[Lancey Howard]

But Unchained Melody was around much earlier. One of my first albums was by a black fellow named Roy Hamilton who did breathtaking versions of Unchained Melody and Ebb Tide -- both performed years later by Bobby Hatfield of the Righteous Brothers.

Thanks for the information.
I just presumed that the Righteous Brothers had first shot at it because I remember that Phil Spector had a writing credit for the song.

[Calvin Locke]

Unchained Melody

I think I have a Gene Vincent version (1950s) floating around.

[PhilipFreneau]

>>I just presumed that the Righteous Brothers had first shot at it because I remember that Phil Spector had a writing credit for the song.

I found this brief history of Unchained Melody on the web:

http://www.oracleband.net/Lyrics/unchained_melody.htm