No one else’s version of “Unchained Melody” has EVER come close to being as good as The Righteous Brothers
Their cover of the song quickly became THE version of the song. It is the quintessential version of “Unchained Melody”, a song that originated in 1955 (sung by Todd Duncan) and since then has been covered over 1500 times all over the world!
You can FEEL what he’s singing through his voice. He isn’t just singing a pretty song on key, he is conveying emotion and I always got chills when you get to the final part of the song, where he hits the high note and belts out “God speed your love, Toooooooo meeeeee”
It’s crazy that In 1955, three versions of the song (by Les Baxter, Al Hibbler, and Roy Hamilton) charted in the Billboard top 10 in the United States, and four versions (by Al Hibbler, Les Baxter, Jimmy Young, and Liberace) appeared in the top 20 in the United Kingdom simultaneously, a record for any song, yet a decade later this cover would be the songs most known version.
Of the hundreds of recordings made, the Righteous Brothers' version, with a solo by Bobby Hatfield, became the jukebox standard after its release. Hatfield changed the melody in the final verse and many subsequent covers of the song are based on his version.
| by Anonymous | reply 12 | November 16, 2022 12:30 AM
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The origins of what would become one of the most beloved songs of all time. Where it all started.
| by Anonymous | reply 2 | November 15, 2022 2:47 AM
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Singing it live.
Bill Medley says he didn’t think it would be a hit, and the audience laughs, but he wasn’t joking. The song was released as the B side to “Hung On You”. Back then labels put a song that they believed no one would care about or listen to much as the B side to the single, which was supposed to be the hit, but in this case, the B side took off and became the hit.
Bill and Bobby each would record one solo song for their albums, and both wanted to record this song, so they did a coin toss flip and Bobby won, so he got to record it.
From Wikipedia:
"Unchained Melody" was originally released as the "B" side of the single "Hung On You" as the follow-up single to "Just Once in My Life". However, "Hung On You" failed to interest radio DJs who instead chose to play the 'B' side "Unchained Melody". According to Medley, producer Phil Spector, who would deliberately place a throwaway song that was not meant to be played on the B side, was so incensed by DJs choosing to play the B side that he started to call their radio stations to get them to stop playing "Unchained Melody". However, he failed, and the song reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and No. 14 in the UK in 1965.
| by Anonymous | reply 3 | November 15, 2022 3:05 AM
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God, they were talented men.
| by Anonymous | reply 4 | November 15, 2022 6:41 PM
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I also love “just once in my life”. They were a phenomenal duo.
| by Anonymous | reply 5 | November 15, 2022 11:27 PM
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R5 that is a great one too! I love “On This Side of Goodbye” also.
Their music is what created the whole “Blue-Eyed Soul” sub-genre.
| by Anonymous | reply 6 | November 15, 2022 11:35 PM
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“You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling” is another amazing one
| by Anonymous | reply 7 | November 15, 2022 11:39 PM
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Robson and Jerome weren't bad
| by Anonymous | reply 9 | November 16, 2022 12:02 AM
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I’ve heard it a million times, but pressed play anyway.
I listened to every damn note @OP.
| by Anonymous | reply 10 | November 16, 2022 12:28 AM
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A lot of lovin’ was made to that song.
| by Anonymous | reply 11 | November 16, 2022 12:28 AM
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R10 I’ve heard it a million times and still will listen if I hear it somewhere. I love it.
| by Anonymous | reply 12 | November 16, 2022 12:30 AM
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