A Review of Famous Songs of the Past ‘Fascinating Facts ...

A Review of Famous Songs of the Past

`Fascinating Facts' October 2019

Track 1 9 to 5 9 to 5 is a song written and originally performed by American country music singer Dolly Parton for the 1980 comedy film of the same name. The song was released as a single in November 1980. For a time, the song became something of an anthem for office workers in the U.S. The song was accompanied by a music video that featured footage of Parton and her band performing, intercut with clips from the film.

Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946[3]) is an American singersongwriter, instrumentalist, actress, author, and philanthropist, known for her work in country music. Parton was born in Tennessee, the fourth of twelve children. She has described her family as being "dirt poor". She outlined her family's poverty in her early songs: "Coat of Many Colors". They lived in a rustic, one-room cabin in The Smoky Mountains. Music played an important role in her early life. Many of her early performances were in church, along with her family. Her career began as a child performer on the radio, then recording a few singles from the age of 13. She rose to prominence in 1967 as a performer on Porter Wagoner's weekly TV program. She had a string of pop-country hits into the mid-1980s, the most successful being her 1981 hit "9 to 5" (from the film of the same name). Non-musical ventures include Dollywood, a theme park in Pigeon Forge in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, and her efforts on behalf of childhood literacy, particularly her Imagination Library. Parton is the most honoured female country performer of all time. She has repeatedly joked about her physical image and surgeries, saying, "If I see something sagging, bagging, and dragging, I'm going to nip it, suck it and tuck it. Why should I look like an old barn yard dog if I don't have to?"

Track 2 All Shook Up All Shook Up is a song recorded by Elvis Presley and composed by Otis Blackwell and Elvis Presley. The single topped the U.S. Pop chart in 1957, staying there for eight weeks. Elvis said in an interview `I've never even had an idea for a song. Just once, maybe. I went to bed one night, had quite a dream,

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and woke up all shook up. I phoned a pal and told him about it. By morning, he had a new song, 'All Shook Up'.

Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 ? August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. A cultural icon, he is commonly known by the single name Elvis. Presley was one of the most popular musicians of the 20th-century. Born in Tupelo, Mississippi, Presley moved to Memphis, Tennessee, with his family at the age of 13. He began his career there in 1954, working with Sun Records owner Sam Phillips, who wanted to bring the sound of AfricanAmerican music to a wider audience. Presley's first single, Heartbreak Hotel, released in January 1956, was a number-one hit. He became the leading figure of the new sound of rock and roll with a series of network television appearances and chart-topping records. His energised interpretations of songs, many from African-American sources, and his uninhibited performance style made him enormously popular--and controversial. In November 1956, he made his film debut in Love Me Tender. Drafted into military service in 1958, Presley re-launched his recording career two years later. He staged few concerts however, and devoted much of the 1960s to making Hollywood movies and soundtrack albums. In 1968, after seven years away from the stage, he returned to live performance in a celebrated comeback television special. Prescription drug abuse severely compromised his health, and he died suddenly in 1977 at the age of 42.

Track 3 Animal Crackers In My Soup Animal Crackers in My Soup was a song introduced by Shirley Temple in the 1935 film "Curly Top".

Shirley Temple Black (born April 23, 1928) is an American film and television actress, singer, dancer, and former U.S. ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia. She began her film career in 1932 at the age of three, and in 1934, found international fame in Bright Eyes, a feature film designed specifically for her talents. Film hits such as Curly Top and Heidi followed year after year during the mid-to-late 1930s. Licensed merchandise that capitalised on her wholesome image included dolls, dishes, and clothing. Her box office popularity waned as she reached adolescence, and she left the film industry in her teens. Temple returned to show business in 1958 with a two-season television anthology series of fairy tale adaptations. She sat on the boards of corporations and organisations including The Walt Disney Company, Del Monte Foods, and the National Wildlife Federation. In 1967, she ran unsuccessfully for United States Congress, and was appointed United States Ambassador to Ghana in 1974 and to Czechoslovakia in 1989. In 1988, she published her autobiography, Child Star.

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Track 4 Barbara Ann Barbara Ann is a song written by Fred Fassert and performed (as "BarbaraAnn") by The Regents in 1961. The most famous cover version is by the American rock band The Beach Boys. The song was released as a single on December 20, 1965.

The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, the Beach Boys early music gained popularity across the United States for its close vocal harmonies and lyrics reflecting a Southern California youth culture of surfing, cars, and romance. By the mid-1960s, Brian Wilson's growing creative ambition and songwriting ability would dominate the group's musical direction. The Beach Boys have often been called "America's Band' and Allmusic has stated that their "unerring ability ... made them America's first, best rock band."

Track 5 Big Rock Candy Mountain Big Rock Candy Mountain, first recorded by Harry McClintock in 1928, is a song about a hobo's idea of paradise, a modern version of the medieval concept of Cockaigne. It is a place where "hens lay soft boiled eggs" and there are "cigarette trees." McClintock claimed to have written the song in 1895, based on tales from his misspent youth hoboing through the United States, but some believe that at least aspects of the song have existed for far longer.

Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives (June 14, 1909 ? April 14, 1995) was an American actor, writer and folk music singer. As an actor, Ives's work included comedies, dramas, and voice work in theater, television, and motion pictures. Ives expanded his appearances in films during the fifties and his movie credits include East of Eden, "Big Daddy" in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. In the 1960s Ives began singing country music with greater frequency.

Track 6 Cocktails for Two A song from the Big Band era, written by Arthur Johnston and Sam Coslow. The song debuted in the movie Murder at the Vanities (1934), where it was introduced by singer and actor Carl Brisson. The song seems to refer to the ending of Prohibition in the United States. Mentioned discreetly in the song's introduction is that people could be "carefree and gay once again". The song was written in 1934, and the 21st Amendment, which ended Prohibition, was ratified a year earlier in 1933.

Carl Brisson (24 December 1893 ? 25 September 1958), was a Danish film actor and singer. He appeared in twelve films between 1918 and 1935, including two silent films directed by Alfred Hitchcock. In the 1934 film Murder at the Vanities, he introduced the popular song "Cocktails for Two".

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Prior to his acting and singing career he was a prize fighter for a few short spells between 1912 and 1915.

Track 7 The Ballad of Casey Jones is a traditional song about railroad engineer Casey Jones and his death at the controls of the train he was driving. It tells of how Jones and his fireman Sim Webb raced their locomotive to make up for lost time, but discovered another train ahead of them on the line, and how Jones remained on board to try to stop the train as Webb jumped to safety. The song helped preserve the memory of Jones' feat down through the years.

Merrill Jay singers Popular singers of railroad songs.

Track 8 Every Time We Say Goodbye A song with lyrics and music by Cole Porter. It was introduced in 1944 in Billy Rose's musical revue, Seven Lively Arts.The song has since become a jazz standard after gaining popularity in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 ? June 10, 2004), known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records. He also helped racially integrate country and pop music during the 1960s with his crossover success on ABC Records, most notably with his Modern Sounds albums. While with ABC, Charles became one of the first African-American musicians to be given artistic control by a mainstream record company. Frank Sinatra called Charles "the only true genius in show business."

Track 9 I Whistle A Happy Tune I Whistle a Happy Tune is a show tune from the 1951 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, The King and I. It is sung by Anna Leonowens to her son Louis after the curtain rises on Act One of the musical, to persuade him not to be afraid as they arrive in Siam to serve the King. The show was itself based on the book Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon. The plot comes from the story written by Anna Leonowens, who became school teacher to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in the early 1860s.

Marni Nixon (born February 22, 1930) is an American soprano and playback singer for featured actresses in movie musicals. She is most famous for dubbing the singing voices of the leading actresses in films, including The King and I, West Side Story and My Fair Lady. Nixon's varied career has included, besides her voice work in films, some film roles of her own, television, opera, concerts with major symphony orchestras around the world, musicals on stage throughout the United States and recordings.

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Track 10 Mona Lisa Mona Lisa is a popular song written by Ray Evans and Jay Livingston for the Paramount Pictures film Captain Carey, U.S.A. (1950). The title and lyrics refer to the renaissance portrait Mona Lisa painted by Leonardo da Vinci.

Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 ? February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. He owes most of his popular musical fame to his soft baritone voice, which he used to perform in big band and jazz genres. He was one of the first black Americans to host a television variety show, and has maintained worldwide popularity even since his death.

Track 11 Put Your Arms Around Me, Honey Put your Arms around me was written by Albert Von Tilzer who was an American songwriter. He wrote the music to many hit songs, including, most notably, "Take Me Out to the Ball Game". Which was also sung by Dick Haymes.

Richard Benjamin "Dick" Haymes (September 13, 1918 ? March 28, 1980) was an Argentine actor and singer. He was one of the most popular male vocalists of the 1940s and early 1950s. He was the older brother of Bob Haymes, an actor, television host, and songwriter. Though never achieving the immensely popular status of fellow baritone crooners like Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, or Perry Como, Haymes was nonetheless just as respected for his musical ability. In 1945 Haymes co-starred with Jeanne Crain, Dana Andrews and Vivian Blaine in the musical State Fair. He sang with Judy Garland on two recordings of songs from the film The Shocking Miss Pilgrim, in which he appeared with Betty Grable.

Track 12 School Boy Crush Schoolboy Crush, written by Aaron Schroeder and Sharon Gilbert, had already been recorded in America by Bobby Helms. Cliff Richard and the Drifters recorded their own version.

Sir Cliff Richard, OBE (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is a British pop singer, musician, performer, actor, and philanthropist. With his backing group The Shadows, Richard, originally positioned himself as a rebellious rock and roll singer in the style of Little Richard and Elvis Presley. He dominated the British popular music scene in the pre-Beatles period of the late 1950s and early 1960s. His 1958 hit single "Move It" is often described as Britain's first authentic rock and roll song, and John Lennon once claimed that "before Cliff and the Shadows, there had been nothing worth listening to in British music." A conversion to Christianity and subsequent softening of his music later led to a more middle of the road pop image, sometimes

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