| Righteous Brothers |
Articles about The Righteous Brothers |
Website Links For Righteous Brothers |
Information AboutRighteous Brothers |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT THE RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS | |
| american musical groups | |
| soul musical groups | |
| 1960s music groups | |
| rock and roll hall of fame inductees | |
|
The Righteous Brothers were the Music al duo of Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield . They recorded from 1963 through 1975, and continued to perform until Hatfield's death in 2003. Their emotive vocal stylings were sometimes dubbed " Blue-eyed Soul ." Medley and Hatfield both possessed exceptional vocal talent, with range, control and tone that helped them create a strong and distinct duet sound and also to perform as soloists. Medley sang the low parts with his deep, soulful Bass-baritone , with Hatfield taking the higher register vocals with his soaring Tenor . They adopted their name in 1962 while performing together in the Los Angeles area as part of a five-member group called The Paramours , which featured John Wimber , one of the founders of the Vineyard Movement , on keyboards. At the end of one particular performance, a Black marine in the audience shouted, "That was righteous, brothers!" , prompting the pair to adopt the name and embark on a career as a duo. MUSICAL CAREER The Righteous Brothers started their career with two moderate hits: "" remains the most played song in radio history, estimated to have been broadcast over 8 million times to date. A little known fact is that Spector used Cher (of Sonny & Cher fame) as a backup singer on this and other recordings. The Righteous Brothers had several other Spector-produced hit singles in 1965, including " Just Once In My Life ," " Unchained Melody " and " Ebb Tide ." However, they did not get along well with Spector and left in 1965. They next released "(You're my) Soul and Inspiration," which was a Phil Spector sound-alike song that became a #1 hit in 1966. After a few more top 40 songs, including their renditions of "White Cliffs of Dover" and "Georgia on My Mind," their popularity began to decline and they eventually split up for more than seven years. Medley recorded a few solos including "Brown-eyed Woman" (1968). Bobby Hatfield teamed up briefly with another singer, Jimmy Walker, using the Righteous Brothers name, but neither he nor Hatfield was able to achieve any significant level of success. In 1974, Medley and Hatfield reunited, performing on the "Sonny and Cher Hour." LATER CAREER AND GOING SOLO In 1974, they scored another hit with " Rock And Roll Heaven ," a paean to several deceased Rock singers. A few more minor hits followed, and then the Righteous Brothers found themselves "hitless" again until 1990, although they toured frequently. In 1990, their original 1965 version of "Unchained Melody" returned to the charts following its inclusion in the movie '' Ghost ''. Taking advantage of the popularity of the song, the duo released a newly recorded version on Curb Records , which was certified platinum for sales of a million U.S. copies. http://www.mikecurb.com/about/soundtracks.htm Medley had some later solo success in 1987 with "(I've Had) The Time of My Life," which he sang with Jennifer Warnes on the soundtrack for '' Dirty Dancing '' and earned a Grammy Award . Each charted with solo singles, although none made the Top 40 . of Medley's minor entries, " Don't Know Much ," was a bigger hit in 1989 as a duet by Linda Ronstadt and Aaron Neville . The Righteous Brothers were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame on March 10 , 2003 . Bobby Hatfield died of a Cocaine overdose on November 5 , 2003 . He was found dead in his hotel room in Kalamazoo, Michigan , half an hour before he was due to perform a concert with Bill Medley at Western Michigan University 's Miller Auditorium . US AND UK HIT SINGLES Righteous Brothers
NOTE: "Bring Your Love To Me"/"Fannie Mae", "You Can Have Her," "Justine" and "Georgia On My Mind" were singles of old material released in the US by the Moonglow label to cash in on the duo's success on Philles (1964-65) and Verve (1966-67), which explains their relatively low chart positions. Bill Medley
Bobby Hatfield
Discography References
EXTERNAL LINKS
REFERENCES
|
|
|