Bert Berns

Bert Berns was one of the great rock and soul songwriters of the 1960s, as well as being a producer of note. He worked in the studio with The Drifters, Ben E. King, The Isley Brothers, and Solomon Burke. He wrote or co-wrote a raft of classics, including "Twist and Shout," The Drifters' "I Don't Want to Go On Without You," Burke's "Cry to Me" and "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love," Garnet Mimms' "Cry Baby" and "It Was Easier to Hurt Her," and "Hang on Sloopy." By the mid-'60s, he was proving adaptable to changing trends in white rock too, successfully collaborating with Lulu, Them, and Neil Diamond. With executives of Atlantic Records, he founded the Bang! label, which had hits with The Mccoys, The Strangeloves, Diamond, and Van Morrison before Berns' death at the end of 1967.



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