Burt Bacharach - 1970 - The Bacharach Beat FLAC

 I Say A little Prayer/Bond Street/Do You Know The Way To San Jose/Pacific Coast Highway



Burt Bacharach, (born May 12, 1928, Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.), American songwriter and pianist who from the late 1950s wrote dozens of hit popular songs and also composed for stage and film, mostly in collaboration with lyricist Hal David.

Bacharach studied under Darius Milhaud, Bohuslav Martinů, and Henry Cowell. In the 1950s he wrote arrangements for Steve Lawrence and Vic Damone and later toured with Marlene Dietrich. In the late 1950s he began his long association with David, which would produce many hits especially for singer Dionne Warwick, including “Walk On By,” “I Say a Little Prayer,” and “Do You Know the Way to San Jose?” He and David created the successful musical Promises, Promises (1968), and their score for the film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) won an Academy Award, as did the movie’s song “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head.” Bacharach later cowrote (with Carole Bayer Sager, among others) the Oscar-winning song “Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do)” for the comedy Arthur (1981). He and Sager subsequently collaborated on a number of hits and were married from 1982 to 1991. His later works included the album Painted from Memory (1998), a collaboration with singer-songwriter Elvis Costello, and the score for the film A Boy Called Po (2016).

Bacharach received a number of Grammy Awards throughout his career, including for song of the year for “That’s What Friends Are For” (cowritten with Sager). In 2009 he was honoured with a Grammy for lifetime achievement, and three years later he and David shared the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. Bacharach’s memoir, Anyone Who Had a Heart (cowritten with Robert Greenfield), was published in 2013.

Gerry And The Pacemakers - 1963 - How Do You Do It FLAC

How Do You Do It/ Away From You/I Like It/It's Happened To Me



"How Do You Do It?" was the debut single by Liverpudlian band Gerry and the Pacemakers. The song reached number one in the UK Singles Chart on 11 April 1963, where it stayed for three weeks.

The song was written by Mitch Murray, who offered it to Adam Faith and Brian Poole but was turned down. George Martin of EMI, feeling the song had enormous hit potential, decided to pick it up for the new group he was producing, the Beatles, as the A-side of their first record. The Beatles recorded the song on 4 September 1962 with Ringo Starr on drums. The group was initially opposed to recording it, feeling that it did not fit their sound, but worked out changes from Murray's demo-disc version. These included a new introduction, vocal harmony, an instrumental interlude, small lyric changes and removal of the half-step modulation for the last verse. Although Murray disliked their changes, the decision not to release the Beatles' version was primarily a business one. In fact, George Martin came very close to issuing "How Do You Do It?" as the Beatles' first single before settling instead on "Love Me Do", recorded during the same sessions. Martin commented later: "I looked very hard at 'How Do You Do It?', but in the end I went with 'Love Me Do', it was quite a good record." McCartney would remark: "We knew that the peer pressure back in Liverpool would not allow us to do 'How Do You Do It'."

The Beatles' version of "How Do You Do It?" was officially unissued for over 30 years, finally seeing release in November 1995 on the retrospective Anthology 1.

While the Beatles' recording remained in the vaults, Martin still had faith in the song's appeal. Consequently, he had another new client, Gerry and the Pacemakers, record "How Do You Do It?" as their debut single in early 1963. This version of "How Do You Do It?", also produced by Martin, became a number-one hit in the UK until it was replaced by "From Me to You" (the Beatles' third single). It was the title song of a 7-inch EP that also featured "Away From You", "I Like It" and "It's Happened to Me" (Columbia SEG8257, released July 1963).

Gerry and the Pacemakers' version of "How Do You Do It?" was initially issued in the US and Canada in the spring of 1963, but made no impact on the charts. After the group had issued several chart singles in North America, the track was reissued in the summer of 1964. "How Do You Do It?" entered the US charts on 5 July 1964, eventually reaching number nine, it did even better in Canada, peaking at number six.

Gerry And The Pacemakers - 1966 - I'll Be There FLAC

 I'll Be There/Give All Your Love To Me/Walk Hand In Hand/Pretend



Gerry and the Pacemakers were an English beat group prominent in the 1960s Merseybeat scene. In common with the Beatles, they came from Liverpool, were managed by Brian Epstein, and were recorded by George Martin.

They are most remembered for being the first act to reach number one in the UK Singles Chart with their first three single releases: "How Do You Do It?", "I Like It" and "You'll Never Walk Alone". This record was not equalled for 20 years, until the mid-1980s success of fellow Liverpool band Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Another of their most famous songs, "Ferry Cross the Mersey", refers to the River Mersey that flows through Liverpool.

"I'll Be There" #15 in the UK #14 in the US #9 in Australia and #1 in Canada.

"Give All Your Love to Me" A non album track #68 in the USA #45 in Australia and #17 in Canada not released in the UK.

"Walk Hand in Hand"  The biggest-selling version recorded of the song was sung by Tony Martin, reaching #2 in the UK and #10 on the United States Billboard chart in 1956. The same year, it was recorded by Andy Williams, whose version hit #54 on the chart, and by Ronnie Carroll, whose version reached No. 13 on the UK singles chart. A later recording by Gerry & The Pacemakers reached No.29 on the UK chart, No. 10 in Canada, and "bubbled under" at No.103 on the Billboard chart at the end of 1965.

"Pretend" reached #17 in Australia not released as a single in many other countries.

Gerry And The Pacemakers - 1965 - Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying FLAC

Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying/Show Me That You Care/Summertime/Where Have You Been All My Life



"Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying" is a song written by Gerry Marsden, Freddie Marsden, Les Chadwick and Les Maguire, the members of British beat group Gerry and the Pacemakers. It was first recorded and issued as a single by Louise Cordet in February 1964. Shortly after Cordet's version failed to chart, the song was recorded by Gerry and The Pacemakers themselves in April 1964. The Gerry and The Pacemakers recording became an international hit, and remains one of their best known singles.

The song was given first to Louise Cordet, a singer who had previously toured with the group as well as with The Beatles. Her version was produced by Tony Meehan and released on Decca Records in February 1964. The group then decided to issue their own version. The record, like the group's earlier releases, was produced by George Martin.

It was released in April 1964 as Gerry and the Pacemakers' fifth single in Britain, and spent 11 weeks on the United Kingdom's Record Retailer chart, reaching No. 6. In the US, it was the breakthrough single for the group, spending 12 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching No. 4. The song debuted at No. 4 in the first issue of Canada's RPM "Top Forty-5s" chart, while reaching No. 5 on Canada's CHUM Hit Parade, and No. 6 on New Zealand's "Lever Hit Parade" also making it to No. 21 on the Kent Music Report in Australia.

Gerry and the Pacemakers performed the song on their first US television show, The Ed Sullivan Show on 3 May 1964. The group's earlier UK hit singles - "How Do You Do It?", "I Like It", "You'll Never Walk Alone" and "I'm the One" - were then reissued in the US to follow up its success, but "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying" remained their biggest hit in the United States.

Eddie Cochran - 1962 - C'mon Everybody FLAC

C'mon Everybody/Sittin' In The Balcony/Summertime Blues/Twenty-Flight Rock



Ray Edward Cochran (October 3, 1938 – April 17, 1960) was a mid-20th-century American rock and roll musician. Cochran's songs, such as "Twenty Flight Rock", "Summertime Blues", "C'mon Everybody" and "Somethin' Else", captured teenage frustration and desire in the mid-1950s and early 1960s. He experimented with multitrack recording, distortion techniques, and overdubbing even on his earliest singles. He played the guitar, piano, bass, and drums. His image as a sharply dressed and attractive young man with a rebellious attitude epitomized the stance of the 1950s rocker, and in death he achieved iconic status.

 Cochran was involved with music from an early age, playing in the school band and teaching himself to play blues guitar. In 1954, he formed a duet with the guitarist Hank Cochran (no relation). When they split the following year, Eddie began a songwriting career with Jerry Capehart. His first success came when he performed the song "Twenty Flight Rock" in the film The Girl Can't Help It, starring Jayne Mansfield. Soon afterward, he signed a recording contract with Liberty Records.

Cochran died at age 21 after a road accident, while traveling in a taxi in Chippenham, Wiltshire, during his British tour in April 1960. He had just performed at Bristol's Hippodrome theatre. Though his best-known songs were released during his lifetime, more of his songs were released posthumously. In 1987, Cochran was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. His songs have been recorded by a wide variety of recording artists. 

 "C'mon Everybody" is a 1958 song by Eddie Cochran and Jerry Capehart, originally released as a B-side. In 1959 it peaked in the UK (where Cochran had major success and where he died in 1960) at number six in the singles chart, and, thirty years later, in 1988, the track was re-issued there and became a number 14 hit. In the United States the song got to number 35 on the Billboard Hot 100. "C'mon Everybody" is ranked number 403 on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

When Cochran recorded his lead vocal for the song, he also created an alternate version of the song called "Let's Get Together". The only change to the lyrics was exactly that: the phrase "Let's get together" in place of "C'mon everybody". This alternate version was eventually released on a compilation album in the 1960s. 

 "Sittin' in the Balcony" is a song performed by Eddie Cochran and released on single by Liberty Records in January 1957. It rose to number 18 on the Billboard charts.

"Summertime Blues" is a song co-written and recorded by American rockabilly artist Eddie Cochran. It was written by Cochran and his manager Jerry Capehart. Originally a single B-side, it was released in August 1958 and peaked at number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 on September 29, 1958 and number 18 on the UK Singles Chart. It has been covered by many artists, including being a number-one hit for country music artist Alan Jackson, and scoring notable hits in versions by Blue Cheer, The Who, and Brian Setzer, the last of whom recorded his version for the 1987 film La Bamba, where he portrayed Cochran. Jimi Hendrix performed it in concert.

"Twenty Flight Rock" is a song originally performed by Eddie Cochran in the 1956 film comedy The Girl Can't Help It, and released as a single the following year. The song was published in 1957 as written by Ned Fairchild and Eddie Cochran, by American Music Incorporated and Campbell, Connelly and Company. Cochran's contribution was primarily on the music. His version is rockabilly-flavored, but artists of many genres have covered the song.

Tommy Sands - 1957 - Teen-Age Crush FLAC

Teen-Age Crush/Ring-A-Ding-A-Ding/My Love Song/Hep Dee Hootie (Cutie Wootie)



The multi-talented Tommy Sands was born August 27, 1937, in Chicago, IL, to show-business parents. His entry into the business was no mistake, surprise, or happenstance, but genetic and inevitable. His father played piano and his mother sang. He took guitar lessons when he was eight years old and became an adequate axeman. By this time the Sands had moved to Houston, TX, where Sands got the acting bug. He moved to Los Angeles after high school and landed a job on Cliffie Stone's country & western television show. The exposure led to regular appearances on Tennessee Ernie Ford's weekly televison program and nightclub gigs.

He got a big break in 1957 when he got the lead role in The Singin' Idol, a television drama on rock & roll. The producer's first choice was Elvis Presley but he wasn't available, so a search went on and Sands won. A single from the show Teenage Crush on Capitol Records went to number two on Billboard's pop chart and Sands became an overnight sensation. He appeared on many Kraft Theater shows and nearly every network variety show on television. No one-hit wonder, he also hit the charts with "Goin' Steady," "The Worryin' Kind," "Blue Ribbon Baby," "Sing Boy Sing," "The Old Oaken Bucket," and "The Parent Trap." The release of "I'll Be Seeing You," marked a new musical direction for Sands. He cut two albums with Nelson Riddle and continue to release singles for a variety of labels, but none in the teen rock format that made him famous.

From the late '50s to the '70s he appeared in more than 150 television programs, and many movies including Sing Boy Sing (his first), Babes in Toyland, The Longest Day, Ensign Pulver, None but the Brave, Mardi Gras, and The Violent One. He married Nancy Sinatra in 1960; the union lasted five years. Where is he now? Still performing and thrilling fans all over the world. What else? It's in his genes.

The Hollies - 1964 - Just One Look FLAC

Just One Look/ Keep Off That Friend Of Mine/Talkin' 'bout You/Lucille



Just One Look is the title of the second EP by The Hollies. It was put out by Parlophone in mono with the catalogue number GEP 8911 and released in the UK in late June 1964. The EP entered the British charts on 27 June 1964 and peaked at #8 on the Record Retailer chart after ten weeks. All songs on this EP were previously released at the time. Side A consisted of the A and B-side to the band's "Just One Look" single released in February 1964. Side B contained two tracks from the band's debut album, Stay with the Hollies.

The Young Rascals - 1967 - A Girl Like You FLAC

A Girl Like You/It's Love /Love Is A Beautiful Thing/Land Of 1000 Dances




The Rascals, along with the Righteous Brothers, Mitch Ryder, and precious few others, were the pinnacle of '60s blue-eyed soul. The Rascals' talents, however, would have to rate above their rivals, if for nothing else than the simple fact that they, unlike many other blue-eyed soulsters, penned much of their own material. They also proved more adept at changing with the fast-moving times, drawing much of their inspiration from British Invasion bands, psychedelic rock, gospel, and even a bit of jazz and Latin music. They were at their best on classic singles like "Good Lovin'," "How Can I Be Sure," "Groovin'," and "People Got to Be Free." When they tried to stretch their talents beyond the impositions of the three-minute 45, they couldn't pull it off, a failure which -- along with crucial personnel losses -- effectively finished the band as a major force by the 1970s. 

The roots of the Rascals were in New York-area twist and bar bands. Keyboardist/singer Felix Cavaliere, the guiding force of the group, had played with Joey Dee & the Starliters, where he met Canadian guitarist Gene Cornish and singer Eddie Brigati. Brigati would split the lead vocals with Cavaliere and also write much of the band's material with him. With the addition of drummer Dino Danelli, they became the Rascals. Over their objections, manager Sid Bernstein (who had promoted the famous Beatles concerts at Carnegie Hall and Shea Stadium) dubbed them the Young Rascals, although the "Young" was permanently dropped from the billing in a couple of years.

After a small hit with "I Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore" in 1965, the group hit number one with "Good Lovin'," a cover of an R&B tune by the Olympics, in 1966. This was the model for the Rascals' early sound: a mixture of hard R&B and British Invasion energy, with tight harmony vocals and arrangements highlighting Cavaliere's Hammond organ. After several smaller hits in the same vein, the group began to mature at a rapid rate in 1967, particularly as songwriters. "Groovin'," "Beautiful Morning," "It's Wonderful," and "How Can I Be Sure?" married increasingly introspective and philosophical lyrics to increasingly sophisticated arrangements and production, without watering down the band's most soulful qualities. They were also big hits, compiled for the 1968 LP release Time Piece: The Rascals' Greatest Hits, and provided some of the era's most satisfying blends of commercial and artistic appeal.

During the summer of 1968, almost as if to prove they could shake 'em down as hard as any soul revue, the Rascals made number one with one of their best songs, "People Got to Be Free." An infectious summons to unity and tolerance in the midst of a very turbulent year for American society, it also reflected the Rascals' own integrationist goals. Not only did they blend white and black in their music; they also, unlike many acts of the time, refused to tour on bills that weren't integrated as well.

 "People Got to Be Free," surprisingly, was the group's last Top 20 hit, although they would have several other small chart entries over the next few years, often in a more explicitly gospel-influenced style. The problem wasn't bad timing or shifting commercial taste; the problem was the material itself, which wasn't up to the level of their best smashes. More worrisome were their increasingly ambitious albums, such as the 1969 releases Freedom Suite and See, which found Cavaliere in particular trying to expand into jazz, instrumentals, and Eastern philosophy. Not that this couldn't have worked well, but it didn't. They had never been an album-oriented group, but unlike other some other great mid-'60s bands, they were unable to satisfactorily expand their talents into full-length formats.

 A more serious problem was the departure of Brigati, the band's primary lyricist, in 1970. Cornish was also gone a year later, although Cavaliere and Danelli kept the Rascals going a little longer with other musicians. The band broke up in 1972, with none of the members going on to notable commercial or artistic success on his own, though Cavaliere remained the most active.

Millie Small - 1965 - Millie FLAC

 I'm In Love Again/Don't You Know/I Love The Way You Love/See You Later, Alligator

 R.I.P. Millie


Jamaican teenager Millie Small stunned the music business by reaching number two in both the U.S. and the U.K. with "My Boy Lollipop" in 1964.

Born Millicent Small in Clarendon, she was the daughter of an overseer on a sugar plantation (her reported date of birth varies from 1942 to 1948), and she was one of the very few female singers in the early ska era in Clarendon. She was already recording in her teens for Sir Coxsone Dodd's Studio One label with Roy Panton (as Roy & Millie), with a hit behind her in that capacity ("We'll Meet"), when Chris Blackwell discovered her and brought her to England in late 1963. Her fourth recording, "My Boy Lollipop," cut in London by a group of session musicians that included guitarist Ernest Ranglin (and, according to some accounts, Rod Stewart on harmonica) and featuring her childlike, extremely high-pitched vocals, was the first (and indeed, one of the few) international ska hits. It remains one of the biggest-selling reggae or ska discs of all time, with more than seven million sales.

Small, who was known as "the Blue Beat Girl" on her album, was perceived as a one-shot novelty artist from the start because of her unusual, high-register vocals (which actually owed a lot to Shirley Goodman of the '50s New Orleans R&B duo Shirley & Lee), and she only made the Top 40 one more time, with the "My Boy Lollipop" sound-alike "Sweet William." She did cut an entire album around the two hits (and video clips exist of Small miming to "My Boy Lollipop" and another single, "Henry"), which also includes the first of several of her covers of Fats Domino material ("I'm in Love Again"), with whom she later recorded an album.

After her contract with Island ran its course, Small recorded for Trojan Records; her first single for the label was an interpretation of Nick Drake's "Mayfair," but it was the B-side, "Enoch Power," that received the most attention for its potent criticism of the anti-immigration stance of British right-wing politician Enoch Powell. Small retired from music in the early 1970s and died on May 5, 2020, following a stroke.

Johnny Rivers - 1967 - The Tracks Of My Tears FLAC

The Tracks Of My Tears/Baby I Need Your Lovin'/For Emily, Wherever I May Find Her/ Rosecrans Boulevard



Johnny Rivers (born John Henry Ramistella; November 7, 1942) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. His repertoire includes pop, folk, blues, and old-time rock 'n' roll. Rivers charted during the 1960s and 1970s but remains best known for a string of hit singles between 1964 and 1968, among them "Memphis" (a Chuck Berry cover), "Mountain of Love" (a Harold Dorman cover), "The Seventh Son" (a Willie Mabon cover), "Secret Agent Man", "Poor Side of Town" (a US #1), "Baby I Need Your Lovin'" (a 1967 cover of the Four Tops single from 1964), and "Summer Rain"

"The Tracks of My Tears" is a song written by Smokey Robinson, Pete Moore, and Marv Tarplin. It is a multiple award-winning 1965 hit R&B song originally recorded by their group, The Miracles, on Motown's Tamla label. In 1967, Johnny Rivers covered the song and his version was a number 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100.

Howard Keel & London Cast - 1957 - Vocal Gems From Oklahoma FLAC

Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin'/The Surrey With The Fringe On Top/Out Of My Dreams/Kansas City/I Cain't Say No/People Will Say We're In Love/The Farmer Dance/Pore Jud Is Daid/Many A New Day/All Er Nothin'/Oklahoma



 Harold Clifford Keel (April 13, 1919 – November 7, 2004), known professionally as Howard Keel, was an American actor and singer with a rich bass-baritone singing voice. He starred in a number of MGM musicals in the 1950s and in the CBS television series Dallas from 1981–1991.

Keel was born in Gillespie, Illinois, United States, to Navyman-turned-coalminer Homer Keel (1885-1930), and his wife, Grace Margaret (née Osterkamp) Keel (1887-1971). It was falsely stated—by the MGM publicity department of the 1950s—that Keel's birth name was Harold Leek. Harry had an elder brother, Frederick William Keel (1913-1982); they were so poor that a teacher would often provide Keel with lunch.

After his father's death in 1930, Keel and his mother moved to California, where he graduated from Fallbrook High School at age 17. He worked various odd jobs until settling at Douglas Aircraft Company as a traveling representative. At age 20, Keel was overheard singing by his landlady, Mom Rider, and was encouraged to take vocal lessons. One of his music heroes was the great baritone Lawrence Tibbett. Keel later remarked that learning that his own voice was a basso cantante was one of the greatest disappointments of his life. Nevertheless, his first public performance occurred in the summer of 1941, when he played the role of Samuel the Prophet in Handel's oratorio Saul (singing a duet with bass-baritone George London).

 In 1945, he briefly understudied for John Raitt in the Broadway hit Carousel before being assigned to Oklahoma!, both written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. While performing in Oklahoma, Keel accomplished a feat that has never been duplicated on Broadway; he once performed the leads in both shows on the same day. In 1947, Oklahoma! became the first American postwar musical to travel to London, England, and Keel joined the production. On April 30, 1947, at the Drury Lane Theatre, the capacity audience (which included the future Queen Elizabeth II) demanded fourteen encores.

Keel made his film debut as Harold Keel at the British Lion studio in Elstree, in The Small Voice (1948), released in the United States as The Hideout. He played an escaped convict holding a playwright and his wife hostage in their English country cottage. Additional Broadway credits include Saratoga, No Strings, and Ambassador. He appeared at The Muny in St. Louis as Adam in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1978); Emile de Becque in South Pacific (1992); Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady (1996); and as General Waverly in White Christmas (2000).

Bob Dylan - 1965 - Bob Dylan FLAC

Pretty Peggy-O/Song To Woody/Freight Train Blues/Talkin' New York



 Bob Dylan (born Robert Allen Zimmerman; May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter, author, and visual artist who has been a major figure in popular culture for more than 50 years. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s, when songs such as "Blowin' in the Wind" (1963) and "The Times They Are a-Changin'" (1964) became anthems for the civil rights and anti-war movements. His lyrics during this period incorporated a range of political, social, philosophical, and literary influences, defied pop music conventions and appealed to the burgeoning counterculture.

Following his self-titled debut album in 1962, which mainly comprised traditional folk songs, Dylan made his breakthrough as a songwriter with the release of The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan the following year. The album featured "Blowin' in the Wind" and the thematically complex "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall". For many of these songs, he adapted the tunes and phraseology of older folk songs. He went on to release the politically charged The Times They Are a-Changin' and the more lyrically abstract and introspective Another Side of Bob Dylan in 1964. In 1965 and 1966, Dylan drew controversy when he adopted electrically amplified rock instrumentation, and in the space of 15 months recorded three of the most important and influential rock albums of the 1960s: Bringing It All Back Home (1965), Highway 61 Revisited (1965) and Blonde on Blonde (1966). Commenting on the six-minute single "Like a Rolling Stone" (1965), Rolling Stone wrote: "No other pop song has so thoroughly challenged and transformed the commercial laws and artistic conventions of its time, for all time."

 In July 1966, Dylan withdrew from touring after a motorcycle accident. During this period, he recorded a large body of songs with members of the Band, who had previously backed him on tour. These recordings were released as the collaborative album The Basement Tapes in 1975. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Dylan explored country music and rural themes in John Wesley Harding (1967), Nashville Skyline (1969), and New Morning (1970). In 1975, he released Blood on the Tracks, which many saw as a return to form. In the late 1970s, he became a born-again Christian and released a series of albums of contemporary gospel music before returning to his more familiar rock-based idiom in the early 1980s. The major works of his later career include Time Out of Mind (1997), Love and Theft (2001), Modern Times (2006) and Tempest (2012). In the 2010s, he recorded a series of three albums comprising versions of traditional American standards, especially songs recorded by Frank Sinatra. Dylan released his first original song in eight years in 2020, "Murder Most Foul", which addresses the assassination of President Kennedy. Backed by a changing lineup of musicians, he has toured steadily since the late 1980s on what has been dubbed the Never Ending Tour.