Rock & Roll Heaven - Righteous Brothers (1974) 10/19/22

The Mid-1960s were sprinkled with "Great Songs" by Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield--The Righteous Brothers. "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling," "You're My Soul and Inspiration" and "Unchained Melody, were just three of their many hits from that time period. (All were produced, by the way, by Phil Spector.)

The bad news: Bill Medley decided to go solo in 1968, which broke up the act, Apart, however, the "Brothers" had very little success.

The good news: in 1974, Bill & Bobby agreed to get back together, and they immediately scored a deal with Haven Records, but the question was: What would be their comeback song?

Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter, who owned Haven, suggested a song written by Alan O'Day and John Stevenson for the group Climax (known for their "Great Song," "Precious & Few").

"Rock & Roll Heaven" was designed as a tribute to some of Rock & Roll's finest who had all died too young.

The bad news: the Climax version tanked.

The good news: Lambert & Potter rewrote the lyrics, taking out a few names and adding some others...and before you could say, "That's, Righteous, Brother," the song had been recorded, released and become a hit, reaching #3 on the Hot 100 and #4 in Canada.

For the record, the artists mentioned were Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Otis Redding, Jim Morrison, Jim Croce and Bobby Darin.

Interestingly, over the course of the next 17 years, the lyrics were repeatedly changed to add new names--while taking out others.

The last update, circa 1992, paid tribute to Elvis Presley, John Lennon, Roy Orbison, Jackie Wilson, Ricky Nelson, Dennis Wilson, Marvin Gaye, Sam Cooke, Cass Elliott and Stevie Ray Vaughn. (Click the second link below for this version.)

Notes: The Righteous Brothers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003, and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2005. Bobby passed away in 2003, and eventually, after a lot of soul searching and fan prodding, his place was taken by Bucky Heard.

To this day, when Bill sings the song, he changes one more lyric: "If there's a Rock & Roll Heaven, then Bobby's got a Hell of a band!"

I"Rock & Roll Heaven: t's a "Great Song of 1974--and 1992!"

1974:

1992: