Classic rock, pop, and soul songs from the '60s, '70s, and '80s
Classic rock, pop, and soul songs from the '60s, '70s, and '80s
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…
We’re still working through the tracks on Dusty Springfield’s legendary Dusty in Memphis album and now we’re on side two, near the end. The song is “No Easy Way Down,” written by the equally legendary team of Gerry Goffin and Carole King. This is track 10, the next-to-last track on side two. Like many of the songs on this album,…
The next song on our tour of the Dusty in Memphis album is “I Don’t Want to Hear It Anymore,” the fourth song on side one. This is a heartbreaking tune about a woman finding out that her lover is unfaithful by hearing her neighbors talk behind her back (or, rather, through her apartment’s thin walls). As sung by Dusty…
We continue our listening tour of Dusty Springfield’s legendary Dusty in Memphis album with the second track on side one, “So Much Love.” This one was written by the equally legendary songwriting team of Carole King and Gerry Goffin and was a perfect match for the soulful feel of this album. One of the things that makes Dusty in Memphis…
Your totally unknown classic Jimmy Webb song of the day is “This Is Where I Came In,” by the Contessas. No point looking it up; it didn’t chart anywhere. Recorded and released in 1965, “This is Where I Came In” was one of the first songs composed by soon-to-be-legendary songwriter Jimmy Webb, and his first time in the studio. It’s…
Your classic song written by Laura Nyro but performed by someone else of the day is “Eli’s Coming,” by Three Dog Night. The band released this one in October of 1969 and it went all the way to #10 on the Billboard Hot 100. Cory Wells sang lead. As noted, the song wasn’t written by any of the Three Dog…