You Don't Have To Say You Love Me (1966) (1970)

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By: Dusty Springfield (born Mary Isabel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien April 16, 1939 in London, England, died of breast cancer March 2, 1999.)

Dusty Springfield was one of the most successful British female performers of the 1960s. She had 18 singles in the Billboard Hot 100 from 1964 to 1970.

The song proved so popular in the US that Springfield's 1965 album Ev'rything's Coming Up Dusty was released there with a slightly different track listing, and titled after the hit single.

In 2004, "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me" was rankled #491 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Chart position: #4 (US), #1 (UK), #8 (US Adult Contemporary).

This was Dusty's only #1 UK hit.

It was preceded at #1 in the UK by "Somebody Help Me" (the Spencer Davis Group) and succeeded by "Pretty Flamingo" (Manfred Mann).

The Top Ten Songs: July 16, 1966 (US Billboard Hot 100).

1. "Hanky Panky" (Tommy James and the Shondells)
2. "Wild Thing" (Troggs)
3. "Red Rubber Ball" (Cyrkle)
4. "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me" (Dusty Springfield)
5. "Paperback Writer" (Beatles)
6. "Strangers In The Night" (Frank Sinatra)
7. "Along Comes Mary" (Association)
8. "Little Girl" (Syndicate of Sound)
9. "Lil' Red Riding Hood" (Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs)
10. "Hungry" (Paul Revere and the Raiders)
    

Written by: Pino Donaggio, Vito Pallavicini, Vicki Wickham and Simon Napier-Bell.

"You Don't Have To Say You Love Me" is an English version of an Italian song called "Io che non vivo (senza te)", or "I, who can't live (without you)"), written by Pino Donaggio and Vito Pallavicini.

Dusty Springfield heard it at the 1965 Sanremo Festival, where it was performed by Donaggio himself and his team partner Jody Miller. Dusty presented it to Vicki Wickham and Simon Napier-Bell, who wrote the English lyrics for the song.



Also by: Elvis Presley, whose version reached #11 (US) and #1 (US Adult Contemporary).

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(I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden (1970)

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• Lynn Anderson - (I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden (MP3)
• Joe South - (I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden (MP3)

By: Lynn Anderson (born Lynn Rene Anderson September 26, 1947 in Grand Forks, North Dakota.)

In 1970, Anderson moved to Nashville, Tennessee and signed with Columbia Records. She was determined to record "(I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden". Columbia didn't think it was an appropriate song for a female to sing.

While in the studio, there was just enough time left in the session to record the song; had it not been for that, Anderson later said, the song would have never been recorded. It became the biggest hit of her career and her signature song.

In 1971, she won the Grammy award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance for the song. Joe South also won a Grammy as the song's writer.

In 1971, The album Rose Garden was released, selling over a million copies in the US, and was the biggest selling country album by a female for 24 years.

The American Rose Society named a rose after her: the Lynn Anderson rose.

Chart position: #3 (US), #1 (US Country, 5 weeks), #5 (US Adult Contemporary), #1 (UK).

It was preceded at #1 (US Country) by "Coal Miner's Daughter" (Loretta Lynn) and succeeded by "Flesh and Blood" (Johnny Cash).

The Top Ten Songs: February 13, 1971 (US Billboard Hot 100).

1. "One Bad Apple" (Osmonds)
2. "Knock Three Times" (Tony Orlando and Dawn)
3. "(I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden" (Lynn Anderson)
4. "I Hear You Knocking" (Dave Edmunds)
5. "Lonely Days" (Bee Gees)
6. "My Sweet Lord"/"Isn't It A Pity" (George Harrison)
7. "Groove Me" (King Floyd)
8. "Your Song" (Elton John)
9. "If I Were Your Woman" (Gladys Knight and the Pips)
10. "Mama's Pearl" (Jackson 5)

Written by: Joe South (born Joseph Alfred Souter February 28, 1940 in Atlanta, Georgia.)

Joe South wrote such songs as "Down in the Boondocks", "Hush", "Yo-Yo", "Don't It Make You Wanna Go Home", "Walk a Mile in My Shoes", and "Games People Play" (a Top 10 hit for South in the US and UK that won two Grammy awards, for Best Contemporary Song and Song of the Year.)

South was also a session guitarist, who played guitar on Aretha Franklin's "Chain of Fools", Tommy Roe's "Sheila", and the electric guitar part added to Simon & Garfunkel's "The Sound of Silence" (the original recording was just Simon & Garfunkel singing, with Paul Simon on acoustic guitar.)

The title was taken from the bestselling 1964 novel I Never Promised You a Rose Garden, written under the pen name of Hannah Green by author Joanne Greenberg (born 1932 in Brooklyn, New York). It was adapted into a 1977 movie and a 2004 play of the same name.

Also by: Dobie Gray (1969); Johnny Mathis (1971); Loretta Lynn (1971); Andy Williams (1971); Martina McBride, whose version was a Top 20 (US Country) hit in 2005; Pete Fountain; Jim Nabors; Percy Faith; Lawrence Welk; Buddy Merrill; Boots Randolph.

Originally by: Joe South, whose version was released on his debut 1969 album Introspect, but wasn't successful.

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• Lynn Anderson - (I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden (MP3)
• Joe South - (I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden (MP3)

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Elvira (1970) (1981)

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• Oak Ridge Boys - Elvira (MP3)
• Kenny Rogers and the First Edition - Elvira (MP3)

By: The Oak Ridge Boys, a country and gospel group that was founded in 1945 as the Oak Ridge Quartet. They became popular during the 1950s.

Their name was changed to the Oak Ridge Boys in the early 1960s, and they remained a gospel-oriented group until the mid 1970s, when they changed their image and concentrated more on country and pop music.

The band's current lineup consists of lead Duane Allen, tenor Joe Bonsall, baritone William Lee Golden, and bass Richard Sterban.

Prior to joining the Oak Ridge Boys in 1972, Sterban toured with J.D. Sumner and the Stamps Quartet and sang backup for Elvis Presley.

Rodney Crowell's version of "Elvira", which was a minor hit in 1978, was the one that inspired the Oak Ridge Boys to record the song for their 1981 album Fancy Free, which became their biggest-selling album.

Released in March 1981, "Elvira" became their fourth #1 US Country hit.

"Elvira" was certified platinum for sales of 2 million units by the RIAA, a distinction that, for years, it shared only with "Islands in the Stream" by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton.

Elvira is a name of Spanish origin that was originally believed to be of Arabic origin, meaning "the white". Other theories are that it is of Germanic or West Gothic origin and that the name means "alert" or "trustworthy".

Chart position: #5 (US), #1 (US Country), (US Adult Contemporary).

"Elvira" was the Oak Ridge Boys' biggest pop hit.

It was preceded at #1 on the US Country chart by "Seven Year Ache" (Rosanne Cash) and succeeded by "Friends" (Razzy Bailey).

The Top Ten Songs: July 25, 1981 (US Billboard Hot 100).

1. "The One that You Love" (Air Supply)
2. "Bette Davis Eyes" (Kim Carnes)
3. "Jessie's Girl" (Rick Springfield)
4. "Theme from The Greatest American Hero (Believe It or Not)" (Joey Scarbury) 
5. "Elvira" (Oak Ridge Boys)
6. "I Don't Need You" (Kenny Rogers)
7. "Slow Hand" (Pointer Sisters)
8. "You Make My Dreams" (Daryl Hall and John Oates)
9. "Boy from New York City" (Manhattan Transfer)
10. "Hearts" (Marty Balin)
    

  Written by: Dallas Frazier (born October 27, 1939 in Spiro, Oklahoma.)

Dallas Frazier wrote many others hits, as well, including "Alley Oop", "Mohair Sam" and "There Goes My Everything".

According to Nashville music producer Ray Baker, he and Dallas Frazier were driving through Nashville one afternoon in 1966 and almost ran a red light at the intersection of Gallatin Road and...Elvira Street.

Baker: "Dallas looked up and noticed the street sign. Immediately he started singing the chorus to what would become the song 'Elvira.' He had a strong R&B background from California and thought it would be clever to rhyme Elvira with the word Fira, as some black artist might have sang it."



Also by: Kenny Rogers (born Kenneth Ray Rogers August 21, 1938 in Houston, Texas) and the First Edition. It was released on their fifth album, Something's Burning, in 1970.

Rogers was voted the "Favorite Singer of All-Time" in a 1986 joint poll by readers of both USA Today and People, and has received hundreds of awards for both his music and charity work. These include AMAs, Grammys, ACMs and CMAs, as well as a lifetime achievement award for a career spanning six decades in 2003.

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• Oak Ridge Boys - Elvira (MP3)
• Kenny Rogers and the First Edition - Elvira (MP3)

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Bridge Over Troubled Water (1970)

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• Simon and Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water (MP3)
• Elvis Presley - Bridge Over Troubled Water (MP3)
• Aretha Franklin - Bridge Over Troubled Water (MP3)

 By: Simon and Garfunkel.

Paul Simon (born Paul Frederic Simon October 13, 1941 in Newark Heights, New Jersey) and Art Garfunkel (born Arthur Ira Garfunkel November 5, 1941 in Queens, New York) met in the sixth grade in 1953, when they appeared in a school play of Alice in Wonderland with Simon as the White Rabbit and Garfunkel as the Cheshire Cat.

They released their first, "Hey, Schoolgirl" (#49 US) while still in their teens, in 1957. They changed their name to Simon and Garfunkel in 1963.

In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked them #40 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

"Bridge Over Troubled Water" was recorded for their last album of the same name, which is the biggest selling album ever released by Columbia Records. Musicians who played on the song include Larry Knechtel (who also played bass on The Byrds' "Mr. Tambourine Man" and later formed the band Bread) on piano and Hal Blaine on drums, which were recorded in an echo chamber, with a tape-reverb that made gave an afterbeat effect. Garfunkel sang the lead vocal.

"Bridge Over Troubled Water" won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year and Song of the Year in 1971, while the album won for Album of the Year and Best Engineered Recording.

In 1999, BMI ranked "Bridge Over Troubled Water" at #19 on their list of Top 100 Songs of the century (based on American radio and television airplay). In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked it #47 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

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

It was preceded at #1 in the US by "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)"/"Everybody Is a Star" (Sly and the Family Stone) and succeeded by "Let It Be" (The Beatles), also written as a comforting song in turbulent times.

The Top Ten Songs: March 14, 1970 (US Billboard Hot 100).

1. "Bridge Over Troubled Water" (Simon & Garfunkel)
2. "Travelin' Band/Who'll Stop The Rain" (Creedence Clearwater Revival)
3. "The Rapper" (Jaggerz)
4. "Rainy Night In Georgia" (Brook Benton)
5. "Ma Belle Amie" (Tee Set)
6. "Give Me Just A Little More Time" (Chairmen of the Board)
7. "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)"/"Everybody Is a Star" (Sly and the Family Stone)
8. "Hey There Lonely Girl" (Eddie Holman)
9. "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" (Hollies)
10. "Evil Ways" (Santana)

Written by: Paul Simon.

Simon wrote many songs, including "The Sound of Silence", "I Am A Rock", "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme", "Homeward Bound", "Mrs. Robinson", "The Boxer", "Mother And Child Reunion", "Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard", "Kodachrome", "Loves Me Like Rock", "American Tune", "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover", "Still Crazy After All These Years", "Slip Slidin' Away", "You Can Call Me Al", "Graceland", "Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes", "Born at the Right Time", and "Father and Daughter" (nominated for an Oscar in 2002.)

Simon wrote the song in California, in a rented summer house (in which George Harrison wrote the Beatles song "Blue Jay Way" in 1967.)

Simon was inspired to write by gospel singing group The Swan Silvertones' 1959 hit "Oh, Mary Don't You Weep," which contained the line, "I'll be a bridge over deep water, if you trust in my name".

He wrote "Bridge Over Troubled Water" on guitar in the key of G, but gave it to pianist Larry Knechtel to transpose to E flat and arrange the piano part. Only two verses had been written, but in the studio, Simon asked Knechtel to play a third verse, even though he hadn't written it yet.

Paul Simon later said, "I always felt that you could clearly see that it was written afterwards. It just doesn't sound like the first two verses." The third verse was about his girlfriend, Peggy Harper, as a joke, because she was upset one day when she had found a few gray hairs on her head.

Also by: Aretha Franklin, whose 1971 gospel-inspired live version won a Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance; Elvis Presley, whose version appeared on his 1970 album That's The Way It Is; Johnny Cash, as a duet with Fiona Apple, whose version appeared on his 2002 album American IV: The Man Comes Around (#2 US Country), which was the last album Cash released during his lifetime, and his first album in 30 years to sell over 500,000 copies; Clay Aiken, whose version reached #1 in Canada in 2003.

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• Simon and Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water (MP3)
• Elvis Presley - Bridge Over Troubled Water (MP3)
• Aretha Franklin - Bridge Over Troubled Water (MP3)

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Hello Darlin' (1970)

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• Conway Twitty - Hello Darlin' (MP3)

By: Conway Twitty (born Harold Lloyd Jenkins on September 1, 1933, in Friars Point, Mississippi, died of abdominal aneurysm June 5, 1993, on his tour bus in Missouri.)

Conway Twitty's dad was a riverboat pilot who taught him guitar at the age of four. After high school, Twitty was an avid baseball player, and received an offer to join the Philadelphia Phillies. Instead, he was drafted by the army. When he got out, Twitty heard Elvis Presley's "Mystery Train" and began writing songs.

While recording "Hello Darlin'" on November 18, 1969, Twitty sang the opening lines, but it didn't feel right. Producer Owen Bradley suggested speaking the lines ("Hello darlin', nice to see you.")



In 1975, Conway Twitty, with the help of a language professor from the University of Oklahoma, recorded a Russian version of "Hello Darlin'", titled "Privet Radost". It was presented by an American commander to his Russian counterpart during a joint space venture, and was broadcast to a worldwide audience as a gesture of goodwill.

Twitty had a total of 55 singles reach #1 on various US music charts, a record to this day.

Chart position: #1 (US Country).

It was #1 for 4 weeks in June 1970. It was also awarded by Billboard as the #1 Country single of 1970.

Written by: Conway Twitty.

Twitty wrote many of his own hit songs, including "(Lying Here With) Linda On My Mind", "You've Never Been This Far Before", "I Can't Believe She Gives It All To Me", "I Can't See Me Without You", "I've Already Loved You In My Mind", "(Lost Her Love) On Our Last Date" (co-written by Floyd Cramer,) "Baby's Gone", "I'm Not Through Loving You Yet", "The Letter", "As Soon As I Hang Up the Phone", and many more.


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• Conway Twitty - Hello Darlin' (MP3)