Ray Charles was born in Georgia and moved to Florida as a child. At the age of 5 he began losing his sight gradually, and by age 7 is completely blind. Florida, he studied at St. Augustine deaf and blind, where he first learned to play the piano. He then moved to Seattle, where he began to be published as a musician. Towards the end of 60's style and diversity to record the songs of rock and roll and pop. Since issued dozens of diverse and successful records, including songs he composed his own songs and performance of others. Ray Charles went on to appear in the 80s and 90s, until his death in 2004. This year was the biographical film "Ray, starring Jamie Foxx, who won the Oscar on the embodiment of Charles. Ray learned his life in various entanglements, especially Bahtamachrotho drugs and betrayals of his wife. Ray also worked for the struggle against racism in Achssarab appear in Georgia which was the separation of races, not the black spectators were allowed to enter the hall with those bricks. A few years later cherished him the state of Georgia when she became the song (written by Hoagy Bix Eviidrebak Carmyekel gained fame performing Ray Charles), "George Yeh my heart" (georgia on my mind) be counted official.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRgWBN8yt_E; accessed October 20, 2022.
"Green Onions" is an instrumental composition recorded in 1962 by Booker T. & the M.G.'s. Described as "one of the most popular instrumental rock and soul songs ever"[1] and as one of "the most popular R&B instrumentals of its era",[2] the tune is a twelve-bar blues with a rippling Hammond M3 organ line by Booker T. Jones that he wrote when he was 17, although the actual recording was largely improvised in the studio.[3]
The track was originally issued in May 1962 on the Volt label (a subsidiary of Stax Records) as the B-side of "Behave Yourself" on Volt 102; it was quickly reissued in August 1962 as the A-side of Stax 127, and it also appeared on the album Green Onions that same year.[4] The organ sound of the song became a feature of the "Memphis soul sound".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Onions; accessed October 20, 2022.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bpS-cOBK6Q; accessed October 20, 2022.
"A Change Is Gonna Come" is a song by American singer-songwriter Sam Cooke. It initially appeared on Cooke's album Ain't That Good News, released mid-February 1964[1] by RCA Victor; a slightly edited version of the recording was released as a single on December 22, 1964. Produced by Hugo & Luigi and arranged and conducted by René Hall, the song was the B-side to "Shake".
The song was inspired by various events in Cooke's life, most prominently when he and his entourage were turned away from a whites-only motel in Louisiana. Cooke felt compelled to write a song that spoke to his struggle and of those around him, and that pertained to the Civil Rights Movement and African Americans.
Though only a modest hit for Cooke in comparison with his previous singles, "A Change Is Gonna Come" is widely considered one of Cooke's greatest and most influential compositions and has been voted among the greatest songs ever released by various publications. In 2007, the song was selected for preservation in the Library of Congress, with the National Recording Registry deeming the song "culturally, historically, or aesthetically important."[2] In 2021, it appeared on Rolling Stone's list of the Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, ranked at No. 3.[3]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Change_Is_Gonna_Come; accessed October 24, 2022.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEBlaMOmKV4; accessed October 24, 2022.
"Downtown" is a song written and produced by Tony Hatch. The 1964 version recorded by Petula Clark became an international hit, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and number two on the UK Singles Chart. Hatch received the 1981 Ivor Novello award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically.
Tony Hatch first worked with Petula Clark when he assisted her producer Alan A. Freeman on her 1961 No. 1 hit "Sailor". In 1963 Freeman asked Hatch to take over as Clark's regular producer. Hatch subsequently produced five English-language singles for Clark, none of which charted.
In the autumn of 1964 Hatch made his first visit to New York City, spending three days there in search of material from music publishers for the artists he was producing. He recalled, "I was staying at a hotel on Central Park and I wandered down to Broadway and to Times Square and, naively, I thought I was downtown. ... I loved the whole atmosphere there and the [music] came to me very, very quickly".[2] He was standing on the corner of 48th Street waiting for the traffic lights to change, looking towards Times Square when "the melody first came to me, just as the neon signs went on."[3]
Hatch envisioned his embryonic composition "as a sort of doo wop R&B song" which he thought to eventually pitch to The Drifters:[4] He had scored his biggest success to date with The Searchers' "Sugar and Spice" modelled on The Drifters' hit "Sweets for My Sweet", and had also produced a cover version of The Drifters' "Up on the Roof" for Julie Grant. It has been said that Hatch gave Julie Grant the opportunity to record "Downtown" which Grant turned down,[5] but this does not accord with Hatch's statement that he played "Downtown" for Petula Clark within a few days of conceiving the melody and only completed the song's lyrics after Clark had asked to record it. Hatch has also said that prior to Clark's expressed interest in "Downtown", "it never occurred to me that a white woman could even sing it."[4] Hatch has subsequently denied originally offering "Downtown" to the Drifters.[6]
Within a few days of his New York City trip Hatch visited Paris to present Clark with three or four songs he had acquired from New York publishers for Clark to consider recording at a London recording session scheduled for 16 October 1964, which was roughly two weeks away. Hatch said of the meeting: "She was not very enthusiastic about [the material] and asked me if I was working on anything new myself."[7] According to Clark, besides the title lyric, Hatch had only written "one or two lines."[8] Hatch recalled: "Reluctantly, I played her the tune of my New York inspiration and slipped in the word 'Downtown' in the appropriate places."[7] Clark, who first heard "Downtown" from her kitchen, having stepped away to make a pot of tea, told Hatch: "That's the one I want to record."[7] "Get that finished. Get a good lyric in it. Get a great arrangement and I think we’ll at least have a song we’re proud to record even if it isn’t a hit.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downtown_(Petula_Clark_song); accessed October 20, 2022.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zx06XNfDvk0; accessed October 20, 2022.
"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" is a song recorded by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. A product of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards' songwriting partnership, it features a guitar riff by Richards that opens and drives the song. The riff by Richards is widely considered one of the greatest hooks of all time. The song lyrics refer to sexual frustration and commercialism.
The song was first released as a single in the United States in June 1965 and was also featured on the American version of the Rolling Stones' fourth studio album, Out of Our Heads, released that July. "Satisfaction" was a hit, giving the Stones their first number one in the US. In the UK, the song initially was played only on pirate radio stations, because its lyrics were considered too sexually suggestive.[3] It later became the Rolling Stones' fourth number one in the United Kingdom.
It is one of the world's most popular songs, and was No. 31 on Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list in 2021. It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998, and it is the 10th ranked song on critics' all-time lists according to Acclaimed Music. The song was added to the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress in 2006.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/(I_Can%27t_Get_No)_Satisfaction; accessed October 25, 2022.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEjkftp7J7I; accessed October 25, 2022.
"Stop! In the Name of Love" is a 1965 song recorded by the Supremes for the Motown label.
Written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland–Dozier–Holland, "Stop! In the Name of Love" held the #1 position on the Billboard pop singles chart in the United States from March 27, 1965, through April 3, 1965,[1][2] and reached the #2 position on the soul chart.
Billboard named the song #38 on their list of 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time.[3] The BBC ranked "Stop! In the Name of Love" at #56 on The Top 100 Digital Motown Chart, which ranks Motown releases by their all time UK downloads and streams.[4]
In 2021, it was listed at No. 254 on Rolling Stone's "Top 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".[5]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop!_In_the_Name_of_Love; accessed October 20, 2022.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aax5EDQMOq4; accessed October 20, 2022.
"Good Vibrations" is a song by the American rock band the Beach Boys that was composed by Brian Wilson with lyrics by Mike Love. It was released as a single on October 10, 1966 and was an immediate critical and commercial hit, topping record charts in several countries including the United States and the United Kingdom. Characterized by its complex soundscapes, episodic structure and subversions of pop music formula, it was the most expensive single ever recorded. "Good Vibrations" later became widely acclaimed as one of the finest and most important works of the rock era.[14]
Also produced by Wilson, the title derived from his fascination with cosmic vibrations, as his mother would tell him as a child that dogs sometimes bark at people in response to their "bad vibrations". He used the concept to suggest extrasensory perception, while Love's lyrics were inspired by the nascent Flower Power movement. The song was written as it was recorded and in a similar fashion to other compositions from Wilson's Smile period. It was issued as a standalone single, backed with "Let's Go Away for Awhile", and was to be included on the never-finished album Smile. Instead, the track appeared on the September 1967 release Smiley Smile.
The making of "Good Vibrations" was unprecedented for any kind of recording. Building on his approach for Pet Sounds, Wilson recorded a surplus of short, interchangeable musical fragments with his bandmates and a host of session musicians at four different Hollywood studios from February to September 1966, a process reflected in the song's several dramatic shifts in key, texture, instrumentation and mood. Over 90 hours of tape was consumed in the sessions, with the total cost of production estimated to be in the tens of thousands of dollars. Band publicist Derek Taylor dubbed the unusual work a "pocket symphony". It helped develop the use of the studio as an instrument and heralded a wave of pop experimentation and the onset of psychedelic and progressive rock. The track featured a novel mix of instruments, including jaw harp and Electro-Theremin, and although the latter is not a true theremin, the song's success led to a renewed interest and sales of theremins and synthesizers.
"Good Vibrations" received a Grammy nomination for Best Vocal Group performance in 1966 and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1994.[15] The song was voted number one in Mojo's "Top 100 Records of All Time"[15] and number six on Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time", and it was included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's "500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll".[16] In later years, the song has been cited as a forerunner to the Beatles' "A Day in the Life" (1967) and Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" (1975). A 1976 cover version by Todd Rundgren peaked at number 34 on the Billboard Hot 100. The Beach Boys followed up "Good Vibrations" with another single pieced from sections, "Heroes and Villains" (1967), but it was less successful.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Vibrations; accessed October 20, 2022.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apBWI6xrbLY; accessed October 20, 2022.
"The Tears of a Clown" is a song written by Hank Cosby, Smokey Robinson, and Stevie Wonder and originally recorded by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles for the Tamla Records label subsidiary of Motown, first appearing on the 1967 album Make It Happen. It was re-released in the United Kingdom as a single in July 1970, and it became a #1 hit on the UK Singles Chart for the week ending 12 September 1970. Subsequently, Motown released "The Tears of a Clown" as a single in the United States as well, where it quickly became a #1 hit on both the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B Singles charts.[2]
This song is an international multi-million seller and a 2002 Grammy Hall of Fame inductee. Its success led Miracles lead singer, songwriter, and producer Smokey Robinson, who had announced plans to leave the act, to stay until 1972. In 2021, it was listed at No. 313 on Rolling Stone's "Top 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".[3]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tears_of_a_Clown; accessed October 20, 2022.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcd9N62nOLg; accessed October 20, 2022.
Otis Redding wrote this and originally recorded it in 1965, with his version hitting #35 in the US. Redding said of the song shortly before his death in 1967: "That's one of my favorite songs because it has a better groove than any of my records. It says something, too: 'What you want, baby, you got it; what you need, baby, you got it; all I'm asking for is a little respect when I come home.' The song lines are great. The band track is beautiful. It took me a whole day to write it and about twenty minutes to arrange it. We cut it once and that was it. Everybody wants respect, you know."
"Hey Jude" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon-McCartney. The ballad evolved from "Hey Jules", a song widely accepted as being written to comfort John Lennon's son, Julian, during his parents' divorce. "Hey Jude" begins with a verse-bridge structure based around McCartney's vocal performance and piano accompaniment; further instrumentation is added as the song progresses to distinguish sections. After the fourth verse, the song shifts to a fade-out coda that lasts for more than four minutes.
"Hey Jude" was released in August 1968 as the first single from the Beatles' record label Apple Records. More than seven minutes in length, "Hey Jude" was, at the time, the longest single ever to top the British charts. It also spent nine weeks as number one in the United States--the longest run at the top of the American charts for a Beatles' single, and tied the record for longest stay at number one (until the record was broken by "You Light Up My Life"). The single has sold approximately eight million copies and is frequently included on professional lists of the all-time best songs.
https://www.thebeatles.com/hey-jude; accessed October 20, 2022.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_MjCqQoLLA; accessed October 20, 2022.
"Proud Mary" is a song written by John Fogerty and first recorded by his band Creedence Clearwater Revival. It was released by Fantasy Records as a single from the band's second studio album, Bayou Country, which was issued by the same record company and is generally considered to have been released in early January 1969,[1][2] although one source[3] states that it came out just before Christmas 1968. The song became a major hit in the United States, peaking at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in March 1969, the first of five singles to peak at No. 2 for the group.[7][8]
A cover version by Ike and Tina Turner, released two years later in 1971, did nearly as well, reaching No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and winning a Grammy Award.
In a 1969 interview, Fogerty said that he wrote it in the two days after he was discharged from the National Guard.[9] In the liner notes for the 2008 expanded reissue of Bayou Country, Joel Selvin explained that the songs for the album started when Fogerty was in the National Guard, that the riffs for "Proud Mary", "Born on the Bayou", and "Keep on Chooglin'" were conceived by Fogerty at a concert in the Avalon Ballroom, and "Proud Mary" was arranged from parts of different songs, one of which was about a washerwoman named Mary.[3] The line "Left a good job in the city" was written following Fogerty's discharge from the National Guard, and the line "rollin' on the river" was from a movie by Will Rogers.[10]
"Proud Mary's" singer, a low-wage earner, leaves what he considers a "good job," which he might define as steady work, even though for long hours under a dictatorial boss. He decides to follow his impulse and imagination and hitches a ride on a riverboat queen, bidding farewell to the city. Only when the boat pulls out does he see the "good side of the city"—which, for him, is one in the distance, far removed from his life. Down by the river and on the boat, the singer finds protection from "the man" and salvation from his working-class pains in the nurturing spirit and generosity of simple people who "are happy to give" even "if you have no money." The river in Fogerty and traditionally in literature and song is a place holding biblical and epical implications. ... Indeed, the river in "Proud Mary" offers not only escape but also rebirth to the singer.[11]
The song is a seamless mix of black and white roots music ..."Proud Mary" is, of course, a steamboat traveling up and down the river. Fogerty's lyric sketches out a vivid picture of the protagonist finding a comfortable niche in a community of outsiders ... The story connects back to Mark Twain; it brings the myth [of "the rambling man and life along the Mississippi"] into the sixties.[12]
In the Macintosh application "GarageBand", Fogerty explained that he liked Beethoven's Fifth Symphony[clarification needed] and wanted to open a song with a similar intro (descending by a third), implying the way "Proud Mary" opens with the repeated C chord to A chord. Fogerty wanted to evoke male gospel harmonies, as exemplified by groups he was familiar with such as the Swan Silvertones, the Sensational Nightingales, and the Five Blind Boys of Mississippi; especially on the line, "Rollin', rollin', rollin' on the river"; and in the guitar solo he did his "best [imitation of] Steve Cropper."[13] The basic track for "Proud Mary", as with the other songs on the album, was recorded by John Fogerty (lead guitar), Tom Fogerty (rhythm guitar), Stu Cook (bass), and Doug Clifford (drums) at RCA Studios in Hollywood, California, with John overdubbing instruments and all the vocals later.[3]
Billboard described "Proud Mary" as a "driving blues item with a strong beat."[14] Cash Box described it as "a steady moving mid-speed chunk of funk and rhythm that will make itself felt in both pop and underground spots."[15] Cash Box ranked it as the No. 55 single of 1969.[16]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proud_Mary; accessed October 26, 2022.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wP56EcXm9R0; accessed October 26, 2022.
"Sherry" is a song written by Bob Gaudio and recorded by The Four Seasons.
According to Gaudio, the song took about 15 minutes to write and was originally titled "Jackie Baby" (in honor of then-First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy).[3] In a 1968 interview, Gaudio said that the song was inspired by the 1961 Bruce Channel hit "Hey! Baby".[4]
At the studio, the name was changed to "Terri Baby", and eventually to "Sherry", the name of the daughter of Gaudio's best friend, New York DJ Jack Spector. One of the names that Gaudio pondered for the song was "Peri Baby", which was the name of the record label for which Bob Crewe worked, named after the label owner's daughter.
The single's B-side was "I've Cried Before". Both tracks were included in the group's subsequent album release, Golden Hits of the 4 Seasons (1963).[
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherry_(song); accessed October 20, 2022.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMcWldfg28s; accessed October 20, 2022.
"Boom Boom" is a song written by American blues singer and guitarist John Lee Hooker and recorded in 1961. Although it became a blues standard,[3] music critic Charles Shaar Murray calls it "the greatest pop song he ever wrote".[4] "Boom Boom" was both an American R&B and pop chart success in 1962 and a UK top-twenty hit in 1992.
The song is one of Hooker's most identifiable and enduring songs[5] and "among the tunes that every band on the [early 1960s UK] R&B circuit simply had to play".[6] It has been recorded by numerous blues and other artists, including a 1965 North American hit by the Animals.
Prior to recording for Vee-Jay Records, John Lee Hooker was primarily a solo performer or accompanied by a second guitarist, such as early collaborators Eddie Burns or Eddie Kirkland.[7] However, with Vee-Jay, he usually recorded with a small backing band, as heard on the singles "Dimples", "I Love You Honey", and "No Shoes". Detroit keyboardist Joe Hunter, who had previously worked with Hooker, was again enlisted for the recording session.[4] Hunter brought with him "the cream of the Motown label's session men, later known as the Funk Brothers":[7] bassist James Jamerson, drummer Benny Benjamin, plus guitarist Larry Veeder, tenor saxophonist Hank Cosby, and baritone saxophonist Andrew "Mike" Terry.[4] They have been described as "just the right band" for "Boom Boom".[4] Hooker had a unique sense of timing, which demanded "big-eared sidemen".[8]
The original "Boom Boom" is an uptempo (168 beats per minute) blues song, which has been notated in 2/2 time in the key of F.[9] It has been described as "about the tightest musical structure of any Hooker composition: its verses sedulously adhere to the twelve-bar format over which Hooker generally rides so roughshod".[4] The song uses "a stop-time hook that opens up for one of the genre's most memorable guitar riffs"[10] and incorporates a middle instrumental section Hooker-style boogie.[4]
According to Hooker, he wrote the song during an extended engagement at the Apex Bar in Detroit.
I would never be on time [for the gig]; I always would be late comin' in. And she [the bartender Willa] kept saying, "Boom boom – you late again". Every night: "Boom, boom – you late again". I said "Hmm, that's a song!" ... I got it together, the lyrics, rehearsed it, and I played it at the place, and the people went wild.[11]
Also included are several wordless phrases, "how-how-how-how" and "hmm-hmm-hmm-hmm". "Boom Boom" became the Hooker song that is "the most memorable, the most instantly appealing, and the one which has proved the most adaptable to the needs of other performers".[4] ZZ Top later used similar lines ("how-how-how-how") for their popular "La Grange".[10]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boom_Boom_(John_Lee_Hooker_song); accessed October 24, 2022.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X70VMrH3yBg; accessed October 24, 2022.
With advance orders exceeding one million copies in the United Kingdom, "I Want to Hold Your Hand" would ordinarily have gone straight to the top of the British record charts on its day of release (29 November 1963) had it not been blocked by the group's first million seller "She Loves You", the Beatles' previous UK single, which was having a resurgent spell in the top position following intense media coverage of the group. Taking two weeks to dislodge its predecessor, "I Want to Hold Your Hand" stayed at number one for five weeks and remained in the UK top fifty for twenty-one weeks in total. It was also the group's first American number one, entering the Billboard Hot 100 chart on 18 January 1964 at number forty-five and starting the British invasion of the American music industry. By 1 February it held the number one spot -- for seven weeks -- before being replaced by "She Loves You", a reverse scenario of what had occurred in Britain, and remained in the US charts for a total of fifteen weeks. "I Want to Hold Your Hand" became the Beatles' best-selling single worldwide.
https://www.thebeatles.com/i-want-hold-your-hand; accessed October 20, 2022.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jenWdylTtzs; accessed October 20, 2022.
"You Really Got Me" is a song written by Ray Davies for English rock band the Kinks. The song, originally performed in a more blues-oriented style, was inspired by artists such as Lead Belly and Big Bill Broonzy. Two versions of the song were recorded, with the second performance being used for the final single. Although it was rumoured that future Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page had performed the song's guitar solo, the myth has since been proven false.
"You Really Got Me" was built around power chords (perfect fifths and octaves) and heavily influenced later rock musicians, particularly in the genres of heavy metal and punk rock. Built around a guitar riff played by Dave Davies, the song's lyrics were described by Dave as "a love song for street kids."[1]
"You Really Got Me" was released in the UK on 4 August 1964 by Pye Records as the group's third single, and reached number one on the Record Retailer chart the following month, remaining there for two weeks. It was released in the US on 2 September by Reprise Records. The song became the group's breakthrough hit; it established them as one of the top British Invasion acts in the United States, reaching number seven there later in the year. "You Really Got Me" was later included on the Kinks' debut album, Kinks. American rock band Van Halen adapted the song for their 1978 self-titled debut album; it was released as their first single and peaked at No. 36 on the Billboard Hot 100.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_Really_Got_Me; accessed October 25, 2022.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2GmzyeeXnQ; accessed October 25, 2022.
Band biographer Johnny Rogan has stated that the two most distinctive features of the Byrds' rendition of "Mr. Tambourine Man" are the vocal harmonies of Clark, McGuinn, and Crosby, and McGuinn's jangling twelve-string Rickenbacker guitar playing (which complemented the phrase "jingle jangle morning" found in the song's lyric).[4] This combination of 12-string guitar work and complex harmony singing became the band's signature sound during their early period.[3] Music critic Richie Unterberger has also commented that the success of the Byrds' version of "Mr. Tambourine Man" saw an explosion of Byrds imitators and emulators with hits on the American and British charts during 1965 and 1966.[27][6]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Tambourine_Man_(album); accessed October 20, 2022.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlYw1NsT_wE; accessed October 20, 2022.
"Like a Rolling Stone" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on July 20, 1965, by Columbia Records. Its confrontational lyrics originated in an extended piece of verse Dylan wrote in June 1965, when he returned exhausted from a grueling tour of England. Dylan distilled this draft into four verses and a chorus. "Like a Rolling Stone" was recorded a few weeks later as part of the sessions for the forthcoming album Highway 61 Revisited.
During a difficult two-day preproduction, Dylan struggled to find the essence of the song, which was demoed without success in 3
4 time. A breakthrough was made when it was tried in a rock music format, and rookie session musician Al Kooper improvised the Hammond B2 organ riff for which the track is known. Columbia Records was unhappy with both the song's length at over six minutes and its heavy electric sound, and was hesitant to release it. It was only when, a month later, a copy was leaked to a new popular music club and heard by influential DJs that the song was put out as a single. Although radio stations were reluctant to play such a long track, "Like a Rolling Stone" reached No. 2 in the US Billboard charts (No. 1 in Cashbox) and became a worldwide hit.
Critics have described "Like a Rolling Stone" as revolutionary in its combination of musical elements, the youthful, cynical sound of Dylan's voice, and the directness of the question "How does it feel?". It completed the transformation of Dylan's image from folk singer to rock star, and is considered one of the most influential compositions in postwar popular music. According to review aggregator Acclaimed Music, "Like a Rolling Stone" is statistically the most acclaimed song of all time.[3] Rolling Stone listed it at No. 1 on their 2004 and 2010 "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" lists.[4] It has been covered by many artists, from the Jimi Hendrix Experience and the Rolling Stones[5] to the Wailers and Green Day. At an auction in 2014, Dylan's handwritten lyrics to the song fetched $2 million, a world record for a popular music manuscript.[6]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Like_a_Rolling_Stone; accessed October 20, 2022.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwOfCgkyEj0; accessed October 20, 2022.
"Feeling Good" (also known as "Feelin' Good") is a song written by English composers Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse for the musical The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd. It was first performed on stage in 1964 by Cy Grant on the UK tour and by Gilbert Price in 1965 with the original Broadway cast.[1]
Nina Simone recorded "Feeling Good" for her 1965 album I Put a Spell on You. The song has also been covered by Sammy Davis Jr., Traffic, Michael Bublé, John Coltrane, George Michael, Victory, Eels, Joe Bonamassa, Eden, Muse, Black Cat Bones, Bassnectar, Sophie B. Hawkins, Leslie West, Avicii, Chlöe and Lauryn Hill among others. It was also performed by John Legend as part of the Celebrating America performance marking the inauguration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on January 20th 2021.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feeling_Good; accessed October 24, 2022.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHs98TEYecM; accessed October 24, 2022.
"White Rabbit" is a song written by Grace Slick and recorded by the American rock band Jefferson Airplane for their 1967 album Surrealistic Pillow. It draws on imagery from Lewis Carroll's 1865 book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its 1871 sequel Through the Looking-Glass.
It was released as a single and became the band's second top-10 success, peaking at number eight[4] on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was ranked number 478 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time[5] in 2004, number 483 in 2010, and number 455 in 2021 and appears on The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Rabbit_(song); accessed October 20, 2022.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WANNqr-vcx0; accessed October 20, 2022.
Most of "Light My Fire" was written by Doors guitarist Robby Krieger, who wanted to write about one of the elements: fire, air, earth, and water. He recalled to Uncut: "I was living with my parents in Pacific Palisades – I had my amp and SG. I asked Jim, what should I write about? He said, 'Something universal, which won't disappear two years from now. Something that people can interpret themselves.' I said to myself I'd write about the four elements; earth, air, fire, water, I picked fire, as I loved the Stones song, 'Play With Fire,' and that's how that came about."
On the album, which was released in January 1967, the song runs 6:50. The group's first single, "Break On Through (To The Other Side)," reached just #126 in America. "Light My Fire" was deemed too long for airplay, but radio stations (especially in Los Angeles) got requests for the song from listeners who heard it off the album. Their label, Elektra Records decided to release a shorter version so they had producer Paul Rothchild do an edit. By chopping out the guitar solos, he whittled it down to 2:52. This version was released as a single in April, and the song took off, giving The Doors their first big hit.
https://www.songfacts.com/facts/the-doors/light-my-fire; accessed October 20, 2022.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEXlWgMOtqc; accessed October 20, 2022.
"(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,[2] becoming the first ever posthumous single to top the charts in the US.[3] 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.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/(Sittin%27_On)_The_Dock_of_the_Bay; accessed October 25, 2022.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTVjnBo96Ug; accessed October 25, 2022.
"The Thrill Is Gone" is a slow minor-key blues song written by West Coast blues musician Roy Hawkins and Rick Darnell in 1951.[1] Hawkins' recording of the song reached number six in the Billboard R&B chart in 1951.[2] In 1970, "The Thrill Is Gone" became a major hit for B.B. King. His rendition helped make the song a blues standard.[3]
B.B. King recorded his version of "The Thrill Is Gone" in June 1969 for his album Completely Well, released the same year. King's version is a slow 12-bar blues notated in the key of B minor in 4/4 time.[4] The song's polished production and use of strings marked a departure from both the original song and King's previous material.
When BluesWay Records released "The Thrill Is Gone" as a single in December 1969, it became one of the most successful of King's career and one of his signature songs. It reached number three in the Billboard Best Selling Soul Singles chart and number 15 in the broader Billboard Hot 100 chart.[5]
B.B. King's recording earned him a Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance in 1970[6] and a Grammy Hall of Fame award in 1998.[7] King's version of the song was also placed at number 183 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest songs of all time. Live versions of the song were included on King's albums Live in Cook County Jail (1971), Bobby Bland and B.B. King Together Again...Live (1976), and Live at San Quentin (1991).[8]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thrill_Is_Gone; accessed October 25, 2022.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oica5jG7FpU; accessed October 25, 2022.
Joe Cocker's performance of "With a Little Help from My Friends" at Woodstock Festival 1969
"I Want You Back" is the first national single by the Jackson 5.[3] It was released by Motown on October 6, 1969, and became the first number-one hit for the band on January 31, 1970.[4] It was performed on the band's first television appearances, on October 18, 1969, on Diana Ross's The Hollywood Palace and on their milestone performance on December 14, 1969, on The Ed Sullivan Show.[4]
The song, along with a B-side remake of "Who's Lovin' You" by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, was the only single to be released from the Jackson 5's first album, Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5. It went to number one on the Soul singles chart for four weeks and held the number-one position on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for the week ending January 31, 1970.[5]
"I Want You Back" was ranked 104 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.[6]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Want_You_Back; accessed December 7, 2022.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3Q80mk7bxE; accessed December 7, 2022.