After the Righteous Brothers, Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield, hit number one in 1965 with “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’,” they wanted to do it again. They recorded “Just Once in My Life” (#9,) and then a song called “Hung on You.” But, when the record was sent to the disc jockeys, they played the B-side, “Unchained Melody.” It peaked at number four. Phil Spector, who produced the guys records, took that to mean that the public wanted the Righteous Brothers to sing old stands, so he had them record “Ebb Tide.” It did ok, hitting number five, but the next record, “The White Cliffs of Dover” bombed and so, that theory was thrown out.

The Brothers decided to leave Spector and Philles Records and moved over to Verve Records. They had heard “(You’re My) Soul and Inspiration” a year or so earlier, but hadn’t picked it up. It was written by the same team that had written “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin,” the great Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. Mann and Weil hadn’t finished the song because they thought it sounded just like “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin.” But, that was exactly what Bill and Bobby needed. So, they finished the song and the Righteous Brothers recorded it and had their second number one hit (and their last.)

Bill Medley produced the record and was able to reproduce the “wall of sound” effect that Phil Spector was famous for. While “(You’re My) Soul and Inspiration” was a big hit, it was pretty much the last for the Righteous Brothers. They had a couple minor hits later in 1966, but nothing big. The duo split up in 1968 and went their own ways, reuniting in 1974 to record a personal favorite of mine, “Rock and Roll Heaven.” That went to number three, but wasn’t the comeback that they were looking for. They continued to work together until the death of Bobby Hatfield in 2003, doing mainly the oldies circuit.

“(You’re My) Soul and Inspiration” debuted on the pop charts on March 19, 1966 and spent three weeks at number one.

P.S. The banner that runs across this video says it peaked at number fifteen, that was in England, where this video originated.