Scarborough Fair / Canticle by Simon & Garfunkel
About The Song Scarborough is a small town on the coast of England. The “Scarborough Fair” was a popular gathering in Medieval times, attracting traders and entertainers from all over…
Eagles – Take It Easy
About The Song The Eagles embody the charm of southern California folk-rock. That was evident right from the start with the band’s first single “Take It Easy,” also the opener…
Carpenters – (They Long to Be) Close to You
About The Song Richard and Karen Carpenter had a spectacular 1970. It started slowly, with their interpretation of The Beatles’ “Ticket To Ride” stalling at No.54 in the US. But…
The Righteous Brothers – Unchained Melody
About The Song Thanks to Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, and a pottery wheel, a quarter-century old classic was re-introduced to the hearts of radio listeners and record buyers in 1990.…
The Everly Brothers – Cathy’s Clown
“I DIE EACH TIME I HEAR THE SOUND” A BROKEN MAN CONFRONTING THE BITTER STING OF PUBLIC MOCKERY THE STUNNING DEFIANCE THAT TURNED A SHATTERED HEART INTO AN UNBREAKABLE ANTHEM…
Everly Brothers – Wake Up Little Susie
About The Song “Wake Up Little Susie” is a popular song written by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant and published in 1957. The song is best known in a recording by…
Carly Simon – Let The River Run
About The Song “Let the River Run” is a song written, composed, and performed by American singer-songwriter Carly Simon, and the theme to the 1988 Mike Nichols film Working Girl.…
The Temptations – I Wish It Would Rain
About The Song “I Wish It Would Rain” had been out less than two weeks when songwriter Roger Penzaben took his life on New Year’s Eve, 1967. The heartache and…
The Temptations – Treat Her Like A Lady
About The Song It was rare, but not unprecedented, for the Temptations to compose the songs they recorded. After all, founding member Otis Williams co-wrote their first 45 for Motown,…
The Ronettes – Walking In The Rain
About The Song “Walking in the Rain” is a song written by Barry Mann, Phil Spector, and Cynthia Weil. It was originally recorded by the girl group the Ronettes in…
The Righteous Brothers – (You’re My) Soul And Inspiration
About The Song With soaring vocals and a symphonic arrangement, this song bears a strong resemblance to the Righteous Brothers’ breakout hit, “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’.” That song was…
Billy Joel – Just The Way You Are
About The Song “Just the Way You Are” is a song by Billy Joel from his fifth studio album The Stranger (1977), released as the album’s second single in early…
The Shirelles – Mama Said
About The Song “Mama Said” is a blues and rhythm track by girl group The Shirelles released in April 1961, as a part of their album “The Shirelles Sing to…
The Shirelles – Baby It’s You
About The Song “Baby It’s You” is a song written by Burt Bacharach (music), Luther Dixon (credited as Barney Williams), and Mack David (lyrics). It was recorded by the Shirelles…
Lionel Richie – Hello
About The Song Recorded at Ocean Way Studios in Los Angeles, this was the second #1 song from Richie’s second solo album after leaving the Commodores. Can’t Slow Down won…
The Drifters – This Magic Moment
About The Song This Magic Moment was written by composer Mort Schuman and lyricist Doc Pomus. The song was assigned to The Drifters in early 1960. The lyrics are simple…
The Drifters – There Goes My Baby
About The Song This is the hit from the summer of 1959 which put the Drifters back on the charts after a long career slump, but it was with an…
On July 2, 1964, Jim Reeves thought his session at RCA’s Studio B was finished. The scheduled tracks were done. The musicians were ready to pack up. But with just a few minutes left on the studio clock, Jim stopped everyone. He insisted they do just one more. He chose Don Gibson’s “I Can’t Stop Loving You”—a track he once publicly called “the best country song ever written.” He couldn’t have known those would be the final notes he ever sang into a microphone. Exactly 29 days later, “Gentleman Jim” flew his single-engine plane into a violent thunderstorm just miles from the Nashville airport. He was 40 years old. Neither he nor his pianist, Dean Manuel, survived the crash. His posthumous tracks would go on to rule the charts for years to come. But it was that unplanned final song—the one he simply couldn’t walk away without singing—that remains his quiet, heartbreaking farewell.
11 NUMBER ONE HITS. ONE FINAL STUDIO SESSION. AND THE UNPLANNED SONG HE SIMPLY REFUSED TO LEAVE THE ROOM WITHOUT SINGING… On July 2, 1964, Jim Reeves thought his scheduled…
“YOU DON’T NEED TO BREAK THE DOOR DOWN. JUST SING WELL ENOUGH AND THEY’LL OPEN IT.” — HE LIVED 86 YEARS PROVING THAT EXACT SENTENCE. In the 1960s, a Black man walking into a country music venue in the Deep South wasn’t just unusual. It was dangerous. But Charley Pride never kicked a single door down. He just stood on the other side and sang. No protests. No angry speeches. No raised fists. Just 29 number-one hits, three Grammys, and a voice so undeniable that the people who wanted to shut him out couldn’t stop requesting his songs. He conquered the very radio stations that once refused to play him. Critics called him naive. Activists said he wasn’t loud enough. But Pride had his own quiet theory: if the music is real enough, hate simply runs out of excuses. He spent 52 years in country music. He never once punched back. And somehow, he won every single round. “I never wanted to be a trailblazer,” Pride once said. “I just wanted to sing. But I guess sometimes that’s the same thing.”
“YOU DON’T NEED TO BREAK THE DOOR DOWN.” — THE WAY ONE MAN SILENTLY DISMANTLED DECADES OF PREJUDICE WITHOUT EVER ONCE RAISING HIS VOICE… In the early 1960s, a Black…