Great sound quality here! Nice job with the images too. Thanks J1948. What a terrific classic tune, clean and wholesome. I understand Leon Russell was at the piano, ha.
What I recall was when son Gary came back from war he was "changed" leading Jerry Lewis to declare, "You'll never get another of my kids." Something to that affect. Not something people repeated much.
I was in Hennigan's Pub in Hermosa Beach (I think) on a Tuesday night, mid July 1982. Gary Lewis was playing. His first song was Rosanna by Toto and then he and his band would go back 'n forth with old stuff and new (early 1980's new). During the breaks he was nice enough to stop by at each table ta say hello. I was visiting from CT and was thrilled to shake his hand and to personally tell him how much I enjoyed his music. He was genuinely kind and gracious. He had some good stuff!
Saturday 10/9/11 was one of the best days in my life when i went to the Gary Lewis & Billy J. Kramer tribute for John Lennon!!! I got to meet both of them after the show, take pictures with them, and i got their autographs!!! i actually cried when i was leaving from getting to meet Gary Lewis!!!
No, Russell wrote a few of these songs and played piano on the cuts. I remember Liberty issued a double album of all of Gary's hits in 1967 and my brother and I begged my father to guy this album for us. It costs $4. 59 and that was the equivilant of about $20 bucks today. I played the hell out of those two albums until they were worn out.
Gary Lewis' producer was Snuff Garrett. Leon Russell was heavily involved with the group (including as a session musician and songwriter), but not officially their producer.
The record producer for these guys was none other than Leon Russel, of Joe Cocker's, Grease Band fame. And of course, Leon Russel and the Shelter People fame.
WIN!!! This song is SO GREAT! This is,hands down,my favorite oldie ever. I love it so much and I wasn't even born when it came out. I don't believe in magic,but if I did,this song would be what magic is to me. It is a flawless piece of music and thank you for sharing it.
Many thanks for uploading this glorious song. I got into Gary Lewis and the Playboys while in high school in the late 80s and just rediscovered them thanks to your site. "Count Me In" is my favourite of theirs and a good reminder of the great American music that gave the British Invasion a run for its money. This is music at its best when it still had a melody.
Thanks for the unload! My uncle is John West, so this provides me a little exposure to his work with Gary. John was originally from a small Ohio town, like me, but by the time I was born he lived in another state.
@Tunz909 I have the Liberty CD with their 25 greatest hits - and I dont want to do too much typing here, but Leon Russell wrote or co wrote 9 of them, produced or co-produced 3 of them, arranged all but 3 of them, and played " piano, celeste, harpsichord, organ, and was the arranger on just about everything" according to the liner notes.
Amazing song! Great chord changes - the song's in F but manages to throw a couple F#'s in there (the beginning and other parts of the song go F--G#--C#maj7--F#). You almost never hear that kind of progression in such a melodic pop song.
@archie977 When I listen to the Beta Band I seriously wonder if Gary Lewis and the Playboys were a big influence. I love Gary Lewis And would love any band on the market influenced by them!
@archie977 they do....but you"ll have to do some searching around. our world has changed and you won't find these tunes or new ones like them on your local radio station. get hip to underground pop/rock sounds.
@archie977 There is no way determine what is truely moving the public because in the old day they could pay the dj's to play a record but a good record was a good record and it sold. The concerts was another way to measure but today, the numbers can be fixed and tricked, downloads are mostly a lie, the internet and cable killed radio as we know it and there is no real way to rate that is slop or what is good. Somebody thinks punk, rap, country and thrash is good music and a little of it is.
@archie977 There is no way determine what is truely moving the public because in the old days they could pay the dj's to play a record but a good record was a good record and it sold. The concerts was another way to measure but today, the numbers can be fixed and tricked. Downloads are mostly a lie, the internet and cable killed radio as we know it and there is no real way to rate what is slop or what is good. Somebody thinks punk, rap, country and thrash is good music and a little of it is.
@archie977 There is no market for this kind of music anymore? Even 16 year kids know this music. Gary Lewis recorded four of my songs -- none of which were hits -- but they were on his albums and I still get royalties for sales and performances so how can there not be a market for this kind of music when people are still buying it??? Doesn't make sense, does it?
perpetual61: Just want you to know that I bought the original album this gem was on when it first came out. This group had talents like Leon Russell behind them.
This is a pajama, slumber, boy-girl and beach party song. Fun times, Innocent times. Time to have a crush on this young jewish lad.! Taboo if you are a young catholic girl!!!
I like both songs. The intro to Shangri La Bougeois is a nice tribute, for the most part these songs are quite different. I'm just glad that there's been a recent resurgence for an appreciation of these sounds from the 60s, mostly women - Camera Obscura, Duffy, Amy Winehouse....check it out.
The strange thing about Gary Lewis, is that during his run of several top 40 hits, it was rare to hear him record his own music until after they became hits by some other band, so, several people back then thought of them as covers, until it came out that he actually wrote them before he actually sang them.
@perpetual61 I thought of this song the moment I heard the opening "piano" riff on the new one. I turned to my Wife and shouted "INSTANT RIPOFF!!!" Not that Gary Lewis didn't borrow a bit in those days either...
There is an undeniable similarity in the keyboard melody, but I don't think the Miss Li song at all deserves to be called a knock-off. I can name a lot of songs that have similar elements, but are fundamentally different.
Listen to the bassline of Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust", and then listen to the bassline of Chic's [earlier] hit "Good Times". Queen was clearly influenced by the Chic song, but I wouldn't really call that a knock-off, either.
The Miss Li song "Bourgeois Shangri-La" uses part of this song as a sample (not a literal sample, but the musicians on her recording re-learned some of the parts on this recording), but this is not a shameless rip-off, since the recording apparently makes mention of this (at least, that's the impression I get from the Wikipedia page). I do not own her actual recording so I do not know if the packaging credits this. Other than this, the two songs are generally different, in my opinion.
If, in "Bourgeois Shangri-La," Miss Li played the Playboys riff note-for-note, the song would be called an "interpolation"-- that's where they reproduce a part of an older song and build a new song around it. An example of an interpolation is in the Right Said Fred song "I'm Too Sexy," which quotes Jimi Hendrix's "Third Stone from the Sun".
What's the difference? Money! If you interpolate, you owe a fee. Simply expressing an influence, however, is free.
It definently does sound a bit liek it..But mis li does it a bit better....there's only so many diffrent rythms in this world....the two just sound alike
@John1948Five Thanks John for posting the Gary Lewis and The Playboys songs. I always loved their songs and used them as a temporary uplifting escape from my military duty during the early "Nam" days. Gary entered the Army for his two-year draft stint just as I was ending my term of enlistment. He and the group seemed to be at the top of the game at that time. I always give Gary credit for stepping-up to the plate and paying his dues. It speaks volumes about his character!
yeah i know. i was thinkin' Deno, Desi & Billy, but i found this pretty fast.. the beginning of that Chase card commercial is pilfering from somebody too, but i haven't figured it out yet.
I just heard the new iPod Nano commercial with Miss Li's "Bourgeois Shangri-La" and it made my brain go crazy trying to figure out that little piano intro--this is it! Thanks for the video.
Great sound quality here! Nice job with the images too. Thanks J1948. What a terrific classic tune, clean and wholesome. I understand Leon Russell was at the piano, ha.
Querencias7 1 month ago
Comment removed
PenNatter 1 month ago
What I recall was when son Gary came back from war he was "changed" leading Jerry Lewis to declare, "You'll never get another of my kids." Something to that affect. Not something people repeated much.
silvernail6 1 month ago
Great sound download.
rmtmiller 2 months ago
i wish we would make more music like this
archie977 2 months ago
my favorite gary lewis and the playboy s song.. and that was a very sweet story john 1948 5......
MrGary917 2 months ago
Glen D Hardin of TCB band(Elvis) wrote this song
cher65p4 3 months ago
Great song. It lives on today too as Miss Li heavily sampled the song for her hit Shangri-La Bourgousie.
dbowie007 3 months ago
I was in Hennigan's Pub in Hermosa Beach (I think) on a Tuesday night, mid July 1982. Gary Lewis was playing. His first song was Rosanna by Toto and then he and his band would go back 'n forth with old stuff and new (early 1980's new). During the breaks he was nice enough to stop by at each table ta say hello. I was visiting from CT and was thrilled to shake his hand and to personally tell him how much I enjoyed his music. He was genuinely kind and gracious. He had some good stuff!
ritama1 3 months ago
love this song. Thank you for posting.
TheBach2rock 4 months ago
Saturday 10/9/11 was one of the best days in my life when i went to the Gary Lewis & Billy J. Kramer tribute for John Lennon!!! I got to meet both of them after the show, take pictures with them, and i got their autographs!!! i actually cried when i was leaving from getting to meet Gary Lewis!!!
malachaisaac 4 months ago 2
@malachaisaac Good for you! I wish I had been with you.
John1948Five 4 months ago
@malachaisaac I would too..I love his father
dakotahstr 4 months ago
@malachaisaac Kind of how I'd feel if I met Pia Zadora!
Alikah1 4 months ago
@malachaisaac Awesome
MaceMn 3 months ago
saw him in concert tonight in Evansville really enjoyed it great music/
jetcat68 5 months ago
Thnx John
marko6849 6 months ago
So korny....so kool....and so miss music like this!!!! Thank Goodness that we can listen to them again and again....
uplinkz 6 months ago
I have this album autographed by John West. HOW COOL IS THAT!!!!!
beatlespaz 6 months ago
Exactly! Alot of the arrangements and hooky pop feels were Leon's influences. These tunes had to have been structured by a pianist!
audiomez 6 months ago
Another great song, I have played this practically all my adult life!
rickhatch1 7 months ago
No, Russell wrote a few of these songs and played piano on the cuts. I remember Liberty issued a double album of all of Gary's hits in 1967 and my brother and I begged my father to guy this album for us. It costs $4. 59 and that was the equivilant of about $20 bucks today. I played the hell out of those two albums until they were worn out.
taypar11 7 months ago
My mother was a fan of this group when i was a teen.
goldysky 8 months ago
@goldysky She has a good ear for melody listen to gene pitneys version of count me in
spacepatrolman 5 months ago
Gary Lewis' producer was Snuff Garrett. Leon Russell was heavily involved with the group (including as a session musician and songwriter), but not officially their producer.
horarwgt 8 months ago
The record producer for these guys was none other than Leon Russel, of Joe Cocker's, Grease Band fame. And of course, Leon Russel and the Shelter People fame.
Puseye2 9 months ago
WIN!!! This song is SO GREAT! This is,hands down,my favorite oldie ever. I love it so much and I wasn't even born when it came out. I don't believe in magic,but if I did,this song would be what magic is to me. It is a flawless piece of music and thank you for sharing it.
jtswhip 9 months ago 4
@jtswhip --I totally agree, I have always loved this song, and I remember when it came out! This group was so talented......
rickhatch1 7 months ago
I thank Jerry and his wife for Gary,such a talent.
MrAstroboy1997 9 months ago 2
The accountants' theme song - movin', groovin', and just sooo soothin'. :-)
Jakob1951 9 months ago
Many thanks for uploading this glorious song. I got into Gary Lewis and the Playboys while in high school in the late 80s and just rediscovered them thanks to your site. "Count Me In" is my favourite of theirs and a good reminder of the great American music that gave the British Invasion a run for its money. This is music at its best when it still had a melody.
RMSAquitania 9 months ago
they had a ton of hits
and they were all good
TheLadandLass 10 months ago
Thanks for the unload! My uncle is John West, so this provides me a little exposure to his work with Gary. John was originally from a small Ohio town, like me, but by the time I was born he lived in another state.
saltjunkie77 10 months ago
One of the best!
Kaden: count me in!
apapke1 11 months ago
@beachboybummer Totally agree....memories I hope will stay w/me ALL my life!!!!
livinthe60s1 1 year ago
So is that Leon on the piano? Would love to find a discography of what tunes he played on with the Playboy's. Any help appreciated.
Tunz909 1 year ago
@Tunz909 I have the Liberty CD with their 25 greatest hits - and I dont want to do too much typing here, but Leon Russell wrote or co wrote 9 of them, produced or co-produced 3 of them, arranged all but 3 of them, and played " piano, celeste, harpsichord, organ, and was the arranger on just about everything" according to the liner notes.
rktbusinc 6 months ago
Amazing song! Great chord changes - the song's in F but manages to throw a couple F#'s in there (the beginning and other parts of the song go F--G#--C#maj7--F#). You almost never hear that kind of progression in such a melodic pop song.
zytxuy 1 year ago
I LOVE THIS SONG!!! Can't hold still - can't stop singing along - can't forget those GREAT days that filled the air with GREAT music!!!!
TXBluebird 1 year ago 2
boooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
brandihunter101 1 year ago
why cant they make music like this now days?
archie977 1 year ago 14
@archie977 We could do it easily. There just is no market for it or else the movers and shakers in the music industry don't see the market.
John1948Five 1 year ago 3
@archie977 When I listen to the Beta Band I seriously wonder if Gary Lewis and the Playboys were a big influence. I love Gary Lewis And would love any band on the market influenced by them!
96wordpass 1 month ago
@96wordpass How's about Joe Jackson, "Stepping Out"? Think about it.
therealjoebloggs 1 month ago
@archie977 they do....but you"ll have to do some searching around. our world has changed and you won't find these tunes or new ones like them on your local radio station. get hip to underground pop/rock sounds.
panhead55 6 months ago
@archie977 There is no way determine what is truely moving the public because in the old day they could pay the dj's to play a record but a good record was a good record and it sold. The concerts was another way to measure but today, the numbers can be fixed and tricked, downloads are mostly a lie, the internet and cable killed radio as we know it and there is no real way to rate that is slop or what is good. Somebody thinks punk, rap, country and thrash is good music and a little of it is.
jusbkool 5 months ago
@archie977 There is no way determine what is truely moving the public because in the old days they could pay the dj's to play a record but a good record was a good record and it sold. The concerts was another way to measure but today, the numbers can be fixed and tricked. Downloads are mostly a lie, the internet and cable killed radio as we know it and there is no real way to rate what is slop or what is good. Somebody thinks punk, rap, country and thrash is good music and a little of it is.
jusbkool 5 months ago
@archie977 There is no market for this kind of music anymore? Even 16 year kids know this music. Gary Lewis recorded four of my songs -- none of which were hits -- but they were on his albums and I still get royalties for sales and performances so how can there not be a market for this kind of music when people are still buying it??? Doesn't make sense, does it?
michaelzstuff 2 months ago
One person wasn't counted.
drivencrunch 1 year ago
I remember that spring day in 1965 bringing this 45 gem home on the #6 bus after a Saturday in downtown Omaha..Man, those were the days.
blueticecho 1 year ago
I Love Gary Lewis and the Playboys. Brings back such fond memories!!!!!
mamaofcarolinagirl 1 year ago
Great times,Gary. Thanks.
robertxtra 1 year ago
Nice old song..love it..
Thanks a lot for share!!
silvialucianunes 1 year ago
great singing!
Petekiv 1 year ago
perpetual61: Just want you to know that I bought the original album this gem was on when it first came out. This group had talents like Leon Russell behind them.
pmoyer50 1 year ago
great new songs and old one,crank all of them, and injoy , peace***
ghobson1530 1 year ago
great new songs and old one,crank all of them, peace***
ghobson1530 1 year ago
Thanks for sharing...great song. Brings back memories.
gft2055 1 year ago
Was my fav,group back then,great 60s
onemooners 1 year ago
Another great song from Garry Lewis and the Playboys!
mustangmooney21 1 year ago
Great!
nellie2581 1 year ago
HHave you ever heard these guys sing TIME STANDS STILL, a real cut up, Gary sounds exactly like his Dad.
SuperKarend 1 year ago
Best song ever!! I can listen to it over and over.
mustangmooney21 1 year ago 2
Gary Lewis really had a nice voice.Are they in the rock and roll hall of fame?
Desiree50 1 year ago
Count me in through thick or thin!!!! Oh yeah!!!
TheMustangsally75 1 year ago
very unusual for a drummer to use a double bass during this period....
joe from immaculate cadaver
starkrial 1 year ago
You know, you tend to forget about groups like Gary Lewis and The Playboys....thanks for reminding me of how great they were!...................Jan
jmohan23 1 year ago 2
Glen Hardin wrote this and the great Al Kooper wrote This Diamond Ring.
11xzxzxz 1 year ago
Beautiful and positive song!! the radio today is a shame
Yax82 1 year ago 3
I still love this song and it still sounds just as good as back then. Good harmony too and I love the piano!!!!!!!
riitade644 1 year ago 2
@riitade644 that's Leon Russell on the piano. He was a backup musician on a lot of Gary's hits.
AmexJam 1 year ago
Thanks, Sir..
wdunderdog 1 year ago
Thanks, sir. Hope all is well.
wdunderdog 1 year ago
Thanks, pal. influence via vinyl. Still works!
wdunderdog 1 year ago
Wonderful song! one of the best of the 60´s
RUBENEZ3700 1 year ago
Wonderful song! one of the best of the 60´s
RUBENEZ3700 1 year ago
This band was GREAT w/all the hits, have their 'best of' just about every song you can remember..!
tomk773 1 year ago
Count this WOLF in! Thank You Gary Lewis for a wonderful song!
Lonewolfmichigan 1 year ago
Wow 78 cents!!! Dammmnnnn!
javierburboa 2 years ago
I bought this record with my paper route money....78 cents I remember !!! :)
grtguy2 2 years ago
Remember seeing them on Ed Sullivan before he went to Vietnam.
Lolyf55 2 years ago
jerry must be so proud of him!!!
taniiaaahhh 2 years ago
Classic Love Song 1960s Count Me In by Gary Lewis & The Playboys! A great love song Valentine's Day! Gary Lewis's Dad is the famous
comedian Jerry Lewis!
starblue1986 2 years ago
Classic Love Song, Count Me In! By Gary Lewis &
The Playboys! 1965!
starblue1986 2 years ago
Thank you so much for posting this song. I will never forget hearing it when I was growing up.
newdawnrevolution 2 years ago
This is a pajama, slumber, boy-girl and beach party song. Fun times, Innocent times. Time to have a crush on this young jewish lad.! Taboo if you are a young catholic girl!!!
rnjo1 2 years ago
I like both songs. The intro to Shangri La Bougeois is a nice tribute, for the most part these songs are quite different. I'm just glad that there's been a recent resurgence for an appreciation of these sounds from the 60s, mostly women - Camera Obscura, Duffy, Amy Winehouse....check it out.
learnamericanenglish 2 years ago
The strange thing about Gary Lewis, is that during his run of several top 40 hits, it was rare to hear him record his own music until after they became hits by some other band, so, several people back then thought of them as covers, until it came out that he actually wrote them before he actually sang them.
Doug4422 2 years ago
Thank you for the awesome right up on Gary ... very cool <3
2tryagain2 2 years ago
I bet alot of People have come here because of the IPod Commercial.I was already a Fan.
perpetual61 2 years ago 7
@perpetual61 I thought of this song the moment I heard the opening "piano" riff on the new one. I turned to my Wife and shouted "INSTANT RIPOFF!!!" Not that Gary Lewis didn't borrow a bit in those days either...
darkhoarse820 1 year ago
The new Ipod Commercial is a total knock-off of this introduction!! :)
lfdubin 2 years ago 2
There is an undeniable similarity in the keyboard melody, but I don't think the Miss Li song at all deserves to be called a knock-off. I can name a lot of songs that have similar elements, but are fundamentally different.
Listen to the bassline of Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust", and then listen to the bassline of Chic's [earlier] hit "Good Times". Queen was clearly influenced by the Chic song, but I wouldn't really call that a knock-off, either.
wheeljak 2 years ago 2
The Miss Li song "Bourgeois Shangri-La" uses part of this song as a sample (not a literal sample, but the musicians on her recording re-learned some of the parts on this recording), but this is not a shameless rip-off, since the recording apparently makes mention of this (at least, that's the impression I get from the Wikipedia page). I do not own her actual recording so I do not know if the packaging credits this. Other than this, the two songs are generally different, in my opinion.
KawhackitaRag 2 years ago
If, in "Bourgeois Shangri-La," Miss Li played the Playboys riff note-for-note, the song would be called an "interpolation"-- that's where they reproduce a part of an older song and build a new song around it. An example of an interpolation is in the Right Said Fred song "I'm Too Sexy," which quotes Jimi Hendrix's "Third Stone from the Sun".
What's the difference? Money! If you interpolate, you owe a fee. Simply expressing an influence, however, is free.
wheeljak 2 years ago
It definently does sound a bit liek it..But mis li does it a bit better....there's only so many diffrent rythms in this world....the two just sound alike
tijaunpop12 2 years ago
HA! I bet a few people the other night that Miss Li borrowed this song from the sixties, and I finally found it and sent it to the doubters!
jolson1762 2 years ago
There's an Xmas commercial for Target playing in the States playing right now....man are they stealing this riff!!
stingray1964 2 years ago
There's an Ipod commercial on the front page of Youtube, and they're doing the same thing. I was like "whaaaaat".
atomicale365 2 years ago
@stingray1964 It's called poetic license! They can take a part of song and use it, as long as it isn't the whole song & music!
filmbuff57 2 years ago
Love this song! Guess the IPOD Nano folks did too
annielynne2002 2 years ago
@annielynne2002
Yes, you are so right!! It's the IPod Commercial!!
lfdubin 2 years ago
Great song, thanks for the info too. Do you still have a site John?
fossie32 2 years ago 2
I never had a site fossie - just my YT channels.
John1948Five 2 years ago
Are they still going as the link didn't work?
fossie32 2 years ago
@John1948Five Thanks John for posting the Gary Lewis and The Playboys songs. I always loved their songs and used them as a temporary uplifting escape from my military duty during the early "Nam" days. Gary entered the Army for his two-year draft stint just as I was ending my term of enlistment. He and the group seemed to be at the top of the game at that time. I always give Gary credit for stepping-up to the plate and paying his dues. It speaks volumes about his character!
wiltent 1 year ago
An uplifting, energizing song from the Swingin' Sixties. Love it...thanks for posting.
doctorrhythm1964 2 years ago
I love this song, it really is a feel good classic. I am putting this on my MP3 player and going for a walk this morning!!! Love these guys xD!!!!!
iwantwhatiget 2 years ago
Wow on vinyl and a clear copy! Thanks John! :D
Ashley931344 2 years ago
Is Gary actually playing the drums on this track or is it Hal Blaine?Anyone know for sure?
Bancroft98 2 years ago
great song!!!
kmt0812 2 years ago
yeah i know. i was thinkin' Deno, Desi & Billy, but i found this pretty fast.. the beginning of that Chase card commercial is pilfering from somebody too, but i haven't figured it out yet.
heytanner1 2 years ago
miss li ripped this intro off, lolz
xbx1120 2 years ago
ha i was thinking the same thing!
themodernhuman 2 years ago
what a neat song!
veganswines 2 years ago
I just heard the new iPod Nano commercial with Miss Li's "Bourgeois Shangri-La" and it made my brain go crazy trying to figure out that little piano intro--this is it! Thanks for the video.
planoamy 2 years ago
thx John.
AstrosN08 2 years ago
great feel-good classic!
mmangum4444 2 years ago
he sounds like his dad jerry lewis singing this!funny but good..
styminho 2 years ago
When I heard this song when I was a kid that keyboard sounded like
"THE PRICE IS RIGHT" game show
barrettarq 2 years ago
Great oldies song, along with This Diamond Ring!! Thanks for posting!!!
nooner39 2 years ago 10