Dory Previn
Filed under: Songwriter — Tags: Dory Previn — admin @ 2:19 pm
Live at Carnegie Hall
Born on October 22, 1925 in Rahway, New Jersey.
Dory Previn was an American lyricist, singer-songwriter and poet. During the late 1950s and 1960s she was a lyricist on songs intended for motion pictures and, with her first husband, André Previn, received several Academy Award nominations. In the 1970s, after their divorce, she released six albums of original songs and an acclaimed live album. Previn’s lyrics from this period are characterized by their originality, irony and honesty in dealing with her troubled personal life as well as more generally about relationships, sexuality, religion and psychology. She continued to work until her death as a writer of song lyrics and prose.
Previn died, aged 86, on 14 February 2012.
Comments OffGeorge Green
Filed under: Songwriter — Tags: George Green — admin @ 12:27 pm
Born on January 28, 1952.
George Green was an American songwriter. His compositions included the Top 10 Billboard hits “Crumblin’ Down” and “Hurts So Good.” Green was John Mellencamp’s long-time writing partner; he was a classmate and childhood friend of Mellencamp’s from Seymour, Indiana. In 1985, Green’s wife appeared in the video for Mellencamp’s Top 10 hit “Lonely Ol’ Night”. In addition to writing with Mellencamp, Green also wrote songs recorded by Barbra Streisand, Hall & Oates, Jude Cole, Vanessa Williams and The Oak Ridge Boys among others.
Green died on August 28, 2011 in Albuquerque, New Mexico at the age of 59 after suffering from a rapidly-progressing form of lung cancer.
Comments OffJerry Leiber
Filed under: Songwriter — Tags: Jerry Leiber — admin @ 12:59 pm
Born on April 25,1933
Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller (born March 13, 1933) were American songwriting and record producing partners. Stoller was the composer of the duo and Leiber the lyricist. Their most famous songs include “Hound Dog”, “Jailhouse Rock”, “Kansas City”, “Stand By Me” (with Ben E. King), and “On Broadway” (with Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil).
Jerry Leiber died in Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles at the age of 78 on August 22, 2011, from cardio-pulmonary failure.
Comments OffCharlie Craig
Filed under: Songwriter — Tags: Charlie Craig — admin @ 12:26 pm
Born on September 30, 1938, Watts Mills, South Carolina.
Charlie Craig was a Grammy-nominated songwriter. He relocated to Nashville and spent over 40 years in the music industry. Some of his songs have been recorded by Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers, Alan Jackson, Travis Tritt, Johnny Cash, Aaron Tippin and George Strait.
Craig died on July 1, 2011.
Comments OffJoseph Brooks
Filed under: Songwriter — Tags: Joseph Brooks — admin @ 10:50 am
Born on March 11, 1938.
Joseph Brooks as an American screenwriter, director, producer, and composer. He composed the hit song “You Light Up My Life” for the film of the same name that he also wrote, directed, and produced.In the 1960s Brooks was a composer of advertising jingles, including highly successful ones for Pepsi, “You’ve Got a Lot to Live”, and Maxwell House, “Good to the Last Drop Feeling”. In October 1977 “You Light Up My Life” reached #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 popularity charts where it held the top position for 10 consecutive weeks, which was then the longest run at #1 in the chart’s history. With sales of over four million copies in the United States alone, the song ultimately became the biggest hit of the 1970s. It also hit #1 Adult Contemporary and was even a Top 10 “Country” single. The passionate ballad also earned Brooks a Grammy Award for Song of the Year as well as an Academy Award for Best Original Song, a Golden Globe Award and an American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers Award. The song was Debby Boone’s first solo hit record and only Top 40 Pop hit.
Brooks died on May 22, 2011, that Brooks was found dead by a friend of an apparent suicide. He was 73 years old. His body was found in his Upper East Side apartment with a plastic dry cleaning bag around his head and a towel around his neck.
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