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#4 Adult Contemporary , #6 Pop
When looking over my notes trying to select what soulful British singer I was going to post about, it struck me out of the blue that not only hadn’t I selected any women for this month, but I would be remiss in not mentioning the beautiful lady that was the FIRST soulful singer the Brits had to offer the pop music world– the legendary Dusty Springfield.
This song was one of the many, many Burt Bacharach and Hal David compositions that had been recorded by another great pop singer Dionne Warwick.
This catchy song has been covered my many and even recorded by Motown’s own Martha & The Vandellas, but it was Dusty’s duplicate cover of Dionne’s original that was the biggest hit.
“Wishin’ and Hopin’” appeared on Dusty’s first solo release, “Stay Awhile/ I Only Want to Be With You” on Mercury records.
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#9 UK, #10 USA Pop
At age 8 England’s Stephen Lawrence Winwood joined his father and older brother Muff in “The Ron Atkinson Band.”
In the early Sixties Little Stevie’s older brother let him join his group the “Muff Woody Jazz Band.” The group was local success.
Then by 1963 the brothers joined with guitarist Spencer Davis in “The Spencer Davis Group” and “I’m A Man” (Stevie was co-writer) is one of their resulting hits on both sides of the pond. Stevie could play the piano and sing lead at age 15 just like any of the adults in the industry and probably better than most! I didn’t even know he was but a teen, back in those days, just a few years older than I was: I just discovered this as an adult.
This was the last hit single by the “Spencer Davis Group” before brothers Steve and Muff Winwood left.
“I’m A Man” is another one of my many many favorites as a teen. Classic British Blues-Rock from the British Invasion era doesn’t get much better than this now does it?
Check out this awesome vintage live performance from 1967! This is why I heart YouTube!
BTW when Stevie sings the lyric about “got whiskers on my chin” I just gotta chuckle since he probably hadn’t even started to shave yet.
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#3 Adult Contemporary, #10, Pop, #26 R&B
Like Rick Astley decades later, Tom Jones was one of the first popular voices that had we listeners fooled.
My parents, step-mother, aunts and even grandmothers loved his singing (especially the country covers such as “Green Green Grass of Home”) but I loved him first and just knew he was a groovy Black dude until I saw him on TV! ROTFL.
Now when I finally did see him he could have been chartreuse for all I cared — I just knew that he was one of the sexiest things I had seen on TV in my 11 or so years on the planet! Yes, I was a tween in love. I was gonna grow up and marry Tom, Elvis (yes I said it -- those movies were groovy) Eddie K and Rock Hudson. Of course having four husbands didn’t seem a problem in my juvenile mind. Where there was a will there was a way.
I am sure there are some Boomers out there that have fond memories of Variety Shows and “The Tom Jones Show” was one of my favorites. I never missed it and sat in front of the TV with my Grandmother to watch every episode. We both LOVED it!
Twenty years later even the sitcom character Carlton Banks of “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air loved Tom Jones as demonstrated in this YouTube Classic Clip compilation.
Before there was Tom Jones there was Tommy Scott the singer with the Welsh Beat Group The Senators. Tommy Scott was born Thomas John Woodward.
Singer Gordon Mills of the Viscounts recognized Scott’s talent and re-named him Tom Jones in 1964. Jones’ second recording on the Decca label, “It’s Not Unusual,” hit and the rest became legend. This first hit, composed by Gordon Mills and Leslie Reed, became the signature song for Jones’ entire career.
[Audio clip: view full post to listen] Released in 1969, “Abbey Road” was the last Beatles album to be recorded (But not the last to be released). “Rolling Stone” magazine named it the 14th greatest album of all time. “Octopus’s Garden” was Ringo’s solo vocal contribution the this set. He wrote the lyrics and George [...]
[Audio clip: view full post to listen] The Beatles – Boys (1963) “Boys,” with Ringo singing lead, was on of the 14 songs recorded in one day for The Beatles first ever LP “Please Please Me.” It was the first of two LPs released in 1963. “Boys,” composed by Luther Dixon & Wes Farrell, is [...]
[Audio clip: view full post to listen] Released November 22, 1968, The Beatles White Album contained this first song composed by Richard Starkey. Ringo had co-written a few songs before, but this was his baby and he sings it solo in his own charming yet quirky style. It’s obvious that Ringo loved Country-Western — isn’t [...]
[Audio clip: view full post to listen] Ringo takes lead on yet another Lennon-McCartney song in the opening of the epic “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” LP of 1967. This album went to #1 on the Pop Chart. And yet the single did not make the pop chart (#71) until 1978! Here is a [...]
