6
Unchained Melody
had already been a hit record 10 years before the Righteous Brothers got
their hands on it. In early 1955, a lush instrumental version by the Les Baxter orchestra and
chorus went to the top of the charts. Almost immediately, Baxter’s version was followed by
vocal renderings by both Al Hibbler (# 3) and Roy Hamilton (# 6). Remember, these were the
days when it was the
song
that was a hit, and numerous alternatives versions competed for
sales and attention.
It Came From Hollywood
Almost nobody seems to remember where
Unchained Melody
comes from. The average
listener today, indeed many of the artists who have recorded the song, simply don’t know
anything about its origins. Have you ever wondered why the song (written by Alex North & Hy
Zaret) is called
Unchained Melody
? That seems an odd title, especially since the word
“unchained”
never appears in Zaret’s lyrics. What seems to have been lost over the years is
the fact that
Unchained Melody
was originally the theme song from a ‘B’ movie about prison
life called
Unchained.
It starred, if that term can be applied, Chester Morris and Barbara Hale.
Hale went on to TV fame as Perry Mason’s assistant ‘Della Street’. The rest of the cast, including
football star Elroy ‘Crazylegs’ Hirsch and operatically trained Todd Duncan were not exactly
the Hollywood glitterati of their era.
