It's funny how "Moody River" seems to be a politically correct exception to "Pat Boone sucks", which is an opinion nearly as universally accepted as "Elvis was the king". But I concede, 1) it's not a bad song, and 2) it proves Boone could have been successful without those godawful R&B covers. There's a great story about the first time it was played on the radio. I forget the details, but the gist of it is that right after Boone left the studio, a deejay came by asking if there were any hot new records on their way, and ended up with a copy of "Moody River," which he went straight back to the station and played. Boone, who wasn't even home from the studio yet, heard it on his car radio.
Mine was "Love Letters in the Sand." There were others I enjoyed that also preceded any of his songs from the Sixties—"Speedy Gonzales" his nadir, IMO.
According to Whitburn's "The Comparison Book", which covers Billboard, Cashbox, and Record World/Music Vendor, The Big O also hit #1 for 1 week with "Crying", on both Cashbox & Record World/Music Vendor (it was #2 on Billboard).
I've never been a fan either, but this song proves that no matter how bad you think an artist is, there is always at least one song in their catalog that is good.
Additionally, good and bad are value judgments. I can recall liking many of the Boone tunes that I would hear on the radio back in the 1950s. Moreover, IMO the Boone movies were preferable to the Elvis ones. YMMV.
Fantastic record. Rumors abound that it was recorded by accident, although I believe Bonds has said in interviews that he turned the tape deck on intentionally.
Nice chart top 5 rundown and playing each no. 1 song of the Hot 100 starting 1958: How Music Taste Evolved »
When I started collecting Oldies on CD back in 1984, I came across a book that dealt with the sociology of the era. I don't remember the name of that book, but I recall contacting the author and having a conversation with him. The irony is, of course, that evaluating the evolution of music tastes after WWII doesn't really show much of a change to those tastes until we reach the 1990s where common culture completely divests itself of musical styles that came before.
Sometimes Eric Records can help with special versions like the "original mono single version" on this cd: Hard To Find Jukebox Classics 1959: Pop Gold | Hit Parade Records » I searched for another song and found this song on the compilation.
I would be interested in knowing which of the various Guy Mitchell collections that are available would be recommended. I noticed that I have a very poor copy of Heartaches by the Number. Thank you.
Next we have the biggest song of the year, "Tossin and Turnin" by Bobby Lewis, #1 from July 10 - August 27, 1961.
IIRC most versions of this on cd don't have that intro. Baby, you did something to me... Which was the Version played on radio back then?
I have never heard that intro! Interesting.. That said, the version you posted @John B Good without the intro is the version I heard. Which was 55 years ago this month! Another song I just loved as a kid, it was just fun and reminds me of summer still!
The first time I heard that intro was on a horrible Baby Boomer Classics CD comp I bought in 1987. It used a horrible...horrible Hank Waring FDS NR system.
IIRC, Top 40 radio played the version without the intro, but when Lewis showed up on The Milt Grant Show (a local American Bandstand type of show in Washington DC), they played the version with the intro. That would have been in either September or October of 1961. I checked a few of my 7 copies of this hit and found that I have more with the intro than without. The SQ on Rhino's Jukebox Classics, Volume 1, 75893, is my preferred. I note also from my database that most of my copies are <S T E R E O> with my only mono copy of the tune on Ace's Golden Age of American Rock and Roll, Volume 1, CDCHD 289. Edit: I noted when I checked further in the DB that there is ANOTHER song with some anomalies. It ranked just below Tossin' & Turnin' at #2 for the year, and had a 'censored' version for radio play, and the one that was a clear favorite.
Wow, just found this thread. I won't go back to any others, but will try to stay current from here out. On "Tossin' And Turnin'", I don't own it, so I've only heard it on oldies radio now and then. I was surprised it was the biggest song of the year on Billboard. It has a nice summer feel to it--whatever that is!--and I can see how among the 1961 tracks, it could be a winner. Caveat for future notes--I'm not a big fan of this era of music. The early '60's was pretty bland for my tastes. I have no contemporary memories of these songs. I was three when this song hit the top, and thus I don't have an affinity for these tunes that a person 10 or older at the time might have. JcS
