"Mountain Of Love" #9 12/5/1964

This was written and originally recorded by Harold Dorman in 1960 and re-done by Johnny Rivers in late '64. Also a huge country hit for Charley Pride in the early 80's. Trivia: Harold Dorman was born in Archie Manning's home town of Drew, Miss. and grew up in Charley Pride's home town of Sledge, Miss.

Johnny Rivers - Mountain Of Love

"Time Is On My Side" #6 12/5/1964

The first Top 10 hit stateside for Mick and the boys. This version, with the guitar intro, is what we're all familiar with, but a completely different take with an organ-based intro was the one that actually charted in '64. Go figure.

Rolling Stones - Time Is On My Side

"Ringo" #1 12/5/1964

I'm sure millions of young girls in 1964 were disappointed to discover this song was about a Western outlaw, and not the drummer for some little band from Liverpool. One of the rare spoken word #1 records, and boy, did Lorne Greene ever have a set of pipes - he was a CBC Radio newsreader during WWII and was known across Canada as the "Voice Of Doom" long before his Ben Cartwright days. The "Bonanza" thing of being the patriarch of a Nevada ranching family was so incongruous with his family's Canadian-Russian-Jewish roots. It's quite impressive when one can overcome stereotypes.

Lorne Greene - Ringo

"Four Strong Winds" #60 Pop and #3 Country 11/28/1964

Don't let the #60 chart position fool you. This was written and originally recorded by Ian and Sylvia, and CBC Radio has declared their version the all-time #1 homegrown Canadian song ever. They were among the first to record songs written by Bob Dylan and Gordon Lightfoot. Bobby Bare put out a slightly more uptempo version in late '64, and although it didn't do that well on the US pop charts, it became a Top Five country hit for him.

Bobby Bare - Four Strong Winds

"Shaggy Dog" #38 11/28/1964

Another record I was unfamiliar with from '64 - and after hearing this one, it's easy to see why. I'm still trying to figure out who thought it was a good idea to release this. A clunker for sure, but hey, even the Beatles had a few clunkers.

Mickey Lee Lane - Shaggy Dog

"Slaughter On 10th Avenue" #35 11/28/1964

This was originally part of a ballet from a Rodgers and Hart Broadway musical in 1936. The Ventures recorded a radically different arrangement of the song, which made the Top 40 in late 1964. The video is from a Japanese concert in 1966.

Ventures - Slaughter On 10th Avenue

"Reach Out For Me" #20 11/28/1964

Another Burt Bacharach/Hal David hit for Dionne Warwick. When you had a collaboration like that, why mess with success? Dionne had more charted records than any other female vocalist, except for Aretha Franklin. I'd say she did OK.

Dionne Warwick - Reach Out For Me