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Rock And Roll Heaven
"Rock and Roll Heaven" is a song written by Alan O'Day and Johnny Stevenson, popularized by The Righteous Brothers. It is a paean to several deceased singers such as Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Otis Redding, and has been rewritten a number of times to include other singers. The song was first recorded by the band Climax in 1973, but it failed to chart. It was then covered by The Righteous Brothers in 1974 and reached number three on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The Righteous Brothers version The Righteous Brothers recorded "Rock and Roll Heaven" a few weeks after they decided to reform the duo in 1974. They signed with Haven Records run by Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter and were given the song to record. Lambert and Potter rewrote a verse, updating the song to include Jim Croce and Bobby Darin who had died within three months of each other in late 1973. According to Bill Medley, they were dubious about the song because they didn't think the song had the "old Righteous ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Climax (band)
Climax was an American band formed in 1970 in Los Angeles, California, most noted for their 1971-1972 hit song "Precious and Few", which peaked at No. 3 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 singles chart and No. 1 on ''Cashbox'' magazine's Top 100 singles chart. This disc sold over one million copies and was certified gold by the RIAA on February 21, 1972. Career Climax initially consisted of lead singer Sonny Geraci; composer and guitarist Walter D. Nims; composer, singer, and keyboardist Nick D'Amico (Nicola Marcello D'Amico); and drummer Jon Jon Guttman (who wrote several songs on the band's lone album and also played other percussion). This quartet were soon augmented by unofficial fifth member (and second keyboardist) Johnny Stevenson, who officially joined the band upon D'Amico's departure in 1971. Executive producer Marc Gordon and record producer Larry Cox also played instrumental roles in recording the band and shaping their sound. The band was together from 1970 to 197 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jim Croce
James Joseph Croce (; January 10, 1943 – September 20, 1973) was an American folk and rock singer-songwriter. Between 1966 and 1973, he released five studio albums and numerous singles. During this period, Croce took a series of odd jobs to pay bills while he continued to write, record, and perform concerts. After he formed a partnership with songwriter and guitarist Maury Muehleisen, his fortunes turned in the early 1970s. His breakthrough came in 1972; his third album, '' You Don't Mess Around with Jim'', produced three charting singles, including "Time in a Bottle", which reached No. 1 after his death. The follow-up album, '' Life and Times'', included the song "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown", which was the only No. 1 hit he had during his lifetime. On September 20, 1973, at the height of his popularity and the day before the lead single to his fifth album '' I Got a Name'' was released, Croce and five others died in a plane crash. His music continued to chart throughout the 1970s f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peggy Sue
"Peggy Sue" is a rock and roll song written by Jerry Allison and Norman Petty, and recorded and released as a single by Buddy Holly on September 20, 1957. The Crickets are not mentioned on label of the single (Coral 9-61885), but band members Joe B. Mauldin (string bass) and Jerry Allison (drums) played on the recording. This recording was also released on Holly's eponymous 1958 album. Production The song was originally entitled "Cindy Lou", after Holly's niece, the daughter of his sister Pat Holley Kaiter. The title was later changed to "Peggy Sue" in reference to Peggy Sue Gerron (1940–2018), the girlfriend (and future wife) of Jerry Allison, the drummer for the Crickets, after the couple had temporarily broken up.Amburn, p. 78. In her memoir, ''Whatever Happened to Peggy Sue?'', Gerron stated that she first heard the song at a live performance at the Sacramento Memorial Auditorium in 1957, and that she was "so embarrassed, I could have died." Appropriately, Allison had ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buddy Holly
Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer and songwriter who was a central and pioneering figure of mid-1950s rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in Lubbock, Texas during the Great Depression, and learned to play guitar and sing alongside his siblings. His style was influenced by gospel music, country music, and rhythm and blues acts, which he performed in Lubbock with his friends from high school. He made his first appearance on local television in 1952, and the following year he formed the group "Buddy and Bob" with his friend Bob Montgomery. In 1955, after opening for Elvis Presley, he decided to pursue a career in music. He opened for Presley three times that year; his band's style shifted from country and western to entirely rock and roll. In October that year, when he opened for Bill Haley & His Comets, he was spotted by Nashville scout Eddie Crandall, who helped him get a contract wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mack The Knife
"Mack the Knife" or "The Ballad of Mack the Knife" (german: "Die Moritat von Mackie Messer", italic=no, link=no) is a song composed by Kurt Weill with lyrics by Bertolt Brecht for their 1928 music drama ''The Threepenny Opera'' (german: Die Dreigroschenoper, link=no). The song sings about a knife-wielding criminal of the London underworld from the musical named Macheath, the "Mack the Knife" of the title. The song has become a popular standard recorded by many artists after it was recorded by Louis Armstrong in 1955. The most popular version of the song was by Bobby Darin in 1959, whose recording became a number one hit in the US and UK and earned him two Grammys. Ella Fitzgerald also received a Grammy for her performance of the song in 1961. ''The Threepenny Opera'' A '' Moritat'' is a medieval version of the murder ballad performed by strolling minstrels. In ''The Threepenny Opera'', the singer with his street organ introduces and closes the drama with the tale of the dea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bad, Bad Leroy Brown
"Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" is an uptempo, strophic story song written by American folk rock singer Jim Croce. Released as part of his 1973 album '' Life and Times'', the song was a No. 1 hit for him, spending two weeks at the top of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in July 1973. ''Billboard'' ranked it as the No. 2 song for 1973. Croce was nominated for two 1973 Grammy Awards in the Pop Male Vocalist and Record of the Year categories for "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown". It was his only number-one single before his death on September 20 of that year. Synopsis The song's titular character is a 6'4" tall man from the South Side of Chicago whose size, attitude, and tendency to carry weapons have given him a reputation in which he is adored by women and feared by men. He is said to dress in fancy clothes and wear diamond rings, and to own a custom Lincoln Continental and a Cadillac Eldorado, implying he has a lot of money. He is also known to carry a .32 caliber handgun in his pocket and a razor in h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jim Morrison
James Douglas Morrison (December 8, 1943 – July 3, 1971) was an American singer, poet and songwriter who was the lead vocalist of the rock band the Doors. Due to his wild personality, poetic lyrics, distinctive voice, unpredictable and erratic performances, and the dramatic circumstances surrounding his life and early death, Morrison is regarded by music critics and fans as one of the most influential frontmen in rock history. Since his death, Morrison's fame has endured as one of popular culture's top rebellious and oft-displayed icons, representing the generation gap and youth counterculture. Together with pianist Ray Manzarek, Morrison founded the Doors in 1965 in Venice, California. The group spent two years in obscurity until shooting to prominence with their number-one single in the United States, " Light My Fire", taken from their self-titled debut album. Morrison recorded a total of six studio albums with the Doors, all of which sold well and received critical acc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Doors
The Doors were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most controversial and influential rock acts of the 1960s, partly due to Morrison's lyrics and voice, along with his erratic stage persona. The group is widely regarded as an important figure of the era's counterculture. The band took its name from the title of Aldous Huxley's book '' The Doors of Perception'', itself a reference to a quote by William Blake. After signing with Elektra Records in 1966, the Doors with Morrison recorded and released six studio albums in five years, some of which are generally considered among the greatest of all time, including their self-titled debut (1967), '' Strange Days'' (1967), and '' L.A. Woman'' (1971). They were one of the most successful bands during that time and by 1972 the Doors had sold over 4 million albums domestically and nearly ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Light My Fire
"Light My Fire" is a song by the American rock band the Doors. It was recorded in August 1966 and released in January 1967 on their eponymous debut album. Released as an edited single on April 24, 1967, it spent three weeks at number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart (in July 29, August 5 and August 12, 1967), and one week on the ''Cash Box'' Top 100, nearly a year after its recording. Due to its erotic lyrics and innovative structure, the song has come to be regarded a synonymous with the 60s psychedelic and sexual revolutions. A year later, it re-entered the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1968 following the success of José Feliciano's cover version of the song (which peaked at number three on the ''Billboard'' chart), peaking at number 87. The song was principally written by the band's guitarist, Robby Krieger, but was credited to the entire band. History "Light My Fire" originated in early 1966 as a composition by Robby Krieger, who said that he was inspired by the m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay
"(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" is a song co-written by soul singer Otis Redding and guitarist Steve Cropper. It was recorded by Redding twice in 1967, including once just three days before his death in a plane crash on December 10, 1967. The song was released on Stax Records' Volt label in 1968, becoming the first ever posthumous single to top the charts in the US. It reached number 3 on the UK Singles Chart. Redding started writing the lyrics to the song in August 1967, while sitting on a rented houseboat in Sausalito, California. He completed the song in Memphis with the help of Cropper, who was a Stax producer and the guitarist for Booker T. & the M.G.'s. The song features whistling and sounds of waves crashing on a shore. Origins While on tour with the Bar-Kays in August 1967, Redding had grown in popularity, and was inundated with fans at his hotel in downtown San Francisco. Rock concert impresario Bill Graham offered Redding a respite to stay at his houseboat at Wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Big Brother And The Holding Company
Big Brother and the Holding Company is an American rock band that formed in San Francisco in 1965 as part of the same psychedelic music scene that produced the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and Jefferson Airplane. After some initial personnel changes, the band became well known with the lineup of vocalist Janis Joplin, guitarists Sam Andrew and James Gurley, bassist Peter Albin, and drummer Dave Getz. Their second album '' Cheap Thrills'', released in 1968, is considered one of the masterpieces of the psychedelic sound of San Francisco; it reached number one on the ''Billboard'' charts, and was ranked number 338 in ''Rolling Stone''s the 500 greatest albums of all time. The album is also included in the book ''1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die''. Joplin left the band in 1968, following the recording of ''Cheap Thrills'', for a successful solo career. The band recruited new members Nick Gravenites, Kathi McDonald, and Dave Schallock to replace h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Piece Of My Heart
"Piece of My Heart" is a romantic soul love song written by Jerry Ragovoy and Bert Berns, originally recorded by Erma Franklin in 1967. Franklin's single peaked in December 1967 at number 10 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles chart in the United States. The song came to greater mainstream attention when Big Brother and the Holding Company (featuring Janis Joplin on lead vocals) covered the song in 1968 and had a much bigger hit with it, after which Franklin's version was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. The song has since been remade by several singers, including Dusty Springfield also in 1968, Faith Hill in 1994 and duet version by Melissa Etheridge and Joss Stone in 2005. In 2004, the Big Brother and the Holding Company version was ranked No. 353 on ''Rolling Stone'' list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. The song is also included among The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. Erma Franklin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
