The History of He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother
A poignant ballad written by two Bobs
In the late 1960s, songwriters Bobby Scott and Bob Russell wrote their only collaboration, the ballad “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother.”
The song became a worldwide hit for the English rock group, The Hollies, in late 1969. It was also a hit for Neil Diamond the following year. However, the first version of “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother” was released earlier in 1969, performed by American singer, songwriter and record producer Kelly Gordon.
This song about helping others is one of the most famous ballads in the world and has beautiful lyrics. It’s all the more poignant when you know that Russell was dying of lymphoma at the time he and Scott wrote “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother.”
Bobby Scott and Bob Russell’s songwriting collaboration
Russell wrote music for films and came up with lyrics for songs by the likes of Duke Ellington and Carl Sigman.
Scott worked for Mercury Records on sessions for artists including Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye and Bobby Darin.
Capitol Records co-founder, Johnny Mercer, introduced Russell and Scott to each other in a California nightclub. Russell was ill with lymphoma and only met…
