Gallagher and Lyle, the Scottish pairing of Benny Gallagher and Graham Lyle joined forces in 1959, initially as member of local Largs Band The Bluefrets. It was their love of songwriting that saw the duo develop their skill as songwriters - initially, writing original material for the band, and eventually, writing "Mr Heartbreak's Here Again" for Dean Ford and the Gaylords (later to become Marmalade). Their first recognition came in 1968, when they were signed by The Beatles to write for Apple Records artists like Mary Hopkin, Sparrow, The Fields of St. Etienne, International, Heritage, Jefferson. By 1970, they had joined McGuinness Flint, and penned the folkish UK Top 10 hit singles "When I'm Dead and Gone" and "Malt and Barley Blues" - Produced by the Legendary Glyn Johns. In the wake of the Singer-Songwriter phenomenon, they formed the duo Gallagher and Lyle in 1972, recording four albums: Benny Gallagher and Graham Lyle, Willie and the Lapdog, Seeds, and The Last Cowboy again under the auspices of Glyn Johns - but it was not until their fifth album, Breakaway in 1976, did they chart again with the hits "Heart On My Sleeve", and "I Wanna Stay with You", both of which reached Number 6 in the UK Singles Chart. Art Garfunkel's cover of "Breakaway" was also a hit at the time and Don Williams took "Stay Young" to No. 1 in the Country Charts which saw the G&L song receive in excess of 1m airplays on American Radio, the duo also penned and performed "A Heart in New York",which was later performed by both Simon and Garfunkel and Garth Brooks in their concerts in Central Park to audiences of 500,000 and 750,000, respectively.
