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Jeff Barry
From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist
Jeff Barry is an American songwriter, singer and producer, born in 1938 as Joel Adelberg in Brooklyn, New York. He grew up partly in New Jersey. His first big success as a writer came in 1960 with Tell Laura I Love Her, a hit for Ray Peterson and in England for Ricky Valance. In 1962 he married Ellie Greenwich, and from then on they wrote together.
Music and breakthrough
The couple became one of the most important writing teams of the 1960s. For the producer Phil Spector they wrote Da Doo Ron Ron and Then He Kissed Me for The Crystals, Be My Baby for The Ronettes and later River Deep Mountain High for Ike & Tina Turner. Spector turned their songs into his Wall of Sound. At Red Bird Records, the label of Leiber and Stoller, they wrote and produced Chapel of Love for The Dixie Cups and Leader of the Pack for The Shangri-Las. Do Wah Diddy Diddy, a big hit for Manfred Mann, was also theirs. In 1965 they divorced, but they went on working together for a while. Barry then produced Neil Diamond's I'm a Believer for The Monkees and, with Andy Kim, wrote Sugar, Sugar for The Archies.
Influence
Barry belongs to the professional songwriters who shaped the pop of the 1960s, often in duos who made a trade of writing. His songs are short and catchy, with choruses that stick at once. Later he also wrote country hits and tunes for television series.
Listening
In School of Rock
The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.
- Mixtape 12: The Hit FactoryNL Reader
Mentioned in other articles
- Be My Baby Song
Be My Baby by The Ronettes from the summer of 1963, written with Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry, is the textbook example.