25 killer singles that are 60 years old

JUNE

“Under the Boardwalk” by the Drifters

“Oh when the sun beats down and burns the tar up on the roof – And your shoes get so hot you wish your tired feet were fireproof.” That’s how the Drifters follow up their earlier hit “Up On the Roof.” If it ain’t broke… This one was written by Kenny Young and Arthur Resnick, a somewhat less successful songwriting team than “Up On the Roof’s” Carole King and Gerry Goffin. But they turned out a lot of modest hits.

“Under the Boardwalk” was the biggest and the best. Johnny Moore sang lead, and sweet production manages to blend a calypso rhythm with some string accompaniment without ever seeming fussy or overproduced, and without ever pulling attention from the endearing vocals.

“It’s All Over Now” by the Rolling Stones

They borrowed from Buddy Holly earlier. This one came from Bobby Womack and the Valentinos. Womack’s original vocal has a bluesy grittiness that works wonderfully, but the Stones gave it an electric vibe that gives the arrangement greater resonance. And if he can’t exactly copy Womack, Mick Jagger is fully capable of finding his own raw grit.

Keith Richards contributes a nice early solo. A million acts would cover Womck’s original over the years. The aforementioned Johnny Rivers included his own version the following year on his debut studio album

“House of the Rising Sun” by the Animals

Bob Dylan put a version of the traditional folk tale of a house of ill repute on his very first album. Joan Baez had already done it. Woody Guthrie had even done it. But no one was really prepared for what Eric Burdon and the Animals did with it in 1964. That was nothing new for Burdon.

To look at him, you would never expect such a harrowing soulful voice could burst out of such a nondescript fellow. But he sings the hell out of “House of the Rising Sun,” and he has Alan Price’s organ backing him up in dramatic fashion. It made it to number one in the US and was a top ten hit all over the world.

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