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Pledging My Love
"Pledging My Love" is a blues ballad. It was written by Ferdinand Washington and Don Robey and published in 1954. Background The song's theme is captured in the title and the opening lines: :Forever my darling, my love will be true, :Always and forever, I'll love only you, Johnny Ace recording The most popular recording of the song was done by Johnny Ace. It was released by Duke Records as catalog number 136 in December 1954, soon after Ace's death by an accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound. Ace's version peaked on the ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' chart at number 17 and spent 10 weeks at number 1 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, R&B chart. The recording was produced by Johnny Otis, who also played the vibraphone on the track and featured the Johnny Otis band, who were credited as Johnny Board's Orchestra on the record label. In December 1958, it was reissued with additional background vocals, using the same label number. This issue was backed by his "Anymore", modifie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Johnny Ace
John Marshall Alexander Jr. (June 9, 1929 – December 25, 1954), known by the stage name Johnny Ace, was an American rhythm-and-blues singer. He had a string of hit singles in the mid 1950s. Alexander died of an accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound at the age of 25. Life and career John Alexander was born in Memphis, Tennessee, the son of preacher John Marshall Alexander and Leslie Newsome, and grew up near LeMoyne-Owen College. He dropped out of high school to join the United States Navy. Alexander was reportedly AWOL for much of his duty. After he was discharged, Alexander joined Adolph Duncan's Band as a pianist, playing around Beale Street in Memphis. The network of local musicians became known as the Beale Streeters, which included B. B. King, Bobby Bland, Junior Parker, Earl Forest, and Roscoe Gordon. Initially, they weren't an official band, but at times there was a leader and they played on each other's records. In 1951 Ike Turner, who was a talent scout and prod ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a leader in record sales, radio ratings, and motion picture grosses from 1926 to 1977. He made over 70 feature films and recorded more than 1,600 songs. His early career coincided with recording innovations that allowed him to develop an intimate singing style that influenced many male singers who followed, such as Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, Dean Martin, Dick Haymes, Elvis Presley, and John Lennon. ''Yank'' magazine said that he was "the person who had done the most for the morale of overseas servicemen" during World War II. In 1948, American polls declared him the "most admired man alive", ahead of Jackie Robinson and Pope Pius XII. In 1948, ''Music Digest'' estimated that his recordings filled more than half of the 80,000 weekly hou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
LaVern Baker
Delores LaVern Baker (November 11, 1929 – March 10, 1997) was an American R&B singer who had several hit records on the pop chart in the 1950s and early 1960s. Her most successful records were "Tweedle Dee" (1955), " Jim Dandy" (1956), and "I Cried a Tear" (1958). Baker was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991. The Hall remarked that her "fiery fusion of blues, jazz and R&B showcased her alluring vocals and set the stage for the rock and roll surge of the Fifties". Between 1955 and 1965, 20 of her songs made the R&B charts. Over the years, Elvis Presley recorded eight Baker songs. Early life Baker was born Delores Evans in Chicago. She was raised in Calumet City, Illinois. Under her mother's new surname, McMurley, Delores – on December 23, 1948, at age , in Cook County, Illinois – married Eugene Williams.Goldberg, Marv (2009)"Lavern Baker". ''Marv Goldberg's R&B Notebooks'' Retrieved May 25, 2014. Career Baker began singing in Chicago clubs such as the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sands Of Time (Jay And The Americans Album)
''Sands of Time'' is the seventh studio album by Jay and the Americans released on March 15, 1969. The album went to #51 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart, reached #30 on the '' Cashbox'' chart, and #47 in Canada. The song " This Magic Moment" hit #6 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, #1 in Canada, and was the group's first top ten hit in over three years. The song "Hushabye" hit #62 (#42 Canada), and "When You Dance" went to #70 in 1969 (#40 Canada). The album was conducted and arranged by Thomas Kaye. Following the release of the similarly-themed follow-up album ''Wax Museum'' in 1970, "Sands of Time" was reissued under the title ''Wax Museum, Vol. 2.'' Track listing # " This Magic Moment" (Doc Pomus, Mort Shuman) # "Pledging My Love" (Ferdinand Washington, Don Robey) # "Can't We Be Sweethearts" (J. Herbert Cox, Morris Levy) # "My Prayer" (Georges Boulanger, Jimmy Kennedy) # "So Much in Love" (George Williams, Bill Jackson, Roy Straigis) # "Since I Don't Have You" (Joseph Rock ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jay And The Americans
Jay and the Americans are an American rock group who formed in the late 1950s. Their initial line-up consisted of John "Jay" Traynor, Howard Kane (born Howard Kirschenbaum), Kenny Vance (born Kenneth Rosenberg) and Sandy Deanne (born Sandy Yaguda), though their greatest success on the charts came after Traynor had been replaced as lead singer by Jay Black. Biography Early years They were discovered while performing in student venues at New York University in the late 1950s. They auditioned for Leiber and Stoller, who gave the group its name. Career pinnacle Soon they signed with United Artists Records. With Jay Traynor singing lead, they first hit the Billboard charts in 1962 with the tune " She Cried", which reached #5 (later covered by The Shangri-Las, Aerosmith, and others). The next two singles did not fare as well, and Traynor left the group. Empires' guitarist Marty Sanders (né Kupersmith) joined the group. He brought David Black (né Blatt) of "The Empires" in to ta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Percy Sledge
Percy Tyrone Sledge (November 25, 1940 – April 14, 2015) was an American R&B, soul and gospel singer. He is best known for the song " When a Man Loves a Woman", a No. 1 hit on both the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and R&B singles charts in 1966. It was awarded a million-selling, Gold-certified disc from the RIAA. Having previously worked as a hospital orderly in the early 1960s, Sledge achieved his strongest success in the late 1960s and early 1970s with a series of emotional soul songs. In later years, Sledge received the Rhythm and Blues Foundation's Career Achievement Award. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2005. Biography Early career Sledge was born on November 25, 1940, in Leighton, Alabama. He worked in a series of agricultural jobs in the fields in Leighton, before taking a job as an orderly at Colbert County Hospital in Sheffield, Alabama. Through the mid-1960s, he toured the Southeast with the ''Esquires Combo'' on weekends, while working at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joe Hinton
Joseph Hinton (November 15, 1929 – August 13, 1968) was an American soul singer. Biography Though Clarksdale, Mississippi has been claimed as his birthplace, most sources state that Hinton was born in Evansville, Indiana, where he married LaVerne Flowers and started a family. He began as a gospel singer with the Blair Gospel Singers, the Chosen Gospel Quartet and the Spirit of Memphis Quartet. Producer Don Robey asked the singer to try doing secular tunes, and Hinton began recording for Robey's record label, Peacock Records, in 1958. It was not until 1963, with his fifth single on the label, that he managed to chart with "You Know It Ain't Right"; the next single, "Better to Give Than to Receive", also hit the lower regions of the charts.Biography Allmusic.com His biggest hit was 1964's "Funny How Time Slips Away", written by Willie Nelson; the tune (simply credited as "Funny" on the original record label) peaked at #13 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 that year. ''Cash Box'' m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brand New Cadillac
"Brand New Cadillac" (also recorded as "Cadillac") is a 1959 song by Vince Taylor, and was originally released as a B-side. Featured musicians on the released recording were: Joe Moretti (guitars), Lou Brian (piano), Brian Locking (bass) and Brian Bennett (drums). While not successful in the UK, it got a huge surge in popularity in continental Europe, especially the Nordic countries, with acts such as The Renegades and Hep Stars bringing it to number one in Finland and Sweden respectively. Another Swedish act, the Shamrocks brought the song to number one in France. Vince Taylor's record company eventually learned of these recordings and copyright claims ensued. The case was settled on agreement to add Taylor's name to songwriting credits alongside The Renegades members—sharing the royalties equally. Neither Hep Stars nor Shamrocks were aware of Taylor's original version at the time of recordings. Therefore, it is possible to find their 1960s recordings credited either to (Kim) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vince Taylor
Vince Taylor (14 July 1939 – 28 August 1991), born Brian Maurice Holden, was an English rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ... singer. As the lead singer of Vince Taylor and His Playboys, sometimes Vince Taylor and The Playboys, he was successful primarily in France and other parts of Continental Europe during the late 1950s and early 1960s, afterwards falling into obscurity amidst personal problems and drug abuse. He is best remembered for his 1959 song "Brand New Cadillac", which The Clash covered on their album ''London Calling''. He was among the inspirations for David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust (character), Ziggy Stardust character. Biography Early life Taylor spent his early life in Isleworth, Middlesex. When he was seven, the Holdens emigrated to A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cadence Records
Cadence Records was an American record company based in New York City whose labels had a picture of a metronome. It was founded by Archie Bleyer, who had been the musical director and orchestra leader for Arthur Godfrey in 1952. Cadence also launched a short-lived jazz subsidiary, Candid Records. The first recording star for Cadence was a Godfrey alumnus, Julius La Rosa. Other Godfrey alumni signed to the label included the Chordettes. Bleyer had written a few hit songs in 1932–34 (Fletcher Henderson's "Business in F" is a good example) and had a band that recorded for ARC Records, ARC in 1934 and 1935 (his records were issued on Vocalion Records, Vocalion, Melotone Records (US), Melotone, Perfect Records, Perfect and Romeo Records, Romeo). According to legend, Bleyer was fired from the Godfrey show when he signed someone Godfrey regarded as a rival to a record deal (Godfrey later fired singer Julius La Rosa in October 1954, causing a storm of controversy at the time). The lab ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation SONAM, headquartered in New York City, manages the company's US-based businesses. Sony's principal U.S. business ..., the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. The label was founded predominantly as a jazz and classical music label in 1953, but later expanded its scope to include a more diverse range of genres, including pop music, pop, Rhythm and blues, R&B, rock music, rock, and hip hop music, hip hop. History Beginnings Epic Records was launched in 1953 by the Columbia Records unit of CBS, for the purpose of marketing jazz, pop music, pop, and European classical music, classical music that did not fit the theme of its more mainstream Columbia Records label. Initial classical music r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roy Hamilton
Roy Hamilton (April 16, 1929 – July 20, 1969) was an American singer. By combining semi-classical technique with traditional black gospel feeling, he brought soul to Great American Songbook singing. Hamilton's greatest commercial success came from 1954 through 1961, when he was Epic Records' most prolific artist.Dawson, Jim & Propes, Steve (2003). ''45 RPM: The History, Heroes & Villains of a Pop Music Revolution'' (1st ed.). San Francisco : Backbeat Books. p. 62. His two most influential recordings, "You'll Never Walk Alone" and "Unchained Melody", became Epic's first two number-one hits when they topped the Billboard R&B chart in March 1954 and May 1955, respectively. Hamilton became the first solo artist in the label's history to have a US top-ten pop hit when "Unchained Melody" peaked at No. 6 in May 1955. Early life Roy Hamilton was born in Leesburg, Georgia to Evelyn and Albert Hamilton, where he began singing in church choirs at the age of six. In the summer of 1943, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
