Twilight Time
| Twilight Time | |
|---|---|
| The Three Suns | |
| publication | 1944 |
| Genre (s) | Rhythm and blues , pop music |
| Author (s) | Buck Ram |
| Cover versions | |
| 1958 | The Platters |
| 1953 | Johnny Maddox |
Twilight Time is a R & B / Pop - song from the year 1944. It is one of the few English pieces by two performers to Millionenseller have become. The best known today is the 1958 version of the black vocal group The Platters .
History of origin
The vocal trio The Three Suns, founded in 1939 (consisting of the brothers Al Nevins (guitar) and Morty Nevins (organ) and their cousin Artie Dunn (accordion)) only had their first chart success in July 1944 with Long Ago (And Far Away) (US # 16). This was followed by the single How Many Hearts Have You Broken, recorded in January 1944 and published in August 1944, with the B-side Twilight Time (Hit Records # 7092), with the B-side placing itself at number 14 in the pop charts . Originally intended as an instrumental title, the composer and producer Buck Ram added a text to the piece. The romantic song sold well and reached million-seller status in 1945; in 1950 the original version had already passed the four million mark.
Cover versions
Shortly after the original was published in November 1944, an instrumental version by the Les Brown Orchestra appeared as the B-side of the classic Sentimental Journey (sung by Doris Day ). While the A-side took first place for 9 weeks, the B-side reached 16th with the instrumental version of Twilight Time . In January 1945, Decca Records released a cover of Teddy Walters (with the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra), and in May 1953 an unusual version by the honky tonk pianist Johnny Maddox appeared , which reached number 21 in the charts. There is also a German version with the literally translated title Twilight Time from April 1952, sung by Lale Andersen with the Cedric Dumont orchestra of the Swiss national broadcaster Beromünster.
Another million seller
The best known today is the version of the black vocal group The Platters , which released the song in March 1958. Buck Ram, meanwhile manager and producer of the Platters, gave the song another chance. In their version, Twilight Time reached the top of the pop and R&B charts for the first time and initially sold over two million copies. It was the Platters' third number one hit. The single was offered as a 45 rpm and 78 rpm record, with information from the record label Mercury Records , according to 98% of buyers having opted for the 45 rpm single. So it came as no surprise that Mercury was the first record company to announce in the June 1958 Billboard issue that it would stop producing 78 rpm singles.
statistics
According to BMI , there are 20 versions of Twilight Time and another 32 for ASCAP , including versions by José Feliciano (LP Just Wanna Rock 'n' Roll ; September 1975), Willie Nelson (LP What a Wonderful World ; September 1988) or John Fahey (LP Old Girlfriends and Other Horrible Memories ; May 1992).
Overall, the song with its versions has achieved record sales of over ten million copies and, according to the BMI, is one of the most performed songs in the BMI repertoire with over four million documented performances. The piece won a BMI award.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Michael David Toth, The Three Suns , in: "Cool & Strange Music Magazine", # 21, 2001
- ↑ Ken Emerson, Always Magic In the Air , 2005, p. 74.
- ^ Joeseph Murrells, Million Selling Records , 1978, p. 66
- ^ German text: Cornelius Crohn = Michael Wilke, Decca F 43 340
- ^ Joeseph Murrells, Million Selling Records , 1978, p. 66
- ↑ BMI entry for Twilight Time ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ ASCAP entry Twilight Time
Web links
- Mysteries of the Three Suns Universe Revealed! by Michael David Toth ( Memento from April 4, 2012 in the Internet Archive )