Rock & Roll Lullaby (1972) 3/12/20

A few days ago, Our "Great Song of the '70s" was written by the husband and wife team of Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. (Dolly Parton's "Here You Come Again.")

Today, w're highlighting another Mann & Weil song...this time with B.J. Thomas at the mic.

In 1972, producer Steve Tyrell was working with BJ on a song called "Rock & Roll Lullaby." They wanted the song to have an "old time rock & roll feel" to it...and they came up with a couple of genius ideas:

#1: They wanted a "twangy" guitar sound reminiscent of '50s legend Duane Eddy.

#2: They wanted the background vocals to sound like the Beach Boys.

Here's what happened next:

#1: They figured they had nothing to lose by actually ASKING Duane Eddy to play on the song--and he agreed!

#2: Talks with Brian Wilson fell through. (Brian was in very tough shape, both mentally and physically at that point, so his participation was a dream that, unfortunately, had no real chance to coming true.)

Tyrell and Thomas were not deterred.They called in Dave Somerville, lead singer of the '50s group, "The Diamonds," ("Little Darlin'), as well as Darlene Love and her group "The Blossoms, who had sung on most of the Shirelle's hits. To tweak it just a little bit more, they brought in some background singers who had worked with Jan & Dean. Barry Mann himself played the piano.

The end result? For years, listeners were 100% positive The Beach Boys sang backup on the song. They were wrong. :)

The song went to #1 on Billboard's Easy listening Chart, and #5 in Brazil, when it was used as a love theme on one of their soap operas.

Rock & Roll Lullaby: Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, Steve Tyrell, B.J. Thomas, Duane Eddy, and NOT The Beach Boys--a "Great Song of 1972!"