Who Wrote That?
1. David Woeller-Hotel Christmas (Stereo)
2. David Woeller-Hotel Christmas (Mono)
This one was written by Shel Silverstein, the guy who wrote popular songs for Johnny Cash, Dr. Hook and plenty of others, recorded a bunch of great LPs on his own, and later became famous when he wrote some of his song lyrics down and published them as poems in such books as Where The Sidewalk Ends. How a hippy like him wound up writing beloved children's books, I'll never know.
3. Kathy Garver-Lem, The Orphan Reindeer
4. Kathy Garver-Opus Lem
Two of the co-writers here are Boyce & Hart, guys with a few pop hits under their belts, but best known for the songs they wrote for The Monkees. And if the name Kathy Garver sounds a little bit familiar, it may be because she had an acting career, you know her as Cissy from Family Affair.
5. The Rocky Fellers-Santa Santa
6. The Rocky Fellers-Santa's Grove
Last but not least, the A-side to this one was written by Neil Diamond, who probably needs no introduction. How a Filipino family band got a song from a soon-to-be famous singer is one of those great mysteries of the universe that may never be answered. In a coincidence I just thought of, Diamond also wrote songs for The Monkees, including I'm A Believer and A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You, among others.
Great idea for a post! The Rocky Fellers had a semi-hit with "Killer Joe" and Diamond was a Brill Building writer, so the two got together, I would imagine.
ReplyDeleteThis release seem to predate Killer Joe, so how did they get in The Brill Building in the first place? I only got as far as the lobby during my NYC visit. ;)
DeleteNow it's your turn, give us some big writers and their Christmas music. Hoagy Carmichael, Seger Ellis, probably dozens more if you really dig. :)
Oddly, Neil Diamond had recorded and released on his own those songs the Monkees later had hits with, but he never recorded "Santa Santa"--not before, not after, not even when he was doing Christmas albums. Things that make you go "Hmmm".
ReplyDeleteAnd, actually, "Santa Santa" wasn't a Brill Building deal. Neil was struggling and couldn't catch a break. He turned on Ed Sullivan one night and saw the Rocky Fellers perform, liked them, picked up the phone and called their Dad the next day. He asked, "Can I play you something that I've written?" Then the bunch of them went down to the studio and recorded it. Neil considers it one of the most important songs of his career because it was the first one that anyone was willing to record and the first one that ever got played on the radio. Nobody much has ever heard of it, but it was the song that kickstarted his career and proved to him that he could actually have a career in music.
Thanks, Stubby that's a great story!
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