B.J. Baker
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B.J. Baker
Betty Jane Baker (née Phillips; May 6, 1927 – April 2, 2002) was a singer, songwriter and vocal contractor, who worked as a backup singer on recordings by Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Bobby Darin, The Righteous Brothers and Sam Cooke, among others. She also sang on the radio, with big bands and did voice work for television and films and appeared on television variety shows. Early life and career Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Baker was Miss Alabama in 1944 as Betty Jane Rase, and was 4th runner-up in the 1944 Miss America Pageant. From the 1940s, Baker sang in big bands and on the radio, and in the 1960s, she appeared in several television shows, including the variety shows of Dean Martin and Judy Garland. She backed Elvis Presley in his recording of "Can't Help Falling in Love", Lloyd Price in "Stagger Lee (song), Stagger Lee", Sam Cooke in "You Send Me", Bobby Darin in "Dream Lover", Frank Sinatra in "That's Life (song), That's Life", Jackie Wilson in "Baby Workout", The ...
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Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% from the 2020 Census, making it Alabama's third-most populous city after Huntsville and Montgomery. The broader Birmingham metropolitan area had a 2020 population of 1,115,289, and is the largest metropolitan area in Alabama as well as the 50th-most populous in the United States. Birmingham serves as an important regional hub and is associated with the Deep South, Piedmont, and Appalachian regions of the nation. Birmingham was founded in 1871, during the post- Civil War Reconstruction period, through the merger of three pre-existing farm towns, notably, Elyton. It grew from there, annexing many more of its smaller neighbors, into an industrial and railroad transportation center with a focus on mining, the iron and steel industry, ...
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Flower Drum Song (film)
''Flower Drum Song'' is a 1961 American musical film directed by Henry Koster, adapted from the 1958 Broadway theater, Broadway musical theater, musical ''Flower Drum Song'', written by the composer Richard Rodgers and the lyricist/librettist Oscar Hammerstein II, in turn based on the 1957 The Flower Drum Song, novel of the same name by the Chinese American author Chin Yang Lee. The film stars Nancy Kwan, James Shigeta, Miyoshi Umeki, Jack Soo, Benson Fong and Juanita Hall. It was nominated for five Academy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards, including Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. ''Flower Drum Song'' became the first major Hollywood feature film to have a majority Asian-American cast in a contemporary Asian-American story. It would be the last film to do so for more than 30 years, until The Joy Luck Club (film), ''The Joy Luck Club'' (1993). In 2008, ''Flower Drum Song'' was selected for preservation ...
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Nancy Kwan
Nancy Kwan Ka-shen (; born May 19, 1939) is a Chinese-American actress, philanthropist, and former dancer. In addition to her personality and looks, her career was benefited by Hollywood's casting of more Asian roles in the 1960s, especially in comedies. Biography Early life Born in Hong Kong on May 19, 1939, and growing up in Kowloon Tong, Kwan is the Eurasian daughter of Kwan Wing-hong, a Cantonese architect and Marquita Scott, a European model of English and Scottish ancestry. Kwan Wing-hong was the son of lawyer Kwan King-sun and Juliann Loke Yuen-ying, daughter of Loke Yew. He attended Cambridge University and met Scott in London. The two married and moved to Hong Kong, where Wing-hong became an eminent architect. In that era, society held a dim view of interracial marriage. Nancy has an older brother, Ka-keung. In fear of the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong during World War II, Wing Hong, in the guise of a coolie, escaped from Hong Kong to North China in Christmas 1941 w ...
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Anita Kerr
Anita Jean Kerr (née Grilli, October 13, 1927 – October 10, 2022) was an American singer, arranger, composer, conductor, pianist, and music producer. She recorded and performed with her vocal harmony groups in Nashville, Los Angeles, and Europe. Career Nashville Kerr was born in Memphis, Tennessee. In 1947, she married Al Kerr, and they moved to Nashville the following year so that he could take a job as a dee-jay on WKDA. The performances of a vocal quintet she organized attracted the attention of a WSM radio program director, who then hired her to lead and arrange an octet choir on the radio station's "Sunday Down South" broadcasts. Joining her were singers Carl Garvin, Jim Hall, Doug Kirkham, Mary Ellen Puckett, Evelyn Wilson, Mildred Kirkham, and Don Fotrell. The group's first recording session was with Red Foley, and their collaboration resulted in a No. 16 hit on Billboard's Pop chart in 1950: ''Our Lady of Fatima.'' The following year, producer Owen Bradley signe ...
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Nancy (Nancy Sinatra Album)
''Nancy'' is a studio album by Nancy Sinatra, released on Reprise Records in 1969. It peaked at number 91 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart. Track listing Personnel Credits adapted from liner notes. * Nancy Sinatra – vocals * The Blossoms – backing vocals * B. J. Baker Singers – backing vocals * Sid Sharp – strings * Roy Caton – trumpet * Jim Horn – flute * Don Randi – piano * Red Rhodes – pedal steel guitar * Al Casey – guitar * Jerry McGee – guitar * Chuck Berghofer – double bass * Carol Kaye – bass guitar * Jerry Scheff – bass guitar * Hal Blaine – drums * Billy Strange William Everett Strange (September 29, 1930 – February 22, 2012) was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and an actor. He was a session musician with the famed Wrecking Crew, and was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and M ... – production * Les Taylor – orchestration Charts References External links * * {{Authority control 1969 albums ...
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Nancy Sinatra
Nancy Sandra Sinatra (born June 8, 1940) is an American singer and actress. She is the elder daughter of Frank Sinatra and Nancy Sinatra ( Barbato), and is best known for her 1966 signature hit "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'. Nancy Sinatra began her career as a singer and actress in November 1957 with an appearance on her father's ABC-TV variety series, but initially achieved success only in Europe and Japan. In early 1966 she had a transatlantic number-one hit with "These Boots Are Made for Walkin. A TV promo clip from the era features Sinatra in high boots, accompanied by colorfully dressed go-go dancers, in what is now considered an iconic Swinging Sixties look. The song was written by Lee Hazlewood, who wrote and produced most of her hits and sang with her on several duets. As with all of Sinatra's 1960s hits, "Boots" featured Billy Strange as arranger and conductor. Between early 1966 and early 1968, Sinatra charted on ''Billboards Hot 100 with 14 titles, ten of which ...
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You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'
"You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin is a song by Phil Spector, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, first recorded in 1964 by the American vocal duo the Righteous Brothers, whose version was also produced by Spector and is cited by some music critics as the ultimate expression and illustration of his Wall of Sound recording technique. The record was a critical and commercial success on its release, reaching number one in early February 1965 in both the United States and the United Kingdom. The single ranked No. 5 in ''Billboard'''s year-end Top 100 of 1965 Hot 100 hits – based on combined airplay and sales, and not including three charted weeks in December 1964 – and has entered the UK Top Ten on an unprecedented three occasions. "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin has been covered successfully by numerous artists. In 1965, Cilla Black's recording reached No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart. Dionne Warwick took her version to No. 16 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in 1969. A 1971 duet version ...
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Baby Workout
"Baby Workout" is an R&B song by Jackie Wilson from the album of the same name. The track is about Wilson urging a girl to dance (work out) all night with him. It was Wilson's biggest hit of his singles that charted on both the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. It was his fifth and penultimate #1 R&B song. It was his second highest-charting song on the pop charts, peaking at #5. It was written by Wilson and good friend Alonzo Tucker, an original member of the famed 1950s Doo Wop group, the Midnighters. George Benson covered the song for his 1990 album ''Big Boss Band ''Big Boss Band'' is the 1990 studio album of George Benson on Warner Bros. featuring the Count Basie Orchestra. This is Benson's second consecutive album which returns to his jazz roots after his successful pop career in the 1980s, and also his d ...''. It was also released as a single. References External links List of cover versions of "Baby Workout"at SecondHandSongs.com {{authority ...
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Jackie Wilson
Jack Leroy Wilson Jr. (June 9, 1934 – January 21, 1984) was an American singer and performer of the 1950s and 60s. He was a prominent figure in the transition of rhythm and blues into soul. Nicknamed "Mr. Excitement", he was considered a master showman and one of the most dynamic singers and performers in soul, R&B, and rock and roll history. Wilson gained initial fame as a member of the R&B vocal group Billy Ward and His Dominoes. He went solo in 1957 and scored over 50 chart singles spanning the genres of R&B, pop, soul, doo-wop, and easy listening. This included 16 Top 10 R&B hits, six of which ranked as number ones. On the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, Wilson scored 14 top 20 pop hits, six of which reached the top 10. Wilson was posthumously inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. He is also inducted into the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame. Two of Wilson's recordings were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999. He was honored with the Rhythm and Blue ...
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That's Life (song)
"That's Life" is a popular song written by Dean Kay and Kelly Gordon and first recorded in 1963 by Marion Montgomery. The song has an uplifting message that, despite the ups and downs in life, one should not give up but keep positive, because soon one will be ''"back on top"''. The most famous version is by Frank Sinatra, released on his 1966 album of the same name. Sinatra recorded the song after hearing an earlier cover of it by O.C. Smith; the song proved successful and reached the fourth spot on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 singles chart. Following the success of Sinatra's version, it was subsequently recorded by a number of artists including Aretha Franklin, James Booker, Shirley Bassey, James Brown, Van Morrison, David Lee Roth, Michael Bolton, Michael Bublé, Russell Watson, Deana Martin and Holt McCallany. Sinatra's version appeared in the 1993 film ''A Bronx Tale'', the 1995 film ''Casper'', the 2019 film '' Joker'', the 2004 video game ''Tony Hawk's Underground 2'', as we ...
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Dream Lover
"Dream Lover" is a song written by Bobby Darin. Darin recorded his composition on March 5, 1959 and released it as a single the following month. It was produced by Ahmet Ertegun and Jerry Wexler and engineered by Tom Dowd. Song background In addition to Darin's vocal, the song features Neil Sedaka on piano. While recording it Darin decided to stretch out some chord changes he found on the piano and add strings and voices. A picture sleeve, featuring a portrait of Darin, was also issued for this record in the U.S. Chart performance It was released as a single on Atco Records in the U.S. in 1959, and became a multi-million seller, reaching No. 2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for a weekThe Billboard Hot 100
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