The daughter of Lithuanian-Jewish immigrants, Cynthia Weil was born on Oct.
In 1977, they gave Dolly Parton her first crossover pop hit in the form of the ebullient “Here You Come Again,” kickstarting a second golden age for the songwriting team that featured such soft-rock hits as Quincy Jones and James Ingram’s “ Just Once,” Linda Ronstadt and Aaron Neville’s “ Don’t Know Much” and Sergio Mendes’ “Never Gonna Let You Go.” The period culminated with “ Somewhere Out There,” a Ronstadt and Ingram duet that won the Grammy for song of the year in 1988.įrom Brill Building-era classics to ‘80s quiet-storm staples, Weil’s songs, many written with husband Barry Mann, became part of the fabric of American life. Weil and Mann also managed to survive the transition from the ’60s to the ’70s with relative ease, gravitating toward adult-oriented pop. The duo, working mostly a few blocks from the actual Brill Building, at 1650 Broadway, was responsible for girl-group classics such as the Crystals’ ” He’s Sure the Boy I Love” and the Ronettes’ ” Walking in the Rain,” the smooth uptown R&B of the Drifters’ ” On Broadway,” the Righteous Brothers’ operatic “ You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” and “(You’re My) Soul and Inspiration” and the baroque pop of Cass Elliot’s “ Make Your Own Kind of Music.” Unlike some of their peers, Weil and Mann had a knack for harder-edged material as well, as heard on the Animals’ ” We’ve Gotta Get Out of This Place” and Paul Revere & the Raiders’ ” Kicks” and “Hungry.”
With Mann composing the music and Weil penning lyrics, the pair wrote songs that helped shape the sound and sensibility of the 1960s and beyond.
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