A compendium of musical delights by Alan and Margaret Ashworth
Written by Gerry Goffin and Jack Keller, this was the 1961 follow-up to Take Good Care of My Baby, which I wrote about here. https://am-records.com/2020/03/30/bobby-vee-take-good-care-of-my-baby/ It got to No 2 in the US … Continue readingBobby Vee: Run to Him
Co-written by Vinton and Gene Allen, this was released on Vinton’s first album Roses are Red in 1962, but was given to Buddy Greco to release as a single. It reached No … Continue readingBobby Vinton: Mr Lonely
This was written by Tony Macaulay and John MacLeod and was the Foundations’ debut single in 1967, topping the UK chart and reaching No 11 in the States. This video … Continue readingThe Foundations: Baby Now That I’ve Found You
ONE clear sign that spring is on the way is the sight of jackdaws peering into chimneys, prospecting for nest sites. Jackdaws (Corvus monedula)are smaller than their cousins rooks and crows, … Continue readingBeware, jackdaws at work
This was written by Sylvia Fricker in 1962. She and her husband-to-be Ian Tyson, performing as Ian and Sylvia, recorded it for their 1964 album Northern Journey. In 1965 it was … Continue readingCrispian St Peters: You Were On My Mind
This was written and first recorded by John D. Loudermilk in 1960. It was not a hit. Mickie Most produced a more raucous version by the Nashville Teens in 1964, … Continue readingNashville Teens: Tobacco Road
This was written by Motown’s main team Holland-Dozier-Holland and was the follow-up to the group’s 1966 chart-topper Reach Out I’ll Be There. It got to No 6 in America in 1967 and No … Continue readingThe Four Tops: Standing in the Shadows of Love
This was recorded in 1978 at the height of the group’s fame but not released until the following year, on their sixth studio album Voulez-Vous. It was released in Britain as a … Continue readingAbba: Angel Eyes
THE online BBC weather forecast is not at all reliable round here. One of the things that annoys me is that the summary at the top of the page is … Continue readingWithin these (two-foot-thick) walls
In tribute to the Supremes’ Mary Wilson, who has died at the age of 76, here is the group’s seventh No 1 in America. I have never been a big … Continue readingThe Supremes: You Can’t Hurry Love