A Triple Farewell

Last month, we sadly lost three iconic voices of the 1960s. On April 30th, American soul and R&B singer Ben E. King passed away at the age of 76. Growing up in Harlem, New York, King is best known as the singer and co-composer of "Stand By Me" (with Leiber and Stoller), which was a US Top-10 hit in 1961 and again in 1986. Just this year, King's original version was inducted into the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant," just under five weeks before King's death. Who doesn't love this timeless classic?

In 1958, King became one of the principal lead singers of the R&B vocal group The Drifters. He sang lead on a succession of hits including "There Goes My Baby," "Save the Last Dance," and "I Count the Tears." Although he only recorded 13 songs with The Drifters, this is the sound I know so well and have loved from childhood. Seriously, this sound really drew me in as a kid, and I love these tunes so much, especially "Up On the Roof" (featured here), and "This Magic Moment," a Top-20 hit in 1960.

 RIP, Mr. King! Your smooth voice is unforgettable.
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Jack Ely was an American guitarist and singer, best known for singing The Kingsmen's version of "Louie Louie" (featured here). From Portland, Oregon, Ely was classically trained in piano and began playing guitar after seeing Elvis Presley on television. In 1959, he co-founded The Kingsmen and with them recorded "Louie Louie" in 1963; Ely's famously incoherent vocals were partly the result of his braces and the rudimentary recording method. Before the record became a hit, Ely was forced out of the group and began playing with his new band, The Courtmen. Ely passed away on April 28, 2015 at age 71. Often lip-synced by another band member, here's the original recording with Jack Ely's voice.














Farewell to the voice of The Kingsmen.
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On April 14th, R&B and soul singer Percy Sledge passed away at the age of 74. He was best known for the song "When a Man Loves a Woman," a #1 hit on both the Billboard chart 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, and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2005. Previously mentioned in this post here, it's worth acknowledging again Sledge's impressive songwriting skills as he improvised the lyrics during the recording of this song with minimal planning. Here's a great live performance of Sledge's signature song (looks like an introduction by Otis Redding to boot).

 And here's his second biggest US hit, "Take Time to Know Her," which reached #11 in the 1968.

Rest in peace to the soulful Mr. Sledge.

A Double Farewell

This week on August 22nd, the music world unfortunately lost TWO American songwriters: Jerry Leiber and Nickolas Ashford (discussed later in this post). Lyricist Leiber was the second half of the songwriting/record producing team with Mike Stoller (shown here with Elvis), and together, they created several ground-breaking hits that helped shape rock and roll history. Beginning their partnership in the early 1950s, their most popular songs include "Hound Dog," "Jailhouse Rock," "Kansas City," "Yakety Yak," "On Broadway" (with Mann & Weil), "Leader of the Pack" (discussed here), "Chapel of Love," and even "Stuck in the Middle With You." Smokey Joe's Cafe was a great Broadway musical revue from the mid-1990s that featured 39 pop standards written by Leiber & Stoller. Leiber passed away in Los Angeles at the age of 78 from cardiopulmonary failure. Thank you for the music, Jerry Leiber!

Here are some other hits by Leiber & Stoller during the 1960s. Co-written together with Ben E. King (co-principal singer with The Drifters), "Stand By Me" is one of the most-performed songs in history with over 7 million performances, and there are over 400 recorded versions by other artists. Released in May of 1961, this soul song went straight to #1 on the R&B charts and was a Top-10 hit on the U.S. charts twice. Among the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, here's Ben E. King's TV performance of a true American classic (although I think it could do without the 'background dancers').

Another popular tune by Leiber & Stoller was "Love Potion No. 9," originally performed by The Clovers in 1959. The lyrics describe a man who goes to a gypsy for help in finding love, and she gives him a bottle of "love potion #9," which causes him to kiss everything he sees. This song was actually banned by some radio stations because of the line about "kissing a cop." The most popular version of this tune was performed by the Merseybeat/British Invasion group, The Searchers, who scored #3 on the U.S. charts with this song in 1965.

And I'll throw in one more Leiber & Stoller, just because I like this song. Originally performed by The Drifters (resulting in a major R&B hit in 1956), "Ruby Baby" later became a #2 hit on the Billboard charts when Dion released his version in 1962. Here's a TV performance of Dion's classic remake.
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Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson were a husband and wife songwriting/production team, as well as successful recording artists later in their career. First meeting at a Baptist church in 1963, the Ashford & Simpson partnership started out writing songs in the mid-1960s for artists like The 5th Dimension, Aretha Franklin, and Ray Charles, as well as joining the Motown staff in 1966. They wrote/produced most of the singles by vocal duo Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell, including "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" (featured on this past post). Including styles like R&B, soul, pop, disco, and gospel, they went on to create several songs into the 1970s and '80s. Throughout his career, Ashford played tambourine and percussion on hundreds of recording sessions, including dozens of Motown classics, like Marvin Gaye's "What's Goin' On." Ashford was 70 years old and passed away in New York this past Monday of complications from throat cancer.

Here are two tunes by the Ashford & Simpson team. Released in March of 1968, "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" was first of two #1 hits on the soul singles charts for popular Motown duo Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell. Written and produced by Ashford & Simpson, they also provided background vocals for this song. Unfortunately, there are no live performances of these timeless love song on YouTube.

On his own, Ashford (and Frank Wilson) produced the mega hit "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me," which was recorded by Diana Ross & The Supremes with The Temptations in 1968. Quite a production including the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, this version hit #2 on both the U.S. Billboard charts and R&B charts in January 1969. Since there were no live performances by Diana Ross & The Supremes together with The Temptations, here is a duet performance by Ross with Stevie Wonder The Hollywood Palace around 1970.