The Righteous Brothers

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For the Arrested Development episode, see Righteous Brothers (Arrested Development episode).

The Righteous Brothers
Origin	Los Angeles, California, United States
Genre(s)	Pop Blue-eyed soul
Years active	1962 – 1968; 1974 – 2003
Label(s)	Moonglow Philles Records Verve
Associated acts	Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, Phil Spector
Members
Bill Medley Bobby Hatfield

The Righteous Brothers were the musical duo of Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield. They recorded from 1963 through 1975, and continued to perform until Hatfield's death in 2003. Their emotive vocal stylings were sometimes dubbed "blue-eyed soul." Medley and Hatfield both possessed exceptional vocal talent, with range, control and tone that helped them create a strong and distinct duet sound and also to perform as soloists. Medley sang the low parts with his deep, soulful bass-baritone, with Hatfield taking the higher register vocals with his soaring tenor.

They adopted their name in 1962 while performing together in the Los Angeles area as part of a five-member group called The Paramours, which featured John Wimber, one of the founders of the Vineyard Movement, on keyboards. At the end of one particular performance, a black Marine in the audience shouted, "That was righteous, brothers!", prompting the pair to adopt the name when they embarked on a career as a duo.

1 Musical career
2 Later career and going solo
3 US and UK hit singles
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Musical career

The Righteous Brothers started their career on Moonglow with two moderate hits: "Little Latin Lupe Lu" and "My Babe" in 1963, as well as two albums. Both songs received airplay, but their first major hit single would be "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" on the Philles label in 1965. Produced by Phil Spector, the record is often cited as one of the peak expressions of Spector's Wall of Sound production techniques. It was one of the most successful pop singles of its time, despite exceeding the standard length for radio play. Indeed, according to BMI, "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" remains the most played song in radio history, estimated to have been broadcast more than eight million times. It is also well known as an unofficial Nottingham Forest club anthem, often sang to opposition fans after Forest have scored a goal. A little known fact is that Spector used Cher (of Sonny & Cher fame) as a backup singer on this and other recordings. (Also little known is that they were never actually signed to Philles; they were still under contract to Moonglow and Spector leased their contract.)

The Righteous Brothers had several other Spector-produced hit singles in 1965, including "Just Once in My Life," "Unchained Melody" (a Hatfield solo that originally was the B-side of "Hung on You"), and "Ebb Tide." However, they did not get along with Spector and left the Philles label in 1965. They next released "(You're my) Soul and Inspiration" (a Phil Spector sound-alike song) on Verve, which became a #1 hit in 1966. After a few more top 40 songs, including their renditions of "White Cliffs of Dover" and "Georgia on My Mind," their popularity began to decline, perhaps because older recordings were being released by Moonglow during the same time they were enjoying popularity with Philles (1964-65) and Verve (1966-67). They eventually split up for more than seven years.

Medley recorded a few solos including "Brown-eyed Woman" (1968). Bobby Hatfield teamed up briefly with another singer, Jimmy Walker (drummer and one of the singers of the Knickerbockers of "Lies" fame), using the Righteous Brothers name, but neither he nor Hatfield was able to achieve any significant level of success. In 1974, Medley and Hatfield reunited, performing on the "Sonny and Cher Hour."

[edit] Later career and going solo

In 1974, they scored another hit with "Rock and Roll Heaven", a paean to several deceased rock singers; Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Otis Redding, Jim Croce and Bobby Darin are among those mentioned (Croce and Darin passed away within three months of each other in late 1973, shortly before the song was released). The song peaked at #3 on the Billboard charts. The song was updated in 1990 to reflect the passing of several more stars like Elvis Presley, Marvin Gaye, Jackie Wilson, Dennis Wilson, John Lennon and Roy Orbison. A few more minor hits followed, and then the Righteous Brothers found themselves "hitless" again until 1990, although they toured frequently. In 1990, their original 1965 version of "Unchained Melody" returned to the charts following its inclusion in the movie Ghost. Taking advantage of the popularity of the song, the duo released a newly recorded version on Curb Records, which earned them a platinum single for sales of over a million copies.^[1]

Medley would also have solo success: In 1984, he scored country hits with "Till Your Memory's Gone" and "I Still Do"; and in late 1987, his duet with Jennifer Warnes — "(I've Had) The Time of My Life", which appeared on the soundtrack for Dirty Dancing — topped the Billboard Hot 100 and earned a Grammy Award. He also scored a moderate UK hit in 1988 with a version of "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother". One of Medley's minor entries, "Don't Know Much", was a #2 hit in late 1989 as a duet by Linda Ronstadt and Aaron Neville.

The Righteous Brothers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 10, 2003.

Bobby Hatfield was found dead in his hotel room in Kalamazoo, Michigan on November 5, 2003, half an hour before he was due to perform a concert with Bill Medley at Western Michigan University's Miller Auditorium. His death was caused by cocaine and not just heart failure, according to the official autopsy report.^[2]

[edit] US and UK hit singles

[edit] Righteous Brothers

1963: "Little Latin Lupe Lu" - #49 US
1963: "My Babe" - #75 US (re-charted in 1965 at #101 US)
1964: "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" - #1 US, #1 UK
1965: "Bring Your Love to Me" - # 83 US / "Fannie Mae" - #117 US
1965: "Just Once in My Life" - #9 US
1965: "You Can Have Her" - #67 US
1965: "Justine" - #85 US
1965: "Unchained Melody" - #4 US, #14 UK / "Hung on You" - #47 US
1965: "Ebb Tide" - #5 US, #48 UK
1966: "Georgia On My Mind" - #62 US
1966: "(You're My) Soul and Inspiration" - #1 US (Gold), #15 UK
1966: "He" - #18 US / "He Will Break Your Heart" [a.k.a. "He Don't Love You (Like I Love You)"] - #91 US
1966: "Go Ahead and Cry" - #30 US
1966: "On This Side of Goodbye" - #47 US
1966: "The White Cliffs of Dover" - #21 UK
1966: "Island in the Sun" - #1 UK
1967: "Melancholy Music Man" - #43 US
1967: "Stranded in the Middle of Noplace" - #72 US / "Been So Nice" - #128 US
1969: "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" (re-issue) - #10 UK
1974: "Rock and Roll Heaven" - #3, written by Alan O'Day
1974: "Give It to the People" - #20
1974: "Dream On" - #32
1977: "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" (re-issue) - #42 UK
1990: "Unchained Melody" (re-issue) - #13 (plus Adult Contemporary #1) US, #1 UK
1990: "Unchained Melody" (new 1990 recording for Curb Records) - #19 US (Platinum)
1990: "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" / "Ebb Tide" (re-issue) - #3 UK

NOTE: "Bring Your Love To Me"/"Fannie Mae," "You Can Have Her," "Justine" and "Georgia On My Mind" were older recordings released as singles in the U.S. by the Moonglow label to cash in on the duo's success on Philles (1964-65) and Verve (1966-67), which explains their relatively low chart positions.

[edit] Bill Medley

1968: "I Can't Make It Alone" - #95 US
1968: "Brown Eyed Woman" - #43 US
1968: "Peace, Brother, Peace" - #48 US
1981: "Don't Know Much" - #88 US
1982: "Right Here and Now" - #58 US
1987: "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" with Jennifer Warnes - #1 US (Pop and AC) (Gold), #6 UK
1988: "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" - #25 UK

[edit] Bobby Hatfield

1969: "Only You (And You Alone)" - #95 US

[edit] Discography References

Billboard Top Pop Singles by Joel Whitburn
GWR British Hit Singles and Albums (2004 edition), pgs. 360 and 461

[edit] References

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