Blueberry Hill
Blueberry Hill is a 1940 song that became a million seller in the 1956 version of Fats Domino .
History of origin
The song was written by Vincent Rose (music), Al Lewis and Larry Stock (lyrics) for the western The Singing Hill . The first music publisher rejected the composition because blueberries would not grow on hills; However, Stock assured that he had collected them there in his youth. However, the song is not about the fruits, but about a hill named after them on which the singer fell in love. The title was not accepted until the music publisher Chappell & Co. (now part of the Warner Music Group ).
In 1940, when it was created, it was recorded six times. The original is from the Sammy Kaye Orchestra , which recorded the song for the first time on May 31, 1940 with singer Tommy Ryan (Victor # 26643). A version by Gene Krupa and His Orchestra (Okeh # 5672) followed on June 3, 1940, and just ten days later, on June 13, 1940, Glenn Miller was in the studio with his orchestra to record his version of it. Gene Autry followed on August 20, 1940, and its version was used for the film The Singing Hill , which was released on April 26, 1941 with himself in the lead role. A version with Louis Armstrong and the Gordon Jenkins Orchestra did not follow until nine years later on September 6, 1949 .
Sammy Kaye - Blueberry Hill
Glenn Miller & His Orchestra - Blueberry Hill
Louis Armstrong & Gordon Jenkins Orchestra - Blueberry Hill
Million seller from Fats Domino
Fats Domino's version is based on Armstrong's version from 1949. As an exception, it was not recorded in New Orleans with Cosimo Matassa , but from June 26, 1956 in the recording studios of Master Recorders in Los Angeles with guitarists Justin Adams and Ernest McLean and the bassist Billy Diamond . Producer Dave Bartholomew didn't want to record the title because it had been single too many times. Domino insisted, but was unable to completely memorize the entire text. That is why a take was created from each connected text passage , so that the single Blueberry Hill / Honey Chile , which was released in September 1956 as Imperial # 5407, is based on the compilation of many takes . Two million copies were sold within two weeks, making Domino the fourth million seller of his career. His uptempo version with the perfected Creole accent, which he presented in his first live television appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show on November 18, 1956 , sold five million copies worldwide by 1957 and became his biggest hit.
successes
While Sammy Kay's original did not hit the charts, Glenn Miller reached the top of the pop charts for a week. The next hit parade note was only for the version of Fats Domino. While his title was number one on the Rhythm & Blues charts for eleven weeks , it became Domino's most successful crossover with a second place on the pop hit parade . Domino's version was one of three titles that featured in all of the US charts in 1956. The ASCAP has more than 60 registered versions of Blueberry Hill. In February 1987, Blueberry Hill was inducted into the NARAS Hall of Fame. Fats Domino version is ranked 82 of the list of the best songs of all time of Rolling Stone .
Web links
- Blueberry Hill in the version of Fats Domino
- Blueberry Hill in the version by Louis Armstrong
Individual evidence
- ↑ Songwriters Hall of Fame on Larry Stock ( Memento from December 31, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Colin Larkin (Ed.), The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music , 1993, p. 389
- ↑ a b John Broven, rhythm and blues, New Orleans , 1995, p 66
- ^ Joseph Murrells, Million Selling Records , 1985, p. 97
- ^ Bob Gulla, Icons of R&B and Soul: An Encyclopedia of The Artists Who Revolutionized Rhythm , 2008, p. 61
- ↑ Billboard Magazine, January 26, 1957, p. 48
- ↑ ASCAP entry for Blueberry Hill