BEN RALEIGH R.I.P. ROCK N PERPETUITY!
May 26, 2007
BEN RALEIGH – 1997
One of my first songwriting heroes was Ben Raleigh, who was the lyric writer of hits like “Dungaree Doll”, “Wonderful, Wonderful”, “She’s a Fool”, “Love is a Hurting Thing” and one of my all-time favorites, “Tell Laura I Love Her” in 1962. I was introduced to him by one of my early mentors Paul Vance, who co-wrote “Catch a Falling Star”, “Itsy, Bitsy, Teenie Weenie Yellow polka dot bikini”. Paul wanted me and his nephew, Danny Jordan (who later became one of the Detergents) to write with Ben for a session we were recording as a duo for Diamond records.
Soon Ben and I just started writing together and started getting some good covers…Wayne Newton, Jack Scott, Leroy Van Dyke, Aretha Franklyn, Jose Feliciano, and Bobby Darin. Ben introduced me to Freddie Bienstock at Hill and Range, who asked us to write for several Elvis movies, to Arnold Shaw at E.B. Marks music who got us a hit with Helen Shapiro in the U.K. and to Al Gallico at Shapiro Bernstein, who offered me a chance to become the first Black country artist signed to major label.
At that time Ben was also writing with Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, Sherman Edwards and Mark Barkan. I was lucky to have him on Wednesday and Saturday.
Then in 1963 we wrote and I produced “Midnight Mary” for Joey Powers. I still can remember taking publicity pictures and being handed a gold record by Larry Uttal (head of Amy/ Bell records), who whispered, “Now this doesn’t necessarily mean it sold a million records!”
We continued to write for several years and have covers by Dion, the Hues Corporation, Gene Pitney, Freddie and the Dreamers, etc. and when I was at WB Music I got the company to buy the renewal rights to his classic song, “Laughing on the Outside, Crying on the Inside”.
Two weeks before he passed away in 1997, we got together and updated “Midnight Mary”. Originally, our Hero worked on the railroad…( and with apologies to Joe Nelson, who wrote recently that it was his favorite part of the song] we changed the line to ‘Just got a job at the Airport. Also in the new version, Mary gets pregnant, which you couldn’t say in 1962.
In one of my last conversations with Ben, I asked him, which of all of his hit songs has earned the most money? He laughed and said, “Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?”, which he co-wrote in 20 minutes. He was offered a few thousand by Hanna-Barbera as a buyout…but opted for a royalty instead.
This was before the release of the Multi-million dollar making “Scooby-Doo Movie”…and it’s equally successful sequel!
From my forthcoming book, “I Did It For A Song”
Copyright 2009 by Artie Wayne
https://artiewayne.wordpress.com
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Brief Encounters With Burt Bacharach!
January 20, 2007
Since the early 60’s, Burt Bacharach has been one of the most innovative and influencial figures in popular music. His unique melodies and signature rythyms also made him one of the most imitated musicians of all times. With various lyricists, he racked up an early array of hits that included, “Tower Of Strength”, “Baby It’s You”, “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance”, “Any Day Now”, “Only Love Can Break A Heart”, “Blue On Blue”, “Anyone Who Had A Heart” and “Walk On By”.
I always felt a thrill just to be in his presence! I would see him at a party or a music business function and go over and introduce myself. This happened so often that after about the fifth or sixth time I did it, he stopped me, smiled and said, “I know…you’re Artie Wayne!” This not only made me feel good, but I felt validated!
He was not only a musical role model, but a personal one as well. He was probably one of the coolest people I’ve ever known, with his sunglasses on top of his premature white hair he always seemed to be dressed for a tennis game or a polo match! I also noticed all of the beautiful women that would fawn over him and it made me realize that you didn’t have to be a Rock Star to get that kind of attention!
In 1963, after I had my first hit as a songwriter and producer, “Meet Me At Midnight Mary” ( Raleigh/ Wayne) with Joey Powers, I called up Burt to see if he had any songs for the follow-up. I met him in his office at Famous music, in the Brill Building and he played me a new song he and Hal David had written, “Message To Martha” (which later became a smash in the UK by Adam Faith and a hit in the US by Dionne Warwick, re-titled, “Message To Michael”)
I loved the song, but I thought it was a bit too complex for Joey Power’s simple folk musical direction we were taking. I felt really weird turning down the song, but Burt was cool and said don’t worry about it. A few months later, I ran into him on my first trip to London, where he was the musical director on Marlena Dietrich’s concert tour, we had a drink and laughed about my embarrasment over turning down one of his songs.
The next time I saw him was in 1965, I was signed to Scepter records publishing company, as a songwriter and producer. I was encouraged to use the studio as often as I wanted for overdubbing and making demos of my songs to help break-in the studio. I produced or co-produced The Shirelles , The Kingsmen and the Guess Who, there which made the owner, Florence Greenberg, more confident in her new facility. At that point, she offered Burt Bacharach and Hal David, a chance to try her new, improved studio out.
I remember Burt and Hal had trouble mixing Dionne Warwick’s, “Are You There With Another Girl” at the original studio where they cut the track, and they decided to try out Scepter. I remember being in my office the day of the “Great New York City Blackout “…when the lights all over our building were dimming then getting brighter! Burt and Hal, after mixing for hours, ran out of the studio screaming, ” What the Hell’s going on ? We almost had it…We almost had the mix! Then machine started slowing down then stared speeding up!”
Tempers cooled, when we looked out the window and saw lights in the entire city dim…then go black! Florence’s son Stanley, who was head of A+R, as well as being totally blind from birth, yelled out, “Don’t worry, I’ll get us all out of here…JUST FOLLOW ME!”
About 20 of us, with Stanley leading the pack, managed to get down several flights of stairs, in total darkness, safely and without incident. It was an event that I’m sure none of us will never forget!
Copyright 2007 by Artie Wayne
Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton on top of Britney Spears!
When Britney Spears, Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan hang out together, And separately, can the devil be far behind? Men who once stared at women’s breasts during a coversation, finally have another place to look! Last week, on “The View”, Rosie O’Donnell, held up a pair of tiny red panties she supposedly bought Britney. This gave her an excuse to hold up her own huge “Granny Panties”, it might have made the audience laugh…but I’m sure it made all the men who were watching shrivel up in horror!
Now that a video of Michael Richards in blackface has surfaced, how are his “Spin Doctors” going to handle that? Are they going to call it a “Tribute” to Stepin’ Fetchit? What is frightning about this are some of the comments made by the thousands of people who have seen it over the last few days! Click onto http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVt6eoKB9sw&eurl=
The Sunday morning political talk shows had quite a few Democrats recently “emboldened” by the mid-term elections, who sound as delusional as the current administration does! What it comes down to is, everybody wants to get out of Iraq but nobody knows quite how to do it! I’m sure that our ( I mean their, ) Prime Minister will be urged to make a premature statement that Iraq is ready to govern itself, and get America off the hook. I just hope we leave a few troops and enough nukes to thwart those who are eager to make a “Shish-ka-bomb” or a “Korean Bar-B-Que” out of all of us!
As far as the Iranians go, we should be afraid…very afraid! In my youth I went out with a few Iranian girls who actually told me that they were brought up to tell people what they wanted to hear, then go out and do the exact opposite. One of these girls was the beautiful daughter of a deposed general, who was exiled to the United States along with the Shah of Iran. I admit it was exciting to wonder who was following us on our dates, her father’s bodyguards…or the Secret Service! All of this danger, brought us closer together, and she revealed many aspects of her culture I never knew about. She told me that Iranian men showed no quarter to their enemy and were fierce warriors because they weren’t afraid of dying! It was only when she told me that she feared for my safety, did I take our cultural differences seriously! We continued to see each other secretly, which led me to co-write my first hit song, ” ( Meet Me At) Midnight Mary” (Raleigh/ Wayne). I lost touch with her after she ran off with some Cuban Freedom Fighter!
I’ll tell ya’, It’s becoming harder and harder to avoid politics, when we can almost hear God whispering to the Earth, “Your 15 minutes are up!” What’s really scary is the possibility of Hilary Clinton actually becoming President…I would only feel confident if she chose Danny DeVito as her running mate! At least we’d have a few laughs before we all had to “Duck and Cover”!
Copyright 2006 by Artie Wayne
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EXTRA! EXTRA! EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS KRISTEN BELL BLOWS!
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EXCLUSIVE! Lindsay Sniffs, Paris Strips, Rosie flips! https://artiewayne.wordpress.com/2007/05/30/if-its-on-the-internet-its-gotta-be-true-lindsay-sniffs-paris-strips-rosie-flips/
FLASH!!! Lindsay Lohan Voted People’s “Skank Of The Week!
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NEW EXCLUSIVE!- BALD BRITNEY ARRESTED AT LAX! https://artiewayne.wordpress.com/2007/02/19/if-its-on-the-internet-its-gotta-be-true-excusive-bald-britney-arrested-at-airport/
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See what Britney saw, the uncensored video of Justin Timberlake’s Dick In A Box! https://artiewayne.wordpress.com/2006/12/20/if-its-on-the-internetits-gotta-be-true-plus-justin-timberlakes-dick-in-a-box/
Shocking NEW Photo – Is This Really Britney Spears Pussy? Click onto https://artiewayne.wordpress.com/2006/12/13/if-its-on-the-internetits-gotta-be-true-is-this-really-britney-spears-pussy/
Top Of The Pops- Closes Down Shop
July 23, 2006
On July 30, 2006 Top of the Pops, which has been on the air in the U.K. for 42 years, will broadcast its final show. I only saw the show once…when I went to London for the first time 40 years ago…
In 1964, when I became disillusioned with the music business
in the U.S., my friend Paul Simon [then known as Jerry
Landis], convinced me that I should go to London, where I
just had a top ten hit with Helen Shapiro, “Queen for
Tonight” [Raleigh/ Wayne]. At the time I was trying to get
some club work in New York’s Greenwich Village, Paul
introduced me to the folk scene and backed me up on guitar
at the Bitter End and Gerdes Folk City. He was tired of
plugging other people’s songs at E.B. Marks Music, and was
hoping his debut accoustic album with Artie Garfunkle,
“Wednesday Morning 3Am”, would put him on the map. His
producer at Columbia, Tom Wilson, disappointed with the
public and label’s response to the album, went in and
overdubbed the same electric group he used to record Bob
Dylan, which caused a controversy among folk purists!. I
remember, Paul shaking his head and telling me how much they
respected his music in the U.K. and how he longed to go back.
It didn’t take much to convince me that I too, needed a
change. My Liberty single “Where Does a Rock and Roll Singer
Go” [Wayne], had bombed out, money was slow coming in from
my songs, and Amy records, for whom I produced “Midnight
Mary” [Raleigh/ Wayne], was trying to take the Artist, Joey
Powers away from me, because I didn’t have any subsequent
hits.
As I was about to leave for London, I came down with the
chicken pox and had to postpone my trip. It was during the
next few weeks that I met Bess Coleman, one of the Beatles
Press officers, and started writing some songs with her.
When she said that she was friendly with the road manager
of the Rolling Stones, and Mick Jagger was going to be
staying at his apartment, I jumped at the chance to write
for the group.
We wrote a few songs…made a few demos…and Bess gave her
friend two songs to pass along to Mick. One of them, “It
Ain’t Me”, is the song I eventually sued over.
I knew the Stones were slated to record in Chicago, at the
legendary Chess studios, before they went to Hollywood,
where they filmed the “TAMI” show…so we crossed our
fingers and hoped we had made the session. We didn’t hear
back from anybody…so we uncrossed our fingers and went on
with our lives.
My co-writer, Bess Coleman, started preparing for the
Beatles to come to New York and introduced me to Jackie
DeShannon, who was the opening act for the Fab Four. As we
all hung out, it was Jackie, who re-ignited my desire to go
to London. She said she was going there on a promotion tour
in a few weeks, and it would be a perfect time me me to go.
I figured that I could still meet up with Paul Simon, and
play whatever clubs were left on his tour. When I arrived
at Paul’s publisher’s office, however, I found a note from
him saying that he had to go back to the States to promote
the reworked single of “Sounds of Silence”.
I wasn’t too upset, since It gave me the opportunity to go
to recording sessions and TV shows with Jackie and her new
co-writer, Jimmy Page. I had time to hang out and jam with
the Animals and the Moody Blues, play guitar with “Howlin’
Wolf” and “Sonny Boy” Williamson, participate in a
“kidnapping” of Cilla Black, from the Palladium, by her
pals, Mike Millward and Billy Hatton, of The Fourmost, and
go on the “Beatles for Sale” promotional tour.
It was at “Ready, Steady, Go”, while chatting up one of the
dancers, I heard a few familiar lines being sung by the
Rolling Stones. It sounded like the song Bess and I had
given their road manager to pass along to Mick. They were
celebrating the success of “Little Red Rooster”, which was
their first number one record, and this was the b-side,
“Off the Hook”. After the performance, I went over to Mick
and told him how much I enjoyed the way he did my song…he
just looked at me somewhat astonished and just walked away,
without saying a word!
The next day, when I bought a copy of the record, “Off the
Hook” and I saw that it credited Nanker Pheldge [Jagger and
Richards] as the writers! I hired David Jacobs, one of the
Beatles’ lawyers, to put a temporary injunction against the
single. This came as a shock to everyone, bringing a volley
of threats against me.
I decided it would be safer for me to keep a very low
profile for the remainder of my trip to London…and I hid
out with a couple of “Birds” who lived on the floor below
Charlie Watts in Ivor Court.
I heard that a lot of unsavory characters were out looking
for me, but I managed to escape the U.K. and get back to
New York unscathed. For the next five years I spent
thousands and thousands of dollars seeking justice in the
U.S. courts, but ultimately lost the case. It seems that
the defendants claimed they wrote their song a week before
I wrote mine and sang it to an engineer friend, which in
the U.K. constutes a common law copyright! Although my case
prompted a change of the U.S. copyright law, I was
devestated, traumatized and lost my will to write. This is
when I started working for an array of publishers, showing
other people’s songs.
It was years before I was able to write again…but now,
forty years later I can talk about it… and hardly feel
any pain.
Regards, Artie Wayne http://artiewayne.com
What The World Needs Now Is Love – Jackie DeShannon
July 12, 2006
A few days ago, on July 6, I wrote about a sudden medical emergency I had that made me think I was having a heart attack! Although I fellt better after I calmed myself down with deep breathing and meditation, I decided to see a doctor. After several hours of tests, he determined that I didn’t have a heart attack or a stroke. He did say that whatever I used to calm me down worked…and asked for a copy of the technique that I used.
For the last few days, I’ve had a chance to rest and reflect on my life. I woke up this morning refreshed, did a deep meditation and turned on the news. The headlines shouted, “Terrorist Bombings in India…Israel attacks Lebanon…Wildfires sweep California, Arson suspected…Suicide bombings in Iraq!” I shook my head as the song “What the World Needs Now Is Love” started running through my mind. I turned off the TV, closed my eyes and went back to another time….
I first met Jackie DeShannon back in 1964, when she was on tour with The Beatles. We had talked on the phone a few times after I cut a couple of her songs with Joey Powers (for whom I had produced “Midnight Mary”) and we arranged to get together when she got to New York.
We hit it off immediately, with our mutual love of music, dancing and art museums. I was going to show her “My New York,” but she would up showing me hers. That world included after hour jam sessions in Greenwich Village with Dave Van Ronk, John Hammond Jr. and Tom Paxton.
My first (and only) single for Liberty Records, “Where Does A Rock and Roll Singer Go (When His Record’s Off The Charts)?” had just bombed out and I was discouraged with the music business in the States. Jackie suggested that I go to London (where I had just scored a top ten hit with “Queen For Tonight” by Helen Shapiro) in November, 1964, when she would be there promoting her latest single. Once again I was swept away to her galaxy, becoming friends with one of her co-writers, Jimmy Page, watching her perform on “Ready, Steady, Go!!” and going on several stops of the Beatles promo tour for “Beatles For Sale.”
Jackie and I never dated, but we hung out a lot, until a misunderstanding (too petty to remember) threatened our relationship and we hadn’t spoken in a month. Then, the day after I had open heart surgery (back in N.Y.), she called me from a recording studio to see how I was. She had the engineer play the backing track she was working on with Burt Bacharach and Hal David….and sang “What The World Needs Now Is Love” to me over the phone. I can’t tell you how much that meant to me….but I actually made medical history by walking around 36 hours after my operation!
Thanks to Peter Lerner and the Jackie DeShannon Society
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