Artist Karaoke - Dancing in the Street.

On April 12, 2006, it was announced that Martha and the Vandellas' version of "Dancing in the Street" would be preserved by the Library of Congress to the National Recording Registry.

Release date: July 21, 1964

Chart position: #2 (US), #28 (UK).

When it was re-released in 1969, it reached #4 (UK).

It was kept from #1 in the US in October 1964 by "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" (Manfred Mann).

The Top Ten Songs: October 24, 1964 (US Billboard Hot 100).

1. "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" (Manfred Mann)
2. "Dancing in the Street" (Martha and the Vandellas)
3. "Last Kiss" (J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers)
4. "We'll Sing in the Sunshine" (Gale Garnett)
5. "Oh, Pretty Woman" (Roy Orbison)
6. "Baby Love" (Supremes)
7. "A Summer Song" (Chad and Jeremy)
8. "Let It Be Me" (Betty Everett and Jerry Butler)
9. "When I Grow Up to Be a Man" (Beach Boys)
10. "Have I the Right?" (Honeycombs)
    

Written by: Marvin Gaye, Ivy Jo Hunter and William "Mickey" Stevenson.

Gaye was ranked at #19 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Artists of All Time.

Stevenson wrote such songs as "It Takes Two", "Ask the Lonely", "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted", "My Baby Loves Me", "Devil with the Blue Dress", "Uptight (Everything's Alright)", and "Stubborn Kind of Fellow".

The song was originally conceived by Stevenson as a ballad, in the attic of his house. When Gaye read the words, he thought that it sounded more like a dance song. It was intended for Stevenson's wife Kim Weston to record the song. Weston passed on it, however, and so the song was presented to Reeves.

Also by: David Bowie and Mick Jagger, whose version, with all profits going to the Live Aid charity, was a big hit. It reached #7 (US) and was at the #1 spot for 4 weeks in the UK in 1985.

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• Martha and the Vandellas - Dancing In The Street (MP3)
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You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' (1964)

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By: The Righteous Brothers, consisting of baritone Bill Medley (born William Thomas Medley September 19, 1940 in Los Angeles, California) and tenor Bobby Hatfield (born Robert Lee Hatfield August 10, 1940 in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, died of a heart attack November 5, 2003 in Kalamazoo, Michigan).

Medley and Hatfield met while attending California State University, Long Beach, and began singing as a duo in 1962. They got their name when an African-American Marine shouted out, "That was righteous, brothers!" at the end of a show.

"You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" was the Righteous Brothers' first single for Phil Spector's label, Philles Records. Spector bought out their contract from Moonglow Records (with whom they had the regional hit "Little Latin Lupe Lu".)

After songwriters Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil wrote the song, Spector played his production of it for Mann over the phone. Hearing Medley's low voice, Mann said, "Phil, you have it on the wrong speed!" Hatfield was also puzzled. He asked, "What do I do while he's singing the entire first verse?" Spector replied, "You can go directly to the bank."

The recording sessions included Glen Campbell on rhythm guitar.

Phil Spector put the time on the single as 3:05 so that radio stations would play it. The actual length is 3:45, but stations at the time rarely played songs much longer than 3 minutes. It took radio station program directors a while to figure out why their playlists were running long, but by then the song was a hit.

The Rolling Stones' manager, Andrew Loog Oldham, took out ads in British newspapers saying that the Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" was the greatest record ever made:

"This advert is not for commercial gain, it is taken as something that must be said about the great new PHIL SPECTOR Record, THE RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS singing "YOU'VE LOST THAT LOVIN' FEELING". Already in the American Top Ten, this is Spector's greatest production, the last word in Tomorrow's sound Today, exposing the overall mediocrity of the Music Industry.
Signed, Andrew Oldham"

According to BMI's Top 100 Songs of the Century (based on American radio and television airplay,) "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" ranked #1. It has been played more than eight million times.

In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked the song at #34 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Chart position: #1 (US), #2 (US R&B), #1 (UK).

Billboard Magazine ranked it the #5 biggest single of 1965.

It was preceded at #1 in the US by "Downtown" (Petula Clark) and succeeded by "This Diamond Ring" (Gary Lewis & the Playboys).

It was preceded at #1 in the UK by "Go Now" (The Moody Blues) and succeeded by "Tired of Waiting for You" (The Kinks).

"You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" is the only song to enter the UK Top 10 three different times: 1965, 1969 and 1990. It was also Phil Spector's first #1 UK hit.

The Top Ten Songs: February 13, 1965 (US Billboard Hot 100).

1. "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" (Righteous Brothers) 
2. "Downtown" (Petula Clark)
3. "This Diamond Ring" (Gary Lewis and the Playboys)
4. "The Name Game" (Shirley Ellis)
5. "My Girl" (Temptations)
6. "Hold What You've Got" (Joe Tex)
7. "All Day And All Of The Night" (Kinks)
8. "Shake" (Sam Cooke)
9. "The Jolly Green Giant" (Kingsmen)
10. "I Go To Pieces" (Peter and Gordon)

Written by: Barry Mann (born Barry Iberman on February 9, 1939, in Brooklyn, New York,) Cynthia Weil, and Phil Spector.

Mann had a Top 10 hit in 1961 with his novelty song "Who Put The Bomp". 

Mann and Weil are two of the most prolific hit songwriters in the history of pop music, writing/co-writing such songs as "Blame It on the Bossa Nova", "Kicks", "On Broadway", "I Love How You Love Me", "I Just Can't Help Believing", "Patches", "We Gotta Get Out Of This Place", "(You're My) Soul and Inspiration", "Rock and Roll Lullaby", "Sometimes When We Touch", "Just Once", "Somewhere Down The Road", "If Ever You're In My Arms Again" and "Somewhere Out There".

"You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" was inspired by "Baby I Need Your Loving" by the Four Tops.

Also by: Daryl Hall and John Oates, whose version reached #12 (US) in 1980.

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A World Without Love (1964)

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• Peter And Gordon - A World Without Love (MP3)

By: Peter And Gordon.

Peter Asher (born June 22, 1944) and Gordon Waller (born June 4, 1945, died of a heart attack July 17, 2009 in Norwich, Connecticut) met while attending Westminster School in London, England.

Asher is the older brother of actress Jane Asher, who was Paul McCartney's girlfriend during the mid-1960s. Through this connection he and Waller were given Lennon/McCartney songs that were never recorded by the Beatles, most notably their first and biggest hit, "A World Without Love".

It was recorded on January 21, 1964 at Abbey Road Studios with an arrangement by Geoff Love and production by Norman Newell. It was completed in five takes.

It was the first British Invasion single to hit #1 in the US in 1964 other than releases by the Beatles. It was the biggest Lennon/McCartney hit that the Beatles never recorded.

Peter And Gordon also had hits with updates of oldies "True Love Ways" (Buddy Holly) and "To Know You Is to Love You" (a variation of the Teddy Bears' "To Know Her Is to Love Her",) a Top ten cover of Del Shannon's "I Go to Pieces", and the British novelty "Lady Godiva," which became their last big hit in late 1966.

After Peter And Gordon broke up in 1968, Asher became an enormously successful producer. He became the director of A&R at the Beatles' Apple Records (where he worked on James Taylor's first album). He relocated to Los Angeles during the 1970s, where he was one of the principal architects of California rock, producing hits by Taylor, Linda Ronstadt and Bonnie Raitt.

Chart position: #1 (US), #1 (UK).

It was preceded at #1 in the US by "Chapel Of Love" (Dixie Cups) and succeeded by "I Get Around" (Beach Boys).

The Top Ten Songs: June 27, 1964 (US Billboard Hot 100).

1. "A World Without Love" (Peter and Gordon)
2. "I Get Around" (Beach Boys)
3. "Chapel Of Love" (Dixie Cups)
4. "My Boy Lollipop" (Millie Small)
5. "People" (Barbra Streisand)
6. "Memphis" (Johnny Rivers)
7. "Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying" (Gerry and the Pacemakers)
8. "Love Me With All Your Heart" (Ray Charles Singers)
9. "Bad To Me" (Billy J. Kramer)
10. "Walk On By" (Dionne Warwick)
    

Written by: John Lennon (born John Winston Lennon, October 9, 1940, died December 8, 1980) and Paul McCartney (born June 18, 1942).

Lennon and McCartney are two of the most popular composers and singers of popular music and were the founding members of the Beatles.

McCartney is listed in the Guinness Book Of Records as the most successful composer in popular music history, with a record twenty-nine US number one singles (twenty of them with The Beatles, the rest with his group Wings and as a solo artist.) McCartney has written/co-written credit on over 50 top ten hits, more than any other songwriter.

"A World Without Love" was written mainly by McCartney, most it having been completed when he was just 16 years old.

Three other Peter And Gordon hit songs, "Nobody I Know", "I Don't Want to See You Again", and "Woman" were also written by McCartney (also credited to "Lennon/McCartney"). "Woman", in particular, was written by McCartney under the pseudonym Paul Ramon to see if it would still be a hit.

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Because (1964)

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• The History Of The Dave Clark Five (CD)

By: The Dave Clark Five.

The group consisted of drummer Dave Clark (born December 15, 1939 in Tottenham, North London, England), singer and keyboardist Mike Smith (born December 6, 1943 in Edmonton, North London), guitarist Lenny Davidson, bassist Rick Huxley, and saxophonist/guitarist/harmonica player Denny Payton.

For a very brief time the DC5 were considered the biggest threat to the popularity of the Beatles, when they knocked "I Want to Hold Your Hand" from #1 in the UK with "Glad All Over" in 1964. They were the second British Invasion group to have a Gold record (with "Glad All Over") in the US, after the Beatles. They disbanded in 1970, the same year as the Beatles' disbandment.

Though Dave Clark was the leader of the group, the lead vocals on all their hit singles were distinctively sung by Mike Smith.

In October 2003, Mike Smith accidentally fell in his home in Spain, causing severe injury to his spinal cord, leaving him partially paralyzed in his left arm and permanently paralyzed in his right arm and from the waist down. After four years of treatment, Smith was released from the hospital on December 6, 2007 (his 64th birthday).

On February 28, 2008, at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, Mike Smith died of pneumonia, a complication from his accident. He died only 11 days before he and the Dave Clark Five were to be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

"Because" was, unlike their other hits, a soft ballad in the style of the Beatles' early work. In fact, the organ part being similar to an early Lennon/McCartney tune recorded by Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas ("I'll Be on My Way", which reached #2 in the UK in 1963.)

"Because" was only a B-side to "Can't You See That She's Mine" in the UK. Clark insisted that the song be released as an A-side in the US despite resistance from Epic Records. He wanted to prove that they could have a hit without their usual arrangement of loud drums, saxophone, and screaming vocals, all drenched in heavy reverb.

Chart position: #3 (US). It peaked in September 1964.

It was their sixth charting single in the US, and their highest charting US single up to that point.

Between 1964 and 1967 the Dave Clark Five had 17 Top 40 US and UK hits.

The Top Ten Songs: September 12, 1964 (US Billboard Hot 100).

1. "The House of the Rising Sun" (Animals)
2. "Where Did Our Love Go" (Supremes) 
3. "Because" (Dave Clark Five)
4. "Everybody Loves Somebody" (Dean Martin)
5. "Bread and Butter" (Newbeats)
6. "C'Mon and Swim" (Bobby Freeman)
7. "G.T.O." (Ronny and the Daytonas)
8. "A Hard Day's Night" (Beatles)
9. "Remember (Walkin' in the Sand)" (Shangri-Las)
10. "Oh, Pretty Woman" (Roy Orbison)
    

Written by: Dave Clark.

Clark also wrote/co-wrote such songs as "Any Way You Want It", "Bits and Pieces", "Can't You See That She's Mine", "Catch Us If You Can", and "Glad All Over".

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Oh, Pretty Woman (1964)

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• Roy Orbison - Oh, Pretty Woman (MP3)

By: Roy Orbison (born April 23, 1936, in Vernon, Texas, died of a heart attack December 6, 1988, in Hendersonville, Tennessee.)

Between 1960 and 1965 Orbison had 15 Top 40 hits. In 1987 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 1989, he was posthumously inducted into the National Academy of Popular Music's Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 2004, Orbison ranked #37 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

"Oh, Pretty Woman" was released on the Nashville, Tennessee based Monument Records in 1964. It was Roy's last big hit before his career stalled due to two major tragedies.

As "Oh, Pretty Woman" was climbing the charts Roy filed for divorce from his wife Claudette (the inspiration for the song). They remarried in 1966. Sadly Claudette was killed in a motorcycle accident 2 months after their reconciliation.

In 1968 Orbison's 2 oldest sons died in a fire at his home in 1968 while he was on tour.

Roy's career was revived in the late 1980s, when he joined the Traveling Wilburys with Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, and Tom Petty. In 1988 Roy filmed the television special A Black and White Night with artists such as Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, Jackson Browne and the core members of Elvis' TCB band.

In the midst of releasing a new album (titled Mystery Girl) Orbison died of a heart attack on December 6, 1988 at age 52.

In 1991 Orbison posthumously won the the Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for a live recording of "Oh, Pretty Woman" from A Black and White Night.

In 1999 the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. It is also included in the permanent collection of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame's 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll.

In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked it #222 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Chart position: #1 (US), #3 (UK).

It was #1 for three weeks in the US in September and October 1964. It sold more records in its first 10 days than any previous 45 single in history.

It was preceded at #1 by "The House Of The Rising Sun" (The Animals) and succeeded by "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" (Manfred Mann).

The Top Ten Songs: October 3, 1964 (US Billboard Hot 100).

1. "Oh, Pretty Woman" (Roy Orbison)
2. "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" (Manfred Mann)
3. "Bread and Butter" (Newbeats)
4. "Dancing in the Street" (Martha and the Vandellas)
5. "Remember (Walking in the Sand)" (Shangri-Las)
6. "G.T.O." (Ronny and the Daytonas)
7. "It Hurts to Be in Love" (Gene Pitney)
8. "The House of the Rising Sun" (Animals)
9. "We'll Sing in the Sunshine" (Gale Garnett)
10. "Save It for Me" (Four Seasons)
     

Written by: Roy Orbison and Bill Dees.

Orbison also wrote such songs as "Blue Angel", "Blue Bayou", "Claudette", "Crying", "Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream)", "Down The Line", "In Dreams", "It's Over", "Leah", "Only the Lonely (Know the Way I Feel)", "Ooby Dooby", "Running Scared", "That Lovin' You Feelin' Again", and "You Got It".

The title was inspired by Orbison's wife Claudette interrupting a conversation between Orbison and Dees to say she was going out. When Orbison asked if she needed money, Dees interjected that "a pretty woman never needs any money." The song grew out of that comment.

Members of the Beatles remembered Roy working on and performing the song while on tour with them in 1963. George Harrison later said (in The Beatles Anthology book,) ". . . He had the most incredible voice. He'd had so many hit songs and people could sit and listen to him all night. He didn't have to do anything, he didn't have to wiggle his legs, in fact he never even twitched, he was like marble . . . Roy would be out there every night and at the end he'd be singing, 'She's walking back to me, do do do do da do-do...' And the audience would go wild. We'd be waiting there and he'd do another big encore and we'd be thinking, 'How are we going to follow this?'"

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