Instrumental hits From the Late 1960s Quiz

Answer: Ramsey Lewis Trio

In January 1965, a song by Dobie Gray debuted on Billboard's Hot 100 and eventually made its way to Number 13, "The 'In' Crowd". Later that year in May, The Ramsey Lewis Trio was performing at the Bohemian Gardens nightclub in Washington, D.C. and the sessions were being recorded as part of a "live" album to be released shortly thereafter. "The 'In' Crowd" was to be the highlight of the album. The album and the single were released simultaneously in August and both flew up their respective Billboard charts. The single reached Number Five and off the top of my head, I can't think of a scenario where an instrumental cover of a vocal hit had the superior Hot 100 placement! The album did even better peaking at Number Two and garnering a Grammy award for Best Jazz Album. After ten years of hard work, Ramsey Lewis was earning his just rewards. He subsequently had three further Top 40 Billboard hits, an amazing achievement for a jazz-oriented instrumentalist - "Hang On Sloopy" at Number 11 in December 1965 and the Number 29 "A Hard Day's Night" in early 1966, both as recorded by the trio. Then a solo recording, "Wade in the Water", peaked at Number 19 in September 1966.

Born in Chicago in 1935, he started playing the piano at age four and turned professional in 1955 as part of a trio including bassist Eldee Young and drummer Isaac "Red" Holt. Young and Holt would leave to form their own group in 1966 but Lewis replaced them and would go on to record dozens of much loved and highly regarded jazz albums with his new trio or as a solo act. As of 2019, he is still deemed to be active in the industry.

Answer: Horst Jankowski

Horst Jankowski was a classically trained pianist who was born in Berlin, Germany in 1936. Upon graduation from the Berlin Music Conservatory in the mid-1950s, he served as the musical arranger and bandleader behind Catarina Valente before breaking away to concentrate on performing his own light jazz compositions.

His biggest hit in Germany was "Eine Schwarzwaldfahrt", mercifully renamed "A Walk in the Black Forest" when it was released in English markets in 1965. It proved to be more popular in the U.K. where it peaked at Number Three as opposed to its Number 12 chart placement in the Hot 100. Throughout the 1960s, he released several light jazz albums which were similarly more highly regarded abroad than they were in North America. During the 1970s, he experimented with heavier jazz formats before returning to the lighter jazz motif of covering popular music in his jazz-oriented style in the 1980s and thereafter.

By then, he was all but forgotten in North America although he retained a small but significant following in Europe and the U.K.

He passed away in 1998 following a battle with lung cancer.

Answer: The T-Bones

"No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach's In)" was the surprise hit of 1966, a Number Three smash hit for a band, The T-Bones, that really didn't exist!

For some reason, an executive with Liberty Records was enamored with an Alka Seltzer jingle and convinced the producer of The Ventures and The Marketts (and other groups at the time), Joe Saraceno, that the tune had commercial potential, no pun intended. Rather than using one of his own groups and either: 1. Ruining an established money-making entity on a concept that might make them look foolish or, 2. Having to share more profits than necessary on such an entity if the project succeeded, he recruited the usual suspects (members of noted session musicians known as the "Wrecking Crew") to lay down the track. Suspected members of the recording musicians to be named The T-Bones included Leon Russell on piano, Glen Campbell and Tommy Tedesco on guitars and the redoubtable Hal Blaine on drums, a formidable crew indeed.

Lo and behold, their efforts did result in a smash hit. Public response was such that a hastily assembled group would hit the road on tour to support the record, the core of which included keyboardist/saxman Tommy Reynolds, bassist Joe Frank Carallo and brothers Judd and Dan Hamilton on guitars. That group proved to be popular as well and a couple of albums of commercial jingles resulted, the first of which did okay, the second flopping monumentally. The concept having become cliched, Saraceno moved on to other projects and the band unceremoniously dissolved. However, another producer, Steve Barri, remembered the promise the touring band displayed and a couple of years later reassembled the group which would go on to very good things. Their name? Hamilton, Joe Frank and Reynolds! As that entity, they recorded the Number Four hit, "Don't Pull Your Love", in 1971 and the Number One success, "Fallin' in Love", in 1975.

Answer: Paul Mauriat

Paul Mauriat (1925-2006) recorded easy listening orchestra music and could be considered the French Mantovani. He came from a long line of classical musicians and was intent on following the family tradition when he became enamored of 1930s jazz and popular big band music from America. He assembled his first orchestra at the age of 17 and catching the attention of Charles Aznavour, became his music arranger and conductor in the early 1950s. He also worked for Maurice Chevalier in the same capacity. In 1962, he collaborated with others in composing a song named "Chariot" which became a hit for Petula Clark in France. Reworked with English lyrics, it topped the Billboard Hot 100 as "I Will Follow Him" by Little Peggy March.

"L'Amour est Bleu" was composed by French composer André Popp and with lyrics written by Pierre Cour, was Luxembourg's submission in the 1967 Eurovision Song Contest. Although unsuccessful in the competition, it caught the ear of Mauriat who recorded it as "Love Is Blue", sans lyrics, with his orchestra. Songs of this ilk hadn't been that popular in North America since the days of Percy Faith and Les Baxter in the mid 1950s but, for some reason, it resonated with listeners around the world becoming a Number One hit globally, not just on Billboards' Hot 100.

Of course, as could be expected, follow up releases weren't nearly as popular and he slipped back into obscurity in North America. His popularity was sustained in Europe, however, and in fact, his LPs and CDs became exceedingly popular in Asian markets up to 1998 when ill health forced him to retire

Answer: Hugo Montenegro

"The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" was the title song for a 1968 Sergio Leone movie of the same name. It was one of a trio of western movies featuring Clint Eastwood that became known as "Spaghetti" westerns in way of acknowledging Leone's vision in reworking the genre. The composer behind the musical score for this series (and for about 400 other movies) was Ennio Morricone, another Italian. Due to budget constraints, Morricone wasn't able to use a traditional orchestra for his arrangements so he improvised by utilizing just guitars and trumpets and unusual "instruments" like bullwhips, Jew's harps and ricocheting bullets to achieve the effects that he and Leone were seeking.

It's unclear why Morricone did not try to capitalize on his work by releasing albums featuring his movie compositions but it appears that he never did... not even once! But another individual with a similar background of producing musical scores for the screen recognized the commercial potential of such a venture. Hugo Montenegro was born in New York City in 1925 and started his career in music during WWII as the music arranger for a Navy band. Formalizing his training following the war he eventually worked his way to Hollywood in the early 1960s composing scores for both the big screen and TV, most notably for "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." series. In 1966, he did create an album of music from that program that did rather well, peaking at Number 52 on the Hot 200 Album chart. So, he did his spin on Morricone's work for the Leone films and that album was even more successful at Number Nine. The single of "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" peaked at Number Two on the Hot 100 in 1968 but topped the British charts for four weeks. He would never reach such heights again but continued to compose and produce film scores until his death from emphysema in 1981. Meanwhile, Morricone became one of the world's foremost composers for the screen, working with such directors as Brian Di Palma, Barry Levinson and Roman Polanski. To date, his last significant and award-winning work was with Quentin Tarantino's "The Hateful Eight" in 2015 when he was 87 years old... it appears that he ain't done yet!

Answer: Cliff Nobles and Company

"The Horse", by Cliff Nobles and Company, is unique in that the credited artist wasn't even at the studio when the hit was recorded! Cliff Nobles had assembled a back-up group for his vocals and recorded a track named "Love is All Right". For the "B" side, another group of session musicians were hired to record the same song strictly as an instrumental and neither Nobles, his backing band nor their producer was at the studio for that recording session. Ultimately, the "A" side flopped but the "B" side became a huge hit reaching Number Two on the Hot 100 for three weeks.

It was only denied Number One status because of Herb Alpert's "This Guy's In Love With You" which stood atop the chart for four weeks. The members of the group thought they deserved a cash bonus for their work but were denied by Nobles' producer. Miffed, they would never work with that fellow again but heartened by their success, they decided to stick together, took on the name "MSFB" (for Mother, Father, Sister, Brother) and ultimately joined forces with noted Philadelphia producers Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff. That union would be instrumental in the development of what became known as "The Philly Sound" which dominated the charts for a few years in the late 1960s and early 1970s. MFSB would serve as the backing group for the many artists that exemplified that "sound" such as The O'Jays, The Stylistics, The Spinners, Harold Melvin and The Bluenotes, The Delfonics and Billy Paul.

They would also have their day in the sun with their own Number One hit in 1974 with "TSOP" which stood, of course, for "the sound of Philadelphia". Justice was served! Meanwhile, Nobles would never have another hit and soon left the music business entirely.

Answer: Hugh Masekela

Hugh Masekela was a South African native, born there in 1939. He performed on multiple instruments but primarily the trumpet and flugelhorn and his interest was piqued as a youth after watching the 1950 movie, "A Man and His Horn". Given a trumpet by an anti-apartheid Anglican minister in 1953, he proved to be musically gifted and by 1956, he was playing professionally.

During that era of apartheid, Masekela was becoming politically active in opposition to that policy. After a brutal government quelling of a demonstration in which over 80 black people were killed in 1960, he learned that he was on a governmental "hit list" for his anti-apartheid activities. He had befriended Miriam Makeba who had left the country for similar reasons and through her and her friendship with Harry Belafonte who both served as sponsors, he was able to secure a passport and the necessary documents enabling him to leave the country to study abroad.

While in New York, through Belafonte's intercession, he did attend the Manhattan School of Music but learned more going to the jazz clubs and befriending the likes of Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, Coltrane and Monk. In short order he married Makeba, got divorced two years later, and through encouragement from Davis, started to incorporate his native music with the jazz theory he was learning. The fusion between the two ultimately led to "Grazing in the Grass" although it was a fellow named Philemon Hou who actually composed it. He was now playing big gigs but it was a bit heady for someone of his background and he admitted that the next thirty years were wasted on booze, drugs and bad relationships, both business and personal. It was only when he returned to South Africa following the end of apartheid and the election of Mandela that he straightened up. His impact on North American music had long since diminished but he was a musical hero in his homeland and continued to perform and record his distinctive Afro-Jazz fusion there until his passing in 2018 following a lengthy battle with prostate cancer.

Answer: Bob Crewe Generation

Operating largely under the radar as a music composer/producer, Bob Crewe was one of the most significant movers and shakers in the music industry during the 1960s and 1970s. The bulk of his early successes mirrored that of one of the groups that he produced and often co-wrote the music for with Bob Gaudio, The Four Seasons. We're talking the BIG ones - "Sherry", "Walk Like a Man", "Big Girls Don't Cry", "Rag Doll", "Can't Take My Eyes Off You", etc. Among his other producing successes for other entities included "Lady Marmalade" by Labelle, "Jean" and "Good Morning Starshine" by Oliver as sung in the musical "Hair", and "Devil With the Blue Dress On" by Mitch Ryder.

In the midst of all this, he concocted a recording act he called "The Bob Crewe Generation" which, in 1967, generated the Number 15 hit "Music to Watch Girls By" which originally was a Pepsi commercial jingle. A couple of months later it was recorded with lyrics by Andy Williams and he took it to Number 34 on the Hot 100.

Although he remained active in the music industry well into the 2000s, his musical notions had been eclipsed by younger talents with more contemporary vision. His last meaningful credit was being acknowledged as a lyricist for "The Jersey Boys", the stage musical and later, a movie, that depicted the career of The Four Seasons. He passed away in 2014 at the age of 83.

Answer: Mason Williams

Mason Williams was born in 1938 in Abilene, Texas but spent most of his youth growing up in Oklahoma. While attending Oklahoma City U. in the late 1950s, he got caught up in the folk music craze and was accomplished enough on the guitar and banjo to record several traditional albums in that genre from 1960 to 1965.

Thereafter, he expanded his horizons, first as a stand-up comedian, then as a staff writer for the "Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" (1967-69). He was largely responsible for creating the satirical "Pat Paulsen for President" sketches on that show during the 1968 presidential campaign, earning an Emmy Award in the process. Still dabbling in music, mostly as a composer, he introduced "Classical Gas" (Number Two on the Hot 100) on the show and co-wrote a song that didn't do particularly well in the U.S. (Number 68 on the Hot 100) but topped the charts in the U.K. for three weeks in 1968, "Cinderella Rockafella" sung by Esther and Abi Ofarim.

When the Smothers Brothers' show was cancelled, he wrote for many other TV performers during the 1970s, Andy Williams, Dinah Shore and Glen Campbell among them before joining the "Saturday Night Live" writing crew briefly in 1980. Since then, he has contented himself with music composition while living in semi-retirement in Oregon.

Answer: Young-Holt Unlimited

Bassist Eldee Young and drummer "Red" Holt were members of the Ramsey Lewis Trio from 1956 until 1966, leaving Lewis shortly after "The 'In' Crowd" became a hit. It doesn't seem that the split was acrimonious in any way but more of a situation that the two had musical ideas that weren't going to see the light of day under Lewis' helm.

They had two significant hits; "Wack Wack" stalled at Number 40 on the Hot 100 in 1967 but the catchy "Soulful Strut" peaked at Number Three in early 1969. Subsequent singles and LPs weren't near as successful and the pair parted ways in 1974 playing with different groups in the Chicago area including brief reunions with Lewis.