Bobby Lewis
Bobby Lewis is one of those talented performers whose recognition is confined to a single monster hit, "Tossin' and Turnin'." Released in early 1961, the single rode the charts for 23 weeks, eventually hitting the number one spot on both the pop and R&B charts. Lewis had other hits, including a Top Ten follow-up with "One Track Mind," and had been working for years before that, yet the one song came to be his signature.
Bobby Lewis was raised in an orphanage, and ran away from his foster home at age 14. He worked carnivals, and eventually joined the Leo Hines Orchestra in Indianapolis as a singer. He worked small clubs and theaters during the '50s, and cut "Mumbles Blues" for the Spotlight label early in that decade, passed through the Mercury Records roster, and briefly hooked up with Nat Tarnopol, who also managed Jackie Wilson.
In late 1960, while appearing at the Apollo Theater in New York, Lewis stopped at the offices of Beltone Records, a small independent outfit in Manhattan, and was prevailed upon to record a song written by another artist on the Apollo bill, Ritchie Adams, called "Tossin' and Turnin'." The single was issued at the end of 1960, and lightning struck in 1961 -- sales of the record were so strong that for the only time in its history, Beltone issued an accompanying album by Lewis. None of his subsequent records sold remotely as well as the three million copies of "Tossin' and Turnin'," and by the end of 1962, Lewis seemed to have run out his string; in 1963, Beltone itself went belly-up. Lewis later had limited success ("Stark Raving Mad") on ABC-Paramount, and was soon after consigned to rock & roll history, somewhat unfairly, as a one-hit wonder.
© Bruce Eder /TiVo
-
Tossin' And Turnin' (Digital 45) - Single
Pop - Released by Essential Media Group on 1 jan. 1961
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Best of Bobby Lewis
Pop - Released by Vintage Jukebox on 6 apr. 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bobby Lewis - Platinum Selection
Divers - Released by Retro Music Box on 7 aug. 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
Tossin' and Turnin'
Wereldmuziek - Released by TP4 Music on 6 jan. 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
Tossin' and Turnin' - The Best of
Soul - Released by Vintage Masters Inc. on 1 nov. 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
-
-
What a Walk (Billboard Hot 100 - No 77)
Rock - Released by Music Manager on 23 okt. 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Warm Cool
Moderne jazz - Released by Cool Horn Records on 29 apr. 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
I'm Tossin' and Turnin' Again (Billboard Hot 100 - No 98)
Rock - Released by Music Manager on 23 okt. 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Then and Now
Country - Released by Heart of Texas Records on 27 dec. 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mellifluous Tones
Moderne jazz - Released by Cool Horn Records on 6 mrt. 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tossin' And Turnin' (Billboard Hot 100 - No. 01)
Pop - Released by Music Manager on 19 dec. 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
One Track Mind (Billboard Hot 100 - No. 09)
Pop - Released by Music Manager on 19 dec. 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Intermission / Nothing but the Blues (Digital 45)
Pop - Released by Essential Media Group on 14 apr. 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tossin' And Turnin' (Stereo)
Pop - Released by Essential Media Group on 4 dec. 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Greatest Hits
Jazz - Released by Vintage Jukebox on 14 jun. 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Just at the Turn of the Tide
Rock - Released by turn of the tide on 28 apr. 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo