Everybody wants to be the man at the top

Working on America's soundtrack:
Barry Mann with Cynthia Weil and Carole King

A few kind words can be mighty inspirational.

I was on Twitter the other day, and it was suggested that I follow Mann/Weil. I clicked on the link to look at some of their tweets, and saw they send out 140-character or less missives on rock and roll history and other tidbits. I also noticed that Miami Steve Van Zandt follows them, and he has impeccable taste.

So, I clicked the follow button. Lo and behold, I get a personal note from them later that night that read:

“Hey Dennis, thnx 4 following us. I found ur blog 2 be very interesting. Hope u enjoy our tweets, song postings & snatches of R & R history.”

I (not sure which one – does it matter?) FOUND YOUR BLOG 2 BE VERY INTERESTING).

Were they just being nice? Or did they (he or she) actually take the time to read some of my musings? If they did, they surely recognized that their songs have been speaking to me since I first heard The Crystals telling us about the boy they love.

Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil had a significant hand in creating what we call rock and roll. To wit, THEY WROTE THESE SONGS:

• "He's Sure the Boy I Love" - The Crystals
• "Hungry” - Paul Revere & the Raiders
• "Kicks" - Paul Revere & the Raiders
• "Make Your Own Kind of Music" - Mama Cass Elliot
• "None of Us Are Free" (Mann, Weil, Brenda Russell) - Ray Charles, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Solomon Burke
• "On Broadway" - The Drifters , George Benson (written with Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller)
• "Only in America" - Jay and the Americans
• "Saturday Night at the Movies" - The Drifters
• "Uptown" - The Crystals
• "Walking in the Rain" - The Ronettes
• "We Gotta Get out of This Place" - The Animals
• "(You're My) Soul and Inspiration”- The Righteous Brothers
• "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin - The Righteous Brothers (written with Phil Spector)

....and dozens of others. The above are just my favorites of theirs.

So, even if Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil never look at my blog again, I am incredibly honored that they took the time to look at it once.

And it means I need to step up my game.

Because hey, you never know.