Henry Gross
Encyclopedia
Henry Gross is an American
singer-songwriter
best known for his association with the group, Sha Na Na
, and for his hit
song
, "Shannon".
resort hotels.
At age 18, while a student at Brooklyn College
, Gross became a founding member of Sha Na Na
, playing guitar and wearing on-stage the greaser clothes he wore while a student at Midwood High School
.
with ABC Dunhill Records in 1971. His debut album
had little commercial success. He continued to play at clubs and colleges until, in 1973, he was signed with A&M Records
.
His first self-titled A&M album sold well, and had several regional hits including "Simone," "Come On Say It," "Skin King," and a cover version of Lindisfarne's European hit, "Meet Me On The Corner." Gross' second A&M album was Plug Me Into Something. He began to achieve national recognition in Rolling Stone
and The New York Times
.
Carl Wilson
's Irish setter
of the same name. The single went gold
based on US sales alone, and became a worldwide hit, reaching #6 on the Billboard Hot 100
chart
in 1976. In Canada
, it reached #1 in May of the same year. It peaked at #32 in the UK Singles Chart
. After this single's success, Gross released the album, Release. His second single, "Springtime Mama", reached #37 in the US. On his next album, Show Me to the Stage, Gross mixed rock and roll
songs with Phil Spector
and Brian Wilson
influences. While the album sold well, it provided no hit singles. He also recorded The Beatles
song "Help!
" for the documentary, All This and World War II
; both occurred in 1976. Gross' recording career slowed, but with CBS Records
he made "Love is the Stuff" and with Capitol Records
, in 1981, along with Bobby Colomby
, produced the What's in a Name album.
In the 1980s, Gross performed in the road company production of Pump Boys and Dinettes
, with a cast featuring Jonathan Edwards, and Nicolette Larson
. Gross moved to Nashville, Tennessee
in 1986 and signed a publishing deal with Pic-A-Lic Music, a company owned by Roger Cook
and Ralph Murphy
.
radio show host, Casey Kasem
, while recording an episode of the show in 1985. A listener had requested "Shannon" as a 'Long Distance Dedication' (a regular feature of the show) to his own recently-deceased dog. Kasem was upset that the show's producers had placed the dedication immediately following the Pointer Sisters' hit "Dare Me", an up-tempo song that he considered a poor lead-in to a sad song such as "Shannon". The audio is occasionally played on The Howard Stern Show.
He continues to record in FT. Myers, Florida with multi instrumentalist/ recording engineer, John McLane, so far producing four CD's with 74 tracks: One Hit Wanderer (2006), Foreverland (2007) and "Rhymes and Misdemeanors" and "Right As Rain" (2011).
He is currently writing and getting ready to begin recording another new collection with John Mclane.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
best known for his association with the group, Sha Na Na
Sha Na Na
Sha Na Na is an American rock and roll group. The name is taken from a part of the long series of nonsense syllables in the doo-wop hit song "Get a Job", originally recorded in 1957 by the Silhouettes....
, and for his hit
Hit record
A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...
song
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
, "Shannon".
Early years
Henry Gross's mother, Zelda's, love of music, encouraged his pursuit of a performing career. By the age of fourteen Gross was playing regularly in local clubs in the New York area, and spending his summers playing at Catskill MountainsCatskill Mountains
The Catskill Mountains, an area in New York State northwest of New York City and southwest of Albany, are a mature dissected plateau, an uplifted region that was subsequently eroded into sharp relief. They are an eastward continuation, and the highest representation, of the Allegheny Plateau...
resort hotels.
At age 18, while a student at Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College is a senior college of the City University of New York, located in Brooklyn, New York, United States.Established in 1930 by the New York City Board of Higher Education, the College had its beginnings as the Downtown Brooklyn branches of Hunter College and the City College of New...
, Gross became a founding member of Sha Na Na
Sha Na Na
Sha Na Na is an American rock and roll group. The name is taken from a part of the long series of nonsense syllables in the doo-wop hit song "Get a Job", originally recorded in 1957 by the Silhouettes....
, playing guitar and wearing on-stage the greaser clothes he wore while a student at Midwood High School
Midwood High School
Midwood High School, at Brooklyn College, is a public, urban, co-ed high school located on Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn, New York City.Midwood High School was for many years the recipient of multiple accolades because of its competitive educational programs and for the achievements of its students...
.
Going solo
Gross broke from Sha Na Na to become a solo singer-songwriter in 1970. He signed a recording contractRecording contract
A recording contract is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist , where the artist makes a record for the label to sell and promote...
with ABC Dunhill Records in 1971. His debut album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
had little commercial success. He continued to play at clubs and colleges until, in 1973, he was signed with A&M Records
A&M Records
A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...
.
His first self-titled A&M album sold well, and had several regional hits including "Simone," "Come On Say It," "Skin King," and a cover version of Lindisfarne's European hit, "Meet Me On The Corner." Gross' second A&M album was Plug Me Into Something. He began to achieve national recognition in Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
and The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
.
"Shannon"
Gross moved on to Lifesong Records to make his next album. He produced a single, "Shannon", a song written about the death of Beach BoyThe Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...
Carl Wilson
Carl Wilson
Carl Dean Wilson was an American rock and roll singer and guitarist, best known as a founding member, lead guitarist and sometime lead vocalist of The Beach Boys...
's Irish setter
Irish Setter
The Irish Setter , is a setter, a breed of gundog and family dog. The term Irish Setter is commonly used to encompass the show-bred dog recognized by the American Kennel Club as well as the field-bred Red Setter recognised by the Field Dog Stud Book....
of the same name. The single went gold
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
based on US sales alone, and became a worldwide hit, reaching #6 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
chart
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
in 1976. In Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, it reached #1 in May of the same year. It peaked at #32 in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
. After this single's success, Gross released the album, Release. His second single, "Springtime Mama", reached #37 in the US. On his next album, Show Me to the Stage, Gross mixed rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
songs with Phil Spector
Phil Spector
Phillip Harvey "Phil" Spector is an American record producer and songwriter, later known for his conviction in the murder of actress Lana Clarkson....
and Brian Wilson
Brian Wilson
Brian Douglas Wilson is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the group The Beach Boys. Within the band, Wilson played bass and keyboards, also providing part-time lead vocals and, more often, backing vocals, harmonizing in falsetto with the group...
influences. While the album sold well, it provided no hit singles. He also recorded The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
song "Help!
Help! (song)
"Help!" is a song by The Beatles that served as the title song for both the 1965 film and its soundtrack album. It was also released as a single, and was number one for three weeks in both the United States and the United Kingdom....
" for the documentary, All This and World War II
All This and World War II
All This and World War II is a 1976 musical documentary that juxtaposes Beatles songs, performed by a number of musicians, with World War II newsreel footage and 20th Century Fox films from the 1940s...
; both occurred in 1976. Gross' recording career slowed, but with CBS Records
CBS Records
CBS Records is a record label founded by CBS Corporation in 2006 to take advantage of music from its entertainment properties owned by CBS Television Studios. The initial label roster consisted of only three artists; rock band Señor Happy and singer/songwriters Will Dailey and P.J...
he made "Love is the Stuff" and with Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
, in 1981, along with Bobby Colomby
Bobby Colomby
Bobby Colomby is an innovative jazz-rock fusion drummer, and an original member of the group Blood, Sweat & Tears...
, produced the What's in a Name album.
In the 1980s, Gross performed in the road company production of Pump Boys and Dinettes
Pump Boys and Dinettes
Pump Boys and Dinettes is a musical written by a performance group of the same name. The performance group, "Pump Boys and Dinettes" consists of John Foley, Mark Hardwick, Debra Monk, Cass Morgan, John Schimmel and Jim Wann...
, with a cast featuring Jonathan Edwards, and Nicolette Larson
Nicolette Larson
Nicolette Larson was an American pop singer. She is perhaps best known for her work in the late 1970s with Neil Young, as well as her 1978 cover of Young's "Lotta Love". The song, her debut single, was a Number One Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks hit and #8 pop hit that year...
. Gross moved to Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
in 1986 and signed a publishing deal with Pic-A-Lic Music, a company owned by Roger Cook
Roger Cook (songwriter)
Roger Cook is an English songwriter who has written many hits for other recording artists. He has also had a successful recording career in his own right.-Early life:Cook was born in Fishponds, Bristol, England...
and Ralph Murphy
Ralph murphy
Ralph Murphy is a British-born Canadian musician, record producer, and songwriter.-Early life and career:Murphy was born in Saffron Walden, England during World War II. At the age of six, Murphy emigrated to Canada with his mother. An avid lover of music, Murphy taught himself to play guitar and...
.
The Casey Kasem incident
"Shannon" is remembered for being the subject of a profanity-laced tirade by American Top 40American Top 40
American Top 40 is an internationally syndicated, independent radio program created by Casey Kasem, Don Bustany, Tom Rounds and Ron Jacobs. Originally a production of Watermark Inc...
radio show host, Casey Kasem
Casey Kasem
Kemal Amin "Casey" Kasem is an American radio personality and voice actor who is best known for being the host of the nationally syndicated Top 40 countdown show American Top 40, and for voicing Shaggy in the popular Saturday morning cartoon franchise Scooby-Doo.Kasem, along with Don Bustany and...
, while recording an episode of the show in 1985. A listener had requested "Shannon" as a 'Long Distance Dedication' (a regular feature of the show) to his own recently-deceased dog. Kasem was upset that the show's producers had placed the dedication immediately following the Pointer Sisters' hit "Dare Me", an up-tempo song that he considered a poor lead-in to a sad song such as "Shannon". The audio is occasionally played on The Howard Stern Show.
Current
Gross continued his song writing and recording career in Nashville. In 1993, he released the album, Nothing But Dreams, on his own record label, Zelda Records, named after his mother. He has had worldwide hits as an artist and writer, including "Shannon" (1976) and more recently "Big Guitar", a Top 40 Country Radio hit for the Arista recording group, Blackhawk, fronted by his good friend, Henry Paul. Gross released I'm Hearing Things on Zelda Records in 2001. He has also written and currently performs a one man show called "One Hit Wanderer", chronicling the highlights and funniest moments of his life in and out of the entertainment business.He continues to record in FT. Myers, Florida with multi instrumentalist/ recording engineer, John McLane, so far producing four CD's with 74 tracks: One Hit Wanderer (2006), Foreverland (2007) and "Rhymes and Misdemeanors" and "Right As Rain" (2011).
He is currently writing and getting ready to begin recording another new collection with John Mclane.
Albums
- Henry Gross (1972) ABC Dunhill Records
- Henry Gross (1973) A&M Records (A.K.A. "The Yellow Album")
- Plug Me Into Something (1975) A&M Records
- Release (1976) Lifesong Records
- Show Me To The Stage (1977) Lifesong Records
- Love Is The Stuff (1978) Lifesong Records
- What's In A Name (1981) Capitol Records
- I Keep On Rockin (1987) Sonet Records (Currently available on Zelda Records)
- She's My Baby (1989) Sonet Records (Currently available on Zelda Records)
- Nothing But Dreams (1992) Zelda Records
- One More Tomorrow/ The best of Henry Gross 70's recordings (1996) Varese Sarabande Records
- I'm Hearing Things (2000/2001) Zelda Records
- One Hit Wanderer (2006) Zelda Records
- Foreverland (2007) Zelda Records
- "Rhymes and Misdemeanors" (2011) Zelda Records
- "Right As Rain" (2011) Zelda Records