Five Classic Hits Endure Across Six Decades

Several enduring pop hits have stories that go beyond their memorable melodies. The Association’s “Cherish” topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 1966, showcasing the group’s harmonies in a ballad about unrequited love. Stealers Wheel’s “Stuck in the Middle with You,” a 1973 hit later brought to a new audience by Reservoir Dogs, grew out of Gerry Rafferty’s discomfort at a record-company party. The Box Tops’ “The Letter” spent four weeks at No. 1 in 1967, with 16-year-old Alex Chilton delivering the song’s distinctive lead vocal. Billy Preston wrote “You Are So Beautiful” with his mother in mind, while Joe Cocker’s 1974 recording became the song’s best-known version and reached No. 5 in the U.S. George Harrison’s “Something,” initially held back from a Beatles album, became a centerpiece of Abbey Road and a widely covered love-song standard, though Harrison said he did not write it specifically for his wife.