1.
Single (music)
–
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record, an album or an EP record. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats, in most cases, a single is a song that is released separately from an album, although it usually also appears on an album. Typically, these are the songs from albums that are released separately for promotional uses such as digital download or commercial radio airplay and are expected to be the most popular, in other cases a recording released as a single may not appear on an album. As digital downloading and audio streaming have become prevalent, it is often possible for every track on an album to also be available separately. Nevertheless, the concept of a single for an album has been retained as an identification of a heavily promoted or more popular song within an album collection. Despite being referred to as a single, singles can include up to as many as three tracks on them. The biggest digital music distributor, iTunes, accepts as many as three tracks less than ten minutes each as a single, as well as popular music player Spotify also following in this trend. Any more than three tracks on a release or longer than thirty minutes in total running time is either an Extended Play or if over six tracks long. The basic specifications of the single were made in the late 19th century. Gramophone discs were manufactured with a range of speeds and in several sizes. By about 1910, however, the 10-inch,78 rpm shellac disc had become the most commonly used format, the inherent technical limitations of the gramophone disc defined the standard format for commercial recordings in the early 20th century.26 rpm. With these factors applied to the 10-inch format, songwriters and performers increasingly tailored their output to fit the new medium, the breakthrough came with Bob Dylans Like a Rolling Stone. Singles have been issued in various formats, including 7-inch, 10-inch, other, less common, formats include singles on digital compact cassette, DVD, and LD, as well as many non-standard sizes of vinyl disc. Some artist release singles on records, a more common in musical subcultures. The most common form of the single is the 45 or 7-inch. The names are derived from its speed,45 rpm. The 7-inch 45 rpm record was released 31 March 1949 by RCA Victor as a smaller, more durable, the first 45 rpm records were monaural, with recordings on both sides of the disc. As stereo recordings became popular in the 1960s, almost all 45 rpm records were produced in stereo by the early 1970s
2.
Andy Williams
–
Howard Andrew Andy Williams was an American popular music singer. He recorded 44 albums in his career,15 of which have been gold-certified and he was also nominated for six Grammy Awards. He hosted The Andy Williams Show, a variety show, from 1962 to 1971. The Andy Williams Show garnered three Emmy awards, the Moon River Theatre in Branson, Missouri, is named after the song he is most known for singing—Johnny Mercer and Henry Mancinis Moon River. He sold more than 100 million records worldwide, including 10.5 million certified units in the United States, Williams was born in Wall Lake, Iowa, the son of Jay Emerson and Florence Williams. While living in Cheviot, Ohio, Williams attended Western Hills High School in Cincinnati and he finished high school at University High School, in West Los Angeles, because of his familys move to California. Williams had three older brothers—Bob, Don, and Dick Williams and his first performance was in a childrens choir at the local Presbyterian church. Moving to Los Angeles in 1943, the Williams Brothers sang with Bing Crosby on the hit record Swinging on a Star and they appeared in four musical films, Janie, Kansas City Kitty, Something in the Wind and Ladies Man. A persistent myth is that as a teenager the future singing star dubbed the singing for Lauren Bacall in the 1944 feature film To Have and Have Not, according to authoritative sources, including Howard Hawks and Bacall herself, this was not true. Williams and some female singers were tested to dub for Bacall, but those fears were overshadowed by the desire to have Bacall do her own singing despite her less-than-perfect vocal talent. This myth is refuted in Leonard Maltins Movie Guide in the entry for this film, when Bob completed his military service, Kay hired all four brothers to sing on the soundtrack to Good News. They made their debut in Las Vegas in 1947 and became an overnight sensation, within a year, they were the highest paid nightclub act in the world, breaking records wherever they appeared. Williams revealed in his memoir Moon River and Me that he and Thompson became romantically involved while on tour, the act broke up in 1949 but reunited for another hugely successful tour from the fall of 1951 through the summer of 1953. After that, the four went their separate ways. A complete itinerary of both tours is listed on the Kay Thompson biography website, Williams and Thompson, however, remained very close, both personally and professionally. She mentored his emergence as a singing star. She coached him, wrote his arrangements, and composed songs that he recorded. Using her contacts in the business, Thompson helped Williams land his breakthrough television gig as a singer for two-and-a-half years on The Tonight Show starring Steve Allen
3.
You've Got a Friend (Andy Williams album)
–
Youve Got a Friend is an album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released in August 1971 by Columbia Records. It made its first appearance on Billboard magazines Top LPs & Tapes chart in the issue dated August 28,1971, for its release in the UK, the album was entitled A Song for You. The single from the album, A Song for You, entered the Hot 100 in the US in the issue of Billboard dated August 21,1971, and stayed on the chart for four weeks, eventually peaking at number 82. The song entered the magazines list of the 40 most popular Easy Listening songs of the week in the issue, on August 28, for its first of five weeks. The album bears a striking resemblance to the Johnny Mathis album Youve Got a Friend. Collectables included this CD in a box set entitled Classic Album Collection, Vol.2, Youve Got a Friend –4,44 Help Me Make It Through the Night –2,36 How Can You Mend a Broken Heart. Rainy Days and Mondays by The Carpenters is yet another Gold record covered here and they enjoyed two weeks with the song at number two pop and four weeks at number one Easy Listening. The Jackson 5 had the most successful version of Never Can Say Goodbye with three weeks at number two on the Hot 100, three weeks at one on the R&B chart, and a number 33 hit in the UK. The Jackson 5 song Ill Be There had five weeks at one on the Hot 100 and six weeks at number one R&B and reached number 24 Easy Listening. The Fortunes got as high as number 15 pop and number eight Easy Listening with Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling Again, bread took If to number four on the Hot 100 and also spent three weeks at number one on the Easy Listening chart. A Song for You originally appeared on Leon Russells self-titled debut album in 1970, aside from Williams, the only other artist to chart the song during this period was Jaye P
4.
A-side and B-side
–
The terms A-side and B-side refer to the two sides of 78,45, and 33 1/3 rpm phonograph records, whether singles, extended plays, or long-playing records. Creedence Clearwater Revival had hits with both A-side and B-side releases, others took the opposite approach, producer Phil Spector was in the habit of filling B-sides with on-the-spot instrumentals that no one would confuse with the A-side. With this practice, Spector was assured that airplay was focused on the side he wanted to be the hit side, the earliest 10-inch,78 rpm, shellac records were single sided. Double-sided recordings, with one song on side, were introduced in Europe by Columbia Records. There were no record charts until the 1930s, and radio stations did not play recorded music until the 1950s, in this time, A-sides and B-sides existed, but neither side was considered more important, the side did not convey anything about the content of the record. The term single came into use with the advent of vinyl records in the early 1950s. At first, most record labels would randomly assign which song would be an A-side, under this random system, many artists had so-called double-sided hits, where both songs on a record made one of the national sales charts, or would be featured on jukeboxes in public places. As time wore on, however, the convention for assigning songs to sides of the record changed. By the early sixties, the song on the A-side was the song that the company wanted radio stations to play. It was not until 1968, for instance, that the production of albums on a unit basis finally surpassed that of singles in the United Kingdom. In the late 1960s stereo versions of pop and rock songs began to appear on 45s. The majority of the 45s were played on AM radio stations, by the early 1970s, double-sided hits had become rare. Album sales had increased, and B-sides had become the side of the record where non-album, non-radio-friendly, with the advent of cassette and compact disc singles in the late 1980s, the A-side/B-side differentiation became much less meaningful. With the decline of cassette singles in the 1990s, the A-side/B-side dichotomy became virtually extinct, as the dominant medium. However, the term B-side is still used to refer to the tracks or coupling tracks on a CD single. With the advent of downloading music via the Internet, sales of CD singles and other media have declined. B-side songs may be released on the record as a single to provide extra value for money. There are several types of material released in this way, including a different version, or, in a concept record
5.
You've Got a Friend
–
Youve Got a Friend is a 1971 song written by Carole King. It was first recorded by King, and included in her album Tapestry, another well-known version is by James Taylor from his album Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon. His was released as a single in 1971 reaching number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, the two versions were recorded simultaneously in 1971 with shared musicians. Youve Got a Friend won Grammy Awards both for Taylor and King, dozens of other artists have recorded the song over the years, including Dusty Springfield, Michael Jackson, Anne Murray and Donny Hathaway. Youve Got a Friend was written by Carole King during the January 1971 recording sessions for her own album Tapestry, and James Taylors album Mud Slide Slim, King has stated that the song was as close to pure inspiration as Ive ever experienced. It was written by something outside myself, through me, according to Taylor, King told him that the song was a response to a line in Taylors earlier song Fire and Rain that I’ve seen lonely times when I could not find a friend. Kings album was recorded in an overlap with Taylors, and King, Danny Kortchmar, the song is included on both albums, King said in a 1972 interview that she didnt write it with James or anybody really specifically in mind. But when James heard it he really liked it and wanted to record it, Taylors version was released as a single, and reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 4 on the UK Singles Chart. The James Taylor version also spent one week at the top of the Easy Listening charts, Billboard ranked it as the No.17 song for 1971. During the recording process, Taylor also offered to his Apple Records labelmate Mary Hopkin a chance to record the song, which she turned down, James Taylor and Carole King performed Youve Got a Friend together in 2010 during their Troubadour Reunion Tour. According to author James D. Perone, the themes include an expression of a universal, sisterly/brotherly, agape-type love of one human being for another. The reassuring lyrics have made the song popular with lonely people needing a boost of self-confidence. The songs messages of friendship having no boundaries and a friend being there when you are in need has universal appeal, for Taylor the lyrics had particular resonance due to the depression he had recovered from shortly before hearing King play the song. The music moves between a major and minor key, which according to music critic Maury Dean gives the song a sympathetic mood, in his review of Tapestry, Rolling Stone critic Jon Landau called Youve Got a Friend Carole Kings most perfect new song. He particularly praised how the melody and lyrics support each other, mojo considered the song to probably be the core of Tapestry. Allmusic critic Stewart Mason commented on the intimacy of Kings performance. Mason finds that the shyness of Kings voice gives her recording of the song a sincerity that he finds Taylors to lack, Mason also praises the depth and shading provided by the string instruments on Kings recording. Music critic Maury Dean describes Taylors performance style for the song as minimalist and folkish, Dusty Springfield recorded the song in early 1971 during the sessions for her third Atlantic Records album Faithful
6.
1971 in music
–
List of notable events in music that took place in the year 1971. February 1 – After months of feuding in the press, Ginger Baker, february 3 - Davy Jones announces he is leaving the Monkees. February 8 – Bob Dylans hour-long documentary film, Eat the Document, is premièred at New Yorks Academy of Music, the film includes footage from Dylans 1966 UK tour. March 1 – The line-up for Queen is completed when bassist John Deacon joins the band, march 4 – The Rolling Stones open their UK tour in Newcastle upon Tyne, intended as a farewell to the UK prior to the bands relocation to France as tax exiles. March 5 – Ulster Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland, sees the first live performance of Led Zeppelins iconic song Stairway to Heaven, march 6 - The Soul to Soul concert takes place in Accra, Ghana, headlined by Wilson Pickett. March 12-13 – The Allman Brothers Band records its live album, march 16 – The 13th Grammy Awards, honoring musical accomplishments of 1970, are presented. The ceremonies are broadcast on television for the first time. April 3 – The 16th Eurovision Song Contest, held in the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin, is won by Monaco with the song Un Banc, Un Arbre, Une Rue sung by Séverine. April 6 – The Rolling Stones hold a party in Cannes to officially announce their new contract with Atlantic, may 12 – Mick Jagger marries Bianca de Macías in Saint-Tropez, France, in a Roman Catholic ceremony. Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and their wives are among the wedding guests, june - Rafael Kubelík becomes music director of the Metropolitan Opera, New York, at the invitation of Göran Gentele, the new general manager. June 6 – John Lennon and Yoko Ono join Frank Zappa on stage at the Fillmore East for an encore jam, the performance would be released the following year on the Some Time in New York City album. June 8 - Carole King gives her first live concert, at Carnegie Hall, june 20-24 – The first Glastonbury Festival to take place at the summer solstice is held in South West England. Performers include David Bowie, Traffic, Fairport Convention, Quintessence, june 27 – Promoter Bill Graham closes the Fillmore East in New York City with a final concert featuring The Allman Brothers Band, The Beach Boys and Mountain. July 3 – Jim Morrison is found dead in a tub in Paris, France. Alain Ronay would claim, years later, that he assisted Morrisons lover, Pamela Courson, july 4 – The Fillmore West is closed in San Francisco with a final show featuring Santana, Creedence Clearwater Revival and The Grateful Dead. July 9 – Grand Funk Railroad becomes only the band to perform a sold-out concert at Shea Stadium breaking The Beatles record of selling out the venue. The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour premieres on CBS, august 14 - The Who release their fifth studio album Whos Next, reaching No.1 in the UK and No.1 in the US. September 11 – The Jackson 5ive, a Saturday morning cartoon based on the popular Motown group The Jackson 5
