November 22, 1963: Phil Spector Releases "A Christmas Gift for You"

November 22, 1963: A Christmas Gift for You from Philles Records – better known as The Phil Spector Christmas Album -- is released. "Philles" was writer-producer Spector and executive Lester Sill. Spector handled the music, Sill handled the business side of things.

Like many people who achieved greatly, Spector also did some awful things -- in his case, horrific things, and his great art -- he called it "The Wall of Sound" -- cannot overcome that.

With this album, he had terrible timing: Mere hours after its release, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. As a result, sales of all records went down, so this album did not sell well. It was "rediscovered" in the 1970s.

The Beatles' 2nd album, With the Beatles, was released the same day. It did well in Britain, but then, the Kennedy assassination affected Britain considerably less. The album was repackaged in the U.S. as their 1st album here, titled Meet the Beatles.

The album begins with Darlene Love singing Irving Berlin's "White Christmas," contrasting the dream of the narrator with the reality of the weather in Los Angeles, Love's hometown and Spector's adopted hometown. (He was from The Bronx.)

Love had been the lead singer of The Blossoms, who, on at least 2 hit singles, stood in for another "girl group" that Spector produced, The Crystals. She had a few hits under her own name, but this album is considered her greatest performance. In the 1980s, David Letterman began inviting her onto his late-night talk show to sing songs from it.

Next up: "Frosty the Snowman," by The Ronettes: Veronica Bennett, her sister Estelle Bennett, and their cousin Nedra Talley. Veronica, or "Ronnie," was then Spector's girlfriend; later his wife, known as Ronnie Spector; and later still his ex-wife, and the story of how she left him, and recovered from his abuse, is every bit as compelling as the story of Ike and Tina Turner.

Next: "The Bells of St. Mary's," by Bob B. Soxx & The Blue Jeans. Bob B. Soxx was Bobby Sheen, and The Blue Jeans were Fanita James and Jean King -- meaning that The Blue Jeans were The Blossoms without Darlene Love.

"The Bells of St. Mary's" was written in 1917 by A. Emmett Adams and Douglas Furber, following Furber's visit to St. Mary's Church in Southampton, England. This song is also not about Christmas: The lyrics mention "red leaves," suggesting that it takes place in Autumn).

The song says the bells, "they are calling the young loves, the true loves who come from the sea." This makes no sense if you only know the song from the Spector album. But knowing it was written in Southampton, Britain's biggest seaport, during World War I, provides the explanation: The bells are welcoming sailors coming home.

It was linked to Christmas by being selected as the title song from a 1945 Christmas-themed movie starring Bing Crosby as Father Chuck O’Malley (he'd won an Oscar in the role in the previous year's Going My Way), and Ingrid Bergman as Sister Mary Benedict, the most beautiful nun you'll ever see. (Eat your heart out, Julie Andrews. And the real Maria von Trapp was no looker.)

Next: "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town," by The Crystals. The actual Crystals: Lead singer Dolores "Dee Dee" Kenniebrew, Dolores "La La" Brooks, Patricia Wright and Barbara Alston. Next: "Sleigh Ride," by The Ronettes. Next: "Marshmallow World," by Love.

Side Two begins with The Ronettes singing "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus." Then, The Crystals singing "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." Then, Love singing "Winter Wonderland." Then, The Crystals singing "Parade of the Wooden Soldiers," written by German composer Leon Jessel in 1897, not intended as a Christmas song, but connected with the holiday by its use in the "Christmas Spectacular" show at Radio City Music Hall.

In addition, "Winter Wonderland," "Marshmallow World," "Sleigh Ride" and "Frosty the Snowman" are among the songs that get associated with Christmas that don't even mention Christmas in the lyrics. They're Winter songs, but not specifically Christmas songs.

Spector demanded an original song for the album, and Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich wrote it, as they wrote (and would continue to write) so many songs he produced. Sonny Bono played percussion on the album, and if you listen closely, you can hear his eventual wife (and eventual ex-wife), Cher, singing backup on Love's magnum opus, "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)."

This is followed by Bob B. Soxx & The Blue Jeans singing Gene Autry's "Here Comes Santa Claus." The album closes with Spector himself thanking everyone for helping him put the album together, and saying what Christmas means to him (even though he was Jewish), while, in the background, "Silent Night" is sung.

All told, it's 34 minutes and 12 seconds of the greatest Christmas album ever recorded. Sorry, Bing, Nat, Frank, Dino, et al., all the way up to Mariah: This is the one.

Jean King of The Blossoms and The Blue Jeans died in 1983. Bobby "Bob B. Soxx" Sheen died in 2000. Estelle Bennett of The Ronettes died in 2009. Barbara Alston of The Crystals died in 2018. Phil Spector died in 2021, in prison for murder, finally having fully paid for his many sins. Ronnie Spector died on January 12, 2022.

As of November 22, 2022, the following are still alive: Darlene Love, Fanita James of The Blossoms and The Blue Jeans, Nedra Talley of The Ronettes; and Crystals Dee Dee Kenniebrew, La La Brooks and Patsy Wright. (UPDATE: Fanita James died in 2023.)

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November 22, 1963 was a Friday. All games scheduled for that night were postpone, so there were no scores on this historic day.

October 11, 1971: John Lennon Releases "Imagine"

October 11, 1971: John Lennon releases his song "Imagine." It becomes one of the most beloved songs in the world, and remains the most popular song written by any of the men who were in The Beatles.

It was the title track to an album he released on September 9. The album also included songs he wrote to his wife, Yoko Ono, such as "Jealous Guy" and "Oh Yoko!" It also included a swipe at the previous most important person in his life, former Beatle Paul McCartney, attacking him for what John would later call "silly love songs," and for the business disputes between them: "How Do You Sleep?" And it includes "Gimme Some Truth," which is self-explanatory.

The following year, John released a promotional film based on the album -- they weren't called "music videos" yet -- including a performance of "Imagine," filmed at his home at Tittenhurst Park, near Ascot, Berkshire, England, a town known for its horse-racing track. The film shows Yoko slowly opening the windows of the room as John plays, and letting more light in. John had originally recorded the song there on May 27, 1971. He co-produced the song with Phil Spector, who added an orchestra.

(This was before a Los Angeles recording session at which Spector pulled a gun on Lennon, and Lennon actually dared him to pull the trigger. Not used to people standing up to him, Spector put the gun down.)

People who claim to be Christians have hated John for this song ever since. They haven't listened to the lyrics. He didn't say there is no Heaven, no Hell, no religion; he asked the listener to imagine that there wasn't. It's actually an implication that those things do exist.

Of course, asking people to imagine there's no countries might feel like an attack on people's patriotism. And asking people to imagine there's no possessions seems like an attack on capitalism. And they take those things personally.

In contrast, in 1970, for his solo album John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, John recorded a song titled "God," in which he rattled off things and people he said he didn't believe in: Magic, the I-Ching, the Bible, tarot cards, Adolf Hitler, Jesus, John F. Kennedy, Buddha, mantras, Gita, yoga, kings, Elvis, Zimmerman (meaning Bob Dylan), and, finally, The Beatles. He said, "I just believe in me. Yoko and me. And that's reality."

Talk about a concurrence of events: The day after Imagine was released, October 12, 1971, the musical Jesus Christ Superstar opened on Broadway.

A few weeks later, on November 24, John and Yoko released "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)," with backing from the Plastic Ono Band and the Harlem Community Choir. They also rented Times Square billboards with the messages "Happy Xmas from John & Yoko" and "War is over (if you want it)."

Eight years later, on November 16, 1979, Paul released "Wonderful Christmastime." How is it that John, who dared to "Imagine there's no heaven... and no religion, too" wrote such a fantastic Christmas song? While his former musical partner, Paul, one of the world's greatest songwriters and one of its greatest sentimentalists, facing that most sentimental of holidays, wrote such a weak one?

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October 11, 1971 was a Monday. In America, it was Columbus Day.

Game 2 of the World Series, delayed a day by rain, was played at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. The Baltimore Orioles beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 11-3. The Pirates would win the Series in 7 games.

The NHL season was underway, but no games were scheduled. The NBA season began the following night. The American Basketball Association's season began the night after that.

On ABC Monday Night Football, The Dallas Cowboys beat the New York Giants, 20-13. It was the last game the Cowboys played at their original home field, the Cotton Bowl. After losing away to the New Orleans Saints the next week, the week after that, they opened their new Texas Stadium in suburban Irving, with a win over the New England Patriots.

August 1, 1971: "The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour" Premieres

August 1, 1971: The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour premieres on CBS. It takes the time slot, and effectively the place in American culture, that The Ed Sullivan Show had for the last 23 years.

Salvatore Philip Bono was born on February 16, 1935 in Detroit, and grew up outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California. His mother called him "Sono," which became "Sonny." By the late 1950s, having done several menial jobs, he became a published songwriter. In the early 1960s, music producer Phil Spector hired him as a songwriter and percussionist, making him part of the band known as "The Wrecking Crew."

Cheryl Sarkisian -- her birth name has been incorrectly listed in various publications as "Cherilyn" or "Cheryl Ann" Sarkisian, and she has -- was born on May 20, 1946 in El Centro, California, and grew up in Los Angeles. (Baseball player Bobby Murcer was born the same day, and baseball player Reggie Jackson was born 2 days earlier.)

Her mother, Georgia Holt, was an actress, but Cher saw that all of the most popular American actresses were blonde -- Jane Russell was a notable exception, and the darker-haired ones like Elizabeth Taylor and Sophia Loren were foreign -- and that the villainous women onscreen tended to have dark hair like hers. Even in animation: She said, "In the Walt Disney cartoons, all the witches and evil queens were really dark. There was nobody I could look at and think, 'That's who I'm like.'"

Like Sonny, Cher was a child of divorced parents. When her mother remarried, her stepfather enrolled her in an expensive private school, where she stood out. A former classmate recalled, "I'll never forget seeing Cher for the first time. She was so special... like a movie star, right then and there... She said she was going to be a movie star, and we knew she would."

She quit school and got jobs dancing in clubs on Los Angeles' Sunset Strip. That's where she met Sonny in 1962, when she was 16, and he was 27 and already divorced once. She became his housekeeper, then his girlfriend. He introduced her to Spector, and he hired her as a backup singer. On A Christmas Gift for You, a.k.a. The Phil Spector Christmas Album, released on November 22, 1963, the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, Sonny played percussion, and Cher sang backing vocals. Her voice is easily recognizable on the album's one original song, Darlene Love's "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)."

Sonny wanted to promote her as a singer. She wanted to be a movie star, rather than a stage actor or a singer, because she had stage fright. So she and Sonny became a singing duo, and, by singing to him, she felt she was singing to the audience. In the Summer of 1965, when Sonny's song "Needles and Pins" was made into a hit by the British rock band The Searchers, Sonny & Cher hit Number 1 with "I Got You, Babe."

They had a few more hits as a duo, and Cher had a few under her own name. In 1969, they had a daughter, born Chastity Sun Bono. (I'll have more about their child later.) In 1971, having canceled The Ed Sullivan Show due to declining ratings -- and, apparently, Ed's declining mental state -- CBS took a chance on Sonny and Cher.

Although edgy comedy had aired on TV before, and country music superstar Johnny Cash then had a variety show, The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour made the Bonos the first rock stars to headline their own TV variety show. The opening theme was their 1967 hit song "The Beat Goes On."

The show was taped at Studio 31 at CBS Television City, at 7800 Beverly Boulevard in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles. Sonny would wear hippie-ish outfits, and Cher would wear revealing gowns designed by CBS costume master Bob Mackie. They would banter in their opening monologue, about Sonny being short and funny-looking, and Cher being overly dramatic. They did sketches, and Cher would sing her solo releases, 3 of which became Number 1 hits. All of them were "story-songs," a popular genre in the early 1970s.

In 1971, she hit with "Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves." Eventually, "gypsy" became considered a slur, and the people formerly called that have insisted upon being called what they call themselves, "Romani." Her 2nd Number 1 hit, in 1973, also became problematic, despite its attempt to uphold the dignity of Native Americans: "Half-Breed." It was written by Al Capps and Mary Dean, and Cher's producer, Thomas "Snuff" Garrett, told them, "That's a hit for Cher -- and nobody else." He was right.

In 1974, Johnny Durrill, the keyboard player for The Ventures, wrote "Dark Lady," intending it for Cher. The Ventures, for some reason, were much more popular in Japan than in America, and so they were on tour there when Durrill wrote it. He sent Garrett the lyrics by telegram.

Garrett, coming off producing another story-song that hit Number 1, Vicki Lawrence's "The Night the Lights Went Out In Georgia," liked the idea, but the 3rd and final verse didn't sit right with him: He thought the cheating man should face a harsher consequence than the narrator simply leaving him. He telegraphed back: "Kill him! I want him dead in the third verse!" (That's not why he was nicknamed "Snuff": It was a play on his surname, and the Levi Garrett brand of chewing tobacco.)

So Durrill re-wrote it so that the cheater and the cheat-with both got what was coming to them: "Next thing I knew, they were dead on the floor. Dark Lady would never turn her cards up anymore." Garrett was right about the ending, because the song hit Number 1.

The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour might be the 1st grownup TV show I can remember seeing, other than the news. It would also lead to the first time I ever heard the word "divorce": They had stopped living as husband and wife in 1972, but kept the illusion going for the show's sake: They lived in the same house, but each dated other people.

Each of them got their own variety show on CBS, but the era of variety shows was coming to a close. Sonny and Cher, and Carol Burnett, helped CBS keep it going, but once the marriage was over, the show was doomed. (The Carol Burnett Show, also featuring Bob Mackie's costumes, ran from 1967 to 1978.)

Cher finally filed for divorce not just because of Sonny's infidelity, or his control-freak status (which he shared with Spector and Ike Turner, although, unlike them, he never got abusive), but because she found out that Cher Enterprises was owned 95 percent by Sonny and 5 percent by his lawyer. She had to sue to get what any other performer would have gotten for her singing and acting.

It was record company executive David Geffen who helped Cher get what was hers. They had begun dating in 1973, but Geffen was bisexual, and the relationship couldn't survive this. In 1975, 4 days after her divorce from Sonny became final, she married Gregg Allman of The Allman Brothers Band. Just 9 days after that, she filed for divorce due to Gregg's substance abuse problems, but they reconciled, became the parents of a son named Elijah Blue Allman in 1976, and split up in 1978.

Cher struggled with her music career, but in 1983, she appeared in the film Silkwood, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She became a star all over again, appearing in films like Mask. In 1987, she had her biggest hit film, Moonstruck, and her 1st major solo hit in 13 years, "I Found Someone." In 1989, she had an even bigger hit with "If I Could Turn Back Time." She had "formed her own brand," and the LGBT community embraced her as a "gay icon" due to her wild costumes and her sense of independence.

Sonny eventually went out of his way to apologize to Cher for how he treated her, and they remained friends for the rest of his life. In 1981, Sonny married actress-model Susie Coelho, but they divorced in 1984. In 1986, running a restaurant in the resort city of Palm Springs, California, he married one of his waitresses, Mary Whitaker, and they had a son, Chesare, and a daughter, Chianna. On November 13, 1987, late-night talk-show host David Letterman got Sonny and Cher to appear together on his NBC show, and, together, they sang their 1st hit together, "I Got You, Babe."

Up the California coast in Carmel-by-the-Sea, actor Clint Eastwood dealt with frustrations over regulations on a restaurant he owned. So did Sonny, with his restaurant in Palm Springs. Both men ran for Mayor to do something about it, and both won. Sonny served one term, rom 1988 to 1992. Rather than run for re-election, he ran for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate in 1992, but lost the Primary. In 1993, he played the Mayor of Metropolis on an episode of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. (The Mayor's name, Frank Berkowitz, was taken from the comics.) In 1994, he ran for the U.S. House of Representatives, and, won, and was re-elected in 1996.

He became a rare thing in Congress: A Republican who was also an environmentalist, writing legislation to preserve the Salton Sea, a saltwater lake in his District. He was also in support of gay rights, and for parents trying to understand their children, no matter what the issue between them might be: He said, "If your kid isn't you, don't blame the kid." More on that shortly.

On January 5, 1998, Sonny was killed in a skiing accident -- at the ironically-named Heavenly Ski Resort in Stateline, Nevada, off Lake Tahoe. He was 62. Cher delivered a tearful and beautiful eulogy.

The one and only child of Sonny & Cher sometimes appeared on the show, held in Cher's arms. In 1995, while then presenting as a woman, and using the birth name Chastity Bono, "Chaz" publicly self-identified as a lesbian in a cover story in a leading American gay monthly magazine, The Advocate.

Between 2008 and 2010, Chaz underwent the process of gender reassignment surgery. Afterward, he legally changed his name to Chaz Bono. He has written books and made documentary films about his experience, and the similar experiences of others. The fact that Cher was a gay icon appeared to have little to do with it, but Cher still stands with him, and Sonny did so until the end of his own life.

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August 1, 1971 was a Sunday. This was also the day the Concert for Bangladesh was played at Madison Square Garden. I have a separate entry for that event.

These Major League Baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Minnesota Twins, 10-7 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. The Yankees got home runs from Bobby Murcer and Thurman Munson, and 2 of them from Ron Blomberg, but it wasn't enough, as Mel Stottlemyre didn't get out of the 1st inning, allowing 6 runs. Tony Oliva hit one for the Twins, while Harmon Killebrew went 1-for-4 with a walk and an RBI, and Rod Carew went 1-for-5.

* The New York Mets lost to the Chicago Cubs, 3-2 at Shea Stadium. Juan Pizarro outpitched Tom Seaver. Ernie Banks, soon to retire, did not play.

* The Houston Astros beat the Montreal Expos, 8-1 at Jarry Park in Montreal.

* The Oakland Athletics swept a doubleheader from the Cleveland Indians, 7-3 and 4-2 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Reggie Jackson went 2-for-9.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the California Angels, 4-3 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. The game went 16 innings before Jim Northrup ended it with a home run. Al Kaline did not play.

* The Boston Red Sox swept a doubleheader from the Chicago White Sox, 5-1 and 6-1 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Carl Yastrzemski went 1-for-5 with a walk.

* The Milwaukee Brewers swept a doubleheader from the Washington Senators, 4-3 and 3-2 at Milwaukee County Stadium.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Atlanta Braves, 2-0 at San Diego Stadium (later renamed Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium). Clay Kirby pitched a 5-hit shutout. Hank Aaron went 1-for-4.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Cincinnati Reds, 5-4 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. This had a weird ending: The Dodgers loaded the bases in the bottom of the 11th inning, and Willie Crawford reached base on catcher's interference -- by Johnny Bench, of all catchers -- forcing home the winning run. This is the only time a MLB game has ever ended with a catcher's interference. (UPDATE: It would happen again on July 21, 2025, for the Phillies against the Red Sox in an Interleague game.) Bench also went hitless in the game, going 0-for-4 with a walk. Pete Rose went 1-for-5.

* The San Francisco Giants swept a doubleheader from the Pittsburgh Pirates, 11-7 and 8-3 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. In the 1st game, Willie Mays went 2-for-5 with 2 RBIs; Willie McCovey went 1-for-4 with a home run, a walk, and 3 RBIs; and Roberto Clemente went 1-for-4 with a home run and 3 RBIs. None of them played in the 2nd game. Willie Stargell played in both, going 3-for-9 with 2 home runs and 2 RBIs.

This turned out to be a preview of the National League Championship Series, but the Pirates won that, and the World Series.

* A wild one was played at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. The St. Louis Cardinals led the Philadelphia Phillies 6-3 in the top of the 12th, but it was the Cards who launched a protest, and it was upheld. It was agreed to suspend the game, and it was resumed on a later day off for both teams: September 7. The Phils tied the game in the bottom of the 12th, but the Cards scored 3 times in the top of the 13th, and won, 9-6.

* And the Baltimore Orioles and the Kansas City Royals were rained out at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Since the O's ended up winning the American League Eastern Division by 12 games, and the Royals were 16 games back in the AL West (albeit in 2nd place), the game was never made up.

July 29, 1963: The Ronettes Record "Be My Baby"

Left to right: Estelle Bennett, Ronnie Spector, Nedra Talley

July 29, 1963: The Ronettes record "Be My Baby" at Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles. It was as close to a perfect rock and roll recording as the technology would then allow.

Veronica Bennett, her sister Estelle Bennett, and their cousin Nedra Talley grew up in Spanish Harlem, Manhattan. "Ronnie" later told of an argument she'd overheard among kids in their neighborhood after "Be My Baby" became a hit: A black kid saying, "The Ronettes is black!" and a Puerto Rican kid saying, "No, the Ronettes is Spanish!" In fact, they were both.

After a failed run at Colpix Records as Ronnie & the Relatives, they became backup dancers for Joey Dee & the Starliters, the house band at the Peppermint Lounge in Midtown Manhattan, which fed the Twist craze. But they wanted more. Estelle called Phil Spector, already one of the top rock and roll producers in the country.

He already had Ronnie as his goal, and not just as a singer. He wanted to sign her as a solo act, but, since all 3 were still under age 21, Ronnie and Estelle's mother said it would have to be all three of them, or none of them. Phil signed all of them.

Their 1st hit was "Be My Baby," written by the husband & wife team of Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich, who wrote several hits, including for Spector acts. The backing musicians were a group that Spector called "The Wrecking Crew." The nickname wasn't widely known outside the music industry until 1990, when Hal Blaine, the usual drummer, used it in his memoir, saying that older musicians, who had recorded pop and jazz, were saying that these younger musicians, playing rock and roll, were going to wreck the music industry.

They were wrong: Spector built what he called "The Wall of Sound," combining orchestras with rock and roll. Acts such as The Ronettes, The Crystals, The Blossoms (with lead singer Darlene  Love), and Bob B. Soxx & The Blue Jeans recorded over this "wall." All would be featured on A Christmas Gift for You, the album that Spector, though Jewish, had recorded, releasing it on November 22, 1963. Unfortunately, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated that day, and the album didn't sell well, getting "rediscovered" in the 1970s.

Starting in 1964, the male duo The Righteous Brothers would be added to the Spector stable, recording songs by Barry & Greenwich, and by another husband & wife team, Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil. By that point, The Ronettes had several more hits, including "Baby, I Love You" (later covered by Andy Kim), "Walking In the Rain" (later covered by Jay & The Americans) and "I Can Hear Music" (later covered by The Beach Boys).

Phil and Ronnie married in 1966. It seemed like a modern fairy tale. It wasn't: Their relationship was similar to that between Ike and Tina Turner. I'll spare you the details, but it was every bit as bad, and Ronnie's escape in 1972 was every bit as dramatic as Tina's in 1976.

(Their paths did intersect: Spector signed Ike & Tina to Philles Records, the label he'd founded with Lester Sill: Phil & Les. Their 1st single for the label was "River Deep -- Mountain High," written by Barry, Greenwich & Spector. Ike & Tina both had their names on the record, but only Tina appeared on it: Phil invited Ike, an accomplished guitarist, to appear on the song, but he didn't show up for the session.)

Ronnie divorced Phil in 1974, but lost custody of the 3 children she and Phil had adopted. She remarried, had 2 children, and became a fixture on the oldies circuit. Petty as ever, Phil used his influence to keep The Ronettes out of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame until 2007, when he was on trial, eventually convicted, for a murder charge, and was no longer able to keep them out. Although Estelle was able to attend the induction ceremony, she was too ill to perform, but Ronnie and Nedra sang with Nedra's daughter.

Estelle died in 2009. So did Ellie Greenwich. Phil died in prison in 2021. Ronnie died on January 12, 2022. As of July 29, 2022, Jeff Barry and Nedra Talley-Ross are still alive.

As for "The Wrecking Crew": There are 8 surviving members: Dick Nash (95, trombone), Plas Johnson (91, saxophone), Nino Tempo (88, trumpet and saxophone, 92), Carol Kaye (88, bass guitar), Don Randi (86, piano), Jim Horn (82, aptly-named because he played saxophone), Michel Rubini (80, piano), and Chuck Findley (75, trumpet -- only 15 when he played on the song).

UPDATE: Nino Tempo died in 2025. Nedra Talley and Plas Johnson died in 2026. That left no surviving Ronettes, and 6 members of the Wrecking Crew.

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July 29, 1963 was a Monday. These baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Kansas City Athletics, 5-0 at Yankee Stadium. Dave Wickersham pitched an 8-hit shutout, outpitching Al Downing. Tom Tresh had 3 of those hits, Elston Howard 2. Mickey Mantle was injured, and did not play. Wayne Causey and former Yankee Norm Siebern hit home runs for the A's.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Minnesota Twins, 7-5 at Fenway Park in Boston. Carl Yastrzemski and Harmon Killebrew both went 0-for-4.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Detroit Tigers, 2-1 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. An aging but still effective Robin Roberts outpitched a young Mickey Lolich. Brooks Robinson went 0-for-3. Al Kaline went 0-for-4.

* The Washington Senators beat the Chicago White Sox, 2-1 at District of Columbia Stadium in Washington (later Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium).

* The Los Angeles Angels beat the Cleveland Indians, 11-0 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Dean Chance pitched a 2-hit shutout.

* The Milwaukee Braves beat the Cincinnati Reds, 8-2 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Warren Spahn was the winning pitcher. Hank Aaron and Lee Maye hit home runs for the Braves. Frank Robinson and Vada Pinson hit home runs for the Reds. Rookie Pete Rose went 1-for-4.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Sandy Koufax went the distance for the win.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 5-4 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Willie Mays hit a home run. Roberto Clemente went 3-for-5 with 2 RBIs.

* And the New York Mets, the Chicago Cubs, the St. Louis Cardinals and the Houston Colt .45s (the Astros starting in 1965) were not scheduled.

April 15, 1962: The Isley Brothers Release "Twist and Shout"

April 15, 1962: The Isley Brothers Release "Twist and Shout." It becomes not just one of their biggest hits, but one of the most famous songs in rock and roll.

O'Kelly Isley Jr. was born on Christmas Day, December 25, 1937; Rudolph Bernard Isley  on April 1, 1939; and Ronald Isley, on May 21, 1941. Known as Kelly, Rudy and Ronald, respectively, all were born in Cincinnati. A 4th brother, Vernon Isley, sang with them as boys, but was hit by a car and killed at age 13.

In 1957, with their parents' blessing -- O'Kelly Sr. had been a vaudeville performer -- Kelly, Rudy and Ronald moved to New York, and signed with music producer George Goldner, who had already "discovered" Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers and Little Anthony & The Imperials.

In 1959, having signed with RCA Victor Records, the Brothers wrote "Shout" and recorded it, produced by RCA producers Hugo & Luigi. Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore were both sons of Italian immigrants who had been in the music business.

"Shout" only reached Number 47 nationally, mainly due to the song's 4-minute, 25-second length that required it be split over both sides of the record -- the 2nd side of the record starting at, "Now, wa-a-ait a minute! I feel al-l-l-l-l right!" But it sold over 1 million copies. Scottish singer Lulu had a Top 10 hit on the British charts with it in 1964, and the song was also featured in the 1978 film Animal House.

The Isleys continued to struggle, until releasing "Twist and Shout." It reached Number 17 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100, and Number 2 on its Rhythm & Blues Chart. Authorship was credited to Phil Medley and Bert Russell. Phil was no relation to Bill Medley of The Righteous Brothers, although, in each case, the musical term "Medley" was his real name.

"Bert Russell" was not a real name. It was a pen name for Bertrand Russell Berns, born on November 8, 1929 in The Bronx. Bert Berns may have had a more profound effect upon human culture than his namesake, the British writer Bertrand Russell.

Under various names, including his own, he wrote "Twist and Shout," "A Little Bit of Soap" by the Jarmels, "Tell Him" by the Exciters," "I Want Candy" by the Strangeloves, "Hang On Sloopy" by the McCoys (originally released as "My Girl Sloopy" by the Vibrations), "Twenty Five Miles" by Edwin Starr, and "Piece of My Heart," by Erma Franklin, Aretha's sister, although it became a hit for Big Brother and the Holding Company, whose lead singer was Janis Joplin.

Unfortunately, like fellow Bronx native Bobby Darin, he suffered rheumatic fever as a child, which left him with a bad heart. He died on December 30, 1967, before "Piece of My Heart" became a hit. That song's title became the title of a Broadway musical built around his songs, premiering in 2014. He was elected as a songwriter to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The session of "Twist and Shout," with Ronald singing lead, was produced by Phil Spector, whose musical genius led him to produce several other songs that were among the best of that era -- and whose paranoia turned him into a monster who verbally abused pretty much everyone he came into contact with, and led to the physical abuse of a singer he discovered and married, Veronica Bennett, lead singer of The Ronettes. Better known as Ronnie Spector, her getaway from him was nearly as dramatic as the similar story of Ike and Tina Turner.

All four of The Beatles were big fans of American R&B music, and they had been playing "Twist and Shout" in their concerts since the record hit Britain. They recorded it as the last song in the day-long session for their 1st album, on February 11, 1963. By that point, John Lennon was so hoarse, he could barely get the words out, making this Irish Scouser sound almost as "gospel" as the black Cincinnatian Ronald Isley.

The Beatles hit Number 2 with it in America, with their own "She Loves You" keeping it out of the Number 1 spot. They used a shortened version of the song to open the concerts on their American tours in 1964, 1965 and 1966. In 1986, their version was featured in 2 American films, Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Back to School, leading to a re-release in which it hit Number 23.

In 1964, Jimi Hendrix served as the lead guitarist for the Isley Brothers' backing band, the I.B. Specials, but soon left. In 1965, the Isleys signed with Motown Records. In 1966, they had their biggest hit yet, with "This Old Heart of Mine," written by the Motown team of Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Eddie Holland. This was emblematic of the evolution of the doo-wop branch of rock and roll into soul music.

In 1968, unhappy with Motown boss Berry Gordy Jr. being a control freak, they moved to Teaneck, Bergen County, New Jersey, to be in the New York market. They signed with Buddah Records, who allowed them to record on the T-Neck Records label. In 1969, they recorded "It's Your Thing," which hit Number 2. It would be their biggest hit, kept out of the top spot by "Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In" by The 5th Dimension.

Also in 1969, the Isleys headlined a music festival that was the 1st concert ever to be held at Yankee Stadium. The other acts were also signed to T-Neck, and the album Live at Yankee Stadium gave them all exposure.

In 1971, younger brothers Ernie Isley (born March 7, 1952 in Cincinnati) and Marvin Isley (born August 18, 1953 in Cincinnati), and brother-in-law Chris Jasper (born December 30, 1951 in Cincinnati), were added to the band, which became part of the shift from soul to funk, following such acts as James Brown, Sly & the Family Stone, and George Clinton's "P-Funk Empire." In 1972, they had a hit with a cover of Stephen Stills' "Love the One You're With." In 1973, they had hits with "That Lady" and a cover of Seals & Crofts' "Summer Breeze."

In 1975, they had a hit with "Fight the Power," a title later used for a different song by rap group Public Enemy. That was their last major hit, although they still sold plenty of albums. In 1984, the younger Isleys left, and formed a new band, Isley-Jasper-Isley. In 1989, Ronald joined with Rod Stewart for a cover of "This Old Heart of Mine," which became a Top 20 hit.

George Goldner died in 1970. Kelly Isley and Hugo Peretti died in 1986. Phil Medley died in 1997. Marvin Isley died in 2010. Luigi Creatore died in 2015. Phil Spector, convicted of murder, died in prison in 2021. As of April 15, 2022, Rudy, Ronald and Ernie Isley, and Chris Jasper, are still alive. Ronald and Ernie lead the current band with the Isley Brothers name. (UPDATE: Rudy died in 2023, Chris in 2025.)

*

April 15, 1962 was a Sunday. These baseball games were played:

* The New York Mets lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 7-2 at the Polo Grounds. It was the 4th regular-season game in franchise history. They were now 0-4. They would reach 0-9. Félix Mantilla and Jim Marshall hit home runs for them. Smoky Burgess hit a 3-run homer for the Pirates. Roberto Clemente went 1-for-4 with an RBI.

* A doubleheader was split at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. The Baltimore Orioles won the 1st game, 5-1. The Boston Red Sox won the 2nd game, 5-4. Over the 2 games, Brooks Robinson went 1-for-8, and Carl Yastrzemski went 2-for-6 with 2 walks and 2 RBIs.

* The Los Angeles Angels beat the Minnesota Twins, 6-3 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Harmon Killebrew when 0-for-3 with a walk.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Kansas City Athletics, 8-3 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium.

* The Milwaukee Braves beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 6-3 at the brand-new Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Hank Aaron went 3-for-4 with 2 RBIs, including his 274th career home run. Joe Torre went 2-for-5 with 2 RBIs. Bob Hendley outpitched Sandy Koufax. Three years later, Hendley started for the Cubs against the Dodgers. Hendley allowed 1 hit, Koufax none in a perfect game.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the San Francisco Giants, 4-3 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Bob Purkey outpitched Juan Marichal. Frank Robinson went 1-for-2 with an RBI, plus a sacrifice fly, and was hit with a pitch. Willie Mays went 3-for-5.

* The New York Yankees and the Detroit Tigers were rained out at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader on June 23. The Yankees won the opener, 8-4. Ralph Terry was the winning pitcher, advancing to 8-7 on the season. He went 23-12 that season. Yogi Berra hit a home run. Mickey Mantle singled, then had to leave the game with an injury. Roger Maris went 0-for-3 with a walk and an RBI.

The Tigers won the nightcap, 5-4. Paul Foytack outpitched Rollie Sheldon. The Tigers' biggest star in that era, Al Kaline, did not appear in either game. Mantle returned, and hit a home run. Clete Boyer also homered. Oddly, the Tigers outhomered the Yankees 3-0 in the 1st game, but lost; while the Yankees outhomered the Tigers 2-0 in the 2nd game, but lost.

* The Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals had their game at Wrigley Field in Chicago called off due to cold. That game was made up as part of a doubleheader on June 27. The Cards swept, 4-0 and 8-0. In the 1st game, Larry Jackson pitched a 4-hit shutout. In the 2nd game, Ray Sadecki pitched a 5-hit shutout, and Carl Sawatski hit 2 home runs. Over the 2 games, Stan Musial went 3-for-6 with a walk. Ernie Banks did not play in either game.

* The Washington Senators and the Cleveland Indians were rained out of a doubleheader at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Both games were made up on August 13. The Senators swept, 11-2 and 3-2.

* And the expansion Houston Colt .45s and the Philadelphia Phillies were rained out of a doubleheader at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. Unusually, these games were not made up on a single off-day. One was made up on June 11, and the Phils won, 6-1. The other was made up on June 26, and the Phils won, 2-0. Jack Hamilton, 5 years before throwing the pitch that would curtail Tony Conigliaro's career, pitched a 2-hit shutout. That game did become the 1st game of a doubleheader, with the Phils winning the 2nd game, 6-4. The Colts became the Houston Astros in 1965.

Football was out of season. The NBA Finals were between Games 5 and 6. The Boston Celtics would beat the Los Angeles Lakers in 7 games.

Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals was played at Chicago Stadium. The Chicago Black Hawks, the defending Champions, beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-0. But the Leafs went on to win the series in 6 games, starting a new dynasty.

February 6, 1965: American Radio's Most-Played Song

Bobby Hatfield (left) and Bill Medley

February 6, 1965: "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" hits Number 1 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 chart. It was written by the husband & wife team of Barry Mann & Cynthia Weill, and sung by a Los Angeles-based duo known as The Righteous Brothers. According to BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc., which insures songwriters get their royalties), it is the most-played single recording in the history of American radio.

William Thomas Medley -- his real name, and a great name for a singer -- was born on September 19, 1940, in the Los Angeles suburb of Santa Ana, California. His parents were both members of a swing band, which got him interested in music, but it was early black rock and roll singers, especially Little Richard, that really inspired him.

Robert Lee Hatfield was born on August 10, 1940, in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. When he was a boy, he moved with his family to another Los Angeles suburb, Anaheim, where he was a 3-sport athlete, including co-captain of the basketball team, at Anaheim High School. The Los Angeles Dodgers were interested in him, but he was already making more money singing than he would have playing minor-league baseball.

At the time, it was not unusual for band membership to be in flux, and some musicians were in more than one band. Barry Rillera played guitar in both Bill Medley's band, The Paramours, and Bobby Hatfield's band, The Variations. He introduced them to each other in 1962, and they clicked. The Variations broke up, and Bobby joined Bill in The Paramours. Their voices provided a great contrast, with Bill singing baritone, and Bobby singing tenor.

The band got its new name during a show in the military city of San Diego, when, at the end of a song, a black Marine shouted, "That was righteous, brothers!" They became the epitome of "blue-eyed soul": White singers who could sound like black singers, and appeal to fans of both races. Phil Spector, the leading record producer on the West Coast, saw them in San Francisco, and signed them on the spot.

Barry Mann was born Barry Imberman on February 9, 1939, in Brooklyn. In 1961, with Larry Kolber, he wrote "I Love How You Love Me," a hit for The Paris Sisters. And he had a hit under his own name, a tribute to rock and roll songwriters: "Who Put the Bomp (in the Bomp, Bomp, Bomp)."

That year, he married Cynthia Weil, born on October 18, 1940 in Manhattan. Together, working in the Brill Building on New York's Times Square -- with fellow songwriting couples Gerry Goffin & Carole King, and Jeff Barry & Ellie Greenwich -- they had several hits, including "Uptown" by The Crystals, which led to their connection with Spector; "On Broadway" by The Drifters, a song whose guitar part was actually played by Spector; and, later, "We Gotta Get Out of This Place" for The Animals, a song The Righteous Brothers, flush with the early success of "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'," actually turned down.

"You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" was recorded at Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles on September 26, 1964. Spector, demanding as usual, also got a writing credit. His only contribution was writing the line at the end of the chorus: "'Cause it's gone, gone, gone, whoa whoa whoa whoa." As a producer, he was a genius; as a songwriter and a guitarist, less so; as a human being, considerably less than that.

Harvey Philip Spector had been born on December 26, 1939 in The Bronx, and spent his teenage years in Los Angeles. So all 5 major participants were born within 2 years of each other.

With his "Wrecking Crew" band and orchestra behind it, "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" is regarded as one of Spector's best "Wall of Sound" recordings, and one of the great recordings of the era, in any genre. It should be: Spector made them do 39 takes. At 3 minutes and 45 seconds, the length concerned Spector and his Philles Records partner, Lester Sill, who thought disc jockeys might not play a song if they knew it would be so long. (Many hit records had been split into "Part 1" and "Part 2," on opposite sides of a 45 RPM record.) So initial pressings falsified the length at 3:05 on the label, instead of 3:45.

(This is not the source of Billy Joel's line in "The Entertainer." Rather, his original "Piano Man" single had the 2nd half of the 2nd verse and the 1st half of the 3rd verse cut out, and that brought it from 4:30 down to 3:05.)

Medley sings the 1st 2 verses, and it's only on the bridge that Hatfield shows that he's more than a backup singer. This would be remedied on later hits for the duo: In what were essentially solo songs by Hatfield, they had big hits with covers of 1950s hits "Unchained Melody" in 1965 and "Ebb Tide" in 1966.

Cilla Black recorded "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" for the British market later in the year. Dionne Warwick had a hit with it in 1969. That year, Elvis Presley began singing it in his Las Vegas concerts and national tours. Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway had a hit with a duet of it in 1971. Long John Baldry and Kathi McDonald had a duet of it in 1979, where it was a hit in several British Commonwealth nations. It wasn't a hit in the U.S., but Medley told Baldry -- supposedly, the source for "John" in Elton John's stage name -- that he liked his version better than his own. And in 1980, Daryl Hall & John Oates had a hit with it.

The Righteous Brothers had a few more hits, including another Number 1 hit written by Mann & Weil, "(You're My) Soul and Inspiration," in 1966. In 1974, they had a comeback, hitting Number 3 with Alan O'Day's "Rock and Roll Heaven." In 1987, Medley and Jennifer Warnes hit Number 1 with "(I've Had) The Time of My Life," from the 1960s nostalgia film Dirty Dancing.

In 2003, still touring together, The Righteous Brothers were elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. On November 5 of that year, they were supposed to play a show in Kalamazoo, Michigan, but Hatfield didn't show up. Medley and their road manager, Dusty Hanvey, went to his room at the Radisson Hotel. He was found in bed, dead.

The autopsy showed that he had cocaine in his system. Medley was shocked, saying he'd never known Hatfield to use any kind of drugs, nor had he. But the autopsy also showed "there was already a significant amount of blockage in the coronary arteries." In other words, at age 63, Hatfield was "a heart attack waiting to happen."

Phil Spector's misdeeds would finally catch up with him, and he died in prison in 2021. As of February 7, 2022, Bill Medley, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil are still alive. They had a daughter, Jennifer, who grew up to become a psychotherapist, known professionally as Dr. Jenn.

UPDATE: Weil died in 2023. Unlike the husband & wife teams of Gerry Goffin & Carole King, and Jeff Barry & Ellie Greenwich, they stayed together to the end. Barry Rillera, who introduced The Righteous Brothers to each other, died in 2022.

*

February 7, 1965 was a Saturday. Comedian Chris Rock was born.

Baseball and football were out of season. There were 4 games in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Detroit Pistons, 109-106 at the old Madison Square Garden.

* The Baltimore Bullets beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 116-112 at the Baltimore Civic Center (now the CFG Bank Arena). Walt Bellamy had 30 points and 30 rebounds. Jerry West scored 39, and Elgin Baylor 38, in defeat.

* In a game that featured, quite possibly, the 2 best players in basketball history -- and Michael Jordan was about to reach his 2nd birthday -- the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Cincinnati Royals, 127-122 at the Cincinnati Gardens. For the Sixers, Wilt Chamberlain scored 31 points and grabbed 14 rebounds -- by his standards, an ordinary game -- and Hal Greer had 30 points.

For the Royals, the team now known as the Sacramento Kings, Oscar Robertson scored 50 points, and, despite being 6-foot-5, 8 inches shorter than Chamberlain, grabbbed 13 rebounds.

* And the St. Louis Hawks beat the San Francisco Warriors, 108-101 at the Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis.

The NHL's entire "Original Six" were in action:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Boston Bruins, 3-2 at the Boston Garden.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Montreal Canadiens, 3-1 at the Montreal Forum.

* And the Chicago Black Hawks beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 6-3 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

And in English soccer, North London team Arsenal crossed to West London, and lost to Chelsea, 2-1 at Stamford Bridge.