Dream a Little Dream of Me (1968)

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By: The Mamas and the Papas, which consisted of Denny Doherty (born November 29, 1940, died of kidney failure following surgery January 19, 2007,) "Mama" Cass Elliot (born Ellen Naomi Cohen September 19, 1941, died in sleep of a heart attack July 29, 1974,) John Phillips (born August 30, 1935, died of heart failure March 18, 2001,) and Michelle Phillips (born June 4, 1944, the only living member.)

The group was formed in 1965 after their previous groups (The Mugwumps, The New Journeymen) failed. They immediately hit it big with their first single, "California Dreamin'," and altogether had 15 charting singles. In 1998, they were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

Michelle Phillips met songwriter Fabian Andre when she was 6 years old in Mexico City, Mexico. In an interview, she remembered him as always "singing, playing and drinking at the piano".

In 1968, when the Mamas and the Papas were rehearsing in the studio, they learned that Andre had died in a fall down an elevator shaft 8 years earlier, on March 30, 1960. As they were discussing his death, Michelle remembered his most famous song, "Dream a Little Dream of Me", and the group asked Cass Elliot to sing it.

It fit Elliot's style of singing, as her dream had been to perform on Broadway. She once auditioned for a part that went to Barbra Streisand, and she aspired for a singing and acting career like Streisand's. It was even credited to Mama Cass with the Mamas and the Papas.

The group disbanded in 1968, the same year "Dream a Little Dream of Me" was released. For the next 6 years, it was a mainstay in Elliot's live performances. She sang it for the last time on July 27, 1974, to a sold out crowd at London's Palladium. She died two days later at the age of 32.

Chart position: #12 (US), #2 (US Easy Listening), #11 (UK).

It sold over 7 millions copies worldwide.

Written by: Fabian Andre (born January 8, 1910, died March 30, 1960,) Wilbur Schwandt and Gus Kahn (lyrics) in 1931.

Kahn also wrote lyrics for such songs as "Makin' Whoopie", "Ain't We Got Fun", and "It Had To Be You".

Also by: Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald; Zooey Deschanel; Doris Day; Michael Bublé.

Originally by: Ozzie Nelson (star of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet and father of Ricky Nelson) and his Orchestra with vocal by Nelson on February 16, 1931 for Brunswick Records.

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Wichita Lineman (1968)

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By: Glen Campbell. (born April 22, 1936 in Delight, Arkansas.)

Glen Campbell is a Grammy Award-winning and twice Golden Globe-nominated American country pop singer and actor. He is best known for a series of hits in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as for hosting a television variety show called The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour on CBS television.

In 1968 Campbell was an in-demand session guitarist who played on hit recordings by artists such as Elvis Presley, the Monkees, the Mamas And The Papas, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Nancy Sinatra, Jan And Dean, the Righteous Brothers and the Beach Boys.

Campbell played the solo on a six-string electric bass. Producer Al De Lory did the string arrangement to mimic the sound of Morse code.

Glen Campbell once said, "['Wichita Lineman' is] not strictly a country song, although a lot of people think of it as such. But its chord progression is different . . . It's certainly not a country progression."

In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time ranked "Wichita Lineman" at #192.

Chart position: #3 (US), #1 (US Country), #1 (US Easy Listening), #7 (UK).

Written by: Jimmy Webb (born August 15, 1946 in Elk City, Oklahoma). He also wrote such hits as "Up, Up and Away", "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", "Galveston" and "MacArthur Park". He is the only artist to have ever received Grammy Awards for music, lyrics, and orchestration.

"Wichita Lineman" was a follow-up to Campbell's previous hit "By The Time I Get To Phoenix". It took approximately two hours to write.

In a 2005 Times interview, Jimmy Webb said, "A song like 'Wichita Lineman' suggests the plains, the receding horizon, the loneliness of the lineman who's up this pole in the middle of nowhere. That's an actual image that I saw one day. I was driving along and saw this guy high up on a telegraph pole and I wondered to myself, '. . . I wonder who he's talking to and what he's talking about.' There's a kind of tenacity, a blue collar nobility to what he was doing . . . [Billy Joel] said what that song says is that inside any normal Joe you might see on the street there could be great thoughts and aspirations and just because a guy is working at some menial job it doesn't mean that inside of him there's not some great passion or great dream."

My two cents: One of the greatest songs ever written, performed, recorded, period. How can I describe it? You have to hear it for yourself to know why I feel this way. It's the entire package, the whole of the song, rather than any individual part.

Obviously, Glen's voice and his delivery of the story is great. He puts forth a lot of emotion and a genuine sense that he is the Wichita Lineman. The orchestration is pitch-perfect, the bass guitar solo, the lyrics, the...everything!

And to think that Glen Campbell has yet to be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. On this song alone, he's a shoe in! What do you think? This inquiring mind wants to know...

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This Magic Moment (1960) (1968)

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• Jay and the Americans - This Magic Moment (MP3)
• The Drifters - This Magic Moment (MP3)

By: Jay and the Americans.

The initial lineup of Jay and the Americans consisted of John "Jay" Traynor, Howard Kane, Kenny Vance, and Sandy Deanne. Their greatest success came after Traynor had been replaced by singer David Blatt, whose stage name was David Black, then Jay Black.

With Black, they had such hits as "Only In America", a song originally meant for the Drifters, "Come a Little Bit Closer", (#3 US) and "Cara Mia" (#4 US).

In the November 30, 1968 issue of Billboard magazine, Jay and the Americans' version of "This Magic Moment" was featured in their Special Merit Spotlight section: "The past hit of the Drifters is brought up to date in what could easily prove a hot chart item for this group. One of their most commercial contenders in some time.

Chart position: #6 (US). 

The Top Ten Songs: (US Billboard Hot 100).

1. "Everyday People" (Sly and the Family Stone)
2. "Proud Mary" (Creedence Clearwater Revival)
3. "Build Me Up Buttercup" (Foundations)
4. "Dizzy" (Tommy Roe)
5. "Crimson and Clover" (Tommy James and the Shondells)
6. "This Magic Moment" (Jay and the Americans)
7. "This Girl's in Love with You" (Dionne Warwick)
8. "Baby, Baby Don't Cry" (Smokey Robinson and the Miracles)
9. "Touch Me" (Doors)
10. "Indian Giver" (1910 Fruitgum Co.)

Written by: Doc Pomus (born January 27, 1925, died of cancer March 14, 1991) and Mort Shuman (born November 12, 1936, died November 2, 1991.)

Pomus and Shuman were one of the most important songwriting duos of the late 1950s and early 1960s, second only to Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, with more than 500 songs written between 1958 and 1965.

They also wrote/co-wrote such hit songs as "Youngblood", "Turn Me Loose", "Hushabye", "A Teenager in Love", "Save the Last Dance for Me", "Sweets for My Sweet", "Can't Get Used to Losing You", "Surrender", "Little Sister", "Suspicion", "(Marie's the Name of) His Latest Flame", "Viva Las Vegas", "Little Children", and "She's Not You".



Originally by: The Drifters, with Ben E. King on lead vocals and elaborate production work by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. Their version reached #16 (US) and #4 (US R&B) in 1960.

Mike Stoller recalled that a producer went into a music store to find the kind of drum kit used on the Drifters' version of "This Magic Moment". After listening to the record, the clerk at the store said, "What I get is that these guys used every drum in this store, plus a half-dozen drums that don't even exist.

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• Jay and the Americans - This Magic Moment (MP3)
• The Drifters - This Magic Moment (MP3)

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Stand By Your Man (1968)

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• Tammy Wynette - Stand By Your Man (MP3)

By: Tammy Wynette (born Virginia Wynette Pugh May 5, 1942, near Tremont, Mississippi, died April 6, 1998 of cardiac arrhythmia in Nashville, Tennessee.) She has been called the First Lady of Country Music.

"Stand by Your Man" was Tammy Wynette's most successful record. Then one of many somewhat successful female country recording artists, it elevated her to superstar status.

In 2003, "Stand by Your Man" was rated #1 on CMT's 100 Greatest Songs in Country Music. In 2004, it was rated #16 on CMT's 100 Greatest Country Love Songs.

Wynette was married twice, both ended in divorce. Her second marriage was a tumultuous one to George Jones.

Chart position: #19 (US), #1 (US Country), #1 (UK, in 1975.)

Wynette had three number one country hits in 1968: "Take Me to Your World," "D-I-V-O-R-C-E," and "Stand by Your Man".

It was preceded at #1 on the US Country chart by "I Walk Alone" (Marty Robbins) and succeeded by "Born To Be With You" (Sonny James).

Written by: Tammy Wynette and Billy Sherrill.

Wynette said she "wrote the song in 15 minutes and spent a lifetime defending it." Derided by the Feminist movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s, Wynette defended the song as a suggestion that women attempt to overlook their husbands' shortcomings and faults if they truly love them.

Billy Sherrill was a producer, songwriter and record executive who signed Wynette to Epic Records after other labels rejected her. He was involved in nearly every aspect of Wynette’s career, even with her stage name (Sherrill said she reminded him of Debbie Reynolds in the movie Tammy And The Bachelor, and suggested Tammy as a name.)

Also by: Bettye Swann, Lynn Anderson, Loretta Lynn, Candi Staton, Tina Turner, Lyle Lovett, Dixie Chicks, James Last and Me First and the Gimme Gimmes.

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• Tammy Wynette - Stand By Your Man (MP3)

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