Robert John

Last updated

Robert John
Born
Robert John Pedrick, Jr.

(1946-01-03) January 3, 1946 (age 78)
Brooklyn, New York City, U.S.
Occupation(s)Singer, songwriter

Robert John (born Robert John Pedrick, Jr., January 3, 1946) [1] is an American singer perhaps best known for his 1979 hit single, "Sad Eyes", which reached number 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100.

Contents

Biography

John was born in Brooklyn, New York City. [1] Under the name of Bobby Pedrick, Jr., he first hit the pop chart in 1958 when he was only 12 years old with "White Bucks and Saddle Shoes", written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman. [1] As the lead singer of Bobby & The Consoles, he had the minor 1963 hit entitled "My Jelly Bean" on Diamond Records. By 1965, he had changed his name and signed with MGM Records for two ill-fated singles. [1] In 1967, he signed a contract with Columbia Records and released a string of singles with help from writing partner Mike Gately.

After a short tenure from 1970 to 1971 with Herb Alpert's A&M Records, 1971 brought his next hit, a cover version of The Tokens' 1961 hit, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight", [1] which climbed to number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1972, selling over one million copies and receiving a gold disc awarded by the Recording Industry Association of America on March 15, 1972. [2] John also wrote the track "I Can't Move No Mountains" for jazz rock band Blood, Sweat and Tears, released on their 1972 album New Blood. The song was eventually released as a single but did not chart. Several years later, while working in construction in Long Branch, NJ, John was approached by George Tobin, a record producer and songwriter based in California, who wanted to produce a record for John. Tobin recalled in Fred Bronson's The Billboard Book of #1 Hits: "I had him come out and he lived in my house. He was actually a laborer in New Jersey at the time, carrying bricks on a construction job. I was looking for material for him and I heard a song called 'My Angel Baby' (by Toby Beau) and said, 'That's the kind of song Robert should be doing.' So we used that as a frame of reference. Robert wrote 'Sad Eyes' and rewrote it for about 3 months. Every time he'd write it I'd go, 'Nah, change this and change that.' Eventually signing with EMI America Records, John hit #1 with "Sad Eyes", [1] in 1979.

John recorded for Arista Records with guitarist Bobby Mancari and keyboardist Steve Butera,[ citation needed ] as well as Bread and Butter on Motown in 1984. A re-recorded version of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" was released on his 1992 greatest hits album.

John, who has not performed often in recent decades, received a chance to appear in his hometown of New York as part of a "70s Reunion Concert" produced by radio station WPLJ-FM on March 24, 1995. Among the acts who took the stage at the sold-out concert were Three Dog Night, Rupert Holmes, Looking Glass featuring Elliot Lurie, Andrew Gold, Alan O'Day, Ian Lloyd (lead singer of Stories), Sonny Geraci (lead singer of the Outsiders and Climax), and John.

John is largely retired from music, but lives in Las Vegas, Nevada with his wife Diane Pedrick. They have two grown sons, Thomas Pedrick and Matthew Pedrick.[ citation needed ]

Select discography

Albums

Singles

YearTitleChart positions
US US AC Australia [3] UK CAN
1958"White Bucks and Saddle Shoes" (as Bobby Pedrick, Jr.)74
1963"My Jelly Bean" (as Bobby & The Consoles)
1968"If You Don't Want My Love"494221
"Don't Leave Me"108
1970"When the Party is Over"7160
1972"The Lion Sleeps Tonight"363115
"Hushabye"9970
1979"Sad Eyes"1109313
"Only Time"10242
"Lonely Eyes"414980
1980"Hey There Lonely Girl"311081
"Sherry"70
1983"Bread and Butter"68
1984"Greased Lightning"*

Source: [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liberty Records</span> US and UK record label

Liberty Records was a record label founded in the United States by chairman Simon Waronker in 1955 with Al Bennett as president and Theodore Keep as chief engineer. It was reactivated in 2001 in the United Kingdom and had two previous revivals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Lion Sleeps Tonight</span> 1939 song by Solomon Linda

"The Lion Sleeps Tonight" is a song originally written and recorded by Solomon Linda under the title "Mbube" for the South African Gallo Record Company in 1939. Linda's original was written in Zulu, while the English version's lyrics were written by George David Weiss.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Me and Bobby McGee</span> Song by Kris Kristofferson and Fred Foster

"Me and Bobby McGee" is a song written by American singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson and originally performed by Roger Miller. Kristofferson and Miller are distant cousins in the Chenoweth family tree surname. Fred Foster shares the writing credit, as Kristofferson wrote the song based on a suggestion from Foster. A posthumously released version by Janis Joplin topped the U.S. singles chart in 1971, making the song the second posthumously released No. 1 single in U.S. chart history after "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding. Gordon Lightfoot released a version that reached number 1 on the Canadian country charts in 1970. Jerry Lee Lewis released a version that was number 1 on the country charts in December 1971/January 1972 as the "B" side of "Would You Take Another Chance On Me." Billboard ranked Joplin's version as the No. 11 song for 1971.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Al Martino</span> American singer (1927–2009)

Al Martino was an American traditional pop and jazz singer. He had his greatest success as a singer between the early 1950s and mid-1970s, being described as "one of the great Italian American pop crooners", and also became known as an actor, particularly for his role as singer Johnny Fontane in The Godfather.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freddie Hart</span> American country music singer-songwriter (1926–2018)

Frederick Segrest, known professionally as Freddie Hart, was an American country musician and songwriter best known for his chart-topping country song and lone pop hit "Easy Loving," which won the Country Music Association Song of the Year award in 1971 and 1972.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bobby Vee</span> American singer (1943–2016)

Robert Thomas Velline, known professionally as Bobby Vee, was an American singer who was a teen idol in the early 1960s and also appeared in films. According to Billboard magazine, he had thirty-eight Hot 100 chart hits, ten of which reached the Top 20. He had six gold singles in his career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">J. D. Souther</span> American singer, songwriter, and actor

John David Souther is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He has written and co-written songs recorded by Linda Ronstadt and the Eagles. Souther is known for his songwriting abilities, especially in the field of country rock. He co-wrote some of the biggest hits for the Eagles, including "Best of My Love", "Victim of Love", "Heartache Tonight", and "New Kid in Town". "How Long", which appears on the Eagles' Long Road Out of Eden, was written by Souther and originally recorded on his first solo album in 1972. Souther recorded two major hit songs in his solo career: "You're Only Lonely" (1979) and "Her Town Too" (1981), a duet with his longtime friend James Taylor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bobby Hebb</span> American singer-songwriter (1938–2010)

Robert Alvin Von Hebb was an American R&B and soul singer, musician, songwriter, recording artist, and performer known for his 1966 hit entitled "Sunny".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Main Ingredient</span> American soul and R&B group

The Main Ingredient was an American soul and R&B group which had a run of hits in the 1970s, including their 1972 million-selling song "Everybody Plays the Fool".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alan O'Day</span> American singer-songwriter (1940–2013)

Alan Earle O'Day was an American singer-songwriter, best known for writing and singing "Undercover Angel," a million-selling Gold-certified American No. 1 hit in 1977. He also wrote songs for many other notable performers, such as 1974's Helen Reddy No. 1 hit "Angie Baby" and the Righteous Brothers' No. 3 Gold hit "Rock and Roll Heaven". In the 1980s he moved from pop music to television, co-writing nearly 100 songs for the Saturday morning Muppet Babies series, and in the 1990s he wrote and performed music on the National Geographic series Really Wild Animals. O'Day also collaborated with Tatsuro Yamashita on a series of popular songs in Japan including "Your Eyes", "Magic Ways", "Christmas Eve" and "Fragile".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Conlee</span> American country music singer

John Wayne Conlee is an American country music singer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roger Greenaway</span> English singer, songwriter and record producer

Roger John Reginald Greenaway, is an English singer, songwriter and record producer, best known for his collaborations with Roger Cook and Tony Burrows. His compositions have included "You've Got Your Troubles" and the transatlantic million selling songs "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing " and "Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress". They were the first UK songwriting partnership to be granted an Ivor Novello Award as 'Songwriters of the Year' in two successive years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Take Good Care of My Baby</span> 1961 song by Bobby Vee

"Take Good Care of My Baby" is a song written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin. The song was made famous by Bobby Vee, when it was released in 1961.

Paul Evans is an American rock and roll singer and songwriter, who was most prominent in the 1950s and 1960s. As a performer, he had hits with the songs "Seven Little Girls Sitting in the Backseat", reaching No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1959), "Midnight Special" and "Happy-Go-Lucky Me".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sad Eyes (Robert John song)</span> 1979 single by Robert John

"Sad Eyes" is a song written and recorded by Robert John, and released in April 1979. It debuted May 19 on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching the top of the chart the week of October 6. It was produced by George Tobin in association with Mike Piccirillo.

John Theodore Kongos is a South African-born singer and songwriter of Greek ancestry, best known for his 1971 Top 10 hit single "He's Gonna Step on You Again", on which Happy Mondays based their hit "Step On". His other big hit was "Tokoloshe Man", which was featured on the TV show Life on Mars and the CD soundtrack. His second album, Kongos, made the top 30 of the UK Albums Chart; but his subsequent singles, "Great White Lady" (1972), "Ride the Lightning" (1975) and "Higher than God's Hat" (1975) did not chart.

"The Story of My Life" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. It was published in 1957. It was recorded by Marty Robbins and reached number one on Billboard's country chart in 1958, and it became a number one hit song for Michael Holliday in the UK.

Austin Roberts is an American singer and songwriter. His most successful recording was 1975's "Rocky"; a transatlantic Top 40 hit single. He also wrote several songs that featured in episodes of Scooby-Doo Where Are You! and performed the theme for season 2 of the show.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walk Right Back</span> 1961 single by The Everly Brothers

"Walk Right Back" is a 1961 song by Sonny Curtis that was recorded by The Everly Brothers, and went to No. 7 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. Overseas, the song went to No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart for three weeks. Originally it was the B-side, then it was changed to the A-side.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Only Love Can Break a Heart</span> 1962 single by Gene Pitney

"Only Love Can Break a Heart" is a popular song from 1962, performed by the American singer-songwriter Gene Pitney. The song was written by Hal David (words) and Burt Bacharach (music) and appears on Pitney's second album Only Love Can Break a Heart.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 1290. ISBN   0-85112-939-0.
  2. Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. pp.  295–296. ISBN   0-214-20512-6.
  3. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 159. ISBN   0-646-11917-6.
  4. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 286. ISBN   1-904994-10-5.