CRAZY HORSES

THE OSMONDS

SONGWRITERS: ALAN RALPH OSMOND; MERRILL DAVIS OSMOND & WAYNE OSMOND

COUNTRY:U. S. A.

ALBUM: CRAZY HORSES

LABEL: UNIVERSAL RECORDS

GENRE: POP ROCK

YEAR: 1972

 

       The Osmonds are a U.S. family musical group who reached the height of their fame in the early to mid-1970s. Currently consisting of a duo of original members Merrill Osmond and Jay Osmond, the group had its best-known configurations as a quartet(billed as the Osmond Brothers) and a quintet(as the Osmonds). The group has consisted of siblings who are all members of a family of musicians from Ogden, Utah and have been in the public eye since the 1960s.

    The Osmond Brothers began as a barbershop quartet consisting of brothers Alan, Wayne, Merrill and Jay. They were later joined by younger siblings Donny and Jimmy, both of whom enjoyed success as solo artists. With the addition of Donny, the group became known as the Osmonds; performing both as teen idols and as a rock band, their peak lasted from 1971 to 1975. Their only sister Marie, who rarely sang with her brothers at that time, launched a successful career in 1973, both as a solo artist and as Donny's duet partner. By 1976, the band was no longer producing hit singles; that year, they transitioned into television with Donny & Marie, a popular variety show that ran until 1979.

     Crazy Horses is the fourth studio album by the American singing group The Osmonds, released in 1972. It reached number 14 on the Billboard Top LPs chart on December 23, 1972. Two singles were released in support of the album, "Hold Her Tight" and "Crazy Horses", both of which reached number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. It was certified Gold by the RIAA on January 24, 1973.

       Building upon the band's previous album Phase III, Crazy Horses was primarily hard rock in nature. It was cited by author Chuck Eddy as #66 in The Five Hundred Best Heavy Metal Albums in the Universe. Merrill was the lead singer on most songs as he was the lead singer for the Osmonds. Jay was the lead on Crazy Horses with Alan, Wayne and Donny each taking a portions of the lead vocals on some of the songs.

There's a message floatin' in the air.

Crazy horses ridin' everywhere.

It's a warning, it's in every tongue.

Gotta stop them crazy horses on the run.

 

What a show, there they go smokin' up the sky, yeah.

Crazy horses all got riders, and they're you and I.

Crazy horses (repeat 3 times)

 

Never stop and they never die.

They just keep on puffin' how they multiply.

Crazy horses, will they never halt?

If they keep on movin' then it's all our fault.

What a show, there they go smokin' up the sky, yeah.

Crazy horses all got riders, and they're you and I.

Crazy horses (repeat 3 times)

 

So take a good look around,

See what they've done, what they've done –

They've done—

They've done—

They've done—

 

They've done.

Crazy horses.

DAYDREAM BELIEVER

THE MONKEES

SONGWRITER: STEWART JOHN C.

COUNTRY: U. S. A.

ALBUM: THE BIRDS, THE BEES & THE MONKEES

LABEL: COLGEMS RECORDS

GENRE: POP ROCK

YEAR: 1968

 

       The Monkees were a rock and pop band, formed in Los Angeles in 1966, whose line-up consisted of the American actor/musicians Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork alongside English actor/singer Davy Jones. The group was conceived in 1965 by television producers Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider for the situation comedy series of the same name. Music credited to the band was released on LP, as well as being included in the show, which aired from 1966 to 1968.

       While the sitcom was a mostly straightforward affair, the music production generated tension and controversy almost from the beginning. Music supervisor Don Kirshner was dissatisfied with the actor/musicians' musical abilities, and he limited their involvement during the recording process, relying instead on professional songwriters and studio musicians, and yielding multiple hit albums and singles. Upset with this arrangement and facing public backlash for not playing on the recordings, the band members soon gained full control over the recording process. For two albums, the Monkees mostly performed as a group, but within a year, each member was pursuing his own interests under the Monkees name. By the end of 1968, they were once again a group in name only, the show had been canceled, and their motion picture, Head, had flopped. Tork left the band soon after, followed by Nesmith a year later, and the Monkees officially broke up in 1970.

       A revival of interest in the television show came in 1986, leading to a series of official reunion tours, a television special, and four new full-length records, all of which spanned the next 35 years, though these efforts rarely comprised all four members performing together. With Jones' death in 2012 and Tork's in 2019, Dolenz and Nesmith were left to embark on a farewell tour in 2021, finishing shortly before Nesmith's death at the end of the year.

        Spurred by the success of the show, the Monkees were one of the most successful bands of the 1960s. The band sold more than 75 million records worldwide making them one of the biggest-selling groups of all time with international hits, including "Last Train to Clarksville", "I'm a Believer", "A Little Bit Me, a Little Bit You", "Pleasant Valley Sunday", and "Daydream Believer", and four chart-topping albums. Newspapers and magazines falsely reported that the Monkees outsold the Beatles and the Rolling Stones combined in 1967, a claim that originated from Nesmith in a 1977 interview.

       The Birds, the Bees & the Monkees is the fifth studio album by the Monkees. Released in April 1968, it was the first Monkees album not to reach Billboard's number one, peaking at Nº 3 on the U.S. charts. It was also their first album to miss the UK charts altogether, with their four previous efforts all having reached the top ten. The album has sold over a million copies.

Seven-a

What number is this to?

Seven-a

Okay, don't get excited man, it's 'cause I'm short, I know

 

Oh, I could hide 'neath the wings

Of the bluebird as she sings

The six o'clock alarm would never ring

But it rings, and I rise

Wipe the sleep out of my eyes

My shavin' razor's cold and it stings

 

Cheer up, sleepy Jean

Oh, what can it mean that

To a daydream believer

And a homecoming queen

 

You once thought of me

As a white knight on his steed

Now, you know how happy I can be

Whoa, and our good times start and end

Without dollar one to spend

But how much, baby, do we really need

 

Cheer up, sleepy Jean

Oh, what can it mean that

To a daydream believer

And a homecoming queen

 

Cheer up, sleepy Jean

Oh, what can it mean that

To a daydream believer

And a homecoming queen

 

Cheer up, sleepy Jean

Oh, what can it mean that

To a daydream believer

And a homecoming queen

 

Cheer up, sleepy Jean

Oh, what can it mean that

To a daydream believer

And a homecoming queen.

IT NEVER RAINS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

ALBERT HAMMOND

SONGWRITERS: ALBERT HAMMOND & MIKE HAZLEWOOD

COUNTRY: UK: GIBRALTAR

ALBUM: IT NEVER RAINS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

LABEL: EPIC RECORDS

GENRE: POP ROCK

YEAR: 1972

 

    Albert Louis Hammond(born 18 May 1944) is a British-Gibraltarian singer, songwriter, and record producer. A prolific songwriter, he also collaborated with other songwriters such as Mike Hazlewood, John Bettis, Diane Warren, Holly Knight and Carole Bayer Sager. Hammond's son Albert Hammond Jr. is a guitarist with American band the Strokes.

       Hammond wrote commercially successful singles for artists including Celine Dion, Joe Dolan, Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Diana Ross, Leo Sayer, Tina Turner, Glen Campbell, Julio Iglesias, Willie Nelson, Lynn Anderson and Bonnie Tyler, and bands Ace of Base, Air Supply, Blue Mink, Chicago, Heart, Living in a Box, the Carpenters, the Hollies, the Pipkins, Starship, and Westlife. Notable songs co-written by Hammond include "Make Me an Island" and "You're Such a Good Looking Woman" by Joe Dolan, "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" by Starship, "One Moment in Time" sung by Whitney Houston, "The Air That I Breathe", a hit for the Hollies, "To All the Girls I've Loved Before", a Julio Iglesias/Willie Nelson duet, and "When I Need You" by Leo Sayer. In 2015, he received the British Academy's Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Song Collection.

      He is also a solo singer in his own right. His biggest (and only top 20) U.S. Billboard hit was "It Never Rains in Southern California", Nº 5 in 1972. Other songs of his include "Down by the River", "The Free Electric Band", "I'm a Train", and "When I'm Gone". For a time, he was part of the Family Dogg, a vocal group with whom he had the hit "A Way of Life". He has also produced for a number of other artists.

        It Never Rains in Southern California is the debut album by Albert Hammond released by Mums Records. The album landed on the Billboard 200 chart, reaching #77.

          The title song hit #2 on the Adult Contemporary chart, #5 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #51 on the UK Singles Chart in 1972. The single "Down by the River" hit #38 on the Adult Contemporary chart and #91 on the Billboard Hot 100. The single "If You Gotta Break Another Heart" hit #63 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1973. "The Air That I Breathe" would go on to become a major hit for British band The Hollies in 1974.

          The album was produced by Albert Hammond and Don Altfeld and was arranged by Michael Omartian.

       Hammond (talking about the single, It Never Rains in Southern California): "One of my most important songs not only because I think it's a great song and I love it and I think it tells the story of my life in a way, but also because I was the artist, the producer, the writer – I mean, everything was right, it was just like the right thing. If I hadn't had that, I might have got slowly downhill, you know." 

Got on board a westbound 747

Didn't think before deciding what to do

Oh, that talk of opportunities, TV breaks and movies

Rang true, sure rang true

 

Seems it never rains in southern California

Seems I've often heard that kind of talk before

It never rains in California

But girl, don't they warn ya?

It pours, man, it pours

 

Out of work, I'm out of my head

Out of self respect, I'm out of bread

I'm underloved, I'm underfed

I wanna go home

 

It never rains in California

But girl, don't they warn ya?

It pours, man, it pours

 

Will you tell the folks back home I nearly made it?

Had offers but don't know which one to take

Please don't tell 'em how you found me

Don't tell 'em how you found me

Gimme a break, give me a break

 

Seems it never rains in southern California

Seems I've often heard that kind of talk before

It never rains in California

But girl, don't they warn ya?

It pours, man, it pours.

LOVE CAN BUILD A BRIDGE

THE JUDDS

SONGWRITERS: JOHN BARLOW JARVIS; NAOMI ELLEN JUDD & PAUL OVERSTREET

COUNTRY: U. S. A.

ALBUM: LOVE CAN BUILD A BRIDGE

LABEL: RCA NASHVILLE

GENRE: COUNTRY

YEAR: 1990

 

       The Judds were an American country music duo composed of lead vocalist Wynonna Judd and her mother, Naomi Judd. The duo signed to RCA Nashville in 1983 and released six studio albums between then and 1991. The Judds were one of the most successful acts in country music history, winning five Grammy Awards for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, and nine Country Music Association awards. They also charted more than twenty singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, including fourteen that went to number one. After eight years as a duo, the Judds disbanded in 1991 after Naomi was diagnosed with Hepatitis C. Wynonna began a solo career soon after, although she and her mother reunited on multiple occasions.

       Naomi Judd committed suicide on April 30, 2022, nineteen days after the final performance of the Judds and a day before the duo's induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

       Love Can Build a Bridge is the sixth and final studio album by American country duo the Judds, released by RCA Nashville in September 1990. It features the singles "Born to Be Blue", the title track, and "One Hundred and Two". The title track has later been covered by several other artists.

I'd gladly walk across the desert

With no shoes upon my feet

To share with you the last bite

Of bread I had to eat

I would swim out to save you

In your sea of broken dreams

When all your hopes are sinkin'

Let me show you what love means

 

Love can build a bridge

Between your heart and mine

Love can build a bridge

Don't you think it's time?

Don't you think it's time?

 

I would whisper love so loudly

Every heart could understand

That love and only love

Can join the tribes of man

I would give my heart's desire

So that you might see

The first step is to realize

That it all begins with you and me

 

Love can build a bridge

Between your heart and mine

Love can build a bridge

Don't you think it's time?

Don't you think it's time?

 

When we stand together

It's our finest hour

We can do anything (anything), anything (anything)

Keep believin' in the power

 

Love can build a bridge

Between your heart and mine

Love can build a bridge

Don't you think it's time?

Don't you think it's time?

Yeah, yes, I do

 

Oh, love can build a bridge (oh, love and only love)

Between your heart and mine (between your heart and mine)

Love can build a bridge (love and only love)

Don't you think it's time?

Oh, don't you think it's time?

 

Mmm

Don't you think it's time?

 

Love and only love

Hey

Love and only love.