Although his name is little remembered today, Bert Berns worked alongside Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, Ahmet Ertegun and Jerry Wexler, Burt Bacharach, Phil Spector, Gerry Goffin and Carole King – anyone who was anyone in the New York rhythm and blues world of the early ‘60s. In seven quick years, he went from nobody to the top of the pops – producer of monumental r&b classics, songwriter of “Twist and Shout,” “My Girl Sloopy” and others. Longtime SF Chronicle pop music critic Joel Selvin joins us on this week's Fog City Blues to talk about his latest book, Here Comes the Night: The Dark Soul of Bert Berns and the Dirty Business of Rhythm and Blues, and spin rare Berns records from his own vast catalogue. Fog City Blues with Devon Strolovirch ~ Wednesday, 5/21 at 9 pm.
The Greatest Songwriter You've Never Heard of
