This version, produced by Spector, is cited by some music critics as the ultimate expression and illustration of his Wall of Sound recording technique. The single ranked No. In , Cilla Black 's recording reached No. Dionne Warwick took her version to No.
Long John Baldry charted at No. Various music writers have described the Righteous Brothers version as "one of the best records ever made" and "the ultimate pop record". BMI ranked the song as the most-played song on American radio and television in the 20th century, having accumulated more than 8 million airplays by , [ 4 ] and nearly 15 million by In the single was inducted into the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
In , music producer Phil Spector conducted the band at a show in San Francisco where the Righteous Brothers was also appearing, and he was impressed enough with the duo to want them to record for his own label, Philles Records. However, they had a vocal style, termed blue-eyed soul , that suited Spector. When Spector joined in with the writing, he added "gone, gone, gone, whoa, whoa, whoa" to the end of the chorus, which Weil disliked. Spector experimented on the piano with a " Hang On Sloopy " riff that they then built on for the bridge.
Weil recalled that, "after Phil, Barry and I finished [writing it], we took it over to the Righteous Brothers. Bill Medley , who has the low voice, seemed to like the song. Bobby Hatfield reportedly expressed his annoyance to Spector when he learned that Medley would start the first verse alone and that he had to wait until the chorus before joining in. Prior to this, they would have been given equal prominence in a song. When Hatfield asked Spector just what he was supposed to do during Medley's solo, Spector replied, "You can go directly to the bank!
The recording took over 39 takes and around eight hours over a period of two days. The song would become one of the foremost examples of Spector's " Wall of Sound " technique. Jack Nitzsche usually arranged the songs for Spector, but he was absent, and the arrangement was done by Gene Page.
