Best Songs that Shaped Rock n Roll (Part Two)

Purple Haze: Jimi Hendrix Experience is a song written by Jimi Hendrix and released as the second record single by the Jimi Hendrix Experience on March 17, 1967. As a record chart hit in several countries and the opening number on the Experience’s debut American album, it was many people’s first exposure to Hendrix’s psychedelic rock sound.

The song features his inventive guitar playing, which uses the signature Hendrix chord and a mix of blues and Eastern modalities, shaped by novel sound processing techniques. Because of ambiguities in the lyrics, listeners often interpret the song as referring to a psychedelic experience, although Hendrix described it as a love song.

“Purple Haze” is one of Hendrix’s best-known songs and appears on many Hendrix compilation albums. The song featured regularly in concerts and each of Hendrix’s group configurations issued live recordings. It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and is included on lists of the greatest guitar songs, including at number two by Rolling Stone and number one by Q magazine.

Rock Around the Clock: Bill Haley and His Comets is a rock and roll song in the 12-bar blues format written by Max C. Freedman and James E. Myers (the latter under the pseudonym “Jimmy De Knight”) in 1952. The best-known and most successful rendition was recorded by Bill Haley & His Comets in 1954 for American Decca. It was a number one single on both the US and UK charts and also re-entered the UK Singles Chart in the 1960s and 1970s.

It was not the first rock and roll record, nor was it the first successful record of the genre (Bill Haley had American chart success with “Crazy Man, Crazy” in 1953, and in 1954, “Shake, Rattle and Roll” sung by Big Joe Turner reached No. 1 on the Billboard R&B chart). Haley’s recording nevertheless became an anthem for rebellious 1950s youth[7] and is widely considered to be the song that, more than any other, brought rock and roll into mainstream culture around the world. The song is ranked No. 158 on the Rolling Stone magazine’s list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Although first recorded by Italian-American band Sonny Dae and His Knights on March 20, 1954,[8] the more famous version by Bill Haley & His Comets is not, strictly speaking, a cover version. Myers claimed the song had been written specifically for Haley but, for various reasons, Haley was unable to record it himself until April 12, 1954.

The original full title of the song was “We’re Gonna Rock Around the Clock Tonight!”. This was later shortened to “(We’re Gonna) Rock Around the Clock”, though this form is generally only used on releases of the 1954 Bill Haley Decca Records recording; most other recordings of this song by Haley and others (including Sonny Dae) shorten this title further to “Rock Around the Clock”.

Beat It: Michael Jackson is a song written and performed by American singer Michael Jackson and produced by Quincy Jones (with co-production by Jackson). It is the third single from the singer’s sixth solo album, Thriller (1982). Following the successful chart performances of the Thriller singles “The Girl Is Mine” and “Billie Jean”, “Beat It” was released on February 3, 1983 as the album’s third single. The song was promoted with a short film that featured Jackson bringing two gangs together through the power of music and dance.

“Beat It” received the Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Best Male Rock Vocal Performance, as well as two American Music Awards. It was inducted into the Music Video Producers Hall of Fame. The single, along with its music video, propelled Thriller into becoming the best-selling album of all time. The single was certified platinum in the United States in 1989. Rolling Stone placed “Beat It” on the 344th spot of its list of “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time”. The song was also ranked number 81 on Rolling Stone’s “100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time”.

You’ve Got a Friend: James Taylor is a 1971 song written by Carole King. It was first recorded by King, and included in her album Tapestry. Another well-known version is by James Taylor from his album Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon. His was released as a single in 1971 reaching number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 4 on the UK Singles Chart. The two versions were recorded simultaneously in 1971 with shared musicians.

“You’ve Got a Friend” won Grammy Awards both for Taylor (Best Male Pop Vocal Performance) and King (Song of the Year). Dozens of other artists have recorded the song over the years, including Dusty Springfield, Michael Jackson, Anne Murray and Donny Hathaway.

The Tracks of My Tears: The Miracles is a song written by Smokey Robinson, Pete Moore, and Marv Tarplin. It is a multiple award-winning 1965 hit R&B song originally recorded by their group, The Miracles, on Motown’s Tamla label.

The Tracks of My Tears” was written by Miracles members Smokey Robinson (lead vocalist), Pete Moore (bass vocalist), and Marv Tarplin (guitarist).

In the five-LP publication The Motown Story, by Motown Records, Robinson explained the origin of this song in these words: “‘Tracks of My Tears’ was actually started by Marv Tarplin, who is a young cat who plays guitar for our act. So he had this musical thing [sings melody], you know, and we worked around with it, and worked around, and it became ‘Tracks of My Tears’.” Tarplin’s guitar licks at the song’s intro are among the most famous in pop music history.

“The Tracks of My Tears” was a number 2 hit on the Billboard R&B chart, and it reached number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100. Belatedly released in the UK in 1969, it became a Top Ten hit that summer, reaching number 9 (the UK release was credited to “Smokey Robinson and the Miracles”).

This song is considered to be among the finest recordings of The Miracles, and it sold over one million records within two years, making it The Miracles’ fourth million-selling record.

Come Go With Me: The Del-Vikings is a song written by C. E. Quick (aka Clarence Quick), an original member (bass vocalist) of the American doo-wop vocal group The Del-Vikings (also spelled Dell Vikings on Dot records releases, with no dash).

The song was originally recorded by The Del-Vikings in 1956 and was released on Fee Bee Records. Norman Wright was the lead vocalist on this song. When the group signed with Dot Records in 1957, the song became a hit, peaking at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart[2] and becoming the group’s highest-charting song. The song was later featured in the films American Graffiti (1973), Diner (1982), Stand by Me (1986) and Joe Versus the Volcano (1990).

Louie Louie: The Kingsmen is an American rhythm and blues song written by Richard Berry in 1955 and best known for the 1963 hit version by The Kingsmen. It has become a standard in pop and rock, with hundreds of versions recorded by different artists. The song was originally written and performed in the style of a Jamaican ballad. It tells, in simple verse–chorus form, the first-person story of a Jamaican sailor returning to the island to see his lady love.

The Kingsmen’s edition was the subject of an FBI investigation about the supposed but nonexistent obscenity of the lyrics, an investigation that ended without prosecution. Ironically, the song notably includes the drummer yelling “Fuck!” after dropping his drumstick at the 0:54 mark.

“Louie Louie” has been recognized by organizations and publications worldwide for its influence on the history of rock and roll. A partial list (see “Recognition and rankings” table below) includes the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Grammy Hall of Fame, National Public Radio, VH1, Rolling Stone, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Recording Industry Association of America.

In addition to new versions appearing regularly on YouTube and elsewhere, other major examples of the song’s legacy include the unsuccessful attempt in 1985 to make it the state song of Washington, the celebration of International Louie Louie Day every year on April 11, the annual Louie Louie Parade in Philadelphia from 1985 to 1989, the LouieFest in Tacoma from 2003 to 2012, and the ongoing annual Louie Louie Parade and Festival in Peoria.

Psychotic Reaction: Count Five is a song released by the American garage rock band Count Five in June 1966, from their debut studio album of the same name Psychotic Reaction.

In late 1964, Irish-born guitarist John “Sean” Byrne was sitting in a Health Education class in his freshman year at San Jose City College in California, learning about psychosis and neurosis. His friend Ron Lamb leaned over and whispered: “You know what would be a great name for a song? Psychotic Reaction!”. Byrne had been writing a tune in his head that day, and used the title to finish it, with the entire band given writing credit.

According to an interview with Byrne, the rave-up solo section of the song was influenced by the Yardbirds’ frenzied 1965 treatment of Bo Diddley’s R&B classic “I’m A Man”, while the rest of the song was contributed by the band.

When Count Five, managed by singer Kenn Ellner’s dad, Sol Ellner, a successful South Bay insurance salesman, played the song live a few weeks later at a dance at the old West Valley College in Campbell, local KLIV radio disc jockey Brian Lord, emceeing the show, was very impressed. After a few pointed suggestions on rearranging the tune for even more punch, Lord soon put the band in touch with a couple of friends in Los Angeles, Hal Winn and Joe Hooven, about to start their own record label, Double Shot Records.

Although the song was a hit with local audiences, record labels were not interested and the band endured months of failed auditions. But Count Five pressed on, revising and reworking “Psychotic Reaction” until Double Shot decided to take a chance on the song, though it ended up hedging its bet with some last-minute cutting and splicing.

“Psychotic Reaction” is a garage rock and psychedelic rock song. The song contains a repetitious rhythm that eventually changes to a faster beat, an electric guitar playing a hypnotic melody going up the scales. The record producers Winn and Hooven copied the rave-up section in the middle of the completed track and add it to the end as a fade out.

“Psychotic Reaction” was released as a single two times: on February 1965 with a local success, and on July 1966. The second release began to dominate radio playlists across the country. The song hit number five on the Billboard charts on September.

To capitalize on the success of the single, Double Shot immediately pressured the band to record a full-length album. As a strategic decision, their debut album was also titled Psychotic Reaction, released on October 1966. including seven new songs composed mostly by John Byrne.

Mack the Knife: Bobby Darin is a song composed by Kurt Weill with lyrics by Bertolt Brecht for their music drama Die Dreigroschenoper, or, as it is known in English, The Threepenny Opera.

It premiered in Berlin in 1928 at the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm.The song has become a popular standard recorded by many artists, including a US and UK number one hit for Bobby Darin in 1959.

Suspicious Mind: Elvis Presley is an American song written and first recorded by American songwriter Mark James. After James’ recording failed commercially, the song was handed to Elvis Presley by producer Chips Moman, becoming a number one song in 1969, and one of the most notable hits of Presley’s career.

“Suspicious Minds” was widely regarded as the single that returned Presley’s career success, following his ’68 Comeback Special. It was his eighteenth and last number-one single in the United States. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked it No. 91 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Session guitarist Reggie Young played on both the James and Presley versions.

The song is about a mistrusting and dysfunctional relationship, and the need of the characters to overcome their issues in order to maintain it. Written in 1968 by Mark James, who was also co-writer of “Always on My Mind” (which Presley would later record), the song was first recorded and released by James on Scepter Records in 1968. Chips Moman had asked James to come to Memphis to write songs for American Sound Studio. At the time, James was residing in Houston. James had written three songs that became number one hits in the Southern United States. American Sound Studio was gaining a reputation in the industry as the Box Tops had just recorded “The Letter” there so James relocated to Memphis.

James said that late one night, he was fooling around on his Fender guitar and using his Hammond organ pedals for a bass line and came up with what he thought was a catchy melody. James at the time was married to his first wife, but still had feelings for his childhood sweetheart, who was married back in Houston. James’s wife had suspicions of his feelings.

James felt it was a confusing time for him and that all three were caught in this trap that they could not walk out of. At the recording session, James sang the lead vocals, and the studio band backed him with Moman producing. The horns, strings and vocals of the Holladay Sisters were later overdubbed. After the tape was mixed, James and Moman flew to New York, where James’s manager had contacts with Scepter Records. The label loved the song and put it out, but Scepter did not have the money to promote new artists, and the song did not make the charts.

Later that year, Don Cruise, Moman’s partner, told James that Presley had booked their studio to record what would become the From Elvis in Memphis album. Cruise kept asking James if he had any songs that would be right for Presley. James felt Presley needed a mature rock ‘n’ roll song to bring him back as Tom Jones was a hot artist at the time. Cruise and James thought of “Suspicious Minds” and James began urging others to get Presley to hear it. Even though James’s recording had not been commercially successful, upon reviewing the song Presley decided he could turn it into a hit.

Let It Be: Beatles is a song by the Beatles, released in March 1970 as a single, and (in an alternate mix) as the title track of their album Let It Be. At the time, it had the highest debut on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching number 6.

It was written and sung by Paul McCartney. It was their final single before McCartney announced his departure from the band. Both the Let It Be album and the US single “The Long and Winding Road” were released after McCartney’s announced departure from and the subsequent break-up of the group.

The alternate mix on their album “Let It Be” features an additional guitar solo and some minor differences in the orchestral sections.

Simon and Garfunkel: Mrs. Robinson is a song by American music duo Simon & Garfunkel from their fourth studio album, Bookends (1968). Produced by the duo and Roy Halee, it is famous for its inclusion in the 1967 film The Graduate. The song was written by Paul Simon, who pitched it to director Mike Nichols alongside Art Garfunkel after Nichols rejected two other songs intended for the film. The song contains a famous reference to baseball star Joe DiMaggio.
“Mrs. Robinson” became the duo’s second chart-topper, hitting number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and peaking within the top 10 of multiple other countries, including the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Spain, among others. In 1969, it became the first rock song to win the Grammy Award for Record of the Year. The song has been covered by a number of artists, including Frank Sinatra, the Lemonheads, and Bon Jovi. In 2004, it finished at #6 on AFI’s 100 Years…100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema.

(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay: Otis Redding is a song co-written by soul singer Otis Redding and guitarist Steve Cropper. It was recorded by Redding twice in 1967, including once just days before his death in a plane crash. The song was released on Stax Records’ Volt label in 1968, becoming the first posthumous single to top the charts in the US.[3] It reached number 3 on the UK Singles Chart.

Redding started writing the lyrics to the song in August 1967, while sitting on a rented houseboat in Sausalito, California. He completed the song with the help of Cropper, who was a Stax producer and the guitarist for Booker T. and the M.G.’s. The song features whistling and sounds of waves crashing on a shore

I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch): The Four Tops is a 1965 hit song recorded by the Four Tops for the Motown label.

Written and produced by Motown’s main production team Holland–Dozier–Holland, the song is one of the most well-known Motown tunes of the 1960s. The song reached number one on the R&B charts and was also the number-one song on the Billboard Hot 100 for two non-consecutive weeks,from June 12 to June 19 and from June 26 to July 3 in 1965. It replaced “Back in My Arms Again” by labelmates The Supremes, was first replaced by “Mr. Tambourine Man” by The Byrds, then regained the top spot before being replaced by “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” by The Rolling Stones. Billboard ranked the record as the No. 2 song of 1965. It was also the Four Tops first Top 40 single in the UK, reaching #23.

The song finds lead singer Levi Stubbs, assisted by the other three Tops and The Andantes, pleadingly professing his love to a woman: “Sugar pie, honey bunch/I’m weaker than a man should be!/Can’t help myself/I’m a fool in love, you see.” Like most of his lead parts, Stubbs’ vocals are recorded in a tone that straddles the line between singing and shouting, similar to the tone of a black Baptist preacher. The melodic and chordal progressions are very similar to the Supremes’ “Where Did Our Love Go”. Allmusic critic Ed Hogan claims that the song uses the same chords as The Supremes’ 1964 hit “Where Did Our Love Go,” also written by Holland-Dozier-Holland.

Rolling Stone magazine ranked the song #415 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It has been covered extensively since 1965, including versions done for several television commercials.

For What It’s Worth: Buffalo Springfield is a song written by Stephen Stills. It was performed by Buffalo Springfield, recorded on December 5, 1966, and released as a single in January 1967; it was later added to the re-release of their first album, Buffalo Springfield. The single peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. This song is currently ranked #63 on Rolling Stone’s list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time as well as the eighth best song of 1967 by Acclaimed Music.

Although “For What It’s Worth” is often mistaken as an anti-war song, Stephen Stills was inspired to write the track because of the Sunset Strip curfew riots in November 1966. The trouble, which started during the early stages of the counterculture era, was in the same year Buffalo Springfield had become the house band at the Whisky a Go Go on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles.

It was within this period that local residents and businesses had become increasingly annoyed by late-night traffic congestion caused by crowds of young people going to clubs and music venues along the Strip. In response they lobbied the city to pass local ordinances that stopped loitering and enforced a strict curfew on the Strip after 10pm. However young music fans felt the new laws were an infringement of their civil rights.

On Saturday, November 12, 1966, fliers were distributed on Sunset Strip inviting people to join demonstrations later that day. Several of Los Angeles’ rock radio stations also announced that a rally would be held outside the Pandora’s Box club on the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Crescent Heights. That evening as many as 1,000 young demonstrators, including celebrities like Jack Nicholson and Peter Fonda (who was handcuffed by police), gathered to protest against the enforcement of the curfew laws. Although the rallies began peacefully, trouble eventually broke out among the protesters and police. The unrest continued the next night and periodically throughout the rest of November and December forcing some clubs to shut down within weeks.

Against the background of these civil disturbances, Stills recorded the song on December 5, 1966
song quickly became a well-known protest song. The song’s title appears nowhere in its lyrics; it is more easily remembered by the first line of chorus: “Stop, children, what’s that sound?”

Kicks: Paul Revere and The Raiders is a song by American rock band Paul Revere & the Raiders. Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil wrote the song for The Animals, but the band’s lead singer Eric Burdon turned it down.

Instead, Paul Revere & The Raiders recorded and released it as a single in 1966. The single was a number one hit in Canada, and reached number four in the United States. “Kicks” was included on the band’s fifth album, Midnight Ride, released in May 1966. A live version of the song was recorded on the band’s 1996 Greatest Hits Live compilation album.

Considered one of the earliest anti-drug songs, “Kicks” was composed and released during an era in which pro-hippie, pro-experimentation, and other counterculture themes were gaining popularity on U.S. FM radio stations. The song’s message was consequently perceived as outdated by the emerging youth counterculture, as popular artists ranging from The Beatles to Jefferson Airplane had written songs whose themes sharply contrasted that of “Kicks.” However, the song has received generally positive reviews by music critics in the decades since its release. In 2004, “Kicks” was ranked number 400 on Rolling Stone’s list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time

Won’t Get Fooled Again: The Who is a song by the English rock band The Who, written by Pete Townshend. It was released as a single in June 1971, reaching the top 10 in the UK, while the full eight-and-a-half-minute version appears as the final track on the band’s 1971 album Who’s Next, released that August.
Townshend wrote the song as a closing number of the Lifehouse project, and the lyrics criticise revolution and power.

To symbolise the spiritual connection he had found in music via the works of Meher Baba and Inayat Khan, he programmed a mixture of human traits into a synthesizer and used it as the main backing instrument throughout the song. The Who tried recording the song in New York in March 1971, but re-recorded a superior take at Stargroves the next month using the synthesizer from Townshend’s original demo. Ultimately, Lifehouse as a project was abandoned in favour of Who’s Next, a straightforward album, where it also became the closing track.

The song has been performed as a staple of the band’s setlist since 1971, often as the set closer, and was the last track drummer Keith Moon played live with the band.
As well as a hit, the song has achieved critical praise, appearing as one of Rolling Stone’s The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time

Whole Lotta Love: Led Zeppelin is a song by English hard rock band Led Zeppelin. It is the opening track on the band’s second album, Led Zeppelin II, and was released in the United States, several countries in Europe, and Japan as a single; as with other Led Zeppelin songs, no single was released in the United Kingdom.

The US release became their first hit single, being certified Gold on 13 April 1970, having sold one million copies. It reached number one in Germany, and number four in the Netherlands. Parts of the song were adapted from Willie Dixon’s “You Need Love”, recorded by Muddy Waters in 1962; originally uncredited to Dixon, a lawsuit in 1985 was settled with a payment to Dixon and credit on subsequent releases.

Do You Believe in Magic?: The Lovin’ Spoonful is a song written by John Sebastian.

It was first recorded and released by his group, The Lovin’ Spoonful in 1965. The single peaked at number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. In 1965, the group The Lovin’ Spoonful released the song as the first single from their debut studio album Do You Believe in Magic.

The single was well received by the public and became a top ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 9. According to the lyrics, the magic referenced in the title is the power of music to supply happiness and freedom to both those who make it and those who listen to it. Session drummer Gary Chester played on the track. The Lovin’ Spoonful’s version was ranked number 216 on Rolling Stone’s list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Summertime Blues: Eddie Cochran is a song co-written and recorded by American rockabilly artist Eddie Cochran. It was written by Cochran and his manager Jerry Capehart. Originally a single B-side, it was released in August 1958 and peaked at number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 on September 29, 1958 and number 18 on the UK Singles Chart.

It has been covered by many artists, including being a number-one hit for country music artist Alan Jackson, and scoring notable hits in versions by The Who and Blue Cheer. Jimi Hendrix performed it in concert.

Blue Suede Shoes: Carl Perkins is a rock-and-roll standard written and first recorded by Carl Perkins in 1955.

It is considered one of the first rockabilly (rock-and-roll) records, incorporating elements of blues, country and pop music of the time. Perkins’s original version of the song was on the Cashbox Best Selling Singles list for 16 weeks and spent two weeks in the number 2 position.

Elvis Presley performed his version of the song three different times on national television. It was also recorded by Buddy Holly and Eddie Cochran, among many others.

Suite: Judy Blue Eyes: Crosby, Stills and Nash is a suite of short songs written by Stephen Stills and performed by Crosby, Stills & Nash (CSN). It appeared on the group’s self-titled debut album in 1969 and was released as a single, hitting #21 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart. The song is ranked #418 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

The title is a play on words for “Sweet Judy Blue Eyes”. The song is a suite in the classical sense (i.e., an ordered set of musical pieces).

The recording features an acoustic guitar tuned to EEEEBE (“Bruce Palmer Modal Tuning”[2]) vs. the standard EADGBE tuning. This style of tuning would later be used for the Déjà Vu songs “4+20” and “Carry On”.

CSN performed “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” at the Woodstock and Live Aid festivals, and their performance at the former is featured in the film Woodstock (1970).

The title “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” refers to Stephen Stills’ former girlfriend, singer/songwriter Judy Collins, and the lyrics to most of the suite’s sections consist of his thoughts about her and their imminent breakup. Collins is known for her piercing blue eyes. During a July 15, 2007 interview for the National Public Radio program Just Roll Tape, Stills revealed that Collins was present in the studio when the demo tapes were recorded. Collins had advised Stills “not to stay [at the studio] all night.” Stills later commented that “the breakup was imminent…we were both too large for one house.” Stills said that he liked parts of this demo version of “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” better than the released version.

Collins and Stills had met in 1967 and dated for two years. In 1969, she was appearing in the New York Shakespeare Festival musical production of Peer Gynt and had fallen in love with her co-star Stacy Keach, eventually leaving Stills for him. Stills was devastated by the possible breakup and wrote the song as a response to his sadness. In a 2000 interview, Collins gave her impressions of when she first heard the song:

“[Stephen] came to where I was singing one night on the West Coast and brought his guitar to the hotel and he sang me “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes,” the whole song. And of course it has lines in it that referred to my therapy. And so he wove that all together in this magnificent creation. So the legacy of our relationship is certainly in that song.”

The final section of the song is included on Four Way Street, the CSNY live album. It fades in on the opening of side one of the album.

Respect: Aretha Franklin is a song written and originally released by American recording artist Otis Redding in 1965. The song became a 1967 hit and signature song for R&B singer Aretha Franklin.

The music in the two versions is significantly different, and through a few minor changes in the lyrics, the stories told by the songs have a different flavor. Redding’s version is a plea from a desperate man, who will give his woman anything she wants. He won’t care if she does him wrong, as long as he gets his due respect, when he comes home (“respect” being a euphemism).

However, Franklin’s version is a declaration from a strong, confident woman, who knows that she has everything her man wants. She never does him wrong, and demands his “respect”. Franklin’s version adds the “R-E-S-P-E-C-T” chorus and the backup singers’ refrain of “Sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me…”

Franklin’s cover was a landmark for the feminist movement, and is often considered as one of the best songs of the R&B era, earning her two Grammy Awards in 1968 for “Best Rhythm & Blues Recording” and “Best Rhythm & Blues Solo Vocal Performance, Female”, and was inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1987. In 2002, the Library of Congress honored Franklin’s version by adding it to the National Recording Registry. It is number five on Rolling Stone’s list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

It was also included in the list of Songs of the Century, by the Recording Industry of America and the National Endowment for the Arts. Franklin included a live recording on the album Aretha in Paris (1968).

Will You Love Me Tomorrow: The Shirelles is a song written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King.

It was originally recorded in 1960 by the Shirelles, who took their single to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

The song is also notable for being the first song by an all-girl group to reach number one in the United States. It has since been recorded by many artists over the years, including a 1971 version by co-writer Carole King.

Walk Away Renee: The Left Banke is a song written by Michael Brown, Bob Calilli, and Tony Sansone for the band the Left Banke, released as a single in July 1966. Steve Martin Caro is featured on lead vocals. After its initial release, it spent 13 weeks on the U.S. charts, with a top spot of number 5.

The song features an oboe solo played during the instrumental bridge of the middle portion of the song. Brown got the idea from the flute solo from the Mamas & the Papas song “California Dreamin'” which had been recorded in November 1965 but wasn’t a hit and in heavy rotation until early 1966.

The arrangement also includes a lush string orchestration, a jangling harpsichord part, and a descending chromatic bass melody. Its production was credited to World United Productions, Inc., but the session was produced by Brown’s father, jazz and classical violinist Harry Lookofsky, who also led the string players.

Rolling Stone placed “Walk Away Renée” at number 220 in the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. The song returned to nationwide charts with cover versions by The Four Tops (1967) and Rick Price (1993).

Help Me Rhonda: Beach Boys is a song written and composed by Brian Wilson with additional lyrics by Mike Love for American rock band the Beach Boys. It was first released as “Help Me, Ronda” in March 1965 on the album The Beach Boys Today!. A second recording, with a significantly different arrangement, was issued as a single under the revised title “Help Me, Rhonda”. The single peaked at number one in the United States, making it the second Beach Boys single to reach that position after “I Get Around” in 1964. The single version was later released on the album Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!) in June 1965.

Oh Pretty Woman: Roy Orbison is a song recorded by Roy Orbison, written by Orbison and Bill Dees.

It was released as a single in August 1964 on Monument Records and spent three weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on September 26, 1964 – the second single by Orbison to top the US charts. It was also Orbison’s third single to top the UK Singles Chart (for a total of three weeks).

The record ultimately sold seven million copies and marked the high point in Orbison’s career.

Within months of its release, in October 1964, the single was certified gold by the RIAA. At the year’s end, Billboard ranked it the number four song of 1964.

The lyrics tell the story of a man who sees a pretty woman walking by. He yearns for her and wonders if, as beautiful as she is, she might be lonely like he is. At the last minute, she turns back and joins him. The title was inspired by Orbison’s wife, Claudette, interrupting a conversation to announce she was going out. When Orbison asked if she had enough cash, his co-writer Bill Dees interjected, “A pretty woman never needs any money.”[7] Orbison’s recording of the song, which used four guitars,[citation needed] was produced by Fred Foster.[1]

Ohio: Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young is a protest song and counterculture anthem written and composed by Neil Young in reaction to the Kent State shootings of May 4, 1970, and performed by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.

It was released as a single, backed with Stephen Stills’s “Find the Cost of Freedom”, peaking at number 14 on the US Billboard Hot 100. Although a live version of “Ohio” was included on the group’s 1971 double album Four Way Street, the studio versions of both songs did not appear on an LP until the group’s compilation So Far was released in 1974.

The song also appeared on the Neil Young compilation albums Decade, released in 1977, and Greatest Hits, released in 2004. Young wrote the lyrics to “Ohio” after seeing the photos of the incident in Life Magazine. On the evening that CSN&Y entered Record Plant Studios in Los Angeles, the song had already been rehearsed, and the quartet—with their new rhythm section of Calvin Samuels and Johnny Barbata—recorded it live in just a few takes. During the same session they recorded the single’s equally direct B-side, Stephen Stills’s ode to the war’s dead, “Find the Cost of Freedom”.

Stop! In The Name of Love: Supremes is a 1965 song recorded by The Supremes for the Motown label.
Written and produced by Motown’s main production team Holland–Dozier–Holland, “Stop! In the Name of Love” held the number one position on the Billboard pop singles chart in the United States from March 27, 1965 through April 3, 1965,and reached the number-two position on the soul chart.

I Want You Back: The Jackson 5 is a 1969 song by the Jackson 5 which became a number-one hit for the band and the Motown label in early 1970. The song, along with a B-side cover of “Who’s Lovin’ You” by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, was the only single used in the Jackson 5’s first album, Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5. It went to number one on the Soul singles chart for four weeks and held the number-one position on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for the week ending January 31, 1970. “I Want You Back” was ranked 121st on Rolling Stone’s list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Graceland: Paul Simon is the title song of the album Graceland, released in 1986 by Paul Simon. The song features vocals by The Everly Brothers.

The lyrics deal with the singer’s thoughts during a road trip to Graceland after the failure of his marriage to actress and author Carrie Fisher.