Three #1 Hits from 1961

Welcome to Rock and Roll Flashback!  I'm Jumpin' John, and this podcast episode will review the back story behind three #1 songs on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1961:  "Runaway", "Mother-in-Law", and "The Lion Sleeps Tonight".  My podcast partner Bill Price and I married sisters, so we both had the good fortune to have the same wonderful, mother-in-law.  Therefore, I am dedicating this podcast in the memory of that fine lady:  Helen Lehman.

All podcasts on the Rock and Roll Flashback Podcast are produced by brothers-in-law Bill Price and "Jumpin' John" McDermott. The Podcast Theme Song, "You Essay", was written by John. It was initially recorded by Bill and John on April 1, 2004 with several revisions since then.
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Thank you for listening to Rock and Roll Flashback Podcasts!
Until next time...
Rock On!

Transcript

Thank you for that introduction and welcome to Rock and Roll Flashback!  I'm Jumpin' John, and this podcast episode will review the back story behind three #1 songs on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1961:  "Runaway", "Mother-in-Law", and "The Lion Sleeps Tonight".  My podcast partner Bill Price and I married sisters, so we both had the good fortune to have the same wonderful, mother-in-law.  Therefore, I am dedicating this podcast in the memory of that fine lady:  Helen Lehman.

In 1960 Elvis Presley was honorably discharged from the US Army and was destined to spend the decade focusing more on his movie career than on charting hit singles.  Nevertheless, he would still manage to have multiple hits, and two different Presley songs reached #1 on the 1961 Billboard pop charts:  "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" and "Surrender".  In all, twenty-one different artists had #1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1961.  Eighteen of those artists included the aforementioned Elvis, Bobby Lewis, Jimmy Dean, Bert Kaempfert, Chubby Checker, The Marcels, Bobby Vee, The Shirelles, Lawrence Welk, Ricky Nelson, Gary U.S. Bonds, The Highwaymen, Ray Charles, Dion, Roy Orbison, Pat Boone, Joe Dowell, and The Marvelettes.  Multiple music genres were represented in this variety of #1 hits.  Several of the artists who hit #1 in 1961 have already been covered on prior Rock and Roll Flashback podcasts.  We have already discussed artists like Elvis, Roy Orbison, Bobby Vee, and Ray Charles.  The Marcels' "Blue Moon" was highlighted in Rock and Roll Flashback podcast Episode #122, and Lawrence Welk's "Calcutta" was reviewed in Rock and Roll Flashback podcast Episode #159.  Additionally, in Rock and Roll Flashback podcast Episode #7 Bill Price mentioned the important role of German orchestra leader and composer Bert Kaempfert in helping the Beatles cut their first record.  Other #1 hit artists from 1961 will be covered in future Rock and Roll Flashback podcasts.  This list includes performers like The Shirelles, Ricky Nelson, Dion DiMucci, The Marvelettes, and Gary U.S. Bonds.

For now, I will highlight the other three performers who reached #1 in 1961:  Del Shannon, Ernie K. Dow, and The Tokens.  

Charles Weedon Westover was born on December 30th, 1934, in Coopersville, Michigan.  He learned to play the ukulele and guitar and listened to country-and-western music by artists such as Hank Williams, Hank Snow, and Lefty Frizzell.  After serving in the Army, he returned to Battle Creek, Michigan, and worked as a carpet salesman and as a truck driver for a furniture factory.  He found part-time work as a rhythm guitarist in The Moonlight Ramblers.  In 1958 Westover took over as the group's leader and singer, giving himself the name Charlie Johnson and renaming the band the Big Little Show Band.  In early 1959 he added the keyboardist Max Crook, who played a clavioline-based electric keyboard instrument that he invented called a Musitron.  In July 1960, Westover and Crook signed to become recording artists and composers for Bigtop Records.  Bigtop Records producer, Harry Balk, suggested that Westover use a new name, and they came up with "Del Shannon", combining Mark Shannon (a wrestling pseudonym used by a regular at the Hi-Lo Club) with Del, derived from the Cadillac Coupe de Ville, his favorite car.  Max Crook took the new stage name "Maximilian".

Their first recording session for Bigtop Records in New York City ended in failure.  Consequently, their manager, Ollie McLaughlin, persuaded them to rewrite and re-record an earlier song they had written, "Little Runaway", to highlight Crook's unusual instrumental sound.  On January 21st, 1961, they recorded "Runaway" at Bell Sound Studios in New York City, with Harry Balk as producer.  After recording in A minor, producer Balk sped up the recording to pitch just below a B-flat minor.  The novel use of the Musitron on "Runaway" was a precursor to the multitude of electronics synthesizers and effects pedals that would appear in the late 1960's and 1970's.  Bigtop released "Runaway" on February 18th, 1961, and it immediately started climbing the pop chart.  On April 10th of that year, Del Shannon appeared on Dick Clark's American Bandstand.  Thanks in large part to that TV appearance, on May 1st the song took over the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100, where it remained for four weeks.  Two months later, it reached #1 on the UK chart, spending three weeks in that position.  On Billboard's Hot R&B Sides, "Runaway" peaked at #3.  The song was ranked #5 on Billboard's end of year "Hot 100 for 1961 Top Sides of the Year" and at #9 on Cash Box's "Top 100 Chart Hits of 1961".  "Runaway" was #472 on the 2010 version of Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Here is Del Shannon's version of "Runaway":

Del Shannon followed up with several more songs on the US charts.  In 1961 his "Hats Off to Larry" peaked at #5 on the Billboard chart and #2 on the Cashbox chart.  Also in 1961 his cover of "Handy Man" reached #22 on the US pop chart.  In 1963 his cover of "Do You Wanna Dance?" reached #43 on the Billboard pop chart.  In 1964 his original of "Keep Searchin'" hit #3 in the UK and #9 in the U.S.  In 1965 his original of "Stranger in Town" hit #30 in the US and #4 in Canada.  In addition to his music career, Del Shannon also had minor acting roles.

It is interesting to note that in late 1964, Shannon produced a demo recording session for a young fellow Michigander named Bob Seger, who would go on to stardom much later.  Del Shannon's 1961 hit "Runaway" would later be covered later by various major artists including Elvis Presley and the Traveling Wilburys.  In 1999, Del Shannon was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  

Ernest Kador, Jr. was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on February 22nd, 1933.  He became an R&B singer, known by the stage name Ernie K-Doe.  Ernie recorded as a member of the group the Blue Diamonds in 1954 before he began making his first solo recordings the following year.  The song "Mother-in-Law" was written by the influential New Orleans R&B musician and producer, Allen Toussaint.  Ernie recorded it in early 1961 with backing bass vocals by Benny Spellman.  The recording was produced by Allen Toussaint, who also played the piano solo.  "Mother-in-Law"  was issued by Minit Records, and by May 22nd it was a #1 hit in the U.S. on both the Billboard Hot 100 chart and the Billboard R&B chart.  In the UK the song peaked at #29.  While K-Doe never had another top-40 pop hit, he did have two other singles reach the R&B Top 40: "Te-Ta-Te-Ta-Ta" at #21 in 1961 and "Later for Tomorrow" at #37 in 1967.  In the 1980's, K-Doe did radio shows on the New Orleans community stations WWOZ and WTUL.  Ernie had a flamboyant personality, and his shows were known for his explosively energetic announcements and frequent self-promotion.  In the 1990's, K-Doe began billing himself as "The Emperor of the Universe".  He would often wear a cape and crown, and became a famous local eccentric in New Orleans. 

Here is Ernie K-Doe's recording of "Mother-in-Law":

"Mbube" is a popular song originally written and composed by the South African musician Solomon Popoli Linda.  Linda, a Zulu migrant worker, led the a capella group the Evening Birds.  In 1939, without rehearsal, they recorded "Mbube", which fused traditional Zulu musical elements with Western influences.  The recording was then released in South Africa to widespread popularity.  A decade later the recording of "Mbube" was then sent to a record label in the US, and passed on to Pete Seeger of the folk group the Weavers.  The Weavers covered the song in 1951 as "Wimoweh".  

Four years later a doo-wop band was formed in 1955 at Abraham Lincoln High School in Brooklyn, New York, and was known first as the Linc-Tones.  They changed their name to the Tokens, and the original band members were Neil Sedaka, Hank Medress, Eddie Rabkin, and Cynthia Zolotin.  In 1956 Rabkin was replaced by Jay Siegel.  In the same year the band recorded its first single, "While I Dream", with Sedaka on lead vocals.  Sedaka and Howard Greenfield wrote much of the group's early material.  They were unusual among teen vocal groups of the time because they were not a cover band.  In 1957, Zolotin left the band, and in 1958 Neil Sedaka left the group to launch his prolific solo career.  In 1960 Jay Siegel and Hank Medress recruited Mitch Margo and Phil Margo to form a new version of the Tokens.  In early 1961, the Tokens released a single for Warwick Records titled "Tonight I Fell In Love", which reached #15 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and earned the group an opportunity to perform on the television program American Bandstand.  The popularity that the band garnered as a result of this performance brought it new recording opportunities, and they signed up with RCA for a three-record contract.  Their first two records, "When I Go to Sleep at Night", backed with "Dry Your Eyes", and "Sincerely", struggled commercially.  

The Tokens had heard the Weavers perform a live version of "Wimoweh", and thought it would make a good B-side to A-side "Tina", on their third single.  The group approached musician George Weiss to have him overhaul the song with new lyrics that had a contemporary feel.  The final result was an adaptation of the melody with English lyrics, and the song title became "The Lion Sleeps Tonight".  Sadly, Soloman Linda received no songwriting credit, as it was credited at the time to the team of Weiss, Albert Stanton, and the song's producers Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore.  Years later, in 2006 that wrong was corrected by a court settlement.  Among other things, the settlement provided that Solomon Linda's heirs would receive retroactive and future royalty payments with regard to worldwide rights to the song "The Lion Sleeps Tonight".  Additionally, the settlement acknowledged that Solomon Linda would be designated as co-composer of the song.

The Tokens then recorded Weiss' version, with Jay Siegel performing falsettos, the rest of the band chanting "wimoweh", and guest opera singer Anita Darian adding countermelodies.  Accompanying them were an orchestra, a percussionist on timpani, and session musicians on guitar, drums, and bass.  The new single, with "Tina" as the A-side and "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" as the B-side, was released by RCA Victor in October 1961.  While the A-side "Tina" failed to do well, by December 18th "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" had surged to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, where it remained for three weeks.  The same track peaked at #11 on the UK Singles Chart.  Both "Tonight I Fell in Love" and "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" sold more than one million copies, and were awarded gold discs.  Many covers of the song found similar success in the years to come.  By the mid-2000's, around 150 artists across the world had covered the song, and it had been included in the 1994 Disney film The Lion King.   

Here is The Tokens version of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight":

Overall the Tokens would have four Top 40 hits in the Billboard Hot 100, all in the 1960's.  After "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" charted, from 1962 to 1970, the group released nine more songs that made the Hot 100.  The Tokens subsequently became music producers, and they flourished in their new role.  Their production company was called "Bright Tunes", and they also created their own record company, B.T. Puppy Records.   Among their productions was the Chiffons' "He's So Fine", a #1 hit.

Thank you for listening to another episode of Rock and Roll Flashback podcasts, where I discussed the back story behind three of the #1 hits in the year 1961.  So, fellow travelers, may your path be smooth and your music always be rockin'!  And until next time...Rock On!