I was working the night shift in a 24/7 office inside the CIA on that historic day. I was going to work early since it was payday and I was planning to deposit my check before I started work. That weekend was especially cold and rainy in DC.
I got my draft notice in April of 1965 and had it deferred until the end of my college part time night school classes. I went through basic and advanced training in July through October that year and made many friendships with a great bunch of guys. Many of them — and many of my high school classmates, too — lost their lives in Vietnam. I guess I was one of the lucky ones. This one didn't make it to #1 but should have.
This is a so.ng that I NEVER EVER heard on oldies radio through the 70's and 80's... To this day I've never heard it played on any radio station. It's one of those "forgotten" #1's.
This is another song I loved, one I remember so well, although as @alphanguy noted, it seems a forgotten hit. I can still sing along and still mangle the German lyrics. What a contrast this song was to Tossin' And Turnin', but this is how things were back then. I got curious and was just checking out the history of this song. Elvis Presley did the first version in GI Blues. "Wooden Heart", created by Fred Wise, Ben Weisman, Kay Twomey and German bandleader Bert Kaempfert,was based on a German folk song, per Wikipedia. His version was not released in the US until a few years later as the B side of Blue Christmas. Kind of fits there, I guess.. This is an article on the recording of Wooden Heart from Joe's webpage, originally from Billboard Magazine. Joe Dowell - The Official Site of Wooden Heart » This is a pretty interesting interview with Joe many years later. He ended up working singing commercial jingles for some time after the period when he toured after his one hit song. It seems that he was rather victimized by his record label. Shocking that this happened.. He wanted to write songs but was not allowed by his record company. http://www.classicbands.com/JoeDowellInterview.html Floyd Cramer was in the recording session on piano, among others. Ray Stevens played the organ but made it sound like an accordian. Then the same day, Ray recorded his future hit, Ahab The Arab!! There were 5 other versions of Wooden Heart released at the same time, amazing.. Joe Dowell passed away earlier this year from a heart attack, at age 76. It seems he had a nice life with a wife and children. I thought he had a very nice voice, but that isn't always enough to maintain a long career. The more you did into any one person's career, or any one song, the more there is to know!
This is closer to the original Beltone mono 45 I have than the stereo. But this sounds 'processed' somehow (from the YouTube post with the American Grafitti pics). You'll notice the drums are mixed far louder in the mono, almost as if there was an extra drum overdub on the mono. Anyway, I'd be willing to bet this is what was on the radio in 1961:
Unfamiliar here, not recognizing it from radio, tv, movie, compilation, any source, which is unusual considering it spent 12 weeks in the Top 40.
I remember hearing this in the great "Cruisin'" album series. Can't say I recall it on the radio, but I'm sure it was there. Not a bad song.
I seem to remember that Elvis also did this song, but it is not mentioned in the Whitburn annuals I have.
Elvis' version was released as the flip side of the Gold Standard reissue of "Blue Christmas" and bubbled under on the charts in late '64 / early '65. I also NEVER heard this on the radio. My introduction to pre-1970's music was via my first couple of cars with AM-only radios. As I got savvier about the historical charts, I'd occasionally call and request a song I'd never heard. Such was the case with "Wooden Heart"...which even stumped the DJ. I first heard it on a PolyGram/Rebound discount bin VA collection...curiously in true stereo, though Dowell's second and final Top 40 hit, "Little Red Rented Rowboat," also on Mercury's Smash subsidiary, never turned up that way.
I have what is promoted as the single version, but in stereo, on a Varese Vintage CD. It has all the right compression and loud drums, and starts cold at "I couldn't sleep at all last night".
I had mentioned about Elvis's version, yesterday, a few posts back There is also more that I posted about the history of the song. Maybe it got lost in the posts that followed. As @SomeCallMeTim also mentioned, it was the B side of Blue Christmas.. this is the link to my post, #780.. in case anyone wants to check it out! EVERY Billboard #1 hit discussion thread 1958-Present[/URL
In the U.K. "Wooden Heart" was 6 weeks at no. 1 in 1961. No other single of Elvis was so long in the singles chart: 27 weeks. Comment in the "British Hit Singles" book: "This G.I. Blues track was not deemed strong enough for a U.S. release. A chart-topping cover there by Joe Dowell proved RCA wrong." The song was three weeks at no. 2 in Germany.
I didn't know that song. I've not seen G.I. BLUES--or if I did, it was 50 years ago--so I didn't remember Presley's version, either. And I didn't care that much for it. It isn't offensive in any way, just sort of there. But it's done in 2 minutes, which means it doesn't wear out its welcome. JcS
I had an original Blue Christmas on a 45 that I bought at the PX just outside Paris (my father was assigned to SHAPE 1957 - 1960). I do not recall what was on the other side, but I believe that it was another Christmas song. This is quite a bit earlier than 1964, and since @SomeCallMeTim refers only to the later reissue it would appear that I'm not imagining things. Now that I think about it, my copy might have been one of those EPs with four songs on them, and provided in a cardboard sleeve... I had several of those, bought because I found them to be more economical. Yes, I had seen your mention of the song in #780.
I have only 2 copies of Wooden Heart, both are stereo. I have an Eric CD that I bought in 1996, 21 Hard-To-Find 45s On CD - 1961 - 64. This one also has "Little Red Rented Rowboat" in mono. I don't know how these might compare to later issues on another label, but I seem to remember that Eric used a lot of suspicious noise reduction methods back then. I did not load either tune into my iTunes library, so I would have to go search for these for verification.
Oh dear, I must have too much time on my hands.. did a bit more searching.. There apparently are about 7 versions of Elvis' version from 1960, which were all non USA, 3 being from the UK. The flip side was Tonight Is So Right For Love (or "all right" for love). Here is a list of the this combo, 22 in total including CDs up to 2005.. https://www.discogs.com/Elvis-Presley-Wooden-Heart/master/152554 This is the US version with Blue Christmas on the A side.. Elvis Presley - Blue Christmas » This is the movie scene with Elvis.. and a puppet who seems enamored but so does Elvis. Not sure what the puppet is doing here, haha.
More on Blue Christmas: This link at eBay lists a 1957 version that has "I'll Be Home For Christmas" on the B side. There are at least two others that appear to be USA pressings, with different tunes on the B side. I'm quite sure that I had the EP that had "Santa Bring My Baby Back To Me," "I'll Be Home For Christmas," "Blue Christmas" and a fourth holiday tune. None of the many picture sleeves were familiar to me, but we are talking about a time in my life that was almost 59 years ago. The reissue with Wooden Heart abounds in listings here. This one is, indeed the EP that I had. 1957 ELVIS PRESLEY RARE EP "BLUE CHRISTMAS",I'LL BE HOME FOR X-MAS" +2 45rpm 7" »
Think I am getting the drift..HA! I have never heard that song by the way.. Keeping with the puppet theme, there was a release of this song in 1965... with another release of Wooden Heart on the B side.. https://www.discogs.com/Elvis-Presley-Puppet-On-A-String/release/5570114
With apologies to our host, hate to see this thread die. Up next, the Highwaymen's rendition of the Civil War-era spiritual was #1 for two weeks, from September 4 - September 17, 1961
