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(Morris
Levy/Frankie Lymon)
Diana Ross recordings
RCA
(PB-12349-A) (US 45)
Top-ten
hit for Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers in 1956. It also went to #1 in the U.K. At the time Lymon was the youngest
artist to do so, at thirteen.
It has been covered by The Beach Boys, Petula Clark, The Diamonds,
Joni Mitchell, and Diana Ross, who took it back into the top ten in 1981. Although Morris Levy is credited
with co-writing this song, it has been a point of dispute for many
years. Levy was a record
producer who bought the rights to the song in 1964 from the song's original
producer, George Goldner, who had listed himself as having co-written it with
Lymon. Once Levy got hold of
it, he did the same. Goldner
had told Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers that only two people could be
listed on a copyright. Levy
was infamous for slapping his name on records he never wrote. Twenty-three years later, original
Teenagers Jimmy Merchant and Herman Santiago took Levy to court and sued
him for royalties. The judge
ruled in favour of Levy. In
the early '90s, another court ruled in favour of Merchant and Santiago. It was later overturned. Stay tuned.
Sources:
- http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=2033
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Why_Do_Fools_Fall_in_Love_%28song%29
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