The Coasters are an American rhythm and blues/rock and roll vocal group who had a string of hits in the late 1950s. Beginning with "Searchin'" and "Young Blood" in 1957, their most memorable songs were written by the songwriting and producing team of Leiber and Stoller. Although the Coasters originated outside of mainstream doo-wop, their records were so frequently imitated that they became an important part of the doo-wop legacy through the 1960s. In 1987, they were the first group inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Alexander James Harvey was a Scottish rock and blues musician. Although his career spanned almost three decades, he is best remembered as the frontman of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, with whom he built a reputation as an exciting live performer during the era of glam rock in the 1970s.
Lyricist Jerome Leiber and composer Michael Stoller were American songwriting and record producing partners. They found success as the writers of such crossover hit songs as "Hound Dog" (1952) and "Kansas City" (1952). Later in the 1950s, particularly through their work with the Coasters, they created a string of ground-breaking hits—including "Young Blood" (1957), "Searchin'" (1957), and "Yakety Yak" (1958)—that used the humorous vernacular of teenagers sung in a style that was openly theatrical rather than personal.
Willie Mae Thornton, better known as Big Mama Thornton, was an American singer and songwriter of the blues and R&B. She was the first to record Leiber and Stoller's "Hound Dog", in 1952, which became her biggest hit, staying seven weeks at number one on the Billboard R&B chart in 1953 and selling almost two million copies. Thornton's other recordings included the original version of "Ball and Chain", which she wrote.
Richard Berry, Jr. was an American singer, songwriter and musician, who performed with many Los Angeles doo-wop and close harmony groups in the 1950s, including The Flairs and The Robins.
"Hound Dog" is a twelve-bar blues song written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. Recorded originally by Big Mama Thornton on August 13, 1952, in Los Angeles and released by Peacock Records in late February 1953, "Hound Dog" was Thornton's only hit record, selling over 500,000 copies, spending 14 weeks in the R&B charts, including seven weeks at number one. Thornton's recording of "Hound Dog" is listed as one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll", and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in February 2013.
Singles 1963–1965 is a box set compilation of the singles and EPs by The Rolling Stones spanning the years 1963 to 1965. Part of a series of repackages by ABKCO Records, who licence The Rolling Stones' 1963–1970 recorded works, Singles 1963–1965 is the first of three successive volumes to commemorate their non-LP releases during this era.
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band were a Scottish rock band formed in Glasgow in 1972. Fronted by Alex Harvey accompanied by Zal Cleminson on guitar, bassist Chris Glen, keyboard player Hugh McKenna (1949–2019) and drummer Ted McKenna, their music was a blend of glam rock, blues rock and hard rock, with cabaret elements. Their stage performances incorporated theatrical elements. The band were popular in continental Europe, and influential in Australia, most notably on the young Nick Cave and his first band The Boys Next Door.
"Kansas City" is a rhythm and blues song written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller in 1952. First recorded by Little Willie Littlefield the same year, the song later became a chart-topping hit when it was recorded by Wilbert Harrison in 1959. "Kansas City" is one of Leiber and Stoller's "most recorded tunes, with more than three hundred versions", with several appearing in the R&B and pop record charts.
"Hoochie Coochie Man" is a blues standard written by Willie Dixon and first recorded by Muddy Waters in 1954. The song makes reference to hoodoo folk magic elements and makes novel use of a stop-time musical arrangement. It became one of Waters' most popular and identifiable songs and helped secure Dixon's role as Chess Records' chief songwriter.
The Syndicats were an English beat band formed in 1963 with Thomas Ladd on vocals, Steve Howe on guitar and backing vocals, Kevin Driscoll on bass and backing vocals, Jeff Williams on organ and piano, and John "Truelove" Melton on drums. The latter was replaced by Paul Holm on their last single in 1965. This was Steve Howe's first group. When he left The Syndicats to join the band The In Crowd in November 1965, he was replaced by guitarist Ray Fenwick, who was subsequently replaced by Peter Banks. Banks went on to be the first guitarist in Yes, and was then replaced by Howe in 1970.
Live was the first live record by The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, released in 1975. It features a cover version of the Tom Jones song "Delilah". Donald A. Guarisco of AllMusic writes "Live is a double-triumph for the Sensational Alex Harvey Band because it functions both as a strong live souvenir for the group's fans and also as a solid introduction to the group's highlights for the novice".
Zalvation: Live In The 21st Century is a live album, released in 2006, which served as a The Sensational Alex Harvey Band reunion notwithstanding that Harvey himself had died in 1982. This was the third SAHB album to be made without Alex Harvey, the others being the band's eighth studio album, Fourplay and another reunion album Live in Glasgow 1993. This album features Max Maxwell on vocals, and sees the return of Hugh McKenna to the band, his last appearance being on the Fourplay album, for which he had been vocalist. The album commemorated a reunion tour, but was also intended as a farewell tour; however the tour had been so successful that the band decided to continue. The album release contains 2 CDs and comprises new versions of songs written or covered by the original SAHB. Although four fifths of the group on Zalvation were responsible for 1977's SAHB album Fourplay, no songs from this album are included.
Alex Harvey and His Soul Band is the debut album by Alex Harvey accompanied by his Soul Band. It was originally released in 1964 on vinyl, and was re-released on vinyl in Germany in 1985 or 1986. The 1999 release is a compilation of 20 unreleased songs of the Soul Band, including two songs recorded before the debut album. The album is available on CD.
Roman Wall Blues is the first solo album by Alex Harvey made after the Soul Band, and his time in the Hair pit band. This album was released in 1969 and contains one song from Hair ("Donna"), plus some Harvey originals, ; that he would later re-record with The Sensational Alex Harvey Band. The title track was a couplet sonnet by W.H. Auden about the life of a Roman soldier.
"Riot in Cell Block #9" is a R&B song composed by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller in 1954. The song was first recorded by The Robins the same year. That recording was one of the first R&B hits to use sound effects and employed a Muddy Waters stop-time riff as the instrumental backing.
Drive is the fourteenth and final solo album by British musician Robert Palmer released in 2003. Critics hailed it as the grittiest and most heartfelt album of Palmer's career.
"Trouble" is a blues song written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, originally performed by Elvis Presley in 1958 and covered by a number of artists in later years.
Framed is a song written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. It was originally recorded by The Robins in August, 1954, in Los Angeles and released on Leiber and Stoller's label Spark Records in October of that year as the B side of Loop De Loop Mambo. Jerry Leiber talks about the song, saying, “Another rap took the form of a police drama. We called it “Framed” and gave it a subtext that, despite the humor, refers to the legal brutality that impacted the black community.”
