Take a look at this Billboard Chart History of “Jingle Bell Rock.” It has been in the Top 100 in assorted categories in four different decades and two different centuries! Guess that’s all I need to say about the longevity of this classic .. eh?
1957 #13 Country Singles
1958 #6 Pop Singles
1960 #36 Pop Singles
1961 #41 Pop Singles
1962 #56 Pop Singles
1996 #18 Adult Contemporary Single
1997 #60 Hot Country Singles & Tracks
2005 #37 Hot Digital Songs
2006 #9 Hot Ringtones
2004 #64 Hot Canadian Digital Singles
Whew! So this is why you hear this song every December and always will.
This is the original version of the often covered holiday song penned by Joe Beal and Jim Boothe. Even though Helms had a successful career as a country singer before he released “JBR”‘ — this is probably the song that assured his place in The Rockabilly Hall of Fame. There is a great career biography for your reading pleasure at the RAB Hall of Fame Web Site, here, so I won’t rehash the details.
But I will give you the lyrics of this classic just in case you feel the urge to sing along (and I know you will get that feeling lol!)
Jingle Bell Rock Composed by Joe Beal and Jim Boothe
Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock
Jingle bells swing and jingle bells ring
Snowing and blowing up bushels of fun
Now the jingle hop has begun.
Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock
Jingle bells chime in jingle bell time
Dancing and prancing in Jingle Bell Square
In the frosty air.
What a bright time, it’s the right time
To rock the night away
Jingle bell time is a swell time
To go gliding in a one-horse sleigh.
Giddy-up jingle horse, pick up your feet
Jingle around the clock
Mix and a-mingle in the jingling feet
That’s the jingle bell,
That’s the jingle bell,
That’s the jingle bell rock.
Keep ringing and rocking to keep these oldies alive!
[audio http://www.hotlinkfiles.com/files/1610866_ivwbp/k-ReleaseMe_AndLetLoveAgain_.mp3] Engelbert Humperdinck – Release Me (1966)
Well the lyrics are pretty macho but the voice singing the lyrics is very very romantic and that’s all I thought about or understood about this song when my paternal grandmother would play this on her 8-track player over and over again. Nanny’s Humperdinck and Charley Pride tapes were two of her favorites. (So perhaps now you can see another of the many roots of my eclectic musical tastes.)
“Release Me,” composed by Eddie Miller, Dub Williams and Robert Yount, was the breakout hit for Britian’s Arnold Dorsey. Arnold had been struggling on the music scene since the early fifties first as a saxophone player and later as a singer.
In 1965 Arnold ran into a former roommate, George Mills, who also happened to be managing the singer Tom Jones.
Aware that Dorsey had been struggling several years to make it in music, Mills suggested a name change to the more arresting Engelbert Humperdinck, borrowed from the composer of such operas as Hansel and Gretel. Mills also arranged a new deal with Decca Records. And in early 1967, the changes paid off when Humperdinck’s version of “Release Me,” done in a smooth ballad style with a full chorus joining him on the third chorus, reached the top ten on both sides of the Atlantic and went to number one in Britain, keeping The Beatles’ adventurous “Strawberry Fields” from entering the top slot in the UK. Release Me also went on to become the longest running chart single in history. It spent 56 weeks in the Top 50 in a single chart run, a record that still holds to this day (SOURCE)
This first hit was my favorite EH sang until “After the Lovin” came along in 1976. His voice was too smooth in that one! Simply dreamy.
Englebert continues to wow crowds today. His Official Site features his tour schedule plus fan club information, discography, photos, news, and web shop.
Please enjoy this visual of EH performing the song that has become his trademark. The clip is from the series “The Engelbert Humperdinck Show” recorded in London 1969-1970.
[audio http://www.hotlinkfiles.com/files/1545772_5lqk5/TheZombies-She_sNotThere.mp3] The Zombies – She’s Not There (1964)
This minor key beauty of a song made the British Top 20 and crossed over to reach #1 here in the U.S. This was the first hit for The Zombies; Rod Argent, Paul Atkinson, Colin Blunstone ( awesome vocalist), Chris White and Hugh Grundy.
The group had just won their U.K.Decca recording contract in a contest and this is what they came up with when challenged to write a hit! I love it as well as most of their unusual sounding catalog of songs — most of which are in minor keys and/or have major to minor key switches that sound like no other group – that is until The Doors and others began to copy this style and actually become more successful with it then the underrated Zombies ever were.
Read up on this wonderful group at their WIKI Page and see their current touring schedule at their MySpace Page.
She’s Not There -Composed by Rod Argent
Well no one told me about her
The way she lied
Well no one told me about her
How many people cried
But it’s too late to say you’re sorry
How would I know, why should I care
Please don’t bother trying to find her
She’s not there
Well let me tell you about the way she looked
The way she acted, the color of her hair
Her eyes were soft and cool, her eyes were clear and bright
But she’s not there
Well no one told me about her
What could I do
Well no one told me about her
Though they all knew
But it’s too late to say you’re sorry
How would I know, why should I care
Please don’t bother trying to find her
She’s not there
Well let me tell you about the way she looked
The way she acted, the color of her hair
Her eyes were soft and cool, her eyes were clear and bright
But she’s not there
(solo)
But it’s too late to say you’re sorry
How would I know, why should I care
Please don’t bother trying to find her
She’s not there
Well let me tell you about the way she looked
The way she acted, the color of her hair
Her eyes were soft and cool, her eyes were clear and bright
But she’s not there
Here is a performance clip which I believe to be from the American TV show “Shindig”
Please enjoy this performance video of the group performing their hit on the American TV Show Hullaballoo in 1965.
Shangri-La – Robert Maxwell, His Harp & Orchestra (1963)
“Shangri-La “composed in 1946 by Carl Sigman(lyrics), Matt Malneck, and Robert Maxwell was popularized in 1957 by The Four Coins (went to #11) and in 1969 by The Lettermen. Robert Maxwell’s version came in the middle of these two. It is the instrumental version, that I heard growing up on the “Jackie Gleason” show as the intro to his millionaire character Reginald van Gleason III, that I fell in love with. In fact this use of the song sent it to the Top 40 in 1964 – 18 years after Maxwell composed the song! I wasn’t all that fond of the Letterman’s vocal cover version: it always sounded a bit “corny” to me, while the instrumental version was “exciting.”
In addition to penning the stunning music for “Shangri-La,” Maxwell’s many compositions also include the classic “Ebb Tide” and “Solfeggio: The Song of the Nairobi Trio” from the”The Ernie Kovacs Show.” Those monkeys were too cool!
Robert Maxwell has fascinating career bios found both here and here.
So please read up on the talented Maxwell, pictured right.
Thanks for stopping by.
NOTE: This post went missing the end of March. I was able to restore it when I found it in the Google Cache today (4/16/08).
I am still singing Louis Jordan tunes after my last post here, so here’s one more to share with you on this Friday morning. This is “Let The Good Times Roll” performed by Louis Jordan with his Tympany Five, from the 1947 public domain film “Reet, Petite, and Gone”.
I always thought of this song as belonging to the one and only “King of the Blues” -- BB King -- since he often performs it live on TV appearances and in concert, almost like a trademark. I didn’t realize it was a Jordan song until I recently discovered all of Jordan’s great music a fews years ago.
You know Jordan was a hero to Ray Charles, among others, and so I guess it was no different for B.B. King. In fact I just recently learned that B.B. King did an album entitled “Let the Good Times Roll: The Music of Louis Jordan” which is now at the top of my wish list for purchase.
I will close with a live rendition of the tune, as sung by Mr. King, from the “Annual New Year’s Eve Party with Willie Nelson and Family” on 12/31/1984. Enjoy the music and as always thanks for stopping by.
HA HA HA GOTCHA! Yea this is The Muppets’ version in this video: this was made during my lifetime! But here is the original version made in 1948 before I came into being.
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Louis Jordan -- Barnyard Boogie
I only recently came to know the music of Louis Jordan when I began subscribing to Sirius Satellite Radio about two years ago. Since I love oldies, and most of my oldies are on vinyl and/or cassettes, I thought this would be a great way to listen to my music without having to digitize all of my vinyl to listen to in the car. I was getting really annoyed with the lengthy conversion process after I had completed all of my Temptations, Eddie Kendricks and DeBarge music, as that was just the tip of my music collection.
Once I got the Sirius Radio, and scanned all of the stations, I fell in love with the mysteries and detective shows played on the the OTR station and would listen to “The Saint,” “Superman,” “Sherlock Holmes,”etc. at bedtime. In between shows Sirius plays music of the era -- mostly swing band stuff. This is how I discovered and fell in love with Louis Jordan -- “The Father of R&B” and #59 on“Rolling Stone’s List of Immortals”.
After learning how to sing, and honing his musical skills, as the saxophonist in Chick Webb’s orchestra, Jordan went out on his own, fronting the Tympany Five. From 1942 to 1951 Jordan had an astonishing 57 R&B chart hits and was especially popular on Armed Forces Radio during WW2.
The Moody Blues appeared for the first time in Birmingham, UK in 1964. The name developed from a planned sponsorship from the M&B Brewery and was also a subtle reference to the Duke Ellington song, “Mood Indigo”.
Soon, the band obtained a London-based management company, ‘Ridgepride’, formed by ex-Decca A&R man Alex Murray (Alex Wharton), who helped them land a recording contract with Decca Records in the spring of 1964. They released a single, “Steal Your Heart Away” that year which made it onto the charts. But it was their second single, “Go Now” (released later that year), which really launched their career, being promoted on TV with one of the first purpose-made promotional films in the pop era, produced and directed by Wharton. The single became a huge hit in the United Kingdom (where it remains their only Number 1 single to date) and in the United States where it reached #10. Source: Wiki
This is such a great tune — don’t you think? And the Blues are still performing. Their official site, with their performance schedule, is The Moody Blues Online.
