Rock and Roll Lullaby

Rock and Roll Lullaby is the ninth studio album by American country music artist Jessi Colter, released in 1984 by Triad Records, her first and only release for the label.

This release ended up being her last album of new material for 12 years - it was followed in 1996 by an album of children's songs - and her last album of new country recordings for 22 years.

Background

Colter's first album since 1981's Ridin' Shotgun, it was also her first album since her departure from Capitol Records. The release consisted of ten tracks, which included both new tracks and cover versions of other songs, including covers of The Davis Sisters's "I Forgot More Than You'll Ever Know," Lena Horne's "Stormy Weather," and Don Gibson's "I Can't Stop Loving You." The album spawned one single, "I Want to Be with You," which failed to chart the Hot Country Singles chart upon its release. In addition, Rock and Roll Lullaby did not chart among the Top Country Albums list.

The effort was reviewed by Allmusic and was only given two out of five stars.

Rock and Roll Lullaby (song)

"Rock and Roll Lullaby" is a song written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil that was a 1972 hit single performed by B. J. Thomas.

Content

The song is sung in a first-person narrative of an adolescent or adult raised by single teenage mother since birth during the early years of rock-and-roll. Despite the bleakness of their situation, whenever the child cries, the mother sings him to sleep with a 'sha-na-na-na-na-na-na, it'll be all right...sha-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na, just hold on tight,' referring to the non-descript lyrics often found in music during rock-n-roll's formative years.

In the second verse, the narrator calls attention that despite hardships, they'd 'dream of better moments when Mama sang her song', and that while it didn't make sense to recall all the words, the loving meaning beneath them was all that mattered.

Production

The song was produced by a very young Steve Tyrell. The single's backup vocals were performed by The Blossoms and Dave Somerville with Duane Eddy playing lead guitar and Al Gorgoni playing rhythm guitar. "Rock and Roll Lullaby" reached number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was Thomas's third number one on the Easy Listening chart, where it spent one week in March 1972.

The Tokens

The Tokens are an American male doo-wop-style vocal group and record production company group from Brooklyn, New York. They are known best for their chart-topping 1961 single, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" ( sample ).

Career

The group was formed in 1955 at Brooklyn's Abraham Lincoln High School, and was known first as the Linc-Tones. Originally featuring members Neil Sedaka, Hank Medress, Eddie Rabkin, and Cynthia Zolotin, Rabkin was replaced by Jay Siegel in 1956, and the band recorded its first single, "While I Dream" that same year. In 1957 Sedaka and Zolotin left the band, leaving only Siegel and Medress, who would recruit two additional band members and record the single "Picture in My Wallet" as Darrell & the Oxfords. Finally establishing its most famous name and crew, the band became known as the Tokens in 1960 after they recruited the 13-year-old multi-instrumentalist and first tenor Mitch Margo and his baritone brother Phil Margo.

In early 1961, the Tokens released a single for Warwick Records entitled "Tonight I Fell In Love," which scored #15 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and earned them an opportunity to perform on the television program American Bandstand. The popularity that the band garnered as a result of this performance brought them new recording opportunities, culminating in their cover of Solomon Linda's "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" for RCA Victor Records. It reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, where it remained for three weeks. The same track peaked at #11 in the UK Singles Chart. Both "Tonight I Fell in Love" and "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" sold more than one million copies, and were awarded gold discs.