Paul & Paula Biography
Paul (Ray Hildebrand, 21 December 1940, Joshua, Texas, USA) and Paula (b. Jill Jackson, 20 May 1942, McCaney, Texas, USA) were college students prior to singing together on a local radio's cancer fund appeal. In November 1962 they auditioned a Hildebrand composition, "Hey Paula", for Fort Worth producer Major Bill Smith, and within weeks the song topped the US chart. "Hey Paula" captured a "puppy-love" naïvety beloved by middle-America in the immediate pre-Beatles era. "Hey, hey, hey Paula, I wanna marry you", and the continuing simplistic call and answer lyric found a receptive audience. "Young Lovers", which recounted the eve of the duo's wedding, provided another hit, but although subsequent releases, including "Our First Quarrel", continued the storyline, Paul And Paula were unable to repeat the success of their million-selling debut and ended up sounding overly cloying.
Source: The Encyclopedia of Popular Music by Colin Larkin. Licensed from Muze.
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