unchained melody...who sang it first...people say it was jimmy young...are they right
2006-11-10 07:30:53 · 24 answers · asked by ALAN B 3 in Entertainment & Music ➔ Music
Sorry folks - I think the Righteous bros had the best but here is the skinny:
"Unchained Melody" is one of the most recorded songs of the 20th century, by some counts having spawned over 500 versions.[1] One week in the 1950s saw no less than four different cover versions in the British charts alone. Four artists covering the song are listed in the Guinness Book of British Hit Singles as: Jimmy Young, Les Baxter, Al Hibbler and Liberace in May and June 1955.
The music was written by renowned film composer Alex North as a theme for the now obscure 1955 prison film Unchained, the lyrics by Hy Zaret. They tell of a prisoner's anguished longing for his wife.
The song was originally written, lyrics first, by William Stirrat, aka Hy Zaret, in 1936 at summer camp, in an attempt to woo a girl named Mary Louise "Cookie" Pierce. At this same camp Stirrat met Alex North and begged him to write a melody for his words. They wanted Bing Crosby, North's neighbor at the time, to sing the song. It took them until 1955 to get Al Hibbler to sing it and in that year it was finally released and reached the top 30 by four different artists.
2006-11-10 07:40:57 · answer #1 · answered by svmainus 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
"Unchained Melody" was written in 1936, but was finally released in 1955 by Al Hibbler, Jimmy Young, Liberace and Harry Belafonte. Since then, some 500 people have recorded it, notably the Righteous Brothers in 1965.
The Wikipedia link I'm giving you tells all about the history behind this famous song.
2006-11-10 07:40:19 · answer #2 · answered by True Blue 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Jimmy Young. List below of as many that I can find, unfortunatly I have misplaced a book that may list more!!
Jimmy Young - 1955 - got to number 1
Al Hibbler - 1955 - 2
Les Baxter - 1955 - 10
Liberance - 1955 - 20
Jimmy Young - 1964 - 43
Righteous Brothers - 1964 - 14
Leo Sayer - 1986 - 54
Righteous Brothers - 1990 - 1
Robson Green and Jerome Flynn - 1995 - 1
Gareth Gates - 2002 - 1
2006-11-10 08:01:00 · answer #3 · answered by Shane 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Al Hibbler in 1955, then 10 years later it was The Righteous Bros, namely Bobby Hatfield. They had the big hit with the song. It is my favorite song also, so I did the research on it long long ago!.....Unchained Melody by Righteous Bros (1965). Record (cd) is still available,but no more from them. Sadly Bobby Hatfield died a few years ago.
2006-11-10 07:40:08 · answer #4 · answered by BoosGrammy 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Jimmy Young, Les Baxter, Al Hibbler and Liberace in May and June 1955
Guinness book of British hit singles
2006-11-10 07:51:59 · answer #5 · answered by ? 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Righteous Brothers.
2006-11-10 07:33:13 · answer #6 · answered by Dea. 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Rightous Brothers the video is with the man with long hair climbing up a wall sideways
2006-11-10 07:41:32 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The first person to sing this song was actually Harry Belafonte who also sang it at the 1956 Academy Awards.
2006-11-10 07:35:16 · answer #8 · answered by jennav 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Am so wrong!!! Someone called Les Baxter sang it first for a film in 1955!!!!
2006-11-10 07:35:40 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
The Righteous Brothers did the best cover. -Bill Medley is a close family friend
2006-11-10 07:45:33 · answer #10 · answered by Samantha 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋