Thursday, September 1, 2011

The Beatles - Yesterday - About the song and 63 tributes



ABOUT THE SONG
 
In January 1964 Paul woke up with the chords and rough melody of the tune in his head, which he immediately worked out on piano. It sounded good right away. What was unusual was that after this initial burst of inspiration, he continued to tinker with the song for over 18 months. This is a phenomenal amount of time to spend on a song during a period when it was not uncommon to write something on a Tuesday, record it on Wednesday, and have it off to the pressing plant by the weekend.

Just about everyone around Paul became sick and tired of Yesterday before it was finished. While he was finessing it on the set of “Hard Days Night”, director Richard Lester got so bored of McCartney’s endless fussing that he lost his temper and told Paul to “finish the bloody thing or I’ll have the piano removed from the set.”

Around that time George Harrison was heard to say "Blimey, he’s always talking about that song you’d think he was Beethoven or somebody!"

Yesterday is not really a Beatles song. It is a Paul McCartney solo record. He’s the only Beatle who appears on it, accompanied by a string quartet of anonymous non-Beatles. During the recording George Martin almost finished The Beatles five years early when he suggested to Brian Epstien the possibility of releasing “Yesterday” as Paul’s solo single. The ever astute Epstien emphatically and intelligently said No.

“Whatever we do we are not splitting up The Beatles.”

Yesterday is literally a power ballad. It is Vladimir Putin’s favorite Beatles song. No surprise there. Yesterday has a power to captivate and enslave all who hear it. Just like Vlad.

Yesterday was also the point at which The Beatles stopped being just a four-piece Rock And Roll Band and became sculptors of audio landscapes. They had begun to compose Loudspeaker Paintings, using the recording studio itself as a musical instrument.

The string quartet was recorded in less than 2 hours. Guess what they were paid?

Five Guinnies each. ($7.50).

There are more than 3000 performances of  "Yesterday", the most covered song in the history. I offer a compilation of 63 of them including the one recorded as The Beatles song and a live performance by Paul McCartney. Enjoy!

Download:





By: Shahen Gasparyan


Tuesday, August 30, 2011

The Beatles - Yesterday - Songfacts


This is the most covered pop song of all time, over 3,000 versions recorded according to The Guinness Book Of World Records. For years, it was also the song with the most radio plays, but in 1999 BMI music publishing reported that "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" had passed it. Still, at any given time, some version of "Yesterday" is probably being broadcast somewhere.

Paul McCartney wrote this song and was the only Beatle to play on it. It was the first time a Beatle recorded without the others, and marked a shift to more independent accomplishments among the group. While John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote The Beatles early songs together, by 1965 most of their songs were primarily written by one or the other, although they continued to credit all their songs Lennon/McCartney.

A string quartet was brought in to play on this. In addition to the strings, this is notable as one of the first Pop songs to use elements of Classical Music.

This was the first Beatles song that could not be reproduced live without additional musicians. When they played it live, including their famous Shea Stadium concert, it was just McCartney with an acoustic guitar.

While touring in Paris, McCartney claims he tumbled out of bed and the tune was in his head. He thought he had heard it somewhere before, and played the melody to different people in the music industry to make sure he wasn't stealing it. The working title was "Scrambled Eggs" until Paul could figure out lyrics.

This was the first Beatles song to capture a mass adult market. Most of their fans were young people to this point, but this song gave the band a great deal of credibility among the older crowd. It also became one of their "Muzak" classics, as companies recorded instrumental versions as soothing background noise for shopping centers and elevators. Another Beatles song that lived on in this form is "Here Comes The Sun."

McCartney wrote some of the lyrics during a 5 hour car trip from Lisbon to Albufeira (in Algarve, south of Portugal), on the 27th of May, 1965, when he was on vacation with Jane Asher. The villa where Paul and Jane stayed was owned by Shadows' guitarist Bruce Welch. Bruce said that when he was packing to leave, Paul asked him if he had a guitar because (Paul) was working on the lyrics since the airport. Said Bruce: "He borrowed my guitar and started playing the song we all now know as 'Yesterday'."

The Beatles performed this on their third live Ed Sullivan Show appearance and on their last tour. For the live appearances, McCartney would play with a prerecorded backing track of strings.

This was one of 5 Beatles songs McCartney performed on his "Wings Over America" tour in 1976.

McCartney had to ask Michael Jackson to use this in his movie Give My Regards to Broadstreet. Jackson outbid McCartney for the publishing rights to The Beatles catalogue, something that fractured their friendship as McCartney counseled Jackson on the value of publishing rights.

McCartney has consistently talked about how easy this song was for him to compose. In describing it, he has said "I did the tune easily and then the words took about 2 weeks."

This song caused a rift between McCartney and Yoko Ono. When The Beatles Anthology album was released, McCartney asked that the writing credit on this read "McCartney/Lennon," since he wrote it. Yoko refused, and it was listed as "Lennon/McCartney," which is how they usually credited songs written by either Beatle (between Please Please Me and With The Beatles, the song credits turned from McCartney/Lennon to Lennon/McCartney). In 2003, McCartney switched the writing credit for the first time when he listed 19 Beatles songs on his Back In The US album as "Paul McCartney and John Lennon." Paul claims he and John made an informal agreement in 1962 regarding the credits, but he had every right to switch it if he chose. Yoko disagreed.

Some of the artists who have covered this song include Boyz II Men, Ray Charles, En Vogue, Marianne Faithfull, Marvin Gaye, Tom Jones, Nana Mouskouri, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, The Supremes, The Toys, Andy Williams, and Tammy Wynette.

This was featured in the 1997 movie Bean, when the title character (played by Rowan Atkinson) sings it with David Langley (played by Peter MacNicol) as they trot home one night.

Paul McCartney's first performance at the Grammys came in 2006. He joined in with Jay-Z and the lead singer of Linkin Park to sing part of the lyrics to this song. Paul also performed "Fine Line" and "Helter Skelter" earlier in the show.

When McCartney played this song, he tuned his guitar one tone lower than usual. On a recording that can be heard on The Beatles Anthology, he explains to the musicians before the song: "I'm in G, but it's F."

John Lennon referenced this song in his anti-McCartney solo effort "How Do You Sleep?" with the lyrics, ''The only thing you've done was yesterday, and since you've gone you're just another day."

Special thanks to http://www.songfacts.com

By: Shahen Gasparyan

The Beatles - Yesterday - Reception


"Yesterday" is the most recorded song in the history of popular music; its entry in Guinness World Records suggests over 1,600 different cover versions to date, by an eclectic mix of artists including Marianne Faithfull, Tose Proeski, The Mamas and the Papas and Barry McGuire, The Seekers, Joan Baez, Donny Hathaway, Michael Bolton, Bob Dylan, Liberace, Frank Sinatra, Matt Monro, Elvis Presley, Ray Charles (1967), Marvin Gaye, Daffy Duck, Jan & Dean, The Sylvers, Wet Wet Wet, Plácido Domingo, The Head Shop, Billy Dean, En Vogue, Muslim Magomayev and Boyz II Men. In 1976, David Essex did a cover version of the song for the ephemeral musical documentary All This and World War II. After Muzak switched in the 1990s to programs based on commercial recordings, Muzak's inventory grew to include about 500 "Yesterday" covers. At the 2006 Grammy Awards, McCartney performed the song live as a mash-up with Linkin Park and Jay-Z's Numb/Encore.

The Beatles - Yesterday - Resemblance to other songs and Release


Resemblance to other songs 
In 2001, Ian Hammond speculated that McCartney subconsciously based "Yesterday" on Ray Charles' version of "Georgia on My Mind", but closed his article by saying that despite the similarities "Yesterday" is a "completely original and individual [work]."

The Beatles - Yesterday - Composition and structure


Ostensibly simple, featuring only McCartney playing an Epiphone Texan steel-string acoustic guitar backed by a string quartet in one of the Beatles' first use of session musicians, "Yesterday" has two contrasting sections, differing in melody and rhythm, producing a sense of disjunction.

The Beatles - Yesterday - Recording



The track was recorded at Abbey Road Studios on 14 June 1965, immediately following the taping of "I'm Down," and four days before McCartney's 23rd birthday. There are conflicting accounts of how the song was recorded, the most quoted one being that McCartney recorded the song by himself, without bothering to involve the other band members.[12] Alternative sources, however, state that McCartney and the other Beatles tried a variety of instruments, including drums and an organ, and that George Martin later persuaded them to allow McCartney to play his Epiphone Texan steel-string acoustic guitar, later on editing-in a string quartet for backup. Regardless, none of the other band members were included in the final recording. However, the song was played with the other members of the band in concert during 1966, in G major instead of F major.

McCartney performed two takes of "Yesterday" on 14 June 1965. Take 2 was deemed better and used as the master take. A string quartet was overdubbed on take 2 and that version was released. Take 1, without the string overdub, was later released on the Anthology 2 compilation. On take 1, McCartney can be heard giving chord changes to George Harrison before starting, but George does not appear to actually play. Take 2 had two lines transposed from the first take: "There's a shadow hanging over me"/"I'm not half the man I used to be", though it seems clear that their order in take 2 was the correct one, because McCartney can be heard, in take 1, suppressing a laugh at his mistake.

George Martin later said:
"It [Yesterday] wasn't really a Beatles record and I discussed this with Brian Epstein: 'You know this is Paul's song... shall we call it Paul McCartney?' He said 'No, whatever we do we are not splitting up the Beatles.'"
[edit]
Chart performanceChart (1965) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 - 1
Norwegian Singles Chart - 1
Australia Singles Chart - 2
German Singles Chart - 6
UK Singles Chart - 8
Austrian Top 40 - 10
Dutch Top 40 - 26
Spanish Singles Chart - 44
Chart (1976) Peak position
UK Singles Chart - 8
Chart (2010) Peak position
Poland (ZPAV) - 5

By: Shahen Gasparyan

The Beatles - Yesterday - More Facts


Released 6 August 1965 (UK)
Recorded 14 June 1965,
EMI Studios, London
Genre Baroque pop
Length 2:03
Label Parlophone
Writer Lennon–McCartney
Producer George Martin
Help! track listing

"Yesterday" is a song originally recorded by The Beatles for their 1965 album Help!. At one time, Guinness World Records cited "Yesterday"  with the most cover versions of any song ever written. The song remains popular today with more than 1,600 recorded cover versions, the first hitting the United Kingdom top 10 three months after the release of Help!. Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI) asserts that it was performed over seven million times in the 20th century alone. The song was not released as a single in the UK at the time of its release in the United States, and thus never gained number 1 single status in that country. However, "Yesterday" was voted the best song of the 20th century in a 1999 BBC Radio 2 poll of music experts and listeners. In 2000, "Yesterday" was voted the #1 Pop song of all time by MTV and Rolling Stone magazine. In 1997, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

The Beatles - Yesterday - Interesting Details and Original Lyrics


Paul woke up one morning in his top floor bedroom at the Asher's home in Wimpole Street with the tune for 'Yesterday' in his head. There

The Beatles - Yesterday - The Beatles Role in Creation of the song


One of Paul McCartney’s most famous tunes, and one in which he was involved in a bitter argument over the rights when he wanted to change the song writing credits of yesterday to read McCartney – Lennon; a dispute that led him to release a list of all of the Beatles Lennon- McCartney compositions that he had been the sole author of.

McCartney woke up one morning with the tune for yesterday in his head, he jumped out of bed and played it instantly on his piano, and although yesterday had no lyrics at this stage he could hardly believe that he had the complete tune and is quoted as saying “It was just all there, A complete thing, I couldn’t believe it”.

Because of the way that Paul had dreamt up the song he was very concerned that it may have been a tune that he had heard previously and had got subconsciously into his head; he therefore spent the next month driving people mad by asking them if they had heard the tune to yesterday before.

The original title of the song was going to be “scrambled eggs’ and contained the lyrics “Scrambled eggs, oh you’ve got such lovely legs”. He used to practice the song relentlessly as he loved it so, but it took many weeks until he came up with the lyrics to yesterday whilst on holiday with Jane Asher in Portugal .

One of the interesting things about the song is that Paul is the only member of the Beatles who records on the track; he is joined by a string quartet. Paul plays both the piano and acoustic guitar on the yesterday track.

Beatles role in the making of Yesterday
John Lennon : Did not play a part in the recording of yesterday.

Paul McCartney: Vocals, Acoustic guitar.

George Harrison : Did not play a part.

Ringo Starr : Did not play a part.

Session Musicians: String Quartet

(http://www.beatleslyrics.eu)

By: Shahen Gasparyan

The Beatles -Yesterday - In the Studio and Legacy


In the Studio

Initial recording for Yesterday took place on 14 June 1965, after the band completed I've Just Seen A Face and I'm Down. Paul McCartney  recorded his guitar and vocals simultaneously in just two takes.

After attempting an unrecorded arrangement of Yesterday with John Lennon on Hammond organ, George Martin suggested to McCartney that they use a string quartet - a first for The Beatles.

The Beatles-Yesterday-The Story Behind the Song


Written by:
Lennon-McCartney
Recorded: 14, 17 June 1965
Producer: George Martin
Engineer: Norman Smith

Released: 6 August 1965 (UK), 13 September 1965 (US)

Paul McCartney: vocals, guitar
Tony Gilbert: violin
Sidney Sax: violin
Kenneth Essex: viola
Francisco Gabarro: cello

Available on:
Help!
1
Anthology 2
Love

Written by Paul McCartney, Yesterday holds the record as the most covered song in history, according to the Guinness Book of Records.


Friday, August 26, 2011

The Beatles - When I'm 64 - Lyrics and 64 tributes to the song


When I'm Sixty Four

When I get older, losing my hair
many years from now,
will you still be sending me a valentine,
birthday greetings, bottle of wine?

If I'd been out till quarter to three,
would you lock the door?
Will you still need me, will you still feed me,
when I'm sixty four? Ooh

You'll be older too.
Ah, and if you say the word,
I could stay with you.

I could be handy mending a fuse
when your lights have gone.
You can knit a sweater by the fireside,
Sunday mornings, go for a ride.

Doing the garden, digging the weeds,
who could ask for more?
Will you still need me, will you still feed me,
when I'm sixty four?

Ev'ry summer we can rent a cottage
in the Isle of Wight if it's not too dear.
We shall scrimp and save.
Grandchildren on your knee;
Vera, Chuck and Dave.

Send me a postcard, drop me a line,
stating point of view.
Indicate precisely what you mean to say,
yours sincerely, wasting away.

Give me your answer, fill in a form,
mine forevermore.
Will you still need me, will you still feed me,
when I'm sixty four? Ho!

And the promised surprise:


64 (sixty-four!) tributes to the song performed by various artists all over the world. Enjoy!

Download:


By: Shahen Gasparyan
 

The Beatles - When I'm 64 - Songfacts


Paul McCartney wrote the music for this when he was about 15, and used to play it when The Beatles were still known as The Quarrymen. He put lyrics to it later in honor of his father's 64th birthday.

McCartney wrote and sang the lead vocals on this song which asks if a woman will still be with him when he got older, when he was 64 years old. On May 17, 2006, Paul and his then wife, Heather Mills, separated, finalizing the divorce in 2008. McCartney turned 64 on June 18, 2006, so the answer to his musical question with regards to Mills, would be no.

John Lennon said of this: "I would never even dream of writing a song like that."

George Martin arranged this in the style of a 1920's big band, which came to be known as "retro-rock."

McCartney's vocal was sped-up a bit to add to the effect.

This was the first song recorded for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

This was used in the Robin Williams movie The World According to Garp.

This was a favorite of The Beatles at their early club shows, where they were required to play for hours. When their amps overheated, they would sing this around the piano.

Julian Lennon, John's son, recorded a version of this that was used in 2002 commercials for Allstate insurance. This was not typical of Julian, who usually shied away from his father's legacy.

The title is also the name of a BBC television show starring Paul Freeman and Alun Armstrong as two older men who fall in love with each other.

A reference to this song appeared in the movie Shanghai Knights, starring Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson. In the scene where Roy O'Bannon (Wilson) is fantasizing about his future family and life with Chon Lin, he mentions his kids' names: "Vera, Chuck, and Dave."

In opening scenes of the 2007 musical Across The Universe, the main character, Jude, has his  ticket stamped to New York by an elderly man who says that he would have left the city sooner when he was young, but he is now 64 and still working at the shipyard. It's a definite reference to McCartney's song that didn't make it into the movie, which features only Beatles songs.
(www.songfacts.com)

By: Shahen Gasparyan

The Beatles - When I'm 64 - Cultural References


The song accompanies the "Sea of Time" sequence in the film Yellow Submarine.

In a 1996 episode of the sitcom Goodnight Sweetheart, time travelling main character Gary Sparrow teaches the song to novelty song singer George Formby in 1942. Formby intends to perform it live at a concert the following evening, possibly changing the course of history, but is unable to perform due to a drunken injury.

McCartney's children recorded a special version of "When I'm Sixty-Four" at Abbey Road Studios as a surprise present for McCartney's 64th birthday, and played it for him at his birthday party. They changed the lyrics to fit the occasion with the help of Giles Martin.

The song is referenced in the 2007 comedy Walk Hard where in a humorous scene involving a fight  between The Beatles, John Lennon (played by actor Paul Rudd) says to Paul McCartney (played by actor Jack Black), "I wonder if your songs will still be shit when I'm 64."

In the film Across the Universe, the shipyard employee that gives Jude his paycheck says he thought he'd be doing something different when he was sixty-four, a reference to the song "When I'm Sixty-Four."

The song is referenced in the 2003 film Shanghai Knights, when Owen Wilson's character talks about  his future. He mentions descendants named Vera, Chuck, and Dave.

The song was parodied on the British puppet show Spitting Image as it was called "When You're 65" showing an elderly couple being made fun at by younger people, then the old man loses his wife as she fades away.

By: Shahen Gasparyan

The Beatles - When I'm 64 - Cover Versions

In 1967 Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen single: When I'm Sixty Four/Goodnight Irene (reached #43 in the  UK charts).
In 1969, John Denver recorded a version for his album Rhymes & Reasons.
In 1976, Keith Moon recorded a version for the evanescent musical documentary All This and World  War II.
In the 1978 film, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Frankie Howard and Sandy Farina sing the song.

The Beatles - When I'm 64 - Composition, Instrumentation and Recording



The Beatles - When I'm 64 - The Story Behind the Song


Written by: Lennon-McCartney
Recorded: 6, 8, 20, 21 December 1966
Producer: George Martin
Engineer: Geoff Emerick

Released: 1 June 1967 (UK), 2 June 1967 (US)

Paul McCartney: vocals, piano, bass
John Lennon: backing vocals, guitar
George Harrison: backing vocals
Ringo Starr: drums, chimes
Robert Burns, Henry MacKenzie, Frank Reidy: clarinets

Available on:
Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Yellow Submarine Songtrack


The first of the Sgt Pepper songs to be recorded, When I'm Sixty-Four was originally intended to  be the b-side to Strawberry Fields Forever.

The song dates back to The Beatles' earliest days. Paul McCartney had composed it on the family piano at 20 Forthlin Road, Liverpool "when I was about 15".

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Unchained Melody - Uses in Media



The enduring popularity of the song has led to it being used on a number of different forms of media.

"Unchained Melody" reappeared on the Billboard charts in 1990 after The Righteous Brothers' recording was used in the box office blockbuster film Ghost. Two versions charted in the US that year. There was the reissue of the 1965 original Righteous Brothers single which received a lot of airplay, but sales were minimal since it was only available as a 45 RPM single. This version peaked at #13. There was also a 1990 re-recording of the song which was available only as a cassette single. The re-recorded version saw minimal airplay, but excellent sales. It peaked at #19. For eight weeks, both versions were on the Hot 100 simultaneously. This re-release of the song topped the U.S. adult contemporary chart for two weeks in 1990. It reached #1 for the fifth time in the UK, becoming the UK's top selling single of 1990; it also later reached #1 in Australia, staying at number-one for seven weeks through November 1990 and into January 1991. The song would also appear in the comedy film The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear in 1991, in which the pottery wheel scene from Ghost was parodied.

The song later appeared in a Ford Fiesta commercial featuring two German engineers moulding a car together, in a parody of Ghost.

The song is included on the karaoke games Karaoke Revolution Volume 3 and the US version of SingStar Legends. It features in the animated film "Happy Feet", released in 2006.

This song is also used by Bubbles in Trailer Park Boys when Julian is about to shoot Conky, in reference to his obsession with Patrick Swayze.

By: Shahen Gasparyan

Unchained Melody - Television shows




The song has become a favorite among auditioners for TV singing contests. It has often been said by Simon Cowell to be his favorite song, leading it to be a favourite among those hoping to impress him in auditions for Pop Idol, American Idol, and The X Factor. It was performed on the original series of Pop Idol by runner-up Gareth Gates, who later released it as a single. It was also sung on Australian Idol by finalist Dan England and 2006's winner Damien Leith, and on American Idol by George Trice in Season 2, Kellie Pickler on Season 5 Top 6 Love Songs Week, for which she was eliminated, Clay Aiken during the Season 2 Top 3 finals, after which he advanced to the Top 2 (finals), and Lauren Alaina on American Idol (season 10).

By: Shahen Gasparyan

Unchained Melody - Country Music Versions








Four different versions of the song have made the Hot Country Songs charts: Joe Stampley (#41, 1975), Elvis Presley (#6, 1978), Ronnie McDowell (#26, 1991) and LeAnn Rimes (#3, 1997). Rimes's version of the song was only available as a bonus single to copies of her album Blue that were sold at Target stores during the 1996 Christmas season.

By: Shahen Gasparyan

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Unchained Melody (The Righteous Brothers)


Undoubtedly the most popular version was recorded by the Righteous Brothers in 1965.

Unchained Melody by The Righteous Brothers is one of the most requested love songs on radios of the world. This song didn’t start out like most people think. Check out how Unchained Melody was born…

Unchained Melody (Other Versions)


In 1955, The Goons produced a comic version of the song, sung in an inappropriately upbeat manner (and with as few added "ying-tongs") by Peter Sellers, in character as "Bluebottle."

Unchained Melody (Early versions)


Todd Duncan sang the vocals for the film soundtrack. Les Baxter (Capitol Records catalog number 3055), released an instrumental version which reached #2. Al Hibbler followed close behind with a vocal version (Decca Records catalog number 29441) that reached #3 on the Billboard charts. He was followed soon after by Jimmy Young, whose version hit #1 on the British charts. Roy Hamilton's version (Epic Records catalog number 9102) reached number one on the R&B Best Sellers list and #6 on the pop chart. June Valli recorded the song on March 15, 1955 and it was released by RCA Victor Records as catalog number 20-6078, with the flip side "Tomorrow" and took it to #29. Gene Vincent and his Blue Caps recorded it for their second album in 1956 — Vincent's version is played at mid-tempo and features a tremolo picking guitar part. It is also probably the most unusual cover version, as the bridge was omitted. Harry Belafonte sang it at the 1956 Academy Awards where it was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song of 1955. (Belafonte had also made a recording of the song for RCA Victor Records, which was released as catalog number 20-6784, with the flip side "A-Roving.") In 1963, an uptempo, doo-wop version hit the regional charts (eastern U.S.) by Vito & the Salutations, eventually becoming part of the soundtrack for Goodfellas in 1990. Perry Como recorded the song in 1955, and English jazz musician Cliff Townshend of The Squadronaires also released a popular version in 1956.

The song regained popularity when another version was produced by Phil Spector in 1965, credited to The Righteous Brothers, but performed as a solo by Bobby Hatfield, who later recorded versions credited solely to him. This version climbed to #4 on the charts. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unchained_Melody).

By: Shahen Gasparyan

Monday, August 8, 2011

Unchained Melody (The Movie)


In 1955, Alex North and lyricist HyZaret were contracted to write a song as a theme for the obscure prison film Unchained and their song eventually became known as the "Unchained Melody". The song doesn't actually include the word "unchained", and songwriter Zaret chose instead to focus his lyrics on someone who pines for a lover he hasn't seen in a "long, lonely time". The 1955 film centers around a man who contemplates either escaping from prison, to live life on the run, or completing his sentence and returning to his wife and family.The lyrics note, "Lonely rivers sigh, ' Wait for me... I'll be coming home; wait for me'...".Unable to see them for years, he pleas, "I need your love, God speed your love to me".

Oh, my love
my darling
I've hungered for your touch
a long lonely time
and time goes by so slowly
and time can do so much
are you still mine?
I need your love
I need your love
Godspeed your love to me

Lonely rivers flow to the sea,
to the sea
to the open arms of the sea
lonely rivers sigh 'wait for me, wait for me'
I'll be coming home wait for me

Oh, my love
my darling
I've hungered for your touch
a long lonely time
and time goes by so slowly
and time can do so much
are you still mine?
I need your love
I need your love
Godspeed your love to me
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Quote from the movie:

You can lock them in "The Hole"...put them on bread and water...use the bull-whip and the black-jack...but they're still men...with a man's longings! THE STORY OF CHINO PRISON, CALIFORNIA WHICH DID SOMETHING ABOUT IT...TOLD HOW IT HAPPENED...WHERE IT HAPPENED!

"If trouble starts, it'll make Chino another San Quentin and any man can start it!"
 (thanks to http://walkingpath.multiply.com/journal/item/1188/UnChained_Melody_the_history_before_the_Righteous_Brothers)

With Todd Duncan singing the vocals, the song was nominated for an Oscar in 1955, but the Best-Song award went to the hit song "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing."

Unchained Melody (History)

William Stirrat, aka Hy Zaret, was 16 when he wrote lyrics about Mary Louise "Cookie" Pierce. He was 16 years old and infatuated with "the prettiest girl in my neighborhood."  He remembers well the frustration of being too shy to act on his feelings - the stuttered response when she spoke to him, the frozen reaction when she smiled at him.  "Now, I think she was in love with me, too, but I was too shy to do anything or even talk to her," Stirrat says 67 years later. So the romantic teenager wrote about his need and his longing and then went on with his life, a life full of real and enduring relationships, engaging work, travel and recognition for accomplishments other than song writing. But all along, there was an unchained melody running through his life.   Cookie, it seemed, had married someone else.

 "The way I felt about Cookie was over in my mind when I heard that she had married the best catch in town," he said, adding, "I read about it in the papers. It was hard." And it wasn’t the girl, Mary Louise "Cookie" Pierce, that haunted his life, it was the song.

Stirrat wrote the words to "Unchained Melody" in 1936 when he was on a summer scholarship at Yaddo’s Triuna Arts of the Theatre School. It was there that he met North, who composed the music.   North, a composer and accompanist for a modern dancer at the time, was on the staff.

"I pestered him and pestered him to compose a piano copy for me. Finally, he told me that he had music for a song.  Basically, I sang the words and he guided me with what he wanted for the music. You might say I sang the song under his guidance," Stirrat said.

 When he and North were working on the song, Stirrat hoped that Bing Crosby would sing it since he was a neighbor.  "I’d spoken to Bing Crosby’s wife so I thought it was a good connection. I styled it for him, you know, his songs had a dip at the end," the lyricist said.   When that plan did not work out, Stirrat told North that he wanted Duke Ellington’s orchestra to record it.  It took 19 years, but they finally got Al Hibbler, who been Ellington’s vocalist, to record the song, Stirrat said.

"I never met anybody that didn’t believe I wrote that song, but another Hy Zaret who was a close friend of the lawyer that was representing the publisher, was collecting royalties," he said.   Stirrat said he had given up on the song when nothing happened with it between 1936 and 1955.   "In 1941, I signed documents authorizing Alex to use the song in a motion picture, so in 1955 when it was used in ‘Unchained,’ I didn’t even know about it," he said.
 
Alex North went on to become successful scoring Hollywood movies.  "Over his lifetime, North had been nominated about 13 times for an Oscar. They finally gave him one, an honorary one," Stirrat said. (Materials used from http://www.dansher.com/unchained/unchained.html).


It is very strange, that CBCNews, writing about the death of Hy Zaret, mentioned Hyman Harry Zaritsky as his real name. The 99-year-old songwriter died Monday at home in Connecticut. He was about a month shy of his 100th birthday (http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/music/story/2007/07/03/unchained-melody-obit.html).


Unchained Melody (The Story Behind the Song)




 "Unchained Melody" is one of the most romantic compositions in the world. According to BBC News (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/3246887.stm), it is also one of the most recorded songs of the 20th century, by some counts having spawned over 500 versions in hundreds of different languages and according to US music website Allmusic has been released on record 697 times (!).

According to official version,  in 1955, musician Alex North and lyricist Hy Zaret were contracted to write a song as a theme for the obscure prison film Unchained, and their song eventually became known as the "Unchained Melody." The song doesn't actually include the word "unchained", and songwriter Zaret chose instead to focus his lyrics on someone who pines for a lover he hasn't seen in a "long, lonely time."



Friday, August 5, 2011

VA - Unchained Melody CD4 (2008)


Artist: VA

Title: Unchained Melody CD4
Genre: Pop
Release: 2008
Tracks: 24
Format: VBR MP3(~192kbps)
Quality: 41000KHZ / Joint-STEREO
Size: 112 mb

Track List

CD4 (Instrumental)

01. Bert Kaempfert - Unchained Melody
02. James Galway - Unchained Melody
03. Hank Snow & Chat Atkins - Unchained Melody
04. Arthur Fiedler - Unchained Melody
05. Liberace - Unchained Melody
06. Duane Eddy - Unchained Melody
07. Henry Mancini - Unchained Melody
08. Richard Clayderman - Unchained Melody
09. Alex North - Unchained Melody
10. Los Indios Tabajaras - Unchained Melody
11. Annunzio Paolo Mantovanii - Unchained Melody
12. Kenny G - Unchained Melody
13. Floyd Cramer - Unchained Melody
14. Acker Bilk - Unchained Melody
15. Unknown Artist - Unchained Melody
16. Paul Mauriat - Unchained Melody
17. Chet Atkins - Unchained Melody
18. Fausto Papetti - Unchained Melody
19. DJ Mystic - Unchained Melody
20. Claire Shannon - Unchained Melody
21. Marc G. Quintilla - Unchained Melody
22. Gheorghe Zamfir - Unchained Melody
23. The Ventures - Unchained Melody
24. VA - Unchained Melody

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VA - Unchained Melody CD3 (2008)


Artist: VA
Title: Unchained Melody CD3
Genre: Pop
Release: 2008
Tracks: 21
Format: VBR MP3(~192kbps)
Quality: 41000KHZ / Joint-STEREO
Size: 112 mb

Track List


CD3 (VOCAL)

01 - Flying Saucers - Unchained Melody
02 - Cameos - Unchained Melody
03 - Shock Therapy - Unchained Melody
04 - Matt Monro - Unchained Melody
05 - Rockapella - Unchained Melody
06 - Il Divo - Unchained Melody
07 - Roy Richards - Unchained Melody
08 - Amici Forever - Senza Catene (Unchained Melody)
09 - Vince Taylor - Unchained Melody
10 - Neil Diamond - Unchained Melody
11 - The Pacemakers - Unchained Melody
12 - Greyhound - Unchained Melody
13 - Jerry Vale - Unchained Melody
14 - Los Catinos - Melodia Encadenada (Unchained Melody)
15 - Barry Manilow - Unchained Melody
16 - Cliff Richard & The Shadows - Unchained Melody
17 - Justin Guarini - Unchained Melody
18 - Jaguars - Unchained melody
19 - John Gary - Unchained Melody
20 - The Wailers - Unchained Melody
21 - Frankie Vaughan - Unchained Melody

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Thursday, August 4, 2011

VA - Unchained Melody CD2 (2008)


Artist: VA
Title: Unchained Melody CD2
Genre: Pop
Release: 2008
Tracks: 23
Format: VBR MP3(~192kbps)
Quality: 41000KHZ / Joint-STEREO
Size: 112 mb

Track List


CD 2 (VOCAL)

01. Blackwells - Unchained Melody
02. Gareth Gates - Unchained Melody
03. Jimmy Zambo - Nagy ut var ram (Unchained Melody)
04. Marvin Brother - Unchained Melody
05. Frankie Knight - Unchained Melody
06. Al Martino - Unchained Melody
07. Clay Aiken - Unchained Melody
08. Barbershop Quartet - Unchained Melody
09. Natalie Powers - Unchained Melody (Almighty Mix)
10. June Valli - Unchained Melody
11. Engelbert Humperdinck - Unchained Melody
12. The Salutations - Unchained Melody
13. Jo Dolan - Unchained Melody
14. Sanchez - Unchained Melody
15. Gerry & The Pacemakers - Unchained Melody
16. Iva Zanicchi - Senza Catene (Unchained Melody)
17. Rosa Lopez - Unchained Melody
18. The Manhattan Transfer - Unchained Melody
19. Jimmy Young - Unchained Melody
20. Tom Jones - Unchained Melody
21. Les Bel Air - Mon seul amour (Unchained Melody)
22. Buzz Clifford - Unchained Melody
23. Perry Como - Unchained Melody

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Monday, August 1, 2011

VA - Unchained Melody - CD1 (2008)






Artist: VA
Title: Unchained Melody CD1
Genre: Pop
Release: 2008
Tracks: 24
Format: VBR MP3(~192kbps)
Quality:  41000KHZ / Joint-STEREO
Size: 112 mb

Track List

CD 1 (VOCAL)

01. The Righteous Brothers - Unchained Melody
02. Captain & Tennille - Unchained Melody
03. Roger Whittaker - Unchained Melody
04. Foster Allen - Unchained Melody
05. Pat Boone - Unchained Melody
06. Verebes Rudolf - Unchained Melody
07. The Browns - Unchained Melody
08. Air Supply - Unchained Melody
09. Dread Zeppelin - Unchained Melody
10. Tielman Brothers - Unchained Melody
11. Roy Hamilton - Unchained Melody
12. Al Hibbler - Unchained Melody
13. Leo Sayer - Unchained Melody
14. The Drifters - Unchained Melody
15. Johnny Maestro - Unchained Melody
16. Les Baxter - Unchained Melody
17. Sam Cooke - Unchained Melody
18. Andy Williams - Unchained Melody
19. Merri Gail - Unchained Melody
20. Bobby Vinton - Unchained Melody
21. Eddie Lovette - Unchained Melody
22. Marty Robbins - Unchained Melody
23. Inner Circle - Unchained Melody
24. U2 - Unchained Melody


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