Wes Farrell

Wesley Donald Farrell (December 21, 1939 – February 29, 1996)

Career Farrell was born in New York, United States. Farrell's catalogue includes close to 500 songs that he wrote, produced and/or published. One of his earliest successes, "Boys" (co-written with Luther Dixon), appeared on the B-side of the Shirelles' 1960 number-one hit "Will You Love Me Tomorrow", and in 1963 was covered by the Beatles for their debut album Please Please Me.

Other Farrell pop hits include the Animals' UK debut single "Baby Let Me Take You Home" (co-written with Bert Russell; no. 21, 1964) and two 1964 releases for Jay and the Americans: "Come a Little Bit Closer" (co-written with songwriters Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart; US no. 3) and "Let's Lock the Door (And Throw Away the Key)" (with Roy Alfred; US no 11 in early 1965).

Farrell first achieved success as a producer in the summer of 1968 with the Cowsills' US Top Ten hit "Indian Lake", written by Tony Romeo. Partridge Family hits co-written by Farrell which charted on Billboard's Hot 100 include "Doesn't Somebody Want to Be Wanted" (with Jim Cretecos and Mike Appel; no. 6, 1971) and "I'll Meet You Halfway" (with Gerry Goffin; no. 9, 1971). Notable album tracks include "I Can Feel Your Heartbeat" (with Jim Cretecos and Mike Appel), "Brand New Me" (with Eddie Singleton), "I'm Here, You're Here" and "There's No Doubt in My Mind" (both with Gerry Goffin), "One Night Stand" (with Paul Anka), "Echo Valley 2-6809" (with Kathy Cooper and Rupert Holmes), "Twenty-Four Hours a Day" (with Danny Janssen), "Love Is All That I Ever Needed" (with David Cassidy), "Hello, Hello" (with Tony Romeo) and "Something New Got Old" (with Bobby Hart). Unlike the Cowsills, who actually performed on their own recordings, the albums produced under the name of the Partridge Family featured mostly session musicians now known as the Wrecking Crew, with backing vocals by the Ron Hicklin Singers.

Personal life In 1965, he married Joan Arthurs, and they had a daughter. Farrell and Arthurs divorced in 1972. He was married to actress/singer Tina Sinatra (daughter of Frank) in 1974, and to actress Pamela Hensley in 1978; both marriages ended in divorce. Farrell was later married to real estate broker Jean Inman and had two children.

Farrell died of cancer aged 56 in 1996 in Coconut Grove, Florida.