Legacy Recordings

Recorded in Hollywood, October 19, 1967. Entered chart: July 27, 1968, peaked at #3.

Released in the face of conventionally wisdom only a year after the original hit had established The Doors, this eccentric and brilliant reworking launched the talented blind guitarist’s career, Feliciano had been a Ted Mack Amateur Hour winner and was well known in Folk music circles. His stirring, but equally idiosyncratic, rendition of the national anthem before the fifth game of the 1967 World Series raised eyebrows across the country. He continues to enjoy a successful recording and performing career.

Michael Jackson was the rubber-limbed Scarecrow in search of a home when he found Quincy Jones on the set of The Wiz. Together they forged heart, courage and brains with tough rhythms to create “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough.” Playing his husky, carnal lead off a boy-soprano chorus, Michael grew a backbone of sex and sizzle and landed on center stage as his own man. Following the breakthrough single, Michael and “Q” eased on down the platinum road for three monster albums, leaving Michael to walk on the moon and the Emerald Planet of MTV.

(M. Jackson/G. Phillinganes); Produced by Quincy Jones; co-produced by Michael Jackson; rhythm arrangement by Greg Phillinganes and Michael Jackson; vocal and percussion arrangements by Michael Jackson; strings arranged by Ben Wright; horns arranged by Jerry Hey; Michael Jackson, lead and background vocals; Louis Johnson, bass; John Robinson, drums; Greg Phillinganes, electric piano; David Williams, Marlo Henderson, guitars; Randy Jackson, Paulinho da Costa, Richard Heath, percussion; The Seawind Horns: Jerry Hey, trumpet, flugelhorn; Larry Williams, tenor and alto sax, flute; Kim Hutchcroft, baritone and tenor sax, flute; William Reichenbach, trombone; Gary Grant, trumpet; Jim Gilstrap, Augie Johnson, Mortonette Jenkins, Paulette McWilliams, Zedric Williams, background vocals; Gerald Vinci, concertmaster; Rec. Los Angeles, November 1978. From Off The Wall, Epic 35745; P 1979 MJJ Productions, Inc
Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough by Michael Jackson

Boy-child soprano crackling, Michael Jackson wasn’t a skinny stick of dynamite anymore. Motown had split to L.A., leaving its heart in the Motor City and Michael’s brothers free to grow. Standing at the edge of manhood and a career frontier, they chose the solidly black Philly Sound. Dancing machines in pastel tuxes and superfly Afros, Gamble and Huff unleashed the brothers’ curiosity and individuality as Michael sowed the seeds that sprouted the album Off The Wall.

(K. Gamble/L. Huff); Produced by Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff; arranged by Bobby Martin; Michael Jackson, lead and background vocals; Randy Jackson, Tito Jackson, Jermaine Jackson, Marlon Jackson, Jackie Jackson, background vocals; Ronnie Baker, bass; Earl Young, drums; Roland Chambers, Bobby Eli and/or Norman Harris, guitars; Lenny Pakula, organ; Leon Huff, piano; Larry Washington, percussion; with Don Renaldo and his strings and horns; Rec. Philadelphia, 1976. From The Jacksons, Philadelphia International/Epic 34229; P 1976 Sony Music Entertainment Inc.
Enjoy Yourself by The Jackson 5

One of the most successful albums of all time, Meat Loaf’s Bat Out Of Hell yielded three hit singles: “Paradise By The Dashboard Light,” “Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad” and “You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth.” Its bombastic theatricality was like nothing that came before it, and little that’s come since, but Meat Loaf and writer Jim Steinman came by it all quite naturally by their training and Broadway backgrounds. Their collaboration resulted in a mix of overblown show music and rock that critics are still trying to figure out. The public, of course, beat them to it long ago.
Paradise By The Dashboard Light by Meat Loaf
Check out more from this artist at LegacyRecordings.com

Recorded in Hollywood, December 19, 1968. Entered chart: April 5, 1969, peaked at #3.

Both The Friends of Distinction and The Fifth Dimension shared a common ancestor, a group called the Hi-Fi’s, which sent two members to each of these hit-making bands. “Grazing in the Grass” was The Friends’ first and biggest hit record.

Grazing In The Grass by The Friends Of Distinction or Buy the CD at LegacyRecordings.com.

Recorded in New York, late 1968. Entered chart: April 5, 1969, peaked at #6.

With a name dreamed up as a promotional gimmick by their Canadian record company, The Guess Who garnered an impressive series of hits. Their first major American success was “These Eyes,” which was also their debut RCA release. The band’s lead singer, Burton Cummings, went on to a successful solo career as well.

These Eyes by The Guess Who or Buy the CD at LegacyRecordings.com.

Elvis Presley: “Return to Sender.”

The established story the Elvis Presley’s movie songs were all assembly line is negated by this hit song from the 1962 movie Girls! Girls! Girls! Songwriter Otis Blackwell was working in publisher Hill & Range’s New York building when Presley’s flamboyant manager Colonel Parker stopped by on a rare visit. Blackwell asked the Colonel to listen to this song he had written. Parker, known never to interfere with Elvis’ musical decisions, left the office promising Blackwell he would make sure that “Return to Sender” would be written into the movie script. Charts can be deceiving, as “Return to Sender” only reached Number 2 on the charts, but outsold ever other 60’s Presley classic, with the exception of “Are You Lonesome Tonight.”

Return To Sender by Elvis Presley or Buy the CD at LegacyRecordings.com.

Recorded in New York, November 20, 1961. Entered chart: February 24, 1962, peaked at #12.

After a series of hits for ABC-Paramount, Paul Anka singed with RCA in 1961. He was, by far, the most musically gifted of the late 50’s “teen idols” and has continued to enjoy a highly successful career as a songwriter (“My Way,” among many, many others) and performer. This song and “A Steel Guitar and a Glass of Wine” were his first RCA releases and both went Top Twenty.

Love Me Warm And Tender by Paul Anka or Buy the CD at LegacyRecordings.com.

Recorded in New York, July 27, 1961. Entered chart: November 13, 1961, peaked at #1 (3 weeks).

After scoring their first hit with “Tonight I Fell in Love,” The Tokes turned to a folk song called “Winoweh,” which had been a hit for The Weavers. With a Rock beat and a haunting vocal performance, the song was retitled “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” and gave this talented group (Neil Sedaka had been an early member) their biggest hit. Members of The Tokens went on to write and produce for The Chiffons, Randy and The Rainbows, and The Happenings.

The Lion Sleeps Tonight by The Tokens or Buy the CD at LegacyRecordings.com.

Recorded in Nashville, May 8, 1961. Entered chart: July 24, 1961, peaked at #17.

Ann-Margret Olson recorded with the very best Nashville could provide, including Floyd Cramer (piano), Bob Moor (bass), The Jordanaires (backing vocals), and the superb Charlie McCoy. It was his harmonica playing that attracted The Beatles, who covered the song on an early BBC appearance. Ann-Margret’s singing, dancing, and acting talents would soon win her a starring role in the film version of “Bye Bye Birdie” and Nashville’s loss would be Hollywood’s gain.

I Just Don’t Understand by Ann-Margret or Buy the CD at LegacyRecordings.com.

Recorded in Nashville, December 10, 1960. Entered chart: March 6, 1961, peaked at #4.

One of Nashville’s foremost session piano players, Floyd Cramer appeared on countless Country hits (including six in this collection!). His first Pop chart success came in 1958 with “Flip, Flop and Bop.” He repeated his Top Ten achievement with “Last Date” in 1960 and “On The Rebound” and “San Antonio Rose” the following year.

On The Rebound by Floyd Cramer or Buy the CD at LegacyRecordings.com.

Recorded in Nashville, January 5, 1960. Entered chart: May 23, 1960, peaked at #8.

Hank Locklin’s “Send Me the Pillow You Dream On” was a hit for artists as diverse as The Browns and Dean Martin while his own version made it only to #77 when released in 1958. He had to wait two years before cracking the Top Ten himself with this crossover classic on which he was backed by the famous Jordanaires.

Please Help Me, I’m Falling by Hank Locklin or Buy the CD at LegacyRecordings.com.

Immediately, she was a formidable presence, a complete original with ties to show business tradition: part vaudeville, part cabaret, part musical theater, with a New Frontier spirit and an unabashedly ethnic thrift-store sensibility. She sang pop music almost untouched by jazz, folk or rock influences that, whether torchy or comical, was thought through with an actress’ attention to emotional detail. Until 1964, Streisand was solely an album-selling artist; “People,” from her Broadway debut in Funny Girl, was her belated debut in the pop Top 10, a place sheÕs continued to visit periodically over the past 35 years.

People by Barbra Streisand or Buy the CD at LegacyRecordings.com.

Johnny Nash first emerged in the late 50’s among a crop of young crooners who existed in a nebulous world between R&B and pop. He vanished for most of the 60’s, and by the time he reappeared in 1968 with “Hold Me Tight,” he’d moved to Jamaica, absorbed the lilt of ska and the kick of reggae, and fashioned a new sound that was bright and infectious. 1972’s “I Can See Clearly Now” became one of the first reggae records to become a U.S. hit, and was followed by “Stir It Up,” which introduced pop listeners to a Jamaican songwriter named Bob Marley.

I Can See Clearly Now by Johnny Nash or Buy the CD at LegacyRecordings.com.

Brandy (You’re A Fine Girl)earned its #1 status in 1972 by telling its tale well, and with a snappy musical hook. It is, like the immortal “Louie Louie,” a nautical narrative: the sailors pull into port and encounter our heroine, who is altogether too accustomed to their fleeting comings and goings. That’s all there is to this song penned by lead singer Elliot Lurie, but if you think of pop music as an on-going discussion, imagine that the bartender where Brandy works is named Louie, and that years earlier, a sailor dropped in for a drink and wound up telling him a story…

Brandy (You’re A Fine Girl) (Single Version) by Looking Glass or Buy the CD at LegacyRecordings.com.

The details of Janis Joplin’s story are now legend: how the bluesy Texas girl unleashed her fury on the San Francisco hippie scene with Big Brother & The Holding Company, bowled over Columbia’s Clive Davis at 1967Õs Monterey Pop Festival, and became the most galvanizing woman in rock. Kris Kristofferson’s “Me And Bobby McGee” wasn’t a typical Joplin song, but her poignant performance, conveying all the battered weariness she must have felt, was all the more gripping for its posthumous success. As an epitaph, both for her and for the excesses of the 1960s, “freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose” will do as well as any.

Me And Bobby McGee by Janis Joplin or Buy the CD at LegacyRecordings.com.

Chicago had a logo as recognizable as Coca-Cola’s, they numbered rather than titled their albums (collect them all!), their extended compositions could barely be contained on the side of an LP, and they rarely released an album with fewer than two discs (Chicago At Carnegie Hall -an exception to the number as title policy -contained four). Reduced to their essence, the band made exemplary singles: “Make Me Smile,” “Color-Sorry-Colour My World,” “Just You Me,” “Wishing You Were Here,” “Hard To Say I’m Sorry”… Give them credit: they never let their ambition get in the way of a good pop hook.

My Rhapsody Playlist or Buy the CD at LegacyRecordings.com.

It was, as an early album title put it, a whole new thing: flamboyant funk played by an interracial outfit led by the irrepressible and unpredictable Sylvester Stewart. Sometimes there was a message in the music, sometimes it was a freaky electric circus, and sometimes it was just the hippest hybrid of rock, pop and soul imaginable. Of all the memorable early hits “Everyday People,” “Dance To The Music,” the Woodstock rallying cry “I Want To Take You Higher,” “Hot Fun In The Summertime” shows Sly at his most infectious, a last burst of 60’s celebration before his stringent 1970 masterpiece, “There’s A Riot Going On.”

My Rhapsody Playlist or Buy the CD at LegacyRecordings.com.

“I feel inclined to blow my mind,” sang Steve Marriott on this all-too-beautiful example of what happened when feisty little English mods came under Sgt. Pepper’s kaleidoscopic spell. Suddenly the aroma of incense and patchouli was wafting through the musical air on both sides of the Atlantic, and few bands, regardless of basic predilections, were immune. The contact high hit the Small Faces, and now instead of being impishly rambunctious (”Sha La La La Lee,” “Watcha Gonna Do About It”), they were impishly far-out, as on this ode to skipping school and getting high.

Itchycoo Park by Small Faces or Buy the CD at LegacyRecordings.com.

The Hollies started out, as many British beat groups did, doing covers of relatively obscure American R&B and girl group songs. Graham Gouldman’s “Bus Stop” provided them with their U.S. breakthrough, and when it became de rigeur for bands to write their own songs they did so skillfully, with an eye on chart trends (goodtimey music, mild psychedelia, jangly pop). “Carrie-Anne”, their first hit on Epic, found them at their most buoyant. Never particularly hip, especially after Graham Nash bolted to hang and harmonize with Crosby and Stills, they nonetheless were consistent, and sometimes inspired (in this case, by the undeniable charms of Marianne faithful), hit makers.

Carrie Anne by The Hollies or Buy the CD at LegacyRecordings.com.

No one chronicled those hazy crazy West Coast 60’s days as wistfully, or as affectionately, as John Phillips. He looked through his window, or simply gazed over at his wife Michelle, saw a new generation and a new migration, and appointed himself its spokesman. For The Mamas & The Papas he captured the promises and realities of the spiritual-geographical movement. San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Some Flowers In Your Hair) was all promise, little reality: a travel poster, complete with packing tips, and a Day-Glo view of San Francisco from a Los Angeles recording studio.

Listen to “San Francisco: Be Sure To Wear Some Flowers In Your Hair ” by Scott McKenzie on Rhapsody
or Buy the CD at LegacyRecordings.com.

If you need evidence that Paul Simon’s roots lie in Brill Building pop and such ’50s songwriters as Felice & Boudleaux Bryant, look no further than this Simon co-authored, emphatically.

Listen to ” Red Rubber Ball”

BUY the CD at LegacyRecordings.com

Recorded in Memphis, January 23, 1969. Entered chart: September 13, 1969, peaked at #1 (one week).

Suspicious Minds by Elvis Presley
or Buy the CD at LegacyRecordings.com.

Recorded in New York, February 9, 1962. Entered chart: June 30, 1962, peaked at #1 (two weeks).

This song is so good, Sedeka slowed it down and had a huge hit with it again more than a decade later. In its original form here, “Breaking Up” is an ebullient commentary on the price everyone occasionally pays for love, and a true classic. Backing Sedaka on the record are The Cookies, an effervescent “girl group” with a string of hits (“Chains”) of their own.

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do by Neil Sedaka or Buy the CD at LegacyRecordings.com.

Born in Hope, Arkansas in August 1934, Ketty Lester enjoyed her only Top 10 hit on the West Coast-based Era label in early 1962. After several unsuccessful follow-ups for the label, RCA purchased her contract and recorded two albums. She moved to Capitol’s Tower imprint in 1967 before concentrating on an acting career in the 1970’s. Although quiet in the 80’s, Ketty Lester continues to be active in both film and TV with several roles in the 90’s.
Listen to “Love Letters” on Rhapsody

or Buy the CD at LegacyRecordings.com.

The Chicago-based group with the British-inflected name made their first impression with the #1 indie hit “Kind Of A Drag” as 1966 came to a close. They were then signed to Columbia, and in 1967 connected with a string of four Top 20 singles that producer James William Guercio fashioned into brassy little big-band nuggets, including a vocal rendition of the Cannonball Adderley instrumental “Mercy Mercy Mercy.” Guercio’s records with Blood, Sweat & Tears and Chicago are credited with the introduction of jazzy, horn-driven charts into mainstream pop, but the blueprint for that sound was his work with The Buckinghams.
Don’t You Care by The Buckinghams or Buy the CD at LegacyRecordings.com.

When Laura Nyro made her debut in 1966, she was virtually alone. It was not an age of introspective female singer-songwriters weaned on R&B, doo-wop and gospel. Her songs, however, would not be denied. One by one, her album cuts got polished up a bit, and became the hits her versions should have been. Three Dog Night, Barbra Streisand, and Blood, Sweat & Tears were among the artists who cashed in on Nyro compositions, but her primary chart ambassadors were the Fifth Dimension, who successfully covered five of her songs, including this easy-rolling soul stew that throws all of NyroÕs influences into one sensuous melting pot.
Listen to “Stoned Soul Picnic” On Rhapsody

Buy the CD at LegacyRecordings.com.

Recorded in Nashville, June 26, 1963. Entered chart: September 7, 1963, peaked at #7.
Skeeter Davis was born Mary Francis Penick, acquired her stage name in a duo called the Davis Sisters with her friend Betty Davis. A tragic auto accident killed Betty and injured Skeeter in 1953. She retired then but thankfully returned to her career and achieved rock immortality with a series of moving ballads including this one and 1962’s “The End of the World.”

Listen To “I Can’t Stay Mad At You” On Rhapsody

Or Buy the CD at LegacyRecordings.com

Dion DiMucci was the first bona fide rock ’n’ roll star signed to Columbia. Period. “Ruby Baby” was preceded by five consecutive Top 10 singles on Laurie (including “Runaround Sue” and “The Wanderer”), so Dion’s move to his new label was well-publicized and eagerly anticipated. Initially, the plan seemed cut from Bobby Darin cloth: singles for kids, albums (with classier material, and nightclubs in mind) for adults. But Dion’s sharkskin-sharp music kept getting tougher and more assertive, and after two more major hits in ‘63, he spent his time immersed in the studio trying out personal permutations of blues and folk.

Listen to “Ruby Baby” by Dion on Rhapsody
or Buy the CD at LegacyRecordings.com.

For his 1991 album, Dangerous, Michael Jackson stepped away from the lush Quincy Jones wall of sound and into leaner/meaner dance territory. “Black Or White,” a near-perfect pop confection, owed its appeal to a smart mix of three seemingly disparate elements: the uncluttered approach of noted L.A. engineer/producer Bill Bottrell, the switchblade jangling of Slash’s guitar and Jackson’s unerring pop/funk sensibility. The track manages to deftly float a serious message about hypocrisy and race atop a groove which takes playful stabs at both the Rolling Stones and Prince.

Listen to “Black Or White” by Michael Jackson on Rhapsody
or Buy the CD at LegacyRecordings.com.

The details of Janis Joplin’s story are now legend: how the bluesy Texas girl unleashed her fury on the San Francisco hippie scene with Big Brother & The Holding Company, bowled over Columbia’s Clive Davis at 1967’s Monterey Pop Festival, and became the most galvanizing woman in rock. Kris Kristofferson’s “Me And Bobby McGee” wasn’t a typical Joplin song, but her poignant performance, conveying all the battered weariness she must have felt, was all the more gripping for its posthumous success. As an epitaph, both for her and for the excesses of the 1960s, “freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose” will do as well as any.

Me And Bobby McGee by Janis Joplin
or Buy the CD at LegacyRecordings.com.

Recorded in New York in June, 1965, and on the charts a month later, this record changed everything. The electric side of Dylan’s Bringing It All Back Home, it turned out, was but a tease compared to this crashing, tumbling torrent. The Byrds’ “Mr. Tambourine Man” had a new, exhilarating lilt to it, but it was compact and neat: this sprawled all over the place. Clock-fearing radio stations tried to fade the six-minute track halfway through, but it would not be contained; Dylan and his East Coast wrecking crew whipped up a noise that, even in the summer of ’65—arguably the best pop moment in history—mowed down everything in its vicinity.

Like A Rolling Stone by Bob Dylan
or Buy the CD at LegacyRecordings.com.

Rosemary Clooney was, and remains, a singer of significant gifts, but at
the dawn of the 1950s she was obliged to bounce bravely through such novelty numbers as this coy, double-entendre-filled invitation to a buffet (“Come on-a-my house/I’m gonna give you everything”). So tinkly it gives the impression of being played on toy instruments, this #1 hit was the product of a writing collaboration between a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and the future creator of Alvin & The Chipmunks—which tells you just about all you need to know about the music scene in the early ’50s.
Rhapsody.com Rhaplink - Play Single Track

As fraught with conflict and confusion as Frank Sinatra’s last few years at Columbia Records were—he struggled with inferior material, changing musical styles and A&R chief Mitch Miller—there are records from that period that point toward his dramatic resurgence at Capitol. Although not as focused and inventive as his revitalizing sessions with Nelson Riddle, songs such as 1952’s “The Birth Of The Blues” began to shape the brassy, cocksure swinging-lover persona that would make him the dominant presence of 20th Century popular music. Well into the 1960s, “The Birth Of The Blues” served as the boisterous finale of well-lubricated Rat Pack performances.
The Birth Of The Blues by Frank Sinatra
or Buy the CD at LegacyRecordings.com.

Philadelphia’s Will Smith grew up during the Sugarhill/Enjoy dawn of rap. At 16, he and DJ friend Jeff Townes reinvented themselves as DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, and enjoyed six years of soft-core rap success, with Smith landing his own TV sitcom in the process. When the movie roles began (1993), the duo ended—and so, for awhile did Smith’s rap career. He came out of recording retirement to
perform the theme to Men In Black and, buoyed by its success, Will released the pop-friendly Big Willie Style, which blew into the charts like a hurricane via the hit single “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It.”
Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It by Will Smith
or Buy the CD at LegacyRecordings.com.

Fiona Apple
19-year-old, doe-eyed Apple shook things up with her 1996 debut, Tidal. A startling intensity set her apart from the spate of soul-baring female singer-songwriters of the mid-’90s; while her contemporaries might wrap you in riddles or berate you with tantrums, Fiona sounded like someone who could really play handball with your head. In the process, she earned high marks from young women in a hurry to trade in their awkward teen years for world-wise adulthood. Reinforced by a video of the waifish Ms. Apple prancing about in her undies (just in case you missed the point), “Criminal” was a wry, unapologetic guilt trip over reckless pleasures.
(F. Apple); Produced by Andrew Slater; Fiona Apple, vocal; Jon Brio, Chamberlain; Matt Chamberlain, drums; Rob Laufer, guitar; Dan Rothchild, bass; Patrick Warren, piano; Rec. Los Angeles 1996. From the album, Tidal, Columbia 67439; P 1996 Sony Music Entertainment Inc.
Criminal by Fiona Apple
or Buy the CD at LegacyRecordings.com.

Mariah Carey spent years practicing to become an overnight sensation. When that dream came true, Mariah spent the next seven years chained to the studio. Between full-blown album projects and a truckload of singles and remixes, Carey wrote, recorded and released more music in that period than most artists have done over multi-decade careers. Butterfly came to represent the sum of that experience—a polished gem of an album whose maturity and grace is exemplified by “My All,” a soaring ballad of loneliness and yearning.
My All by Mariah Carey
or Buy the CD at LegacyRecordings.com.

Despite critics’ cheerleading, breakthroughs for U.K.-based funk acts in America have been few and far between. Such heroes of the British Empire as Soul II Soul and Brand New Heavies came and went in a hurry in the country that invented soul music, thank you. Jamiroquai, representing what acid jazz might have sounded like in Stevie Wonder’s house circa 1976, operated true to form—big noise at home, cult item in America—until a track from 1996’s Travelling Without Moving became an MTV staple. “Virtual Insanity” featured a killer groove, clever lyrics and nimble, goofy-hatted sprite Jason Kay prancing about a shape-shifting house. Who could resist?
Virtual Insanity by Jamiroquai
or Buy the CD at LegacyRecordings.com.

Shawn Colvin learned about energy early in a hard rock band, the interplay of acoustic instruments in an Austin western swing band, the selling of songs as an off-Broadway belter and the craft of spinning tales as a folk-edged singer/
songwriter. She signed with Columbia in 1988, and by her fourth album, 1996’s
A Few Small Repairs, she had parlayed all her experience into one unique style. As for the incendiary nature of the song that won her a mantle full of awards, its author is quick to point out that “Sunny Came Home” is not about her divorce (in whose wake it was written), but disillusionment in general.
Sunny Came Home by Shawn Colvin
or Buy the CD at LegacyRecordings.com.

Released in the face of conventionally wisdom only a year after the original hit had established The Doors, this eccentric and brilliant reworking of “Light My Fire ” launched the talented blind guitarist’s career, Feliciano had been a Ted Mack Amateur Hour winner and was well known in Folk music circles. His stirring, but equally idiosyncratic, rendition of the national anthem before the fifth game of the 1967 World Series raised eyebrows across the country. He continues to enjoy a successful recording and performing career.

“>Listen to “Light My Fire” by Jose Feliciano on Rhapsody
or Buy the CD at LegacyRecordings.com.

French-Canadian pop is a world unto itself, with its own charts, labels and domestic stars. It took former teen sensation Celine Dion (nicknamed “la p’tite Québecoise”) years and years of hard work to reach commercial export velocity, and once she did there was simply no stopping her. Two years after her English singing debut, the
hard-working Dion’s conquest of America began in earnest with 1992’s Peabo Bryson duet, “Beauty And The Beast.” That Disney tune helped carry Celine’s
self-titled second English album to the top. From that same album, “Because You Loved Me” would become one of adult contemporary music’s all-time best-selling hits.

Because You Loved Me (from “Up Close & Personal”) by Celine Dion
or Buy the CD at LegacyRecordings.com.

Des’ree Weekes grew up in South London, the daughter of Caribbean expatriates. Hers was a childhood of island sounds, soul and Britpop. “In my living room we used to listen to the likes of Duke Ellington, Bob Marley and Stevie Wonder,” she recalled, “while I imagined I was Gladys Knight singing onstage.” From these diverse influences and a passion for poetry, Des’ree fashioned a gently personal style of contemporary soul. Her first hit single (1992’s “Feel So High”) charted a mere twelve weeks after her demo tape hit the desk at Sony U.K., pretty near the speed of light in the music business. Two years, two albums and tons of video airplay later, “You Gotta Be” catapulted Des’ree to stateside stardom.
(Des’ree/A. Ingram)
You Gotta Be by Des’ree
or Buy the CD at LegacyRecordings.com.

No song ever captured the essence of teen-love-as-tragic-melodrama better than “Tell Laura I Love Her.” Its guileless sentimentality made it, and singer Ray Peterson, instant classics. Peterson’s first hit, “The Wonder of You,” had come two years earlier. He followed “Laura” with another Top Ten hit, “Corinna, Corinna.”

Listen to “Tell Laura I Love Her” by Ray Peterson on Rhapsody
or Buy the CD at LegacyRecordings.com.

Borrowing stylistically from British bands like the Beatles and the Searchers, The Byrds provided the quintessential folk-rock template with their electrified version of Dylan’s “Mr. Tambourine Man.” Their next #1 single, “Turn! Turn! Turn!” was a reworking of Pete Seeger’s musical adaptation of words from the Book of Ecclesiastes. From Jim McGuinn’s indelible 12-string-guitar intro to its soaring three-part harmonies and sprightly go-go beat, few records evoke their time more memorably.
Listen to “Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is A Season)” by The Byrds on Rhapsody
or Buy the CD at LegacyRecordings.com.