Songs with Earlier Histories Than the Hit Version

Help support this site! Consider clicking an ad from time to time. Thanks!

 
« Go Back to Previous Page «  

Tagged: Lex Baxter

Quiet Village

Written and first recorded by Les Baxter (1952).
Hit version by Martin Denny (US #4/R&B #11 1959).

From the wiki: “‘Quiet Village’ is an Exotica instrumental that was written and first recorded by Les Baxter (‘Unchained Melody‘) in 1952. Seven years later, in 1959, Martin Denny added exotic sounds to the song, and his instrumental version made it to #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #11 on the R&B charts. Arguably the creator of ‘world music’, Denny’s arrangements were a combination of ethnic styles: South Pacific, the Orient and Latin rhythms.

“It was during a mid-1950’s engagement at Honolulu’s ‘Hawaiian Village’ Shell Bar that Denny originally discovered what would become his trademark sound.

Unchained Melody

First performed by Todd Duncan (1955).
First commercial release by The Lex Baxter Orchestra (US #1 1955).
Other hit versions by Al Hibbler (US #3 1955), Jimmy Young (UK #1 1955), Roy Hamilton (US #6/R&B #1 1955), Liberace (UK #20 1955), The Righteous Brothers (US #4/R&B #6/UK #14 1965 |US #13/CAN #4/UK #1/IRE #1/AUS #1/NZ #1 1990), LeAnn Rimes (C&W #3 1996).

From the wiki: “‘Unchained Melody’ is a 1955 song with music by Alex North and lyrics by Hy Zaret, used as a theme for the little-known prison film Unchained (hence the name). Todd Duncan sang the vocals for the film soundtrack. ‘Unchained Melody’ has since become one of the most recorded songs of the 20th century, by some estimates having spawned over 500 versions in hundreds of different languages.