1950s – Page 23 – PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

A Christmas Carol 1951

There have been many versions of this great story. This is the version that I like the most. The great Alastair Sim plays Ebenezer Scrooge and he is the reason I like this so much. When I think of the Scrooge… I think of him.

The movie is in black and white which turns some people off but it makes it that much better to me. The effects they use are obviously not CGI but they get the point across well and serve the story. I like the scene where the ghost of Jacob Marley is warning Ebenezer of being greedy…the two were not on the set at the same time…it looked really good for being 1951…or anytime for that matter.

So get some eggnog or hot butter rum and sit back and watch this great movie.

From IMDB…spoilers

Ebenezer Scrooge (Alastair Sim) is a greedy businessman who thinks only of making money. For him, Christmas is, in his own words, a humbug. It has been seven years since his friend and partner, Jacob Marley (Sir Michael Hordern), died and on Christmas Eve. Marley’s ghost tells him he is to be visited during the night by three spirits. The Ghost of Christmas Past (Michael Dolan) revisits some of the main events in Scrooge’s life to date, including his unhappy childhood, his happy apprenticeship to Mr. Fezziwig (Roddy Hughes), who cared for his employees, and the end of his engagement to a pretty young woman due to a growing love of money. The Ghost of Christmas Present (Francis De Wolff) shows him how joyously is nephew Fred (Brian Worth) and his clerk, Bob Cratchit (Mervyn Johns), celebrate Christmas with those they love. The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come (Czeslaw Konarski) shows him what he will leave behind after he is gone. Scrooge awakens on Christmas morning, a new man intent on doing good and celebrating the season with all of those around him.

Cast

Alastair Sim (Ebenezer Scrooge)
Kathleen Harrison (Mrs. Dilber)
Mervyn Johns (Bob Cratchit)
Hermione Baddeley (Mrs. Cratchit)
Michael Hordern (Jacob Marley)
Glyn Dearman (Tiny Tim)

Bing Crosby – Silent Night

This song is not only my favorite Christmas Carol… I think it’s up there with the best songs ever written. I hope everyone has a great Christmas/Holiday.

There are over 26,000 different versions of “Silent Night” on Spotify, meaning you could listen to a different rendition of the carol every night for 72 years.

Halfway through December 1818, the church organ in St. Nicholas in Oberndorf, 11 miles north of Salzburg in what is now Austria, broke (a popular version of the story claims that mice had eaten out the bellows). The curate, 26-year-old Josef Mohr, realized it couldn’t be repaired in time to provide music on Christmas Eve. He told his troubles to his friend, a headmaster and amateur composer named Franz Gruber, while giving him as a present a poem he had written two years earlier. Gruber was so taken by the rhythm of the poem that he set it to music, and on Christmas Eve there was music after all. Mohr played his guitar while the pair sang the song. It was the first public performance of “Stille Nacht” or as we know it “Silent Night.”

It is believed that Silent Night has been translated into over 300 languages around the world, and it is one of the most popular carols of all time.

From Songfacts

Bing Crosby’s version became his best-seller of the 1930s.

Music licensing company PPL announced in December 2010 that this carol tops the list of Britain’s “most recorded Christmas song of all time.” Said Mike Dalby, Lead Reporting Analyst at PPL: “Silent Night is a beautiful carol which encapsulates the feeling of Christmas entirely. Everyone from punk band The Dickies right through to Sinead O’Connor has recorded it, which exemplifies just how much it resonates with all different types of artists.”

According to PPL, Sinead O’Connor’s 1991 recording was the most popular version of the carol in Britain.

When the organ builder finally did show up to repair the St. Nicholas organ, he was given a copy of the “Silent Night” composition and brought it home. From there, traveling folk singers got a hold of it and began incorporating the carol into their repertoire. It didn’t make its way to America until 1839.

As the song gained traction throughout Europe, Franz Gruber composed several different orchestral arrangements. He donated all profits from the carol to local charities for children and the elderly, and eventually died penniless.

According to Steve Sullivan’s Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings, Crosby, a devout Catholic, refused to record the religious song, arguing it would be “like cashing in on the church or the Bible.” Crosby met with Father Richard Ranaghan, a priest trying to raise money for overseas missions, and decided to donate the royalties to the cause. But Ranaghan died in a car accident later that year, so the money went to several charities throughout the US and abroad.

This song lends itself to interpretation because the first four bars are all on the same chord. Jim Brickman explains: “There’s room to treat it dynamically in a different way: in the tempo, in the sounds and silences, in the time signature.”

Silent Night

Silent night, holy night.
All is calm, all is bright.
‘Round yon virgin mother and child.
Holy infant so tender and mild.
Sleep in heavenly peace,
Sleep in heavenly peace.

Johnny Cash – Cry! Cry! Cry!

No one crosses genres like Johnny Cash. I’ve seen rockers, heavy metal, and country fans like Johnny.

After Cash returned home from the Air Force and signed with Sun Records, he gave Sam Phillips the song “Hey Porter.” Phillips asked for a ballad for the B-side, so Cash went home and quickly wrote “Cry! Cry! Cry!” literally overnight. It became his first big hit.

“Cry! Cry! Cry!” was released and sold over 100,000 copies. The song was originally released in 1955 and reached #14 in the charts at the time. This song was the B side to Hey Porter.

Elvis Costello did a fantastic cover of this song in 1982 as the B side to I’m Your Toy.

Cry! Cry! Cry!

Everybody knows where you go when the sun goes down.
I think you only live to see the lights uptown.
I wasted my time when I would try, try, try.
‘Cause when the lights have lost their glow, you’ll cry, cry, cry.

Soon your sugar-daddies will all be gone.
You’ll wake up some cold day and find you’re alone.
You’ll call for me but I’m gonna tell you: “Bye, bye, bye, “
When I turn around and walk away, you’ll cry, cry, cry,

You’re gonna cry, cry, cry and you’ll cry alone,
When everyone’s forgotten and you’re left on your own.
You’re gonna cry, cry, cry.

I lie awake at night to wait ’til you come in
You stay a little while and then you’re gone again
Every question that I ask, I get a lie, lie, lie
For every lie you tell, you’re gonna cry, cry, cry

When your fickle love gets old, no one will care for you.
Then you’ll come back to me for a little love that’s true.
I’ll tell you no and then you’ll ask me why, why, why?
When I remind you of all of this, you’ll cry, cry, cry.

You’re gonna cry, cry, cry and you’ll want me then,
It’ll hurt when you think of the fool you’ve been.
You’re gonna cry, cry, cry.

Chuck Berry – Maybellene

Chuck Berry was THE first guitar hero in Rock and Roll. He was also rock’s first poet. This song evolved out of “Ida Red,” a hillbilly song by Bob Wills and The Texas Playboys from the early ’50s. Berry heard that song on the Country radio station KMOX in St. Louis but didn’t know who recorded it.

Not only is the music great with the steady beat… but those lyrics. The motor cooled down the heat went down, And that’s when I heard that highway sound, the Cadillac a-sittin’ like a ton of lead, a hundred and ten half a mile ahead, the Cadillac lookin’ like it’s sittin’ still, and I caught Mabellene at the top of the hill

You can see what is happening in the song in your head with no problem… no MTV story video needed. He was one of the best descriptive lyricist rock and roll has ever had.

The song made it to #5 in the Billboard Pop Chart in 1955.

From Songfacts

Berry had never recorded, but when he went to Chicago to see Muddy Waters perform, he stayed in town to pitch himself to Leonard Chess of Chess Records, who asked him to come back the next week with some original songs. Berry returned with his bandmates Johnnie Johnson (piano) and Eddie Hardy (drums), and a demo reel with four songs, including “Ida Mae.” That’s the one Leonard Chess liked best, but he asked Berry to change so there wouldn’t be any confusion with “Ida Red” and to fend off any copyright claims. Berry changed the lyrics, turning it into a song about fast cars – one of his favorite topics. It was the first song the band recorded, and it proved a challenge: they recorded 36 takes.

This song tells the story of a girl who keeps cheating on her man. Various cars appear in the lyrics; Berry sings about chasing Maybellene in his V8 Ford while she drag races a man in a Cadillac with her Coupe de Ville.

There are a few different stories floating around about how the song got its name. Berry has said that Maybellene was the name of a cow in child’s nursery rhyme, but Johnnie Johnson recalled that there was a box of Maybellene mascara in the office, which gave Leonard Chess the idea for the title.

Chess Records gave the disc jockey Alan Freed a cowriting credit on this song (and also some cash) in exchange for playing it on the radio. Deals like this led to the Payola scandals, which led to rules prohibiting record companies from paying DJs to play their songs. Marshall Chess, the son of Chess founder Leonard Chess, recalled to The Independent newspaper May 27, 2008: “He [Freed] played the hell out of Chuck’s first record, ‘Maybellene’, because of that. My father says he made the deal, and by the time he got to Pittsburgh, which was half a day’s drive away, my uncle back at home was screaming, ‘What’s happening? We’re getting all these calls for thousands of records!'”

Deals like this were perfectly legal and fairly common at the time, but when the government took action in 1959, Freed refused to admit to taking Payola, insisting he was acting as a consultant to the music industry. Holding steadfast to this position, the radio and TV stations he worked for fired him, and his career never recovered. In contrast, Dick Clark admitted to taking cash and gifts, and simply stopped doing so when it was declared illegal. He was able to grow his media empire considerably after the scandal.

Berry was 29 years old when he recorded this song, but he knew that his audience was teenagers, so he wrote the song to appeal to that crowd – the ones fascinated with cars and experiencing young love. Berry also took care to sing it as clearly as possible so it would have more crossover appeal with a white audience. His strategy worked: the song went to #1 on the R&B chart and also made #5 on the Pop chart.

Chuck Berry was a rock and roll original, but he didn’t consider this a rock song. Said Berry: “‘Maybellene’ was very much a country song, with country lyrics. Maybe a little faster but basically it was country.”

Soon after this was released, Elvis Presley started performing it at some of his live appearances. Many other artists also recognized its propulsive appeal and covered the song. British acts – notably The Beatles and The Rolling Stones – often recorded Berry’s songs, but the UK act that grabbed this one was Gerry and the Pacemakers, who included it on their 1963 debut album How Do You Like It?

Other artists to cover the song include George Jones, The Searchers, Jerry Lee Lewis and Foghat.

The B-Side of the single was a slow blues song called “Wee Wee Hours.”

One-third of the composing credit went to Russ Fratto for the sole purpose of making sure that Berry got more royalties than Alan Freed (Fratto was a local DJ who was a close friend of Berry’s). He agreed to give Berry his share. In those days, it was common to give Freed a composer credit in exchange for airplay on his show. Freed would get royalties, and the song would become a hit.

A version by Johnny Rivers reached #12 in the US in 1964.

Later in 1955, Fats Domino released his own song with a three-syllable girl in the title: “I Can’t Go On (Rosalie).”

Berry died in 2017, the same year Fats Domino passed away. Jon Batiste and Gary Clark, Jr. paid tribute at the Grammy Awards in 2018 by performing “Maybellene” and “Ain’t That A Shame.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFef08YZ6qk

Maybellene

Maybellene, why can’t you be true
Oh Maybellene, why can’t you be true
You’ve started back doin’ the things you used to do

As I was motivatin’ over the hill
I saw Mabellene in a Coup de Ville
A Cadillac arollin’ on the open road
Nothin’ will outrun my V8 Ford
The Cadillac doin’ about ninety-five
She’s bumper to bumper, rollin’ side by side
Maybellene
Why can’t you be true
Oh Maybellene, why can’t you be true
You’ve started back doin’ the things you used to do

The Cadillac pulled up ahead of the Ford
The Ford got hot and wouldn’t do no more
It then got cloudy and started to rain
I tooted my horn for a passin’ lane
The rainwater blowin’ all under my hood
I know that I was doin’ my motor good
Maybellene
Why can’t you be true
Oh Maybellene, why can’t you be true
You’ve started back doin’ the things you used to do

Oh, Maybellene
Why can’t you be true
Oh Maybellene, why can’t you be true
You’ve started back doin’ the things you used to do

The motor cooled down the heat went down
And that’s when I heard that highway sound
The Cadillac a sittin’ like a ton of lead
A hundred and ten half a mile ahead The Cadillac lookin’ like it’s sittin’ still
And I caught Mabellene at the top of the hill
Maybellene
Why can’t you be true
Oh Maybellene, why can’t you be true
You’ve started back doin’ the things you used to do

Songs That Were Banned: Everly Brothers – Wake Up Little Suzie

The lines “We both fell sound asleep / Wake up, little Suzie, and weep / The movie’s over, it’s four o’clock / And we’re in trouble deep” were suggestive enough to cause the song to be banned by several radio stations. Although it’s pretty clear the Suzie and her date were at the movies but that didn’t matter.

As with the case of other songs being banned…it only made it more appealing to teenagers at the time. The song peaked at #1 in Billboard and #2 in the UK in 1957.

This was written by the husband and wife team of Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, who wrote most of The Everly Brothers songs in the ’50s. Their songs were also recorded by Bob Dylan, Elvis, and Buddy Holly.

From Songfacts

This is about a young couple who fall asleep at the drive-in, realize they are out past curfew, and make up a story to tell Susie’s parents.

Some Boston radio stations banned this because of the lyrics, which imply that the young couple spent the night together. At the time, staying out late with a girl was a little controversial.

For The Everly Brothers, this was the first of four US #1 hits. It also went to #1 on the Country & Western charts.

At an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show while campaigning for President in year 2000, George W. Bush was asked by Oprah what his favorite song was. He said: “Wake Up Little Susie – by Buddy Holly.”

Simon & Garfunkel played this at their 1981 concert in Central Park. The live recording was released as a single the next year and hit #27 in the US.

Chet Atkins played guitar on this. Atkins, who died of cancer in 2001, was a Nashville musician who created a distinctive sound using a three-fingered picking technique.

This was a labor of love for the songwriting duo. “We persevered with ‘Wake Up Little Susie’ for many hours,” Boudleaux recalled to Country Music People. “I started writing one night, kept trying to get my ideas down, but it just wouldn’t happen. Finally I woke Felice, who took one listen to what I had so far achieved and came up with the final touches that I couldn’t get. The Everlys liked the song, but like me had problems with getting it right in the studio. They worked a whole three-hour session on that one song and had to give up, they just couldn’t get it right. We all trooped back to the studio the next day and got it down first take. That’s the way it happens sometimes.”

Wake Up Little Susie

Wake up, little Susie, wake up
Wake up, little Susie, wake up
we’ve both been sound asleep, wake up, little Susie, and weep
The movie’s over, it’s four o’clock, and we’re in trouble deep
Wake up little Susie
Wake up little Susie, well

Whatta we gonna tell your mama
Whatta we gonna tell your pa
Whatta we gonna tell our friends when they say ?ooh-la-la?
Wake up little Susie
Wake up little Susie, well

I told your mama that you’d be in by ten
Well Susie baby looks like we goofed again
Wake up little Susie
Wake up little Susie, we gotta go home

Wake up, little Susie, wake up
Wake up, little Susie, wake up
The movie wasn’t so hot, it didn’t have much of a plot
We fell asleep, our goose is cooked, our reputation is shot
Wake up little Susie
Wake up little Susie, well

Whatta we gonna tell your mama
Whatta we gonna tell your pa
Whatta we gonna tell our friends when they say “ooh-la-la”
Wake up little Susie
Wake up little Susie
Wake up little Susie

The Isley Brothers – Shout

First time I heard this song was in the brilliant comedy Animal House by the fictional group Otis Day and the Knights. The movie was such a big hit that many people thought Otis Day And The Knights were a real group, so they went on tour. They did very well, selling out many of the places they played and released an album in 1989 called Shout. Otis Day’s real name is DeWayne Jessie.

This song was recorded in its first take during the studio session. Shout was never a big chart success (#47), but it sold over a million copies and became a rock and R&B classic. The Isley Brothers bought their mother a house in New Jersey with the proceeds from this. She was living in Cincinnati.

After Shout got some attention, RCA records signed the Isleys to a record deal despite concerns that people would not understand what they were singing.

From Songfacts

The Isleys wrote this on the spur of the moment at a Washington, DC, concert in mid-1959. As they performed Jackie Wilson’s “Lonely Teardrops,” Ronald Isley ad-libbed, “WELLLLLLLLLLL… you know you make me want to SHOUT” and Rudy and O’Kelly joined in on the improvisation. The audience went wild and afterwards, RCA executive Howard Bloom suggested putting it out as their first RCA single. >>

This evolved out of the call-and-response style The Isleys grew up singing in church. The organist from their church, Professor Herman Stephens, played on the song.

The Isley Brothers did not consider this a song at first. It was just a “thing” they would do onstage and the crowd would go nuts. They knew they were onto something when Jackie Wilson, who they were opening for, started using the stop-and-go style in his show.

This song has its own dance. When The Isleys sing the “little bit softer now” part, you go a little lower, then gradually rise up for the “little bit louder now part.” For the rest of the song, you just jump around and go crazy. It’s an easy dance, which makes it popular at weddings, proms, and other events where many rhythmically-challenged people end up on the dance floor.

The 1978 movie Animal House featured this in a famous scene where the frat brothers danced to it. The movie starred John Belushi and became a classic, helping revive interest in the song as well as the dance associated with it. In 2003, the group MxPx recorded a new version for the 25th anniversary DVD release of the movie.

In the UK, this is the song that introduced the singing sensation Lulu. The Scottish singer came to London at age 15 and recorded a version of the song with her group Lulu & The Luvvers that made it to #7 on the UK charts. Early on, Lulu often performed in Blues clubs where the song was a great fit. She soon became a very successful actress as well, appearing in the film To Sir With Love and scoring a #1 US hit with the title track.

Lulu, just 13 at the time, was introduced to the song by the Scottish rocker Alex Harvey, who she saw perform it in a Glasgow club called The Scene. Lulu added it to her act with The Luvvers, and it became their first hit when Lulu sang it at an audition for Decca records. She had a terrible cold when she recorded it, which gave her a rougher sound that suited the song.

The Isleys developed this on tours of black theaters in the late ’50s. They were usually low on the bill with other R&B acts.

The B-side of the single was “Shout Part 2,” an even wilder version.

The Isley Brothers next 4 singles tanked. They did not have another hit until “Twist And Shout” in 1962.

A cover version by Joey Dee And The Starlighters was a US Top 10 hit in 1962.

Shout

Well

You know you make me wanna (Shout!)
Kick my heels up and (Shout!)
Throw my hands up and (Shout!)
Throw my head back and (Shout!)
Come on now (Shout!)

Don’t forget to say you will
Don’t forget to say, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
(Say you will)
Say it right now baby
(Say you will)
Come on, come on
(Say you will)
Say it, will-a you
(Say you will)
Come on now!

(Say) say that you love me
(Say) say that you need me
(Say) say that you want me
(Say) you wanna please me
(Say) come on now
(Say) come on now
(Say) come on now

(Say) I still remember
(Shooby-doo-wop-do-wop-wop-wop-wop)
When you used to be nine years old
(Shooby-doo-wop-do-wop-wop-wop-wop)
Yeah yeah!
I was a fool for you, from the bottom of my soul, yeah!
(Shooby-doo-wop-do-wop-wop-wop-wop)
Now that you’ve grown, up
(Shooby-doo-wop-do-wop-wop-wop-wop)
Enough to know, yeah yeah
(Shooby-doo-wop-do-wop-wop-wop-wop)
You wanna leave me, you wanna, let me go
(Shooby-doo-wop-do-wop)

I want you to know
I said I want you to know right now, yeah!
You been good to me baby
Better than I been to myself, hey! hey!
And if you ever leave me
I don’t want nobody else, hey! hey!
I said I want you to know-ho-ho-hey!
I said I want you to know right now, hey! hey!

You know you make me wanna
(Shout-woo) hey-yeah
(Shout-woo) yeah-yeah-yeah
(Shout-woo) all-right
(Shout-woo) all-right
(Shout-woo) come on now!
(Shout) come on now!
(Shout) yeah, yeah, yeah
(Shout) yeah, yeah, yeah (good sound)
(Shout) yeah, yeah, yeah (good sound)
(Shout) yeah, yeah, yeah (good sound)
(Shout) all-alright (good sound)
(Shout) it’s all-alright (good sound)
(Shout) all-alright (good sound)
(Shout) all-alright (aah)

Now wait a minute!
I feel alright!
(Yeah yeah, yeah yeah!)
Now that I got my woman
I feel alright!
Every time I think about you
You been so good to me
You know you make me wanna
(Shout-woo) lift my heels up and
(Shout-woo) throw my head back and
(Shout-woo) kick my heels up and
(Shout-woo) come on now
(Shout-woo) take it easy
(Shout-woo) take it easy
(Shout-woo) take it easy (higher)
(Shout) a little bit softer now (woo)
(Shout) a little bit softer now
(Shout) a little bit softer now
(Shout) a little bit softer now
(Shout) a little bit softer now
(Shout) a little bit softer now
(Shout) a little bit softer now
(Shout) a little bit softer now
(Shout) a little bit softer now
(Shout) a little bit softer now
(Shout) a little bit softer now
(Shout) a little bit softer now
(Shout) a little bit softer now
(Shout) a little bit softer now
(Shout) a little bit softer now
(Shout) a little bit softer now
(Shout) a little bit softer now

(Shout) a little bit louder now
(Shout) a little bit louder now
(Shout) a little bit louder now
(Shout) a little bit louder now
(Shout) a little bit louder now
(Shout) a little bit louder now
(Shout) a little bit louder now
(Shout) a little bit louder now
(Shout) a little bit louder now
(Shout) a little bit louder now
(Shout) a little bit louder now
(Shout) a little bit louder now

(Shout)
Hey!
Hey!
Hey!
Hey!
Hey!
Hey!
Hey!
Hey!

Shout now!
Jump up and shout now (woo)
Jump up and shout now (woo)
Jump up and shout now (woo)
Jump up and shout now (woo)
Jump up and shout now (woo)

Everybody shout now
Everybody shout now
Everybody, shout, shout
Shout, shout, shout

Buddy Holly – Blue Days Black Nights

This is a Holly song that you don’t hear much and has been a favorite of mine. The sessions didn’t go the way that Buddy would have liked. His songs had more of a country feel than Holly would have liked.

I really like the rockabilly guitar played by Sonny Curtis. It was recorded at Bradley’s Barn in Nashville Tn in January 26, 1956.

This was Buddy Holly’s first single in April 1956, “Blue Days, Black Nights” was not a Buddy Holly composition; it was written by Ben Hall. The song was the B side to Love Me.

Due to a misspelling on Holly’s recording contract, his name was changed from Holley to Holly. This release is the first to use this spelling, He would go with that spelling the rest of his career.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M838uJff7L4

Blue Days Black Nights

Blue days, black nights
Blue tears keep on fallin’, for you dear
Now you’re gone
Blue days, black nights
My heart keeps on calling for you dear
And you alone

Memories of you make me sorry
I gave you reason to doubt me
But now you’re gone and I am left here all alone
With blue memories, I think of you

Blue days, black nights
I didn’t realize I would miss you
The way I do
And now somehow I know I will pay
For the times I have made you blue

Buddy Holly – Peggy Sue

Probably Buddy’s most well-known song. Hope you enjoyed the four songs by Buddy this weekend.

Holly wrote this about Peggy Sue Gerron, who was dating Holly’s drummer with The Crickets, Jerry Allison. Holly was not involved with Peggy Sue but liked the name for the song. Allison and Peggy Sue eventually got married but divorced nine years later.

At first, Holly was going to call this “Cindy Lou.” Jerry Allison asked if the name could be changed as a favor to him. It probably wouldn’t be heard outside of Lubbock, Texas anyway and it would really mean some brownie points for Jerry. Buddy had no problem with the name change.

Before he died Buddy wrote a sequel to this song that I covered a few weeks ago called Peggy Sue Got Married. Peggy Sue passed away in 2018.

The song peaked at #3 in the US, #6 in the UK and #4 in Canada. Peggy Sue was written by Buddy Holly, Jerry Allison, and Norman Petty, and originally performed, recorded and released as a single by Holly in early July of 1957. The song is ranked #194 on the Rolling Stone magazine’s 2004 list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

From Songfacts

This was the first hit credited to Holly without his backing band, The Crickets. The Crickets did play on this, but Holly’s songs were released on one of two labels, Coral Records crediting him as a solo artist and Brunswick with The Crickets. Both labels were owned by Decca Records.

Allison had trouble keeping the right beat when they recorded this. The song had been written in Cha-Cha time. The engineer came on the mike and told Jerry: “If you don’t get it right in the next take we’re gonna change the name back to Cindy Lou.” Jerry thought the guy might not be kidding so he asked for a few more minutes to “go through some exercises.” He did just that. As he was going through the “new” warm-up, the beat to the song was changed from Cha-Cha to Jerry’s new beat that was merely a part of his warm up routine for the high school band. Buddy began to change the guitar licks to fit the beat and the new rhythm developed right there on the spot.

“Peggy Sue” has been mentioned in they lyrics to several other songs, including “Splish Splash” by Bobby Darin and “Barbara Ann” by The Regents and later by The Beach Boys.

This song was a big influence on Tommy Roe’s 1962 #1 hit “Sheila.”

Holly wrote a sequel to this called “Peggy Sue Got Married,” which was released on a compilation album after he died. It inspired the 1986 movie Peggy Sue Got Married starring Kathleen Turner and Nicolas Cage. >>

On September 8, 2001, 48,000 people in Lubbock, Texas, tried to get into the Guinness Book of World Records by singing this at the Texas Tech-New Mexico football game. Horn-rimmed glasses like Holly used to wear were distributed to get them in the mood. The day before the game is when Holly would have turned 65.

Peggy Sue

If you knew Peggy Sue
Then you’d know why I feel blue without Peggy
My Peggy Sue
Oh well, I love you gal, yes, I love you Peggy Sue

Peggy Sue, Peggy Sue
Oh how my heart yearns for you
Oh Peggy, my Peggy Sue
Oh well, I love you gal, yes, I love you Peggy Sue

Peggy Sue, Peggy Sue
Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty Peggy Sue
Oh Peggy, my Peggy Sue
Oh well, I love you gal and I need you Peggy Sue

I love you Peggy Sue
With a love so rare and true
Oh Peggy, my Peggy Sue
Well I love you gal, I want you Peggy Sue

Peggy Sue, Peggy Sue
Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty Peggy Sue
Oh Peggy, my Peggy Sue
Oh well, I love you gal yes I need you Peggy Sue

I love you Peggy Sue
With a love so rare and true
Oh Peggy, my Peggy Sue
Oh well I love you gal, and I want you Peggy Sue
Oh well, I love you gal and I want you Peggy Sue

Buddy Holly – True Love Ways

This beautiful song was written by Buddy Holly and Norman Petty.. recorded with the Ray Ellis orchestra on October 21, 1958. Holly wrote “True Love Ways” for his wife, Maria Elena Holly, as a wedding gift.

True Love Ways was not released until March 1960, after Buddy Holly’s tragic death, when it was included on the album, The Buddy Holly Story, Vol. 2, on the Coral label. The song’s melody was inspired by one of Buddy’s favorite black gospel hymns, “I’ll Be Alright,” which was recorded by The Angelic Gospel Singers.

The song peaked at #25 in the UK in 1960…it also recharted in the UK at #10 in 2018.

From Songfacts

This was co-written by Buddy and Norman Petty and recorded in October 1958. Petty was Buddy Holly’s first producer and owned the studio in Clovis, New Mexico where all of Buddy’s first recordings were made (Lubbock did not have a recording studio at the time).

This and “It Doesn’t Matter Any More” were Buddy’s first recordings to use orchestral string arrangements, which accentuated his vocal mannerisms. The strings were arranged by Dick Jacobs.

Notable covers include versions by Mickey Gilley, Peter & Gordon, and The Royal Philharmonic.

This wasn’t released until after Holly’s death in 1959. After he died in a plane crash, the album The Buddy Holly Story was released, which contained many of his early hits. This album came out a few months later and included many of his lesser-known or never released songs.

True Love Ways

Just you know why
Why you and I
Will bye and bye
Know true love ways

Sometimes we’ll sigh
Sometimes we’ll cry
And we’ll know why
Just you and I
Know true love ways

Throughout the days
Our true love ways
Will bring us joys to share
With those who really care

Sometimes we’ll sigh
Sometimes we’ll cry
And we’ll know why
Just you and I
Know true love ways

Throughout the days
Our true love ways
Will bring us joys to share
With those who really care

Sometimes we’ll sigh
Sometimes we’ll cry
And we’ll know why
Just you and I
Know true love ways

Buddy Holly – Rock Around With Ollie Vee

This song was first recorded at the Bradley Film and Recording Studios, 804 16th Ave. South, Nashville, Tennessee. It was written by Sonny Curtis who later joined the Crickets after Buddy died. It was the first song of his ever recorded.

The song was the B side to That’ll Be The Day. It was credited to Buddy Holly and the Three Tunes…that was the group that recorded with Buddy Holly in Nashville on July 22, 1956, for Decca Records. The group name used was Buddy and the Two Tones (Buddy Holly with Sonny Curtis, guitar and Don Guess, bass). The recordings were supported by session musicians.

Buddy would record it later on with the Crickets.

Rock Around With Ollie Vee

We-ell, we’re gonna rock
To the rhythm and the blues tonight
Rock ’cause ev’rything’s gonna be all right
‘Cause tonight, we’re gonna
Rock to the rhythm and the blues

Well I got a little gal I call, Ollie Vee
Ollie Vee comes from Memphis, Memphis Tennessee
And tonight, we’re gonna
Rock-a-rock around with Ollie Vee, Olli-olli Vee

Ollie Vee says she’s gonna treat me right tonight
I’m gonna wear my blue suede shoes tonight
And tonight, we’re gonna
Rock-a-rock around with Ollie Vee, Olli-olli Vee

We-ell, we’re gonna rock
To the rhythm and the blues tonight
Rock ’cause ev’rything’s gonna be all right
‘Cause tonight, we’re gonna
Rock to the rhythm and the blues, go!

We-ell, we’re gonna rock
To the rhythm and the blues tonight
Rock ’cause ev’rything’s gonna be all right
‘Cause tonight, we’re gonna
Rock to the rhythm and the blues

I’m gonna shout and a holla and a giggle tonight
I’m gonna shake it just a little in the middle of the night
‘Cause tonight, we’re gonna
Rock-a-rock around with Ollie Vee, Olli-olli-Vee

Well I think Mr. Cop’s on the beat tonight
He’s tryin’ to put a stop to me tonight
‘Cause tonight, we’re gonna
Rock-a-rock around with Ollie Vee, Oll-olli-olli

We-ell, we’re gonna rock
To the rhythm and the blues tonight
Rock ’cause ev’rything’s gonna be all right
‘Cause tonight, we’re gonna
Rock to the rhythm and the blues

We-ell, we’re gonna rock
To the rhythm and the blues tonight
Rock ’cause ev’rything’s gonna be all right
‘Cause tonight, well, we’re gonna
Rock to the rhythm and the blues

Buddy Holly – It’s So Easy

This weekend I will be concentrating on Mr. Holly…hope you will like it.

This was written by Buddy Holly and Norman Petty and recorded at Petty Studios in Clovis, New Mexico from June-August 1958. Petty was Holly’s producer and manager.

On October 28, 1958, Buddy Holly lip-synched this and Heartbeat the TV show American Bandstand. It was his last national TV appearance before his death. This song was the last song he ever did with the Crickets. The song did not chart…

Linda Ronstate did a great version of this song in 1977.

From Songfacts

This was the last single Holly recorded with The Crickets. In the last few months of his life, he moved to New York and began recording with more elaborate production techniques, including string sections.

Holly was known for his innovative guitar riffs, but he didn’t play lead on this one. A session guitarist named Tommy Allsup did. Allsup played in Holly’s band on his last tour.

Many of Holly’s fans consider this one of his best songs, but it was never a chart hit.

Buddy Holly was a major influence on The Beatles, and in 2011, Paul McCartney recorded this song for the tribute album Rave On Buddy Holly, which was issued to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Holly’s birth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQpWFcEJ9Eg

It’s So Easy

It’s so easy to fall in love.
It’s so easy to fall in love.

People tell me love’s for fools.
So, here I go, breaking all the rules.
It seems so easy (Seems so easy, seems so easy)
Oh so doggone easy (Doggone easy, doggone easy)
It seems so easy (Seems so easy, seems so easy, seems so easy)
Where you’re concerned, my heart has learned.

It’s so easy to fall in love.
It’s so easy to fall in love.

(It’s so easy to fall in love)
(It’s so easy to fall in love)

Look into your heart and see,
What your love book has set apart for me.
It seems so easy (Seems so easy, seems so easy)
Oh so doggone easy (Doggone easy, doggone easy)
It seems so easy (Seems so easy, seems so easy, seems so easy)
Where you’re concerned, my heart has learned.

It’s so easy to fall in love.
It’s so easy to fall in love.

Well it’s so easy (It’s so easy, it’s so easy)
So doggone easy (Doggone easy, doggone easy)
It seems so easy (Seems so easy, seems so easy, seems so easy)
Well where you’re concerned, my heart has learned.

It’s so easy to fall in love.
It’s so easy to fall in love.

Buddy Holly – Peggy Sue Got Married

Peggy Sue Got Married was the sequel to Holly’s hit Peggy Sue. The original hit was named after the girlfriend of Crickets drummer Jerry Allison.

Buddy Holly recorded this alone, on acoustic guitar, in his New York City apartment, along with “Crying, Waiting, Hoping,” “That’s What They Say,” “What to Do,” “Learning the Game” and “That Makes it Tough” which would be his last songs. After his tragic death, these recordings would be overdubbed to become the Holly songs we know today.

A little more than five months after Holly’s death, Coral Records on July 20, 1959 released “Peggy Sue Got Married.” It appeared as a B-side to Buddy Holly’s “Crying, Waiting, Hoping.”

Below is the demo of the song and the released version which Buddy would never hear.

The real Peggy Sue… Peggy Sue Gerron passed away at 78 years old in 2018.

From Songfacts

In this song, Holly finds out that the girl from his 1957 hit “Peggy Sue” has gotten married. It was one of the first sequels of the Rock Era.

This song provided the title for the 1986 movie Peggy Sue Got Married, starring Kathleen Turner and Nicolas Cage. In the movie, Holly’s demo version with just his voice and acoustic guitar was used.

When producer Jack Hansen augmented Holly’s demo of this tune and made a hit out of it, it was the first instance of an entirely ‘new’ unheard song being completed and released after a star’s death. Later instances of songs of deceased acts being revived and “completed” include tunes by The Beatles, the Carpenters, The Doors, Lynyrd Skynrd, Bob Marley, Charlie Parker, Frank Sinatra, Biggie Smalls, Tupac and Hank Williams.

Demo

Released Version

Peggy Sue Got Married

Please don’t tell
No, no, no
Don’t say that I told you so
I just heard a rumor from a friend

I don’t say
That it’s true
I’ll just leave that up to you
If you don’t believe I’ll understand (understand)

You recall a girl that’s been in nearly every song
This is what I heard of course the story could be wrong

She’s the one
I’ve been told
Now she’s wearing a band of gold
Peggy Sue got married not long ago

You recall a girl that’s been in nearly every song
This is what I heard of course the story could be wrong

She’s the one
I’ve been told
Now she’s wearing a band of gold
Peggy Sue got married not long ago
Peggy Sue got married not long ago

Everly Brothers – All I Have To Do Is Dream

This is a gorgeous song. The harmonies that the brothers had were close to perfect.

The song was written by Boudleaux Bryant and released by the Brothers in 1958. This song predates the Hot 100 launch but it was #1 in the Country and R&B Charts.

I checked the Billboard Charts and found this note… Note that because their career predates the Hot 100’s 1958 launch, some of their best-known earlier hits aren’t on the list, including 1957’s “Bye Bye Love” and “Wake Up Little Susie” and 1958’s “All I Have to Do Is Dream.”)

Phil Everly: “I remember hearing ‘All I Have To Do Is Dream’ on acetate with Boudleaux’s version on it, and I said, at the time, they could have put Boudleaux’s out and it would have been a hit. It’s just a great, great song. It’s beautiful. Boudleaux was the main man who wrote all the great songs for us, and we love him.”

Boudleaux wrote sometimes by himself but other times he wrote with his wife Felice Bryant…they formed a very successful songwriting team. They wrote successful songs for the Everly Brothers and other artists, including “Bye, Bye Love,” “Wake Up Little Susie,” “Bird Dog,” “Devoted to You,” and many more…

From Songfacts

This song, which sold over a million copies, was written by Boudleaux Bryant, who was half of the world famous husband-and-wife songwriting team, Boudleaux and Felice Bryant. Together, this talented couple penned many huge hits for the Everly Brothers and other artists, including “Bye, Bye Love,” “Wake Up Little Susie,” “Bird Dog,” “Devoted to You,” “Hey Joe,” “Love Hurts,” “Raining In My Heart,” and “Rocky Top.”

Chet Atkins played tremolo-style guitar chords on the song, providing an interesting musical backing to the Everly Brothers’ unique vocal harmonies.

Boudleaux Bryant said regarding the phrase “Only trouble is, gee whiz”: “I can’t explain why I put that in there. It was just a lucky rhyme fall.”

The song reached the US charts in four straight decades:
The Everly Brothers took it to #1 in 1958.
Richard Chamberlain’s version went to #4 in 1963.
Glen Campbell and Bobby Gentry reached #27 with it in 1970 and The Nitty Gritty Band landed at #66 in 1975.
Andy Gibb and Victoria Principal peaked at #51 in 1981.

According to Billboard magazine, the song took just 15 minutes to write.

Boudleaux was literally the man of Felice’s dreams. When she first met him, Boudleaux was playing a gig with his jazz band at the Sherwood Hotel in Milwaukee, where Felice was working as an elevator operator. But she saw him years earlier – in a dream when she was 8 years old. She told Country Music People in 1981: “When I was eight years old, I dreamt of this man. He and I were dancing to ‘our song,’ and I remembered this man’s face. So when I saw Boudleaux I recognized him! I don’t know if you can call it love at first sight or ‘My god, you friend, I was wondering when you’d come along.’ But I just clung on to him. He didn’t know who the hell I was, but somehow I knew who he was.”

All I Have To Do Is Dream

Drea-ea-ea-ea-eam, dream, dream, dream
Drea-ea-ea-ea-eam, dream, dream, dream
When I want you in my arms
When I want you and all your charms
Whenever I want you, all I have to do is
Drea-ea-ea-ea-eam, dream, dream, dream

When I feel blue in the night
And I need you to hold me tight
Whenever I want you, all I have to do is
Drea-ea-ea-ea-eam

I can make you mine, taste your lips of wine
Anytime night or day
Only trouble is, gee whiz
I’m dreamin’ my life away

I need you so that I could die
I love you so and that is why
Whenever I want you, all I have to do is
Drea-ea-ea-ea-eam, dream, dream, dream
Drea-ea-ea-ea-eam

I can make you mine, taste your lips of wine
Anytime night or day
Only trouble is, gee whiz
I’m dreamin’ my life away

I need you so that I could die
I love you so and that is why
Whenever I want you, all I have to do is
Drea-ea-ea-ea-eam, dream, dream, dream
Drea-ea-ea-ea-eam, dream, dream, dream

Drea-ea-ea-ea-eam, dream, dream, dream

Buddy Holly – Words of Love

Buddy recorded and released this song in 1957. This was not one of Buddy’s biggest hits but a good song all the same. It was recorded on April 8th, 1957 and included a revolutionary gimmick for its time. He recorded his vocals twice and combined the results, thereby harmonizing with himself in the fashion of The Everly Brothers. This was one of the first released pop record to feature vocal overdubbing.

Canadian quartet The Diamonds as a successful follow-up to their #2 hit “Little Darlin’.” Their version of “Words Of Love” peaked at #13 in July of 1957.

I first heard this song by The Beatles. They had covered the song live between 1958-1962 and decided to record it for the Beatles for Sale album in 1964.

Paul McCartney about writing their own songs. “People these days take it for granted that you do, but nobody used to then. John and I started to write because of Buddy Holly. It was like, ‘Wow! He writes and is a musician.'” Paul McCartney purchased the publishing rights to Buddy Holly’s catalog in 1976.

John Lennon on Buddy Holly: “Buddy Holly was great and he wore glasses, which I liked,” “Buddy Holly was the first one that we were really aware of in England who could play and sing at the same time – not just strum, but actually play the licks.”

Words of Love

Hold me close and tell me how you feel
Tell me love is real
Words of love you whisper soft and true
Darling I love you

Let me hear you say the words I long to hear
Darling when you’re near
Words of love you whisper soft and true
Darling I love you

Favorite Lines from Songs Part 2

I did Part 1 over a year ago and it was a fun post. I’ve been meaning to do this again. I remembered some of the lyrics suggested by my friends hanspostcard and allthingsthriller on the last post…I have added those to list. Thanks to both of you.

I saw her from the corner when she turned and doubled back, And started walkin toward a coffee colored Cadillac… Chuck Berry

Freedom’s just another word for nothin’ left to lose, And nothin’ ain’t worth nothin’ but it’s free… Janis Joplin/Kris Kristofferson

And I need you more than want you, And I want you for all time… Jimmy Webb

Doesn’t have a point of view / Knows not where he’s going to / Isn’t he a bit like you and me…The Beatles

Met myself a coming county welfare line, I was feeling strung out, Hung out on the line…Creedence Clearwater Revival

And you’ve got to learn to live with what you can’t rise above…Bruce Springsteen

He’d end up blowing all his wages for the week / All for a cuddle and a peck on the cheek…Kinks

Well it’s too late, tonight, To drag the past out into the light, We’re one, but we’re not the same, We get to carry each other, Carry each other…U2

You can blow out a candle but you can’t blow out a fire…Peter Gabriel

Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see…The Beatles

Where you drink champagne and it tastes just like cherry cola, C-O-L-A Cola…Kinks

It was gravity which pulled us down and destiny which broke us apart…Bob Dylan

A drunkard’s dream if I ever did see one… The Band

And the sign said, The words of the prophets, are written on the subway walls, and tenement halls… Simon and Garfunkel

I lit up from Reno, I was trailed by twenty hounds, Didn’t get to sleep that night
Till the morning came around…Grateful Dead

When I said that I was lying, I might have been lying…Elvis Costello

Though nothing will keep us together/We can be heroes/Just for one day…David Bowie

Lose your dreams and you. Will lose your mind…Rolling Stones

It’s a town full of losers, I’m pulling out of here to win…Bruce Springsteen

The motor cooled down, the heat went down, and that’s when I heard that highway sound…Chuck Berry

We were the first band to vomit at the bar, and find the distance to the stage too far…The Who