The Righteous Brothers performed two nights at the Segerstrom Concert Hall (10&11) as a pre-Valentine’s day show. Before the Righteous Brothers came out, there was an incredible to tribute one of the greatest Film/TV composers of all time, Elmer Bernstein. To celebrate 100 years of Bernstein, the Pacific Symphony performed seven of his compositions including the themes to The Ten Commandments, To Kill A Mockingbird, Airplane!, and The Magnificent Seven. Bernstein’s compositions also included True Grit, Animal House, Stripes, Ghostbusters, The Blues Brothers, and Three Amigos. Bernstein passed in 2004 at the age of 82. He had composed over 150 compositions for film and another 80+ for TV Shows. Conductor Richard Kaufman revealed how Bernstein wrote for comedies which was that he would write them the same way he did for suspense and action movies as comedy style music wouldn’t add anything. That led into the theme for Airplane! which had the audience laughing with it’s Jaws style theme and for someone like me who has watched it numerous times the image of the plane’s tail going through the clouds and the passengers walking into LAX and the music from the scene of Elaine and Striker on the beach. Kaufman made a joke about the white and red zones, one of the best quotes of the movie.
Following the intermissions was the Righteous Brothers set. The Righteous Brothers formed back in 1963 and were a duo of Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield until 1968 when Medley left. Jimmy Walker was Medley's replacement for three years before the duo disbanded. That lineup released just one album. Medley and Hatfield reunited in 1974 for just two years and would once again reunite in 1981 and stayed together until Hatfield’s passing in 2003. For the next 13 years Medley would perform solo. Since 2016 Bucky Heard has been helping Medley keep the Righteous Brothers’ music alive as Medley said at the end of the show. The Righteous Brothers and their 8-piece group performed along with the Pacific Symphony. The set was full of classics like their first single “Little Latin Lupe Lu,” their second number one hit “You’re My (Soul and Inspiration),” “Unchained Melody,” “Just Once in My Life,” and “Rock and Roll Heaven”. They also paid tribute to our veterans performing Simon and Garfunkels
“Bridge Over Troubled Water” and Bill Withers “Lean On Me” featuring Medley’s daughter McKenna. Medley also had other family members in the audience from his son to grandkids and a great-granddaughter.Medley also performed the Oscar winning theme to Dirty Dancing “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” with his daughter. The closing song was the first number one hit for the Righteous Brothers, “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling,” which was used in one of the most memorable Top Gun scenes.
Eight months before Hatfield’s death, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and in 2005 they were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame. The Righteous Brothers (Medley/Hatfield) released 11 albums between 1963 and 1968. There was another one released in 1974 and their final release was in 1975. Medley and Heard released an album together in 2016. The Righteous Brothers had 21 charting singles in the U.S.
