Tommy Edwards

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Tommy Edwards (born February 17, 1922 in Richmond , Virginia , † October 22, 1969 in Henrico County , Virginia) was an American singer and songwriter of R&B , jazz and pop music. His best known recording was It's All in the Game , a number one hit in the US and UK .

Life

Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Singles
It's All in the Game (new version)
  US 1Template: Infobox chart placements / maintenance / NR1 link 08/16/1958 (22 weeks)
  UK 1Template: Infobox chart placements / maintenance / NR1 link 10/09/1958 (17 weeks)
Please Love Me Forever
  US 61 10/18/1958 (3 weeks)
Love is all we need
  US 15th 10/25/1958 (16 weeks)
Please Mr. Sun
  US 11 02/14/1959 (13 weeks)
The Morning Side of the Mountain (new version)
  US 27 02/28/1959 (12 weeks)
My melancholy baby
  US 26th 05/16/1959 (8 weeks)
  UK 29 08/13/1959 (1 week)
It's only the good times
  US 86 05/30/1959 (3 weeks)
I've been there
  US 53 08/08/1959 (10 weeks)
I Looked at Heaven
  US 100 08/22/1959 (1 week)
Honestly and Truly
  US 65 10/31/1959 (8 weeks)
New in the Ways of Love
  US 47 11/14/1959 (9 weeks)
Don't Fence Me In
  US 45 02/20/1960 (8 weeks)
I really don't want to know
  US 18th 05/21/1960 (13 weeks)
It's not the end of everything
  US 78 10/08/1960 (2 weeks)

Beginnings in Virginia

Edwards grew up in Richmond, Virginia, and was in show business when he was nine. He played the piano and sang along with it. In the 1940s he had his own radio show. He wrote songs including 1946 That Chick's Too Young to Fry , which was recorded by R&B singer Louis Jordan .

Success in New York

In 1950 Edwards moved to New York , where he made some demo recordings of his songs, including All Over Again , in order to sell them better. He sang them himself and convinced the managers of MGM Records, more with his voice than with the songs, to give him a record deal . All Over Again was a hit on the R&B charts ; two more songs hit the pop charts in 1951, The Morning Side of the Mountain (# 24) and It's All in the Game (# 18). Edwards then took on more records, but could not bring any more singles into the charts for a long time .

Front runner with an oldie

In 1958, MGM was on the verge of letting Edwards' contract expire. But shortly before that, stereo recording had been invented, and since Edwards was to record one last record, MGM decided to use it as a demonstration of the new technology. During these recordings, Edwards played, among other things, his old hit It's All in the Game in a new arrangement , based on the current rock and roll sound . Those in charge at MGM liked the result so much that they released the song as a single in August 1958. It made the Top 100, and on September 14, Edwards sang it on television on the Ed Sullivan Show . 15 days later, It's All in the Game took over from Domenico Modugno's Nel blu dipinto di blu at the top of the Billboard charts and remained unchanged for six weeks. The title also reached number 1 in Great Britain.

After the big hit

Edwards was never able to really build on the success of It's All in the Game with 3.5 million records sold. In the following two years he had further chart successes in the USA, 1958 with Love Is All We Need , 1959 with Please Mr. Sun and The Morning Side of the Mountain , both new recordings of his titles from 1951 and 1952. After a last top 20 hit 1960's I Really Don't Want To Know . In 1960 his last single was in the US charts - it was called It's Not the End of Everything (something like: "It's not all over yet"). In all of his recordings since 1958 he has been accompanied by the LeRoy Holmes Orchestra.

At the age of 47, Tommy Edwards died of complications from a brain aneurysm .

literature

Web links

References and comments

  1. ↑ Charts UK Charts US
  2. ↑ US Catalog MGM 10989; Listed on the bestseller charts for a week at the end of July 1951.
  3. ^ Joel Whitburn: Top Pop Records 1940-1955 . Record Research, Menomonee Falls WI 1973, p. 21
  4. ↑ U.S. catalog number MGM 11035; nine weeks in the charts, compare: Joel Whitburn: Top Pop Records 1940-1955 . Record Research, Menomonee Falls WI 1973, p. 21
  5. ↑ Fred Bronson: The Billboard Book of Number One Hits . 3rd revised and expanded edition, Billboard Publications, New York City 1992, p. 43
  6. ↑ US catalog number MGM 12688
  7. ^ Joel Whitburn: Top Pop Singles 1955-1993 . Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Ltd., 1994, p. 190
  8. ↑ Stephen Nugent, Anne Fowler, Pete Fowler: Chart Log of American / British Top 20 Hits, 1955-1974 . In: Charlie Gillett, Simon Frith (Eds.): Rock File 4 . Panther Books, Frogmore / St. Albans 1976, p. 155
  9. ↑ US catalog number MGM 12722, the single reached number 15
  10. ↑ US Catalog MGM 12,757th A side: Please Mr. Sun reached number 11; the B-side, The Morning Side Of The Mountain , came to number 27
  11. ↑ US catalog number MGM 12890; the single peaked at number 18 and was a cover version of the 1954 hit by Les Paul and Mary Ford
  12. ↑ US Catalog MGM 12916; the title reached number 78 on the singles charts
  13. ↑ Chart positions according to: Joel Whitburn: Top Pop Singles 1955-1993 . Record Research, Menomonee Falls WI 1994, p. 190
personal data
SURNAME Edwards, Tommy
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American singer and songwriter of R&B, jazz and pop music
DATE OF BIRTH February 17, 1922
PLACE OF BIRTH Richmond , Virginia, USA
DATE OF DEATH October 22, 1969
Place of death Henrico County , Virginia, USA