Check the On Disc page for a discography of Lyn's solo releases as well as earlier recordings with The Nocturnes and the New Seekers which feature her singing the lead vocal.
Bang Bang...
the film music of
Quentin Tarantino
(album cover)
Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)
Written by:Sonny Bono Produced by: Rod Edwards / Nick Magnus Arranged by: Rod Edwards / Nick Magnus
Featured on the album:Late Night. Featured on the 'Various Artists' download compilations:Bang Bang... The film music of Quentin Tarantino and Psycho - When Your Alter Ego Wants A Little Bit More.
Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) was first a hit for Cher in 1966. Re-titled Shot You Down, the song was a hit again in 2005 for the Audio Bullys featuring Nancy Sinatra.
Nancy Sinatra had originally recorded the song in 1966 for her album How Does That Grab You?. It was also covered that year by Petula Clark on her album I Couldn't Live Without Your Love and by Stevie Wonder on his album Down To Earth. Later on the song was covered by Cliff Richard on his 1970 album Tracks 'n Grooves; by Frank Sinatra on what is acclaimed as his "last great album" She Shot Me Down; and by Paul Weller on a single released in 2000, He's The Keeper.
Lyn's version of the song has a melancholy feel to it, underlined by Rod Edward's eerie arrangement. The wistful vocals of the first verse give way to a tone of resentment in the second half of the song, with Lyn injecting a note of venom as she sings the word "shot"
Behind Closed Doors was a US hit for Charlie Rich in the Spring of 1973, paving the way for The Most Beautiful Girl, which became a chart-topping single in the Autumn and the biggest hit of his career. In the UK the hits came the other way around: The Most Beautiful Girl reached number 2 at the end of March 1974, swiftly followed into the Top 20 in April by Behind Closed Doors.
Lyn Paul sang Behind Closed Doors when she appeared on The Wheeltappers And Shunters Social Club in 1975, thirty years before she finally recorded it. Her TV performance and the recorded version are markedly different: the former, an up-tempo smiles-all-round interpretation; the latter, a slower, sultry, much sexier, jazz-styled version with a moody sax backing - as Lyn put it: "nothing like you would imagine 'Behind Closed Doors' to be."
Behind Closed Doors was written by Kenny O'Dell, who had a Top 40 hit in the USA in 1967 with Beautiful People (not, it should be added, the Melanie Safka song of the same title that the New Seekers had a hit with in 1971). In 1969 O'Dell moved to Nashville, where he ran Bobby Goldsboro's publishing company. He has written songs for country stars such as Charlie Rich, the Judds, Loretta Lynn, Billie Jo Spears and Tanya Tucker. Behind Closed Doors is his most successful song. In 1973 it won him several awards, notably the Grammy for 'Best Country Song' and the awards for 'Song Of The Year' and 'Single Of The Year' from both the CMA and the ACM.
Behind Closed Doors has also been recorded by: Perry Como, Percy Faith, Tom Jones, Loretta Lynn, Ronnie Milsap, Dolly Parton, Diana Ross, Percy Sledge and Bobby Womack.
Better Late Than Never is a bright pop song with a sing-along-a-New-Seekers feel to it. It is the type of material that Polydor Records (Lyn's record company at the time) wanted her to record but not the sort of song that Lyn wanted to be stuck with.
Clouds is a dramatic power ballad. The lyrics use nature as a metaphor for the more tempestuous of human emotions, with dark clouds depicting the mental turmoil of a lover looking for reassurance. Her fear is that her irrational mood swings and "angry words" will destroy the relationship on which she is reliant. As the song reaches its climax, she finds the reassurance she has been looking for. Lyn's original recording ended with lyrics that echoed words from earlier in the song:
When the clouds roll in
Let the sky loom grey,
When the storm begins
You'll not turn away.
You will stand by me, not abandon me.
Though the wind blows chill,
I know you'll love me still,
Together climb that hill
When the clouds roll in.
In the final version the lyrics were changed to give the song a more overtly positive ending:
Then the storm clouds break
And the sky's so blue.
You will hold me tight
And I will cling to you.
Your love will be my sanctuary.
Though the wind blows chill,
I know you'll love me still,
Together climb that hill
When the clouds roll in.
The backing vocals on this track are sung by Petrina Johnson.
Featured on the download albums:The Greatest Hits Of Lyn Paul and Best Of Lyn Paul. Live version featured on the 'Various Artists' download compilations:The Cowgirls Of Country, Country Love Songs, Heartache Country Hits and Rare & Unreleased - Defining Country & Western, Live From Church Street Station Vol. 3. Live version featured on the DVDs:Country Gals, Johnny Tillotson - Rock 'n Roll Legends.
Cry was a US chart-topper for Johnnie Ray in 1951. The song was subsequently a US hit for the Knightsbridge Strings (1959), Ray Charles (1965), Ronnie Dove (1966) and Lynn Anderson (1972). It has also been recorded by Paul Anka, David Cassidy, Connie Francis, Crystal Gayle, Lesley Gore, Ben E. King, Brenda Lee, Jerry Lee Lewis, Vera Lynn, Rose Marie, Ronnie Milsap, Willie Nelson, Roy Orbison and Jackie Wilson.
Lyn Paul's versions of Cry were released long after she had recorded them. The live version was taken from a performance at the Church Street Station, Florida in the 1980s but wasn't released until 2005; the studio recording was released in 2019.
Studio recording released: 30th January 2019
Live recording released:2005
Crying was originally a hit for Roy Orbison in 1961 (UK number 25 / US number 2). He wrote the song after passing an old flame of his on the street. "I should have driven the car right over to where she was," he recalled, "but I played it cool and drove on down the street about a block, and started to feel little tears in my eyes."
In 1987Roy Orbison re-recorded the song as a duet with k.d. lang for the film Hiding Out. This version reached number 28 in the US Adult Contemporary chart but was not a hit in the UK until 1992, when it reached number 13 in the UK singles chart.
In 1980Don McLean had a UK number 1 with Crying. The song was a US hit for him at the beginning of 1981, peaking at number 5.
Crying has also been recorded by: Lynn Anderson, Glen Campbell, Dion and the Belmonts, Waylon Jennings, Hank Marvin, Gene Pitney, Del Shannon and B.J. Thomas.
Dance With Desire is one of only two previously-unrecorded songs selected for inclusion on Lyn Paul's album Late Night.
"Picture a love as a local dance
Stumbling over the floor"
The opening lines set up the conceit on which the rest of the song is based. The haunting melody combines with a hypnotic arrangement, giving the track an ethereal, dream-like quality (more trance than dance) that sweeps you up as it swirls along - a song to lose yourself in.
Dance With My Father was written by soul singer Luther Vandross as a tribute to his late father. Sharing the songwriting credits with him was singer-songwriter Richard Marx, best known for his Top 10 hits Right Here Waiting (a UK number 2 and US number 1 in 1989) and Hazard, which reached number 3 in the UK and number 9 in the USA three years later.
Luther Vandross recorded Dance With My Father shortly before he suffered a life-threatening stroke in April 2003. In the USA the single made it to number 38 in the Billboard Hot 100 and to number 4 in the Adult Contemporary chart. The album of the same name reached number 1. Between them, the album and single won Vandross three Grammy awards: 'Best R&B Album', 'Song Of The Year' and 'Best Male R&B Vocal Performance'.
Before his death on 1st July 2005, Dance With My Father also became a hit in the UK. A cover version by Celine Dion was included on the album So Amazing: An All-Star Tribute To Luther Vandross.
When Lyn first heard the song she and her husband Alan were on holiday in Greece. As she told journalist Phil Penfold: "the tears were streaming down my face" (Doncaster Free Press, 17th April 2007). The same happened again when she came to record the song. The result: the most emotional recording Lyn has ever made, so much so that her sisters skip this track when they play the Late Night CD. Nick Magnus commented: "It was quite a journey recording 'Dance With My Father'! Lyn went through most of a kitchen roll during that one. We knew we had to let her work through the emotions, because it's Lyn's ability to 'connect' with the subject matter of a song that results in such heartfelt performances. We were reminded of that great sobbing moment at the end of Michael Jackson's recording of 'Ben' that must have come from a similar place!"
Echoes Of Love, a raunchy cover of a Doobie Brothers' song, was Lyn's first single for the Crash label, which specialised in heavy metal and rock music. Asked in an interview on GMTV how it was that she came to record it, Lyn replied:
"I leave it entirely up to my record producer Ray Santilli... He came up with this one, with 'Echoes Of Love'. He rang and said: "I'm sending this through" (a demo disc). And I listened to it and I must admit I wasn't very sure at the time... Can you imagine Lyn Paul singing rock?"
The Doobie Brothers' original version is included on the album The Best of The Doobies Volume II (Warner Bros.). The song was also recorded by the Pointer Sisters on their 1978 album Energy.
B-side: You Never Told Me Love Hurts
Written by: Tony Todd Produced by: Henry Hadaway / Paul Hodsman Arranged by: No credit given Featured on the download albums:The Greatest Hits Of Lyn Paul and Best Of Lyn Paul.
Henry Hadaway, who co-produced the B-side of Echoes Of Love had produced the 1981 hit by the Tweets, The Birdie Song. Henry's other production credits include Connie Francis, Kathy Kirby, Kenny Lynch, Mr. Big, The Rockin' Berries, The Sandpipers and Frankie Vaughan.
Catalogue Number: Crash CRA 509 (under license to Spartan Records) Released:4th June 1983
Recorded not that long after the break-up of the New Seekers, the chorus of Finally Freedom features a lyric which could almost have been written to celebrate Lyn's new solo career.
Finally freedom, don't look back, keep going on.
Finally freedom, it won't take very long.
Lay your head back in your seat,
There's a new life down the road to meet.
Finally freedom, and you'll be standing on your own.
Finally Freedom was written by singer-songwriter Philip Goodhand-Tait, who first emerged onto the music scene in 1966, when he recorded three singles with the Stormville Shakers. He went on to write songs for The Love Affair including Gone Are the Songs of Yesterday, the B-side of their number 1 hit Everlasting Love.
In the 1970s Goodhand-Tait recorded for DJM but always remained in the shadow of DJM's more famous singer-songwriter Elton John. Between 1971 and 1975 he recorded five albums and released eight singles, none of which were hits.
Lyn's cover version of a Hollies' song. Along with Petula Clark and Peggy Lee, The Hollies are one of Lyn's favourite recording artists.
The Hollies version of this song was included on their 1975 album Another Night. Lyn's version was released in Australia as the B-side of the single Mellow Down (Polydor 2058 668).
Written by:Geoff Morrow / Paul Brooks Produced by: Geoff Morrow / Paul Brooks Recorded and Mixed by: Paul J. Lisbon
A children's Christmas single by The Gonks featuring the vocals of Lyn Paul. Lyn had previously worked with the writer and producer Geoff Morrow on the 1984 album Hooked On Number 1s (K-Tel).
In 1975Geoff Morrow had had success as a songwriter with There's A Whole Lot Of Loving and Here I Go Again (both UK hits for Guys 'n' Dolls). In 1978 another of his songs, Can't Smile Without You, became an international hit for Barry Manilow (it was also recorded by the Carpenters and Engelbert Humperdinck).
All three of these songs were co-written with Chris Arnold and David Martin, as was the lesser-known Love Matters, recorded in 1975 by an Irish group called Chips. Among the line-up of Chips at this time was Nicola Kerr, who later went on to join the New Seekers.
Geoff Morrow's production credits include the original cast recording of They're Playing Our Song, starring Gemma Craven and Tom Conti.
B-side: The Gonks Landing
Written by:Geoff Morrow / Emmett Scullion Produced by: No credit given Arranged by: No credit given
Have I Told You Lately was an international hit for Rod Stewart in 1993, reaching number 5 in the singles chart in both the UK and the USA. Written and originally recorded by Van Morrison, the song has also been recorded by Michael Ball, Dolores Keane, James Last and Kenny Rogers. Lyn Paul recorded the song for her husband, Alan.
Van Morrison's original version was included on his 1989 album Avalon Sunset. The song was released as a single but was overshadowed at the time by another track from the album, a duet with Cliff Richard titled Whenever God Shines His Light. While the former (Polydor VANS 1) barely made it into the chart at all, peaking at number 74, the latter (Polydor VANS 2) took Morrison back into UK top 20 for the first time since 1965, when he and the group Them had made it to number 2 with Here Comes The Night.
Van Morrison re-recorded Have I Told You Lately with the Chieftans. This version of the song (RCA 74321271702) reached number 71 in UK singles chart in 1995.
Originally titled She's Got A Way, this Billy Joel song was recorded by Lyn before Billy Joel had become a household name. Lyn's version replaces the "she" with 'he" and features a gentle guitar intro with a sumptuous string and piano arrangement. Joel's own version of the song, with his trademark piano backing, is less dramatic. It was first released as a single in 1971 (Family 0900), without success, and included on Joel's début album Cold Spring Harbor. A live version, recorded at the Paradise Club in Boston, was released as a single a decade later (Columbia 02628). By this time Billy Joel had achieved worldwide fame with hits such as Just The Way You Are, Movin' Out (Anthony's Song), My Life and It's Still Rock And Roll To Me (his first US number 1). No surprise then that She's Got A Way became a hit the second time around, the only surprise being that the single did not make beyond number 23 in the Billboard Hot 100 and did not make it at all in the UK.
In his biography of Billy Joel, The Life And Times Of An Angry Young Man,Hank Bordowitz revealed that the inspiration for She's Got A Way (and other love songs such as She's Always A Woman) was Elizabeth Small, the wife of Billy's best friend Jon. Bordowitz quotes Billy's "longtime associate" Bruce Gentile, who described the days when he and Billy shared a house with Jon and Elizabeth: "There was a closet that ran the whole back wall of the house, so if you went into the closet in my room, you could walk right into Elizabeth's bedroom if you wanted to. That's exactly what Billy was doing every day." (The Life And Times Of An Angry Young Man, Chapter 5, page 34)
