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…That's The Way It Is
''...That's the Way It Is'' is the thirteenth album by American singer Harry Nilsson, released in 1976 on RCA Records. Aside from two original songs, the album consists of cover tunes. The songs include " That Is All", written by George Harrison and originally released on ''Living in the Material World'' in 1973; America's "I Need You", from their eponymous 1971 album; Randy Newman's " Sail Away", from his 1972 album of the same name; and the Heartbeats' " A Thousand Miles Away". Harrison's song was recorded twice by Nilsson, to open and close the album. Another cover version on ''...That's the Way It Is'', the calypso " Zombie Jamboree", had previously been recorded by Lord Intruder, Kingston Trio and Harry Belafonte, among others. Nilsson's medley of the Doris Troy hit " Just One Look" and Barbara Lewis' " Baby I'm Yours" was performed as a duet with singer Lynda Laurence. The latter, formerly of the Supremes, was the wife of Nilsson's producer, Trevor Lawrence. Track lis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harry Nilsson
Harry Edward Nilsson III (June 15, 1941 – January 15, 1994), sometimes credited as Nilsson, was an American singer-songwriter who reached the peak of his commercial success in the early 1970s. His work is characterized by pioneering vocal overdub experiments, returns to the Great American Songbook The Great American Songbook is the loosely defined canon of significant early-20th-century American jazz standards, popular songs, and show tunes. Definition According to the Great American Songbook Foundation: The "Great American Songbook" i ..., and fusions of Caribbean music, Caribbean sounds. A tenor with a octave range, Nilsson was one of the few major pop-rock recording artists to achieve significant commercial success without ever performing major public concerts or undertaking regular tours. Born in Brooklyn, Nilsson moved to Los Angeles as a teenager to escape his family's poor financial situation. While working as a computer programmer at a bank, he grew interested ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Harrison
George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian culture and helped broaden the scope of popular music through his incorporation of Indian instrumentation and Hindu-aligned spirituality in the Beatles' work. Although the majority of the band's songs were written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, most Beatles albums from 1965 onwards contained at least two Harrison compositions. His songs for the group include "Taxman", "Within You Without You", "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", "Here Comes the Sun" and "Something". Harrison's earliest musical influences included George Formby and Django Reinhardt; Carl Perkins, Chet Atkins and Chuck Berry were subsequent influences. By 1965, he had begun to lead the Beatles into folk rock through his interest in Bob Dylan and the Byrds, and towards Indi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Doris Troy
Doris Troy (born Doris Elaine Higginsen; January 6, 1937 – February 16, 2004) was an American R&B singer and songwriter, known to her many fans as "Mama Soul". Her biggest hit was " Just One Look", a top 10 hit in 1963. Life and career She was born as Doris Elaine Higginsen, in the Bronx, the daughter of a Barbadian Pentecostal minister. She later took her grandmother's name and grew up as Doris Payne. Her parents disapproved of "subversive" forms of music like rhythm & blues, so she cut her teeth singing in her father's choir. At age 16, she was working as an usherette at the Apollo where she was discovered by James Brown. Under the name Doris Payne, she began songwriting and earned $100 in 1960 for the Dee Clark hit "How About That". Going into the recording industry, Troy worked as a backup vocalist for Atlantic Records alongside Dionne and Dee Dee Warwick. She was also part of the original lineup of The Sweet Inspirations in 1963, with Cissy Houston and the two Warwi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harry Belafonte
Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927) is an American singer, activist, and actor. As arguably the most successful Jamaican-American pop star, he popularized the Trinbagonian Caribbean musical style with an international audience in the 1950s. His breakthrough album '' Calypso'' (1956) was the first million-selling LP by a single artist. Belafonte is best known for his recordings of "The Banana Boat Song", with its signature "Day-O" lyric, " Jump in the Line", and " Jamaica Farewell". He has recorded and performed in many genres, including blues, folk, gospel, show tunes, and American standards. He has also starred in several films, including ''Carmen Jones'' (1954), '' Island in the Sun'' (1957), and ''Odds Against Tomorrow'' (1959). Belafonte considered the actor, singer and activist Paul Robeson a mentor, and was a close confidant of Martin Luther King Jr. in the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s. As he later recalled, "Paul Robes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kingston Trio
The Kingston Trio is an American folk and pop music group that helped launch the folk revival of the late 1950s to the late 1960s. The group started as a San Francisco Bay Area nightclub act with an original lineup of Dave Guard, Bob Shane, and Nick Reynolds. It rose to international popularity fueled by unprecedented sales of LP records and helped alter the direction of popular music in the U.S. The Kingston Trio was one of the most prominent groups of the era's folk-pop boom, which they kick-started in 1958 with the release of the Trio's eponymous first album and its hit recording of " Tom Dooley", which became a number one hit and sold over three million copies as a single. The Trio released nineteen albums that made ''Billboard''s Top 100, fourteen of which ranked in the top 10, and five of which hit the number 1 spot. Four of the group's LPs charted among the 10 top-selling albums for five weeks in November and December 1959, a record unmatched for more than 50 years, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lord Intruder
Lord Intruder (born Winston O'Conner) was a calypsonian from Tobago who was active in the 1950s. He is known to have performed with the Trinidadian calypso tent group The Original Young Brigade (OYB), whose ranks included The Mighty Sparrow, Lord Melody and The Mighty Bomber. He is credited with originating one of the most famous calypso standards, " Jumbie Jamberie", variously recorded as "Zombie Jamboree" and "Back to Back." He performed "Jumbie Jamboree" at the Old Brigade Calypso Tent in Port of Spain Port of Spain (Spanish: ''Puerto España''), officially the City of Port of Spain (also stylized Port-of-Spain), is the capital of Trinidad and Tobago and the third largest municipality, after Chaguanas and San Fernando. The city has a municip ..., Trinidad, in 1953. Partial discography *"Annual Walking Race," b/w "Is by Animal Motor Car was Invented" (c. 1953) *"Disaster with the Police," b/w "Jumbie Jamberie" (1953) *"Good Friday Happenings," b/w "Ah Can't Bear the Torture ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jumbie Jamberee
"Jumbie Jamberee" is a calypso song credited to Conrad Eugene Mauge, Jr. In 1953 Lord Intruder released the song as the B-side to "Disaster With Police". The song is also known as "Zombie Jamboree" and "Back to Back". The introduction to the Kingston Trio's version humorously credits "Lord Invader and his Twelve Penetrators" with authorship of the song instead of Lord Intruder. The oldest versions of the song refer to a jumbee jamboree. Jumbies are evil spirits who were thought to cause wild dancing in their victims. The song's references to Carnival also suggest a connection to the Moko jumbie, a protective spirit figure represented during Carnival on Trinidad by stilt walkers and dancers. The switch to "Zombie Jamboree" occurred very early with King Flash's version with those lyrics coming out in 1956, only three years after "Jumbie Jamboree" first appeared. Like many "folk" songs, there is unclear copyright in the song and many lines are variable between versions. While many ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Calypso Music
Calypso is a style of Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago during the early to the mid-19th century and spread to the rest of the Caribbean Antilles and Venezuela by the mid-20th century. Its rhythms can be traced back to West African Kaiso and the arrival of French planters and their slaves from the French Antilles in the 18th century. It is characterized by highly rhythmic and harmonic vocals, and was historically most often sung in a French creole and led by a griot. As calypso developed, the role of the griot became known as a ''chantuelle'' and eventually, ''calypsonian''. As English replaced "patois" (Antillean creole) as the dominant language, calypso migrated into English, and in so doing it attracted more attention from the government. It allowed the masses to challenge the doings of the unelected Governor and Legislative Council, and the elected town councils of Port of Spain and San Fernando. Calypso continued to play an important role in politic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Thousand Miles Away
"A Thousand Miles Away" is a 1956 song recorded by the American doo-wop group The Heartbeats. The song was written by James Sheppard and William H. Miller. Background Sheppard co-wrote the song after his ex-girlfriend moved away to Texas. Track listing 7" Vinyl # a. "A Thousand Miles Away" - 2:22 # b. "Oh Baby Don't" - 2:25 Chart performance *"A Thousand Miles Away" reached #5 on the R&B Singles chart and #52 in the US on The Billboard Hot 100. *A 1960, reissue had the song peak at #96 on the Hot 100. Cover versions Other artists who have released a cover versions of the song are: *The Fleetwoods *The Diamonds *Harry Nilsson released a cover version of the song. In popular culture The song was featured in the 1973 film "American Graffiti ''American Graffiti'' is a 1973 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by George Lucas, produced by Francis Ford Coppola, written by Willard Huyck, Gloria Katz and Lucas, and starring Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard (billed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Heartbeats
The Heartbeats were a 1950s American doo-wop group best known for their song "A Thousand Miles Away", which charted at No. 53 in the US ''Billboard'' listings in 1957. Career The Heartbeats began as a quartet in early 1953 in Jamaica, Queens as "The Hearts", consisting of baritone Vernon Sievers, bass Wally Roker, first tenor Albert Crump, and second tenor Robbie Tatum. When it was later discovered that there was a female group of the same name (who scored a minor ''Billboard'' hit with "Lonely Nights"), the male group extended their name to "Heartbeats". They were signed shortly after James "Shep" Sheppard joined the group as lead vocalist and were shuffled between various production companies and record labels over the next few years. The group split up in 1959 and Sheppard went on to form Shep and the Limelites. Roker remained in the music business as a promoter while the other group members went on to other professions. James Sheppard died in his automobile under mysterious ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sail Away (Randy Newman Album)
''Sail Away'' is an album by Randy Newman, released on May 23, 1972. It was produced by Lenny Waronker and Russ Titelman and issued on Reprise Records. While all of its songs were written and composed by Newman, several had already been recorded by other artists. Composition As with all of Newman's early albums, several of its songs had been previously recorded by other artists. In this case, " Simon Smith and the Amazing Dancing Bear" had been a UK hit for Alan Price in 1967 and was recorded by Harry Nilsson on his 1969 album ''Harry.'' "Dayton, Ohio - 1903" had been recorded by Billy J. Kramer as a single in 1969, while Newman and Nilsson recorded a version together for Nilsson's 1970 album '' Nilsson Sings Newman''. Newman himself had also previously recorded "Last Night I Had a Dream" as a single, issued in September 1968. The version heard on ''Sail Away'' is a re-recording with a notably different arrangement. "You Can Leave Your Hat On" was later recorded by Joe Cocker in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Randy Newman
Randall Stuart Newman (born November 28, 1943) is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, composer, and pianist known for his Southern American English, Southern-accented singing style, early Americana (music), Americana-influenced songs (often with mordant or satirical lyrics), and various film scores. His best-known songs as a recording artist are "Short People" (1977), "I Love L.A." (1983), and "You've Got a Friend in Me" (1995) with Lyle Lovett, while other artists have enjoyed more success with cover versions of his "Mama Told Me Not to Come" (1966), "I Think It's Going to Rain Today" (1968) and "You Can Leave Your Hat On" (1972). Born in Los Angeles to an extended family of Hollywood film composers, Newman began his songwriting career at the age of 17, penning hits for acts such as the Fleetwoods, Cilla Black, Gene Pitney, and the Alan Price Set. In 1968, he made his formal debut as a solo artist with the album ''Randy Newman (album), Randy Newman'', produced by Lenny Waro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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