He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2008) |
| "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
|||||
| Single by The Hollies | |||||
| B-side | "'Cos You Like to Love Me" (Hicks) | ||||
| Released | December 1, 1969 (US) September 1, 1969 (UK) |
||||
| Format | 7" | ||||
| Recorded | 1969 | ||||
| Genre | Pop | ||||
| Label | UK: Parlophone R5806 US: Epic 10532 |
||||
| Writer(s) | Bob Russell and Bobby Scott | ||||
| Producer | Ron Richards | ||||
| The Hollies singles chronology | |||||
|
|||||
"He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" is a popular music ballad, the first-released (and definitive) version of which was recorded by The Hollies in 1969.
Contents |
[edit] Chart performance
Jefferey Spearitt, Bob Russell's son-in-law, introduced "He Ain't Heavy" to the Hollies in the summer of 1969 while residing in London. The record was released in the UK on September 1, 1969; the US release was 3 months later - December 1, 1969. "He Ain't Heavy" reached #3 in the UK[1] and #7 in the United States. The song was also re-released in late 1988 in the UK following its use in a television advertisement for Miller Lite beer; it was paired with "Carrie-Anne" on the re-release. It was also used in an anti-drug commercial. "He Ain't Heavy" finally reached the #1 spot in the UK charts for two weeks in September 1988 with this re-release.
[edit] Origin of the song
"He Ain't Heavy" was composed by Bobby Scott and Bob Russell. The pair had been introduced to each other by Johnny Mercer at a California nightclub. Despite the fact that Russell was dying of lymphosarcoma (cancer of the lymph nodes) and that the pair met in person only three times, they managed to collaborate on the song. Bobby Scott agreed to Bob's company, Harrison Music Corp., publishing the song. However, Scott waited until Bob Russell was on his deathbed in February 1970 and never signed the papers. A courtroom drama ensued after Bob's passing.
The Hollies soon recorded the emotional ballad, featuring the piano talents of Elton John, and with lead singer Allan Clarke providing a heartfelt rendition of the lyrics. The song had been discovered by the group's guitarist Tony Hicks as a publisher's demo.
[edit] Origin of the title
[edit] The novel, "Sparrows"
It had to have been published not much later than the turn of the 20th century, because I remember, as a kid of seven or eight in the 1930s, finding a well-worn copy on my mother's bookshelf, becoming intrigued with the illustrations and reading it. The one scene I've never forgotten in the 73 years since then has a man on a country road meeting a ragamuffin of a girl about eight years old carrying a boy of four years on her back. The man says, "That's a big load for a little girl like you." And the girl replies, "He ain't heavy, he's my brother."
[edit] Roe Fulkerson/Kiwanis Magazine
In 1924, the first editor of Kiwanis Magazine, Roe Fulkerson, published a column carrying the title "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother". Dated September 1924, the article speaks of Fulkerson's inspiring encounter with "a spindly and physically weak lad" carrying a baby and "staggering towards a neighboring park".
" 'Pretty big load for such a small kid' I said as I met him. 'Why, mister,' he smiled, 'He ain't heavy; he's my brother.' "
[edit] Father Flanagan/Boys Town
The phrase is also associated with Father Edward J. Flanagan, the founder of Boys Town. Father Flanagan came across a line drawing in the Christmas 1941 edition of the Louis Allis Messenger, a company publication. The "Two Brothers" line drawing of a young boy carrying his brother featured on page 44, in gold and black ink. The caption read "He ain't heavy Mister — he's m' brother!" It was created by Mr. Van B. Hooper who later became the editor of Ideals magazine. The drawing was subsequently repeated in the first issue of Ideals in December 1944.
The Girls and Boys Town website recounts the subsequent story:
- Over the years, Father Flanagan had seen numerous examples of boys helping each other in a fashion similar to the one depicted in the publication. He thought the drawing would be a perfect example to illustrate the work done at Girls and Boys Town. Father Flanagan contacted the company in August of 1943 for permission to reproduce the two boys in full color and to change the caption to "He ain't heavy, Father . . . he's m' brother."
Consequently, the phrase became the motto of what was then known as Boys Town, now Girls and Boys Town, and the image became the universal, enduring image of the organization. The story of Father Flanagan was told in the 1938 movie Boys Town starring Spencer Tracy and Mickey Rooney.
[edit] Vietnam photo
Another explanation for the origin of the title "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" is that of a Vietnam War photo. Supposedly, the image depicted a GI carrying a Vietnamese man on his back. The journalist had asked if he had been carrying him far, and the soldier had smiled at the camera and said, "He ain't heavy, he's my brother."[citation needed]
[edit] Native American Origin
It is also believed to refer to a native american story, of two brothers caught by aggressors. One was stood on the other's shoulders, with a noose hung around the top brother's neck. The idea being that when the bottom brother could no longer bear the weight, he would collapse, thus hanging his brother. The story then concluded, with the bottom brother standing strong, saying: "He ain't heavy, he's my brother!"
[edit] Cover versions
The earliest recording of the song was made by Neil Diamond, from the "Taproot Manuscript" album, but as this recording was not released until after The Hollies' version (in 1969), it is often mistakenly listed as a cover version. Cover versions have been recorded by (among others): The Osmonds in 1971, and again in 1975. The Osmonds consider it a theme song, and regularly perform it in concert as a show closer.
In 1988, Bill Medley recorded a version for the end credits of the film Rambo III. This version, produced by Giorgio Moroder, was released in the UK as a single around the same time as the re-issued Hollies version, and both featured in the Top 40 simultaneously, Medley's version reaching #25.
The song has also been recorded by, among many others:
- Cher on her 1971 album Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves;
- Donny Hathaway on his eponymous 1971 album;
- The Osmonds in 1971 (and frequently in concert as a finale);
- Brotherhood of Man on their 1974 album Good Things Happening;
- Olivia Newton-John in 1975;
- The Housemartins in 1988;
- Bill Medley in 1988;
- Gotthard, in 1996 BMG Ariola version of their third album G.;
- Rufus Wainwright, for the soundtrack to the Ben Stiller film Zoolander;
- Barry Manilow in his 2007 album The Greatest Songs of the Seventies;
- Christian music artist Clay Crosse on his Stained Glass album.
- The Choirboys
- Austria3 did version in the Austrian dialect of the German language: "Weusd' mei Freund bist" (literally: "because yor are a friend of mine")
- American Idol Season 4's Top 12 contestants for a Red Cross charity single.
- Heine Totland in 2009 on the album On the sunny side
[edit] References
| Preceded by "A Groovy Kind of Love" by Phil Collins |
UK number one single "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" by The Hollies September 18, 1988 |
Succeeded by "Desire" by U2 |
|
||||||||||||||
