Righteous Brothers

Induction Year: 2003

Induction Category: Performer

Bobby Hatfield (vocals; born August 10, 1940, died November 5, 2003) and Bill Medley (vocals; born September 19, 1940)

The vocal duo of Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield virtually defined the term “blue-eyed soul.” As the Righteous Brothers, they cut a string of hits that fared well on both the pop and rhythm and blues charts: “Unchained Melody” (#4 pop, #3 R&B), “(You’re My) Soul and Inspiration (#1 pop, #13 R&B) and their masterpiece - and one of the seminal singles of the rock and roll era - “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’ (#1 pop, #3 R&B). In the mid-1960s, the Righteous Brothers became a fixture on Top Forty radio and the televised rock and roll variety show Shindig!, on which they guested frequently. Medley’s commanding baritone and Hatfield’s forceful tenor ranked among the most indelible voices of that charmed era.

Medley was born in Santa Ana, California, and Hatfield grew up in Anaheim. They came together in 1962 when their respective groups - Medley’s Paramours and Hatfield’s Variations - combined members. Retaining the name the Paramours, they released a single, “There She Goes (She’s Walking Away),” on the Moonglow label in December 1962. Three months later, the act got whittled down to Medley and Hatfield, who debuted as the Righteous Brothers with the rocking single “Little Latin Lupe Lu.” A Medley original, it became a regional hit and a garage-rock standard, covered by Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, among countless others. The Righteous Brothers were given their name by black fans who responded to their voices with an approving, “That’s righteous, brother!” Producer leased their Moonglow contract, adding the Righteous Brothers to the roster of voices on his Philles label.

During their brief time at Moonglow, the Righteous Brothers cut enough material to fill three albums (Right Now, Some Blue Eyed Soul and This Is New), from which a dozen singles were culled. Although those early sides lack the drama and grandeur of their greatest work with Spector, there was plenty of rock and roll soul to be heard in such tracks as “Justine,” “My Babe” and “You Can Have Her.” Spector heard a deeper potential in the blend of Medley’s earthy thunder and Hatfield’s heavenly fire. A series of magnificently produced and sung singles commenced with the symphonic pop of “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’,” cowritten by Spector, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. With their dramatic exchanges from different registers, Medley and Hatfield reached for the stars. Spector’s “Wall of Sound” production scaled unparalleled heights for a pop single. “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” entered the Top Forty the day after Christmas 1964 and hit #1 two months later. The song ran for nearly four minutes, but Spector listed the time as 3:05 on the label so that nervous deejays wouldn’t balk at its length.

Medley offered writer Len Scher an insight on what it was like to work with Spector: “He was such a legendary producer that all the other producers wanted to come to the studio while he was recording...and sometimes it would get a little carried away. It was basically Phil’s time to show off. So there were a couple of times where we had to say, “Hey, you know, let’s get down to this and get it over with.”

The Righteous Brothers followed “Lovin’ Feelin’” with a string of grandly orchestrated, Spector-produced ballads: “Just Once in My Life” (#9), which Spector cowrote with Garry Goffin and Carole King; “Hung on You,” cowritten by the same trio; the Hatfield-sung “Unchained Melody” (#4), their 1965 remake of a 1955 movie theme; “Ebb Tide” (#5), a vocal version of what had been an instrumental hit in 1953; and “White Cliffs of Dover,” their swan song for Spector and Philles. Hatfield, in particular, was a big fan of the movie ballads and singer Roy Hamilton’s versions of them, and had actually sung both “Ebb Tide” and “Unchained Melody” with his first group, the Variations.

In 1966 Verve Records bought the Righteous Brothers’ contract for a cool million dollars, and they flourished there as well. The Righteous Brothers’ apprenticeship with Spector paid off when they were allowed to produce themselves at Verve. Their first single for the label, “(You’re My) Soul and Inspiration,” was again penned by the esteemed songwriting team of Mann and Weil, and masterfully produced by Medley. It was an auspicious moment for the Righteous Brothers, topping the charts for three weeks - one week longer than “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’.” But amid the radical changes and evolutions of the late 1960s, the Righteous Brothers’ time was winding down. The duo cut several more albums and charted a few other singles - “He” (#18) and “Go Ahead and Cry” (#30) - before parting ways in 1968.

In the more receptive climate of the mid-1970s, the Righteous Brothers reunited and resumed their hitmaking ways with “Rock and Roll Heaven” (#3), “Give It to the People” (#20) and “Dream On (#32). All three appeared on the album Give It to the People, produced by Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter and released in 1974. Medley scored a hit with another duettist, Jennifer Warnes, on “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life,” from the 1987 film Dirty Dancing. That soundtrack became the most successful since Saturday Night Fever, selling 14 million copies and propelling “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” to the top. In 1990, the Righteous Brothers’ version of “Unchained Melody” appeared in the hit film Ghost, returning to the charts a quarter century after its original release. Best of the Righteous Brothers, an anthology released that same year, became a platinum seller, proving the undiminished appeal of the duo’s blue-eyed soul.

TIMELINE

August 10, 1940: Bobby Hatfield of the Righteous Brothers is born in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin.

September 19, 1940: Bill Medley of the Righteous Brothers is born in Santa Ana, California.

1962: Recording as the Paramours, Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield - soon to be the Righteous Brothers - release their first single, “That’s the Way We Love,” on the Smash label.

June 1963: The Righteous Brothers’ classic R&B dance tune “Little Latin Lupe Lu” is released on the Moonglow label.

June 1964: The Righteous Brothers become the first white act signed to ’s Philles label.

September 16, 1964: The Righteous Brothers appear on premiere of ABC-TV’s rock and roll variety show Shindig!, for which they become cohosts.

February 6, 1965: “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’,’ by the Righteous Brothers, tops the U.S. charts for the first of two weeks. Two days earlier, it hit #1 in the U.K.

May 1965: “Just Once in My Life,” the Righteous Brothers’ followup to “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’,” enters the Top Ten.

August 1965: “Unchained Melody,” the Righteous Brothers’ third consecutive Top Ten hit under the tutelage of producer , peaks at #4.

December 1965: sells the Righteous Brothers’ contract to MGM Records for $1 million.

January 1966: The Righteous Brothers’ “Ebb Tide,” the fourth and final single in a yearlong run with producer , reaches #5.

April 9, 1966: “(You’re My) Soul and Inspiration,” the Righteous Brothers’ first single for MGM’s Verve label, tops the U.S. charts for the first of three weeks.

November 28, 1966: Soul and Inspiration becomes the Righteous Brothers’ first gold album (500,000 copies sold).

November 1967: Bill Medley leaves the Righteous Brothers for a solo career. Bobby Hatfield enlists Jimmy Walker (of the Knickerbockers) in a new duo.

February 1974: After six years apart, Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield announce plans to reunite as the Righteous Brothers on the Sonny & Cher show.

August 1974: Give It to the People, the Righteous Brothers’ comeback album, is released on Haven, a subsidiary of Capitol Records. It yields three sizable hits: “Rock and Roll Heaven” (#3), “Give It to the People” (#20) and “Dream On” (#32).

November 28, 1987: “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life,” a duet between Bill Medley (of the Righteous Brothers) and Jennifer Warnes, tops the singles chart.

October 20, 1990: The original version of the Righteous Brothers’ “Unchained Melody,” included in the popular film Ghost, reaches #13 in the U.S. and goes on to top the British charts for four weeks. A newly recorded version of the same song by the duo will also reach #19 in the U.S.

November 1990: Curb Records releases The Best of the Righteous Brothers, which is eventually certified platinum (1 million sales). Rhino Records’ Anthology (1962-1974), released one month earlier, will go on to be certified gold (500,000 sales).

March 10, 2003: The Righteous Brothers are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the eighteenth annual induction dinner. is their presenter.

Essential Songs

You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’
(You’re My) Soul and Inspiration
Unchained Melody
Little Latin Lupe Lu
Just Once in My Life
Ebb Tide
Hung On You
Go Ahead and Cry
Dream On
Rock and Roll Heaven

Recommended Reading

He’s a Rebel: Phil Spector - Rock and Roll’s Legendary Producer
Mark Ribowsky. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2000.

Anthology (1962-1974). Rhino Records, 1990
Righteous Brothers. (Note: The liner notes for this compilation contain biographical and discographical information.)

“The Righteous Brothers: Blue-Eyed Soul Brothers.”
Len Scher. Goldmine (May 11, 1984): 50-59.

Out of His Head: The Sound of Phil Spector
Richard Williams. New York: E.P. Dutton, 1972.