Post by Rob Durkee on Aug 25, 2010 22:51:41 GMT -5
By ROCKIN' ROBIN
George David Weiss, who wrote or co-wrote huge hits such as "What A Wonderful World," "Can't Help Falling In Love" and "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," died on Monday, August 23, 2010, of natural causes in Oldwick, N.Y., according to the Associated Press. He was 89.
In all, Weiss wrote or co-wrote nearly 50 Top 40 hits . He first broke through in 1946, when he had three big chart-topping hits --- "Surrender" by Perry Como and two for Frankie Carle, "Oh! What It Seemed To Be" and "Rumors Are Flying." In 1948, he co-penned "Confess," which Patti Page turned into the first major hit song featuring voice overdubbing. Four years later in 1952, he co-wrote "Wheel Of Fortune, " which shot to #1 on the Cash Box pop chart for Kay Starr.
Among the other memorable hit songs Weiss wrote or co-wrote were three from 1963 -- "That Sunday, That Summer" for Nat King Cole and two for Little Peggy March, "I Wish I Were A Princess" and "Hello Heartache, Goodbye Love."
But the three aforementioned hits for Elvis Presley, Louie Armstrong and the Tokens rank among his greatest compositions.
"Can't Help Falling In Love" was based on a classical French song, "Plaisir d'Amour," written by Giovanni Martini (according to the book "Elvis: His Life From A to Z" by Fred Worth and Steve Tamerius). Weiss teamed up with the writing-producing team of Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore (a/k/a Hugo And Luigi) to write mainly lyrics for "Can't Help Falling In Love." The trio would write two more Elvis movie songs, "Ku-u-i-po" and "Wild In The Country."
"Ku-u-i-po" and "Can't Help Falling In Love" made it to the soundtrack of the Elvis movie, "Blue Hawaii." According to writer Dennis McLellan of the Los Angeles Times, Weiss recalled in a 1992 Daily Variety interview the song's success. He remembered how Elvis' publishers "passed out scripts to 15 to 20 writers and said, 'If you get into the picture, good; if you don't, too bad.' When they first heard 'Can't Help Falling In Love,' there was 20 seconds of silence...and then somebody mumbled, 'that's nice, but we wanted another 'Hound Dog'."
"Can't Help Falling In Love" made it to the "Blue Hawaii" soundtrack nevertheless, reached #4 on the Cash Box pop chart and became Elvis' most famous ballad after climaxing his 1970's concerts. Corey Hart peaked at #35 with a remake of the song in 1987...and in 1993, UB40 took a reggae-fied version to #1 on the Cash Box pop chart.
Weiss and Bob Thiele combined to write "What A Wonderful World," which spent four weeks at #1 on the British chart in 1968 for Louis Armstrong. In the USA, the song failed the make the Cash Box pop chart altogether that year. Twenty years later, though, the song was part of the soundtrack of the Robin Williams 1988 movie, "Good Morning Vietnam," propelling the song to #39. Kenny G, along with the original vocals of Armstrong, would remake the song in 1999. Both versions get extensive airplay on the USA's adult-leaning radio stations to this day.
"The Lion Sleeps Tonight" was based on a 1939 song written by Solomon Linda originally entitled "Mbube," which was Zulu for "lion." The Weavers recorded the song as "Wimoweh" in 1952, but their version missed the pop chart. In a 1995 interview with the Santa Fe New Mexican, Weiss recalled, "I did some research and found out that the chant was connected to the lion. So I began to think and I came up with the notion that the darn lion was sleeping tonight and nobody had to worry. And I incorporated the chant into the song and wrote some melodies and counter melodies."
"The Lion Sleeps Tonight" was a #1 hit in late 1961 for the Tokens and nearly reached the top again in 1972, when Robert John's remake peaked at #2.
Weiss, who also wrote songs for some Broadway musicals, was inducted into the Song Writers Hall of Fame in 1984 plus was President of the Songwriters Guild of America from 1982 to 2000.
George David Weiss, who wrote or co-wrote huge hits such as "What A Wonderful World," "Can't Help Falling In Love" and "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," died on Monday, August 23, 2010, of natural causes in Oldwick, N.Y., according to the Associated Press. He was 89.
In all, Weiss wrote or co-wrote nearly 50 Top 40 hits . He first broke through in 1946, when he had three big chart-topping hits --- "Surrender" by Perry Como and two for Frankie Carle, "Oh! What It Seemed To Be" and "Rumors Are Flying." In 1948, he co-penned "Confess," which Patti Page turned into the first major hit song featuring voice overdubbing. Four years later in 1952, he co-wrote "Wheel Of Fortune, " which shot to #1 on the Cash Box pop chart for Kay Starr.
Among the other memorable hit songs Weiss wrote or co-wrote were three from 1963 -- "That Sunday, That Summer" for Nat King Cole and two for Little Peggy March, "I Wish I Were A Princess" and "Hello Heartache, Goodbye Love."
But the three aforementioned hits for Elvis Presley, Louie Armstrong and the Tokens rank among his greatest compositions.
"Can't Help Falling In Love" was based on a classical French song, "Plaisir d'Amour," written by Giovanni Martini (according to the book "Elvis: His Life From A to Z" by Fred Worth and Steve Tamerius). Weiss teamed up with the writing-producing team of Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore (a/k/a Hugo And Luigi) to write mainly lyrics for "Can't Help Falling In Love." The trio would write two more Elvis movie songs, "Ku-u-i-po" and "Wild In The Country."
"Ku-u-i-po" and "Can't Help Falling In Love" made it to the soundtrack of the Elvis movie, "Blue Hawaii." According to writer Dennis McLellan of the Los Angeles Times, Weiss recalled in a 1992 Daily Variety interview the song's success. He remembered how Elvis' publishers "passed out scripts to 15 to 20 writers and said, 'If you get into the picture, good; if you don't, too bad.' When they first heard 'Can't Help Falling In Love,' there was 20 seconds of silence...and then somebody mumbled, 'that's nice, but we wanted another 'Hound Dog'."
"Can't Help Falling In Love" made it to the "Blue Hawaii" soundtrack nevertheless, reached #4 on the Cash Box pop chart and became Elvis' most famous ballad after climaxing his 1970's concerts. Corey Hart peaked at #35 with a remake of the song in 1987...and in 1993, UB40 took a reggae-fied version to #1 on the Cash Box pop chart.
Weiss and Bob Thiele combined to write "What A Wonderful World," which spent four weeks at #1 on the British chart in 1968 for Louis Armstrong. In the USA, the song failed the make the Cash Box pop chart altogether that year. Twenty years later, though, the song was part of the soundtrack of the Robin Williams 1988 movie, "Good Morning Vietnam," propelling the song to #39. Kenny G, along with the original vocals of Armstrong, would remake the song in 1999. Both versions get extensive airplay on the USA's adult-leaning radio stations to this day.
"The Lion Sleeps Tonight" was based on a 1939 song written by Solomon Linda originally entitled "Mbube," which was Zulu for "lion." The Weavers recorded the song as "Wimoweh" in 1952, but their version missed the pop chart. In a 1995 interview with the Santa Fe New Mexican, Weiss recalled, "I did some research and found out that the chant was connected to the lion. So I began to think and I came up with the notion that the darn lion was sleeping tonight and nobody had to worry. And I incorporated the chant into the song and wrote some melodies and counter melodies."
"The Lion Sleeps Tonight" was a #1 hit in late 1961 for the Tokens and nearly reached the top again in 1972, when Robert John's remake peaked at #2.
Weiss, who also wrote songs for some Broadway musicals, was inducted into the Song Writers Hall of Fame in 1984 plus was President of the Songwriters Guild of America from 1982 to 2000.