True Love Ways

Yesterday I presented a Chuck Berry remake as my forgotten oldie.  It seemed like a good idea for today as well, but today I chose a Buddy Holly song, re-recorded by Peter & Gordon, and a hit for the British Duo in 1965.  The song was a million seller, reaching #14 on the hot 100.  It's also been covered by many, many artists from Joan Jett to Jackson Browne.  The song is also a favorite first song at weddings... perhaps the only venue where it's not a forgotten oldie.
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Maybellene

With the death of Chuck Berry last week, a lot of the songs he wrote have been getting airplay.  But one song seems to be ignored, or forgotten.  "Maybellene" was Berry's first hit record in 1955 reaching #5 on the hot 100.  The song has been covered by several artists even on the country charts.  My favorite version was a hit in 1964 for Johnny Rivers.  The Johnny Rivers version climbed to #12 on the charts and would have been bigger except for the British Invasion.  Today, it's another forgotten oldie.
watch Johnny do the song on American Bandstand here.

Bee Gees

In 1967 the Bee Gees broke onto the American scene with two top twenty hits in a row, a month apart.  The first song was "the New York Mining Disaster", the second was "To Love Somebody". I remember when I first heard To Love Somebody, and what a great song it was.  I thought another British act had arrived, but of course they're Australian.  I also thought it was their first USA hit, because I totally missed the first song.  Anyway, to me it's what started them rolling, but today just another forgotten oldie.
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Keith Relf and the Yardbirds

Today is Keith Relf's birthday.  The talented member of the British band The Yardbirds was lead singer on all the great Yardbirds' hits and contributed in many other ways.  Born 3/22/43, Relf added a number of tasty licks on harmonica to many Yardbirds' songs.  The 1965 song "I'm A Man", a 1965 remake of a Bo Diddley hit, reached the top 20 and features Keith Relf harmonica work throughout the song.  Relf died in an accident at home in 1976, but in tribute today's forgotten oldie is I'm A Man... by Keith and the Yardbirds.
Watch the song performed here

Gene Pitney

A huge star in the USA, Gene Pitney was an even bigger star in the UK.  He scored 16 top 40 hits in America, but had 22 in Britain.  He was huge before the British Invasion, and was able to continue making hits during and after the Beatles.  An interesting guy, Pitney played piano on several Rolling Stones records and never accepted credit or made a penny for it, he just liked hanging with the Stones.  In 1962, Pitney went to #4 on the hot 100 with "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" a song about a John Wayne/Jimmy Stewart movie.  And amazingly, the song never appeared in the movie.  Anyway, it's a great song... forgotten today.
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Sky Pilot

In 1968, Eric Burdon and the New Animals scored their last top twenty hit with the song Sky Pilot.  Because the song was nearly eight minutes long, side A was Part One, side B was Part Two.  The song climbed to #14 on the hot 100 and is a classic... and extremely unusual, a great example of psychedelic rock.  Today the song is a forgotten oldie.
watch the whole song here

Something In The Air

Thunderclap Newman was a one hit wonder from England, formed by Pete Townsend of The Who.  Even though their great song "Something In The Air" only peaked at #37 in the USA in 1969, it was a #1 hit in England, a top 20 cover hit for Tom Petty, and has been on dozens of TV shows and commercials, as well as movies.  But the song is forgotten as a record... so we only hear it when it comes out on another commercial and we all say "Oh Yeah, I love this song!"
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