Classic rock, pop, and soul songs from the '60s, '70s, and '80s
Classic rock, pop, and soul songs from the '60s, '70s, and '80s
This week’s final classic song that mentions Memphis in the lyrics of the day is “Honky Tonk Women” by the Rolling Stones. The word “Memphis” is right there in the first line: I met a gin-soaked, bar-room queen in MemphisShe tried to take me upstairs for a rideShe had to heave me right across her shoulder‘Cause I just can’t seem…
Your classic song that mentions Memphis of the day is “Proud Mary.” It was a big hit twice—first for Creedence Clearwater Revival and two years later for Ike & Tina Turner. CCR’s John Fogerty wrote “Proud Mary” right after he was discharged from the Army Reserves in 1968. CCR recorded the song for their second album, 1969’s Bayou Country, and…
Continuing to honor the memory and the songwriting of the late Cynthia Weil, it’s time to turn our attention to former Mama, Cass Elliot, and the three hits she had with Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil tunes. We’re talking about, in chronological order, “It’s Getting Better,” “Make Your Own Kind of Music,” and “New World Coming.” The first of these tunes, “It’s…
Continuing our appreciation of the late Cynthia Weil, today’s classic song of the day is “Uptown,” by the Crystals. It’s one of the earliest Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil collaborations, released in 1962. It was a hit for Phil Spector’s Philles Records, hitting #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #10 on the Cash Box Top 100. “Uptown” is a ostensibly a…
Continuing our week honoring the late Cynthia Weil, we come to “We Gotta Get Out of This Place.” This song, recorded by the Animals, was released in August of 1965 (in the U.S.; a month earlier in the UK) and went to #13 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and #2 on the UK Singles Chart. “We Gotta Get Out…
Continuing our overview of the career of songwriter Cynthia Weil, today’s classic song of the day is “Only in America” by Jay and the Americans. This one has a controversial history. “Only In America,” written in 1963, was the second collaboration between the teams of Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil and Jerry Leiber/Mike Stoller. That’s a good thing; their previous collaboration, “On…
Honoring the late Cynthia Weil, today’s classic song of the day is “On Broadway,” which was a hit for both the Drifters in 1963 and George Benson a decade and a half later. This was a unique collaboration between two legendary songwriting teams, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil and Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. Here’s how it went down—all at…
In honor of the late Cynthia Weil, who passed away last week, we’re doing an entire week of songs she wrote with her husband Barry Mann. There’s only one place to start, of course, with their best-known composition, the one that was the most-played song of the 20th century, “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” by the Righteous Brothers. If you…
The last track on side two of Dusty in Memphis is the song “I Can’t Make It Alone.” Like three other songs on the album (“So Much Love,” “Don’t Forget About Me,” and “No Easy Way Down“), this one was written by the legendary Brill Building songwriting team of Gerry Goffin and Carole King. It was produced by Jerry Wexler…