Girl Groups' Go-to Guy

[mjzee]

Strolling through a grove of lemon trees behind his home, songwriter Jeff Barry talked about his girl-group hits of the 1960s. When the conversation turned to how the work was divided between him and Ellie Greenwich—his songwriting partner at the time, who died in 2009—he offered a surprise.

"People always marvel at how closely Ellie could identify with the teenage girl's psyche," said Mr. Barry, who recently turned 75. "Except I wrote most of the lyrics—not Ellie. She wrote most of the music."

More here:

WSJ

[JSngry]

From the Great Big List Parallel Universes I'd Love To Visit is the one in which "Tell Laura I Love Her" was released - and was a hit - with its original lyric.

In 1959, when a song was needed for a singer named Ray Peterson, Mr. Barry pitched "Tell Laura I Love Her." "It was originally about a guy gored by a bull who was dying. So I made it a car crash instead, and the song became a Top 10 hit in 1960."