The Songwriters Sing Their Songs

Larry Weiss "Rhinestone Cowboy" (One day while driving around, Glen Campbell heard Larry's song on the radio and he immediately knew that he had to record it)

 

This thread reminded me of one of the funniest videos that I've ever seen and I'm sure that you'll like it, but first you have to ask the question, "How crazy is it that two of the greatest songwriters of all time, couldn't sing to save their lives?" We've all heard Burt Bacharach fudge his way through some of his songs vocally, but we rarely, if ever, got to hear Hal David sing one. So, without further ado, here is Hal singing "I'll Never Fall In Love Again"

(NOTE: watch the volume on this, as it is loud in places, as it was cheaply recorded)

 

Randy Newman "Mama Told Me Not To Come"

 

Barry Mann "Here You Come Again"

 

Albert Hammond. "When I Need You"

 

Albert Hammond "The Air That I Breathe"

 

Daniel Moore "Shambala". (Evidently "Three Dog Night" sang the title of this song incorrectly all these years, according to Daniel's own version?)

 

Written for the Monkees movies 'Head'.

 

Not one, but two great songs, written by the late Ray Kennedy. "Sail On Sailor" and "Every Time I Think Of You". (Note: Ray also wrote The Baby's "Isn't It Time"!)

 

Would go well here:

The lesser-known original version »

Of course there's some inevitable overlap between the two threads. Here I was trying to expand the boundaries and allow inclusion of versions that weren't necessarily the originals.

 

Rod McKuen "Seasons In The Sun"

 

Rod McKuen "Jean"

 

Kenny O'Dell. "Behind Closed Doors" (Kenny also wrote the song "Beautiful People", which was a hit for Bobby Vee")

 

Dick Glasser (Dick Lory) "I Will" (A hit for Dean Martin) (Dick was a local songwriter who moved to L.A. and became a famous record producer (Freddy Cannon's "Action", along with many albums and singles by Andy Williams and Vic Dana, among hundreds of others). I was good friends of Dick's song Mike, back in the '80's, before he also headed from Ohio for sunny California)

 

Cowboy Jack Clement - Guess Things Happen That Way

 

Jason White - Red Rag Top

 

Jackie DeShannon - "Heart in Hand" (later a hit for Brenda Lee):



Her songwriter demos are an interesting listen because a lot of them are fully realized in terms of arrangements (complete with horn sections, backup singers, and strings) . Brenda Lee's version is pretty faithful to the original — even her vocal inflections are similar to Jackie's.

 

Jackie DeShannon - "Don't Doubt Yourself, Babe" (recorded by the Byrds):

 

Bruce Springsteen - The Fever

 

Used in the Monkees movie 'Head' with Davy Jones on vocals. There's an earlier version with Mike Nesmith singing it.

 

Peter Tork wrote this song for the movie 'Head', Micky Dolenz sings the lead in the film and on record.