The Bert Berns Story Volume 1: Twist & Shout 1960-1964
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Music CD Cover
Performer: Various ArtistsEdition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Import
CD Release Date: 2008-01-29
Music Label: Ace Records UK
Soundtracks:
- Push Push - AUSTIN TAYLOR
- Lighted Windows - HOAGY LANDS
- A Little Bit Of Soap - THE JARMELS
- You'd Better Come Home - RUSSELL BYRD
- Pour It On - SAMMY TURNER
- I Should Have Listened - LITTLE JIMMY DEE
- Cry To Me - SOLOMON BURKE
- Tell Her - GIL HAMILTON
- Twist And Shout - THE ISLEY BROTHERS
- If I Didn't Have A Dime (To Play The Jukebox) - GENE PITNEY
- Pencil & Paper - RUTH McFADDEN
- Gypsy - BEN E. KING
- Hold On Baby - THE HOCKADAYS
- You Can't Love 'Em All - MEL TORME
- Come On And Stop - MARV JOHNSON
- I'll Be A Liar - BETTY HARRIS
- You Can't Run Away From Me - THE WANDERERS
- Moment Of Weakness - JIMMY RADCLIFFE
- Look Away - GARNET MIMMS
- One Way Love - THE DRIFTERS
- You Can Count On Me - ROY HAMILTON
- My Girl Sloopy - THE VIBRATIONS
- Mo Jo Hannah - LITTLE ESTHER PHILLIPS
- Killer Joe - THE ROCKY FELLERS
- Baby Let Me Take You Home - THE MUSTANGS
- Here Comes The Night - LULU
Free Music Notes for The Bert Berns Story Volume 1: Twist & Shout 1960-1964
Free Music Review: A Most Prolific 1960s Song-Writer And Producer
Hit: 5 Stars
Some may come across this volume while searching for a specific song and ask themselves, "who is Bert Berns?" Well, to put it succinctly, Bertrand Russell Berns, born on November 8, 1929 in the Bronx was, quite simply, one of THE most prolific songwriters of his era, which was the 1960s, and who also became a renowned producer in addition to forming his own labels, Bang Records and Shout Records in 1965. This after having been a nightclub Mambo dancer, including a period in pre-Castro Cuba. He did it all in the span of a life cut short by his death from heart failure at age 38 on December 30, 1967 following life-long complications due to having rheumatic fever in his younger years.
At one time operating out of the famous Brill Building, and known variously as Bert Russell and Russell Byrd, his compositions (some of them co-written with others) began to turn up on a wide variety of labels starting in late 1960 when Push Push became a very minor # 90 Billboard Hot 100 hit for Austin (aka Ted) Taylor on the Laurie label. And in May 1961 he recorded his only charted hit as a performer when You'd Better Come Home made it to # 50 H100 on the Wand label, billed to "Russell Byrd." Of course, not all his tunes were charted hits. In fact, 15 of the 26 tracks included here were not hits for the artists concerned, but some among these eight that are included (besides Push Push and You'd Better Come Home) are the most memorable from that time period:
A Little Bit Of Soap, the only hit for The Jarmels which reached # 12 H100 in the summer of 1961, again on Laurie; Cry To Me, a # 5 R&B/# 44 H100 for Solomon Burke in March 1962 on Atlantic (where Berns would replace Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller as staff producer); Twist And Shout, a # 2 R&B/# 17 H100 for The Isley Brothers in summer 1962 on Wand, and first recorded in 1961 by The Top Notes for Atlantic and later covered by The Beatles in 1964 (# 2 H100 on Tollie); If I Didn't Have A Dime (To Play The Juke Box) by Gene Pitney, which became a # 58 H100 in September 1962 on Musicor; I'll Be A Liar by Betty Harris and the uncharted flip of her fall 1963 hit version of Cry To Me on Jubilee; Killer Joe by The Rocky Fellers (# 16 H100 in May 1963 on Scepter); My Girl Sloopy by The Vibrations, which peaked at # 26 H100 in April 1964 on Atlantic and which would be covered in 1965 by Little Caesar & The Consuls (# 50 H100 on Mala) and as Hang On Sloopy by The McCoys (# 1 H100 on Bang) and The Ramsey Lewis Trio (# 6 R&B/# 11 H100 on Cadet); One Way Love by The Drifters, a # 56 H100 in May 1964 on Atlantic; and Look Away by Garnet Mimms, a # 73 H100 in October 1964 on United Artists note that Billboard had suspended the R&B charts from late 1963 and all of 1964).
As a producer he can claim Baby I'm Yours and Make Me Your Baby by Barbara Lewis, Under the Boardwalk and Saturday Night At The Movies by The Drifters, Solomon Burke's Cry To Me and Everybody Needs Somebody to Love, and Hello Walls by Little Esther Phillips, among many more, including a stint in the U.K. where he produced Here Comes the Night, Baby Please Don't Go and Gloria by the Northern Ireland group Them, which featured Van Morrison, and several offerings by Lulu (Marie Lawrie). For his labels Bang and Shout (more or less offshoots of Atlantic), he featured, in addition to The McCoys mentioned above, Neil Diamond (Solitary Man and Cherry Cherry), Van Morrison (Brown Eyed Girl), Erma Franklin (Piece of My Heart, later covered by Big Brother And The Holding Company, featuring Janis Joplin), The Strangeloves (I Want Candy) and Freddie Scott (Are You Lonely For Me Baby?).
A piece of musical history brought to you by Ace Records of London, one of the best in the business (see their fabulous Golden Age Of American Rock `n' Roll and Teen Beat series), complete with voluminous liner notes, discography of the contents, and perfect sound quality. Encouraging, too, is that they have labeled this Volume 1, which probably means a second release is being compiled.
The Bert Berns Story Volume 1: Twist & Shout 1960-1964 Poster
2008 addition to Ace Records' Producer Series saluting the work of a man who sang, wrote and/or produced some of the greatest Rock and Soul music of the '60s. During what was a relatively short career, tragically ended by a heart attack on New Year's Eve 1967, Berns created the original versions of such perennials as 'Twist And Shout', 'Hang On Sloopy', 'Piece Of My Heart', 'Brown Eyed Girl', 'Here Comes The Night' and numerous other Hall Of Fame hits. So many important records bear the Berns imprint in some way that it's not possible to fit the best of them on just one CD. This first volume covers 1960-64 and is released to coincide with the 40th anniversary of Bert's untimely death. 26 tracks including cuts from Austin Taylor, Solomon Burke, Ben E. King, The Drifters, Lulu and many others.Pop Music CDs
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