 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(June 2023) |
| "Rock and Roll Lullaby" | |
|---|---|
| Single by B. J. Thomas | |
| from the album Billy Joe Thomas | |
| B-side | "Are We Losing Touch" |
| Released | 1972 |
| Genre | Pop |
| Length | 4:08 |
| Label | Scepter Records |
| Songwriter(s) | Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil |
| Producer(s) | Steve Tyrell, Al Gorgoni |
"Rock and Roll Lullaby" is a 1972 hit single performed by B. J. Thomas. It was written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. [1]
The song is sung in a first-person narrative of an adolescent or adult raised by a single teenage mother during the early years of rock-and-roll. Despite the bleakness of their situation, whenever the child cries, the mother sings him to sleep with a 'sha-na-na-na-na-na-na, it'll be all right...sha-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na, just hold on tight'. In the second verse, the narrator notes that despite hardships, they'd 'dream of better mornings when Mama sang her song', and that while it didn't make sense to try to recall the words, the loving meaning beneath them was all that mattered.
The song was produced by Steve Tyrell. After the recording of a basic rhythm track, Steve Tyrell and B. J. Thomas had the inspiration of blending several unique and recognizable signature sounds associated with early American rock recordings. The single's backup vocals are first performed by the Blossoms. Duane Eddy plays the lead guitar in his "twangy" signature style with Al Gorgoni electric guitar distorted and clean. At around three minutes, Thomas sings his final vocals, and a Beach Boys sound (provided by Dave Somerville and three members of the Ron Hicklin Singers: Tom Bahler, Gene Morford & Hicklin) begins then carries the track to over 4 minutes.
"Rock and Roll Lullaby" reached number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100, and was the third number one for Thomas on the Easy Listening chart, where it spent one week in March 1972. [2]
Instrumental rock is rock music that emphasizes instrumental performance and features very little or no singing. Examples of instrumental music in rock can be found in practically every subgenre of the style. Instrumental rock was most popular from the mid-1950s to mid-1960s, with artists such as Bill Doggett Combo, The Fireballs, The Shadows, The Ventures, Johnny and the Hurricanes and The Spotnicks. Surf music had many instrumental songs. Many instrumental hits had roots from the R&B genre. The Allman Brothers Band feature several instrumentals. Jeff Beck also recorded two instrumental albums in the 1970s. Progressive rock and art rock performers of the late 1960s and early 1970s did many virtuosic instrumental performances.
Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music and a genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country music, and blues and is focused generally on electric guitars and vocals. Author Scott B. Bomar speculates the term "Southern rock" may have been coined in 1972 by Mo Slotin, writing for Atlanta's underground paper, The Great Speckled Bird, in a review of an Allman Brothers Band concert.
Duane Eddy is an American rock and roll guitarist. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, he had a string of hit records produced by Lee Hazlewood, which were noted for their characteristically "twangy" sound, including "Rebel-'Rouser", "Peter Gunn", and "Because They're Young". He had sold 12 million records by 1963.
David Thomas Mason is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist from Worcester, who first found fame with the rock band Traffic, and went on to play and record with many notable pop and rock musicians, including Paul McCartney, George Harrison, the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Michael Jackson, David Crosby, Graham Nash, Steve Winwood, Fleetwood Mac, Delaney & Bonnie, Leon Russell, and Cass Elliot.
Sha Na Na was an American rock and roll and doo-wop revival group formed in 1969. The group performed a song-and-dance repertoire based on 1950s hit songs that both revived and parodied the music and the New York City street culture of the 1950s. After gaining initial fame for their performance at the Woodstock Music and Art Fair, made possible with help from their friend Jimi Hendrix, the group hosted Sha Na Na, a syndicated variety series that ran from 1977 to 1981.
The Diamonds are a Canadian vocal quartet that rose to prominence in the 1950s and early 1960s with 16 Billboard hit records. The original members were Dave Somerville (lead), Ted Kowalski (tenor), Phil Levitt (baritone), and Bill Reed (bass). They were most noted for interpreting and introducing rhythm and blues vocal group music to the wider pop music audience. Contrary to a popular myth, the father of Tom Hanks was never a member of the group.
Sha Na Na is a syndicated television variety series that ran from 1977 to 1981 for a total of 97 episodes, hosted by the popular rock & roll/comedy group of the same name. The show was produced by Pierre Cossette and originally distributed by the Lexington Broadcast Services Company. Each episode ran for 22 minutes. Reruns continued to air in syndication through the 1982-1983 television season, after which the series left most markets.
A Very Merry Chipmunk is a 1994 music album by Alvin and the Chipmunks, released by Sony Wonder. It is their fourth Christmas album. The album reached #147 on the Billboard 200.
Steve Tyrell is an American singer and record producer. He won a 2004 Grammy Award as the producer of the Rod Stewart studio album Stardust: The Great American Songbook, Volume III. He also hosts a jazz radio program on KKJZ at Cal State, Long Beach (California).
David Troy Somerville was a Canadian singer operating primarily in the United States, best known as the co-founder, and original lead singer, of The Diamonds, one of the most popular vocal groups of the 1950s.
All Killer, No Filler: The Anthology is a 1993 box set collecting 42 songs by rock and roll and rockabilly pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis from the mid-1950s to the 1980s, including 27 charting hits. The album has been critically well received. In 2003, Rolling Stone listed the album at #245 in its list of "Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time", maintaining its rating in a 2012 revised list, and dropping to #325 in the 2020 update. Country Music: The Rough Guide indicated that "[t]his is the kind of full-bodied, decades-spanning treatment that Lewis's long, diverse career more than well deserves."
You Don't Bring Me Flowers is Neil Diamond's twelfth studio album. It was released in 1978 to capitalize on the success of the title song of the same name, a duet with Barbra Streisand, which had originally appeared as a solo recording on Diamond's previous album, I'm Glad You're Here with Me Tonight.
Shaun Cassidy is the debut solo album by American singer Shaun Cassidy. The eponymous album was first released in 1976 in Europe and Australia, where he had top-ten hits with "Morning Girl" and "That's Rock 'n' Roll". It was not until the release of a cover version of The Crystals' song, "Da Doo Ron Ron", that Cassidy's international success carried over into the United States. The single became a number-one Billboard hit for Cassidy and launched his career as a pop musician and teen idol in the U.S.
The Love Generation was an American pop rock band from the 1960s. The band was together from 1967 to 1969.
Have 'Twangy' Guitar Will Travel is the debut album by the guitarist Duane Eddy. It was released in 1958 on Jamie Records, as JLP-3000. There were five charting singles and a B-side of an additional charting single taken from this album.
Longhorns & Londonbridges is a 1974 album by B. J. Thomas, released on Paramount Records, during the time when rights to the Paramount Records name were owned by Paramount Pictures. It is commonly misidentified as Longhorn & London Bridges.
Wind, Sky and Diamonds is an album by Hungarian jazz guitarist Gábor Szabó featuring performances recorded in 1967 for the Impulse! label.
Al Gorgoni is an American guitarist, composer, arranger, and producer, known for his work as a studio musician during the 1960s and 1970s.
The Living Room Sessions (2013) is B.J. Thomas' first "unplugged" album, celebrating fifty years in the recording industry and forty-seven years since his first Gold record. The Living Room Sessions offers many of Thomas' most recognizable hits, the album was produced to instill the atmosphere of an intimate setting and includes duet performances from some of Thomas' favorite artists.
"Rebel-'Rouser" is a rock and roll instrumental song written by Duane Eddy and Lee Hazlewood and originally released on Jamie Records in 1958 by "Duane Eddy and his 'twangy' guitar" as a single with "Stalkin'" on its B-side. Both tracks were produced by Lester Sill and Lee Hazlewood.
 | This 1970s pop song–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |