JANICE'S BLUES ALLEY PRESENTS
THE RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS
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They weren't brothers, but Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield (both born in 1940) were most definitely righteous, defining (and perhaps even inspiring) the term "blue-eyed soul" in the mid-'60s. The white Southern California duo were an established journeyman doo wop/R & B act before an association with Phil Spector produced one of the most memorable hits of the 1960s, "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'." The collaboration soon fell apart, though, and while the singers had some other excellent hit singles in a similar style, they proved unable to sustain their momentum after just a year or two at the top.
When Medley and Hatfield combined forces in 1962, they emerged from regional groups the Paramours and the Variations; in fact, they kept the Paramours billing for their first single. By 1963, they were calling themselves the Righteous Brothers, Medley taking the low parts with his smoky baritone, Hatfield taking the higher tenor and falsetto lines. For the next couple of years they did quite a few energetic R & B tunes on the Moonglow label that bore similarity to the gospel/soul/rock style of Ray Charles, copping their greatest success with "Little Latin Lupe Lu," which became a garage-band favorite covered by Mitch Ryder, the Kingsmen, and others. Even on the Moonglow recordings, Bill Medley acted as producer and principal songwriter, but the duo wouldn't break out nationally until they put themselves at the services of Phil Spector. Spector gave the Wall of Sound treatment to "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'," a grandiose ballad penned by himself, Barry Mann, and Cynthia Weil. At nearly four minutes, the song was pushing the limits of what could be played on radio in the mid-'60s, and some listeners thought they were hearing a 45 single played at 33 rpm due to Medley's low, blurry lead vocal. No matter; the song had a power that couldn't be denied, and went all the way to number one. The Righteous Brothers had three more big hits in 1965 on Spector's Philles label ("Just Once in My Life," "Unchained Melody," and "Ebb Tide"), all employing similar dense orchestral arrangements and swelling vocal crescendos. Yet the Righteous Brothers-Spector partnership wasn't a smooth one, and by 1966 the duo had left Philles for a lucrative deal with Verve. Medley, already an experienced hand in the producer's booth, reclaimed the producer's chair, and the Righteous Brothers had another number one hit with their first Verve outing, "(You're My) Soul and Inspiration." Its success must have been a particularly bitter blow for Spector, given that Medley successfully emulated the Wall of Sound orchestral ambience of the Righteous Brothers' Philles singles down to the smallest detail, even employing the same Mann-Weil writing team that had contributed to "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'." It's a bit of a mystery as to why the Righteous Brothers never came close to duplicating that success during the rest of their tenure at Verve. But they would only have a couple of other Top 40 hits in the 1960s ("He" and "Go Ahead and Cry," both in 1966), even with the aid of occasional compositions by the formidable Goffin-King team. In 1968 Medley left for a solo career; Hatfield, the less talented of the pair (at least from a songwriting and production standpoint), kept the Righteous Brothers going with Jimmy Walker (who had been in the Knickerbockers). Medley had a couple of small hits in the late '60s as a solo act, but unsurprisingly neither "brother" was worth half as much on their own as they were together. In 1974 they reunited and had a number three hit with "Rock and Roll Heaven," a tribute to dead rock stars that some found tacky. A couple of smaller hits followed before Medley retired from performing for five years in 1976. The Righteous Brothers continued to tour the oldies circuit off and on in the 1980s and 1990s. It was while on one of these tours that Bobby Hatfield died suddenly on November 5, 2003. --Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide |
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1963 Right Now! | |||
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01. Let The Good Times Roll 02. My Babe 03. Bye Bye Love 04. B-Flat Blues 05. Little Latin Lupe Lu 06. My Prayer |
07. In That Great Gettin' Up Mornin' 08. Georgia On My Mind 09. Koko Joe 10. I'm So Lonely 11. Love Or Magic 12. Fee-Fi-Fidily-I-Oh | ||
1964 Some Blue-Eyed Soul | |||
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01. Baby, What You Want Me To Do 02. My Tears Will Go Away 03. Fannie Mae 04. I Just Want To Make Love To You 05. Something's Got A Hold On Me |
06. This Little Girl Of Mine 07. Try To Find Another Man 08. Night Owl 09. Bring Your Love To Me 10. For Your Love | ||
1965 This Is New! | |||
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01. Justine 02. Burn On Love 03. I Still Love You 04. Gotta Tell You How I Feel 05. I Need A Girl |
06. You Can Have Her 07. Cryin' Blues 08. At My Front Door 09. If You're Lying, You'll Be Crying 10. There She Goes | ||
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1965 Just Once In My Life | |||
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01. Just Once In My Life 02. Big Boy Pete 03. Unchained Melody 04. You Are My Sunshine 05. The Great Pretender 06. Sticks And Stones |
07. See That Girl 08. Oo-Poo-Pah-Doo 09. You'll Never Walk Alone 10. Guess Who? 11. The Blues | ||
1965 You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' | |||
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01. You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' 02. Ko Ko Mo 03. Old Man River 04. Look At Me 05. What'd I Say 06. The Angels Listened In |
07. Sick And Tired 08. Summertime 09. Over And Over 10. Soul City 11. There's A Woman | ||
1965 Back To Back | |||
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01. Ebb Tide 02. God Bless The Child 03. Hot Tamales 04. Hallelujah I Love Her So 05. She's Mine All Mine 06. Hung On You |
07. For Sentimental Reasons 08. White Cliffs Of Dover 09. Losing You 10. Without A Doubt 11. Late Late Night | ||
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1966 Go Ahead And Cry | |||
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01. Go Ahead And Cry 02. Something You Got 03. I Believe 04. Save The Last Dance For Me 05. I've Got The Beat 06. Let It Be Me |
07. What Now My Love 08. Stagger Lee 09. Drown In My Own Tears 10. Big Time Ben 11. Island In The Sun 12. Things Didn't Go Your Way | ||
1966 Soul & Inspiration | |||
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01. (You're My) Soul And Inspiration 02. He Will Break Your Heart 03. Stand By 04. In The Midnight Hour 05. He 06. I'm Leaving It Up To You |
07. Turn On Your Love Lights 08. Hey Girl 09. Mine All Mine 10. Change Is Goin' To Come 11. Bring It On Home 12. Rat Race | ||
1967 Souled Out | |||
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01. Been So Nice 02. Stranded In The Middle Of Noplace 03. If Loving You Is Wrong (I'm So Sorry) 04. Here I Am 05. It's Up To You 06. So Many Lonely Nights Ahead |
07. I Don't Believe In Losing 08. Love Keeps Callin' My Name 09. (I Need) Someone Like You 10. You Bent My Mind 11. Without You I'd Be Lost | ||
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1967 Sayin' Somethin' | |||
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01. On This Side Of Goodbye 02. Don't Fight It 03. I Who Have Nothing 04. Yes Indeed 05. Harlem Shuffle 06. Soulville |
07. Along Came Jones 08. My Girl 09. Hold On I'm Comin' 10. A Man Without A Dream 11. Will You Love Me Tomorrow 12. Jimmy's Blues | ||
1968 One For The Road | |||
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01. Let The Good Times Roll 02. You're My Soul And Inspiration 03. Little Latin Lupe Lu 04. You'll Never Walk Alone 05. My Babe 06. That Lucky Old Sun (Just Rolls Around Heaven All Day) |
07. Oldies But Goodies Medley:
09. Unchained Melody 10. You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' 11. Gospel Medley:
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1968 Standards | |||
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01. That Lucky Old Sun 02. That's All 03. My Darling Clementine 04. All The Way 05. Country Boy 06. Without A Song |
07. Since I Fell For You 08. Come Rain Or Come Shine 09. Secret Love 10. If I Ruled The World 11. Somewhere | ||
1969 Re-Birth | |||
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01. Woman, Man Needs Ya 02. Born On The Bayou 03. Lighten Up 04. Good N' Nuff 05. You Don't Know Like I Know |
06. Po' Folks 07. I Can Remember 08. Nobody's Gonna Take Me (To This Feelin') 09. And The Party Goes On 10. Put A Little Love In Your Heart | ||
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1974 Give It To The People | |||
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01. Dr. Rock And Roll 02. And I Thought You Loved Me 03. Dream On 04. You Turn Me Around 05. Together Again |
06. Give It To The People 07. I Just Wanna Be Me 08. Love Is Not A Dirty Word 09. Lines 10. Rock And Roll Heaven | ||
1975 The Sons Of Mrs. Righteous | |||
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01. Young Blood 02. Nobody But You 03. Never Say I Love You 04. Try Again 05. Sing Lady |
06. Substitute 07. All You Get From Love Is A Love Song 08. High Blood Pressure 09. Is It Wrong 10. Just Another Fool | ||
1990 Reunion | |||
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01. Unchained Melody 02. Just Once In My Life 03. Rock & Roll Heaven 04. (You're My) Soul And Inspiration 05. You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' 06. Hung On You |
07. Try To Find Another Woman 08. Little Latin Lupe Lu 09. Ebbtide 10. My Babe 11. Unchained Melody (Timeless Love Extended Version) | ||
