From the JTL Archive: Soul and Inspiration

My ten favorite songs from the pen of Cynthia Weil (and Barry Mann)

Greetings, Jagged Time Lapsers!

I wrote the following piece two years ago this week, shortly after the passing of the brilliant pop songwriter Cynthia Weil. Whether because of its subject matter, my writing, some well-timed shares, a lucky threading of the algorithmic needle, or all of the above, it became far and away the most-read thing I’ve ever published here at JTL.

Since I’m still crunched on a book deadline, and since I figure that many of my current subscribers climbed aboard after this piece was published, I thought I might dust it off and salute Ms. Weil once again today. While I still stand by my choice of songs from two years ago, the Mann-Weil catalog is unbelievably rich and wide-ranging, and will definitely repay a deeper exploration if you dig any or all of the tracks listed below…

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The songwriting partnership of Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil scored their first big pop hit in 1961, penning “Bless You” for a young Tony Orlando; their last big one — Hanson’s “I Will Come to You” — landed in the US Top 10 some 36 years later.

In between, the husband and wife team — he generally handled the music, she the lyrics — wrote some of the greatest songs to come out of the legendary Brill Building, including “On Broadway” for The Drifters, “Uptown” for The Crystals and “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” for The Righteous Brothers, and their partnership continued to consistently produce hits well into the ‘90s. The modern pop songbook would be significantly slimmer and less life-affirming without their work.

Back in 2004, the couple starred in They Wrote That?, a musical revue based on their extensive song catalog. Weil’s death last week had people asking that same question all over again, as the full weight and breadth of her songwriting contributions came into focus, including songs that were hits well after the Brill Building era came to a close. “Don’t Know Much” by Aaron Neville and Linda Ronstadt? Yep, she and Mann wrote that one. “Never Gonna Let You Go” by Sergio Mendes and Dionne Warwick? Yep, they wrote that one too. “Running with the Night” by Lionel Richie? Weil, who often co-wrote without her husband (and vice versa), collaborated with Richie on that one. And on and on and on…

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Picking my ten favorite songs with a Cynthia Weil co-writing credit isn’t easy — there’s just so much good stuff to choose from — but it’s definitely been fun. These aren’t in any particular order, because they’re all fantastic in their own way. But if I had to pick just one… well, I’ll get to that.

Scott Walker — Angelica

I probably heard Scott’s 1967 rendition of “Angelica” dozens of times before I learned that it was a Mann-Weil composition — Mr. Engel sinks his incisors so deeply into the song’s maudlin buffet of romantic regrets that I figured it had to be his own. Looking at Weil’s lyrics, it’s unclear if the titular babe has ditched the singer or left this mortal coil entirely, but Scott definitely delivers it like a eulogy.

The Move — Don’t Make My Baby Blue

One of the heaviest moments from The Move’s heaviest album, this bruising cover sounds almost nothing like Frankie Laine’s 1963 Mann-Weil hit. And that’s totally cool with me — as is Roy Wood’s wah-wah freakout on the guitar solo.

The Monkees — Shades of Gray

Much as I genuinely love The Monkees, there are precious few songs of theirs that can reduce me to tears. This is definitely one of them, however; that combination of Weil’s introspective lyrics, Peter Tork’s wobbly-but-sincere vocal and Vincent De Rosa’s mournful French horn gets me every time.

The Animals — We Gotta Get Out of This Place

Weil never shied away from injecting a bit of social realism into her lyrics (see The Crystals’ “Uptown”), but a line like “You’ll be dead before your time is due” had to be pretty jarring coming over the AM airwaves in 1965 — especially when delivered by the no-nonsense vocals of Eric Burdon. The way this song builds from quiet dread to exploding frustration is a thing of absolute beauty.

Paul Revere and The Raiders — Hungry

The Raiders had a huge hit with Mann-Weil’s “Kicks” as well, but “Hungry” wins out for me by a nose — or maybe by a fuzz bass. Mark Lindsay’s vocal on this is fantastic, though both the aspirational nature of Weil’s lyrics and the intense buildup to the song’s explosive chorus make me wonder if “Hungry” wasn’t originally written with The Animals in mind.

Max Frost and The Troopers — Shape of Things to Come

Another great song that builds from a taut verse to a killer chorus, “Shape of Things to Come” has been covered by everyone from Slade to Janelle Monae. But for me, nothing beats the one waxed for the AIP’s 1968 youthsploitation flick Wild in the Streets, which is 1:57 of sheer pop perfection.

The Righteous Brothers — (You’re My) Soul and Inspiration

Sure, “Soul and Inspiration” is a pretty blatant Mann-Weil knock-off of their own “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’,” but I actually prefer this one to its Phil Spector-produced and co-written predecessor. Bill Medley (with help from Jack Nitzche) takes the production deep into Spector territory, but the vocals are delivered with even more passion than on “You’ve Lost…”. And when Medley and the whole studio orchestra come in hot right after Bobby Hatfield’s spoken monologue, it just destroys me every time.

Elvis Presley — I Just Can’t Help Believing

Barry Mann, Bobby Vee and Leonard Nimoy (yes, you read that right) all recorded “I Just Can’t Help Believing” before Elvis got to it, and B.J. Thomas had the big hit in the States with this song; but the versions that The King lays down over the course of the 1970 documentary Elvis: That’s the Way It Is totally take the cake (or the Fool’s Gold Loaf) for me. Even when he’s just kind of screwing around (and quite possibly pilled up) during the rehearsal sessions, his love for this gentle paean to romantic bliss totally comes through and hits me right in the heart. I just wish they’d kept that James Burton fuzz guitar line turned up in the final version.

The Ronettes — Walking in the Rain

The case could certainly be made for this, and not “River Deep — Mountain High,” being Phil Spector’s masterpiece. It’s certainly the most romantic song ever released on Philles Records, a catalog with no shortage of romance; but even without the thunder and rain effects, or Ronnie Spector’s yearning vocals, Weil’s daydreamy lyrics totally put the obsessive intensity of young love across. Some days I think “Walking in the Rain” is my favorite thing from the pen of Cynthia Weil, but some days it’s…

Dolly Parton — Here You Come Again

I loved this song when I first heard it on my little transistor radio back in 1977; and now that I understand a whole lot more about relationships than I did when I was 11 — not to mention how music is written and recorded — I love it even more. From Weil’s lovelorn lyrics to Dolly’s world-weary vocals to Gary Klein’s high-sheen “AM gold” production to the seamlessness of the song’s four key changes, “Here You Come Again” is simply pure pop perfection that I’ll never tire of.

Thanks for the songs, Cynthia. They truly made this world better and more bearable for so many of us, and they’ll live on for ages to come. Rest In Peace and Sweet Music.

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