Classic rock, pop, and soul songs from the '60s, '70s, and '80s
Classic rock, pop, and soul songs from the '60s, '70s, and '80s
Jimmy Webb is one of the premier songwriters of the 20th century. Even his lesser-known tunes get covered by a multitude of artists, because they’re so darned good. Today’s classic song of the day is a case in point. The song is “Do What You Gotta Do” and it was a minor hit for a few different artists, as well…
The multi-talented Johnny Rivers brings us today’s classic song of the day, “Poor Side of Town.” Released as a single in August of 1966, this one went all the way to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. (It was also a number-one hit in Canada.) “Poor Side of Town” was written by Johnny Rivers and producer Lou Adler. Adler produced…
Today’s summer-themed classic song of the day is from the inimitable Johnny Rivers. The song is “Summer Rain,” and when it was released in November of 1967 (not in the summer, unfortunately) it peaked at #14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #6 on the Cash Box Top 100. It also hit the top ten in Canada and New Zealand.…
This week we’re looking at songs that were hits for two or more different artists. Our first dual-artist classic song of the day is “Baby I Need Your Loving,” a huge hit for both the Four Tops and Johnny Rivers. “Baby I Need Your Loving” was written and produced by the Motown team of Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Eddie…
Today’s classic song about a particular kind of man is about a “Secret Agent Man.” As recorded by Johnny Rivers, this single was released in March of 1966 and peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #4 on the Cash Box Top 100. “Secret Agent Man” was written by the team of P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri, who…
Today’s classic Jimmy Webb song of the day is “By the Time I Get to Phoenix,” made famous by singer Glen Campbell. His single, released in October of 1967, only hit #26 on the Billboard Hot 100 but rose to #12 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart and #2 on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart. More importantly, the song has become…
Today’s classic song of the day is “Tracks of My Tears.” It was a hit for three different artists across two decades: The Miracles in 1965, Johnny Rivers in 1967, and Linda Ronstadt in 1975. “Tracks of My Tears” was written by Smokey Robinson and fellow Miracles Pete Moore and Marv Tarplin. Rolling Stone magazine ranked it #50 on its…
After spending a week dissecting Dusty Springfield’s Dusty in Memphis album a few weeks back, let’s kick off a week of songs with the word “Memphis” in the title or lyrics. We’ll start with the most obvious one, Chuck Berry’s classic “Memphis, Tennessee.” Mr. Berry recorded this one in September 1958 but never released it as a single in the…