Righteous Brother Bobby Hatfield Dies

Local News | N/A

[Jean Chauvin]

Local news station WWMT out of Kalamazoo just reported that Bobby Hatfield of the "Righteous Brothers" has died just before their scheduled concert at Miller Auditorium in KZoo.

[Conservative til I die]

I'm waiting for the first "I heard he gave money to Jimmy Carter in 1976. I feel no sympathy towards him. Good riddance" post.

[Happy2BMe]

For it is appointed unto man once to die . .

[TexasCowboy]

Yes, it is a sad ping, BG.

It took me a long time to find out these guys were white, but only one listen to their music to love it.

MoJo, I'm not at home with my CDs.
Do you think you could do a tribute to the Righteous Brothers?

[MoJo2001]

They weren't brothers, but Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield (both born in 1941) were most definitely righteous, defining (and perhaps even inspiring) the term "blue-eyed soul" in the mid-'60s. The white Southern California duo were an established journeyman doo wop/R&B act before an association with Phil Spector produced one of the most memorable hits of the 1960s, "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'." The collaboration soon fell apart, though, and while the singers had some other excellent hit singles in a similar style, they proved unable to sustain their momentum after just a year or two at the top.

When Medley and Hatfield combined forces in 1962, they emerged from regional groups the Paramours and the Variations; in fact, they kept the Paramours billing for their first single. By 1963, they were calling themselves the Righteous Brothers, Medley taking the low parts with his smoky baritone, Hatfield taking the higher tenor and falsetto lines. For the next couple of years they did quite a few energetic R&B tunes on the Moonglow label that bore similarity to the gospel/soul/rock style of Ray Charles, copping their greatest success with "Little Latin Lupe Lu," which became a garage-band favorite covered by Mitch Ryder, the Kingsmen, and others.

Even on the Moonglow recordings, Bill Medley acted as producer and principal songwriter, but the duo wouldn't break out nationally until they put themselves at the services of Phil Spector. Spector gave the Wall of Sound treatment to "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'," a grandiose ballad penned by himself, Barry Mann, and Cynthia Weil. At nearly four minutes, the song was pushing the limits of what could be played on radio in the mid-'60s, and some listeners thought they were hearing a 45 single played at 33 rpm due to Medley's low, blurry lead vocal. No matter; the song had a power that couldn't be denied, and went all the way to number one.
From ArtistDirect.com

R.I.P Bobby Hatfield!

CLICK ON IMAGES!

 

 

[MoJo2001]

I'll post more later!! I've gotta run a few errands.

*HUGS* to you both!

R.I.P Bobby Hatfield!

[AppyPappy]

I heard he gave money to Jimmy Carter in 1976. I feel no sympathy towards him. Good riddance

How was that? Do I win?

If you couldn't get a girl with "Unchained Melody", you were queer.

[Lancey Howard]

Thanks for that link - - very interesting!
What's funny, is that the last time I saw the song's lyrics I beleieve it was in a newspaper) it gave a writing credit to Phil Spector, AND there was an additional entire stanza of lyrics in the middle that the Righteous Brothers never sang in their recording. (That link doesn't show this extra stanza, either.)

In any event, I have enjoyed the song since 1965.

Regards,
LH

[Atlas Sneezed]

"You've Lost that Livin' Feeling"

[bootless]

(Replying semi-randomly)... During last season's American Idol, Clay Aiken performed Unchained Melody in a VERY abbreviated form, but did a beautiful job. Q-Tip head Justin What's-his-name did as well (shilling his new album), but I thought it was just awful.

[PJ-Comix]

I loved "House of the Rising Sun".

Blues sung by Brits.

[PJ-Comix]

Did the writers of "Unchained Melody" also write "Nights In White Satin?" Somehow both songs have a similar "feel." I really like both songs.

[AGreatPer]

Hatfield almost joined a group called The Left Bank, from England, of "Walk Away Renee" fame when we were recording in NY at 1650 Broadway Bldg.

Some producer asked him to try a duet with this low voice dude. The rest is history.

Accross the street at Roulette Records, Red Swartz asked me to listen to two sides of a record by this Tommy James guy. I listened to both sides. Side one was, "One, Two, Three and I Fell". I called it to be a hit. The other side, I said, was too much like Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, and will not make it. Of course, that song was "Mony, Mony". Shows you what I know. Nothing. BTW, Neil Diamond was with us and he picked Mony, Mony.

Oh stop rambling already about my old days.

[AGreatPer]

"If you couldn't get a girl with "Unchained Melody", you were queer."

Right on.

Or, "Since I Don't Have You", by Jimmy Beaumont and the Skyliners.

[Moonman62]

Did the writers of "Unchained Melody" also write "Nights In White Satin?" Somehow both songs have a similar "feel." I really like both songs.

No, but I can see where one might think that. Phil Spector who produced Unchained did layers of music in rich orchestrations with lots of reverb. "Nights in White Satin" came off of the "Days of Future Passed" album by the Moody Blues, which was intended to be little more than a demo of a new recording technique by their label. I guess they didn't care that the Moody Blues, who had just replaced two band members, were doing it. The idea was to get a blend of rock music with the music of an orchestra to show off the technique. Of course, the album ended up being a big hit for the Moody Blues and nobody cared about the recording technique. The words and melody for "Nights in White Satin" was done by Justin Hayward of the Moody Blues, one of the new members at the time. The orchestra part was done by the London Philharmonic. I believe their conductor wrote the extra music. If you want to know who did the poem you'll have to look it up on the internet.

BTW, if you like that kind of sound give Enya a try if you haven't already.

[PJ-Comix]

Do you know who the drummer is in the band that recorded Nights In White Satin? I remember a friend of mine once told me he was the drummer but there was no way to check. BTW, I really like well written songs like this one and Unchained Melody that have that wall of sound effect.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Are you having a problem crawling out from beneath that rock you're under, creep?

Hatfield's Autopsy Reveals Cocaine Use

[E. Pluribus Unum]

He died in his sleep.

Hatfield's Autopsy Reveals Cocaine Use

[E. Pluribus Unum]

You reek of disgrace.

Hatfield's Autopsy Reveals Cocaine Use

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Oh, for God's sake, can't you have a little respect?

Hatfield's Autopsy Reveals Cocaine Use

[hole_n_one]

So, you're a correct idiot.