Phoenix - The Elvis Forum

You can errase the post; double posting makes the forum dirty.


colonel snow

colonel snow wrote:You can errase the post; double posting makes the forum dirty.


colonel snow

Nah, it's all right. Twice the opportunity to see something.

Here is a Billboard ad

W o n d e r f u l! thx, Matt

The clip on Youtube is no longer availabe.


colonel snow

Notice how the opening of the Blue Barron version sounds a LOT like the opening of Elvis' 1958 version of "That's When Your Heartaches Begin"?

rickbaverstock wrote:Notice how the opening of the Blue Barron version sounds a LOT like the opening of Elvis' 1958 version of "That's When Your Heartaches Begin"?

That's a very good observation, but I'm sure it's just a coincidence.

The opening on Elvis' January 1957 (not 1958) recording of "That's When Your Heartaches Begin" could well have been arranged right there in the studio. It's not a complicated introduction. By the way, it doesn't sound like any of the previous versions of the song that I have been able to locate. But they were on a gospel, soulful kick at those sessions and that beautiful bit must have been a natural choice.

Are You Lonesome Tonight?

Written by Roy Turk & Lou Handman in 1926,
with three verses, followed by a spoken bridge.

Turk & Handman based the bridge on a line in Ruggero Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, an Italian opera in a prologue and two acts, with music and libretto. The opera premiered on May 21, 1892 in Milan.


In turn, the line "You know someone said that the world's a stage. And each must play a part" refers to "All the world's a stage" from William Shakespeare's As You Like It, a pastoral comedy published in 1623.


First recorded by Charles Hart, May 9, 1927. Released by Harmony (431-H). Flipside: ‘Sweet Marie’.

https://youtu.be/OByrRYlSLlw

Later recordings

On June 13, 1927, Vaughn De Leath recorded the song as the B-side of "It's a Million to One You're in Love" for Edison Records (Ed-52044). De Leath had the first hit version of the song, which peaked at #4 in November 1927.

https://youtu.be/FqnLm_VKugY

On July 10, 1927, the Newport Society Orchestra recorded the song with Irving Kaufman as vocalist; it was released on Harmony (511-H) with "I'm Walkin' On Air".

The Columbians, with vocalist Oscar Gregan, also released their version in 1927.

https://youtu.be/u7OKjkssk_Q

A version by the duet of Jerry Macy and John Ryan was released on Okeh Records (Ok-40866) as the B-side of "Carolina Mine".


Henry Burr's version, released in October-November 1927 peaked at #10.

https://youtu.be/j-UgbMIfYfE

The Carter Family recorded it in 1936, changing several elements of the original version. Although Gene Austin included the song in his shows during the 1930s, he never recorded it.

In 1950 the Blue Barron Orchestra version reached the top 20 on the Billboard's Pop Singles chart. See Colonel Snow’s post.

Didn't Elvis introduce his rendition somewhere saying that he'd recorded it back in 1927? Or was it another song?

Deleted due to doubts about the information


colonel snow

Deleted due to doubts about the information


colonel snow

colonel snow wrote:The version recorded on 18 june 1926 by Bob Haring & his Orchestra (Cameo 967 / Lincoln 2540) aka Dixie Daisies (Romeo 250) is another recording.

colonel snow

That would make it the first recording of Are You Lonesome Tonight. However, according to David Neale, while it has the same title, it’s a different song. Here’s what Neale writes:

Numerous sources suggest that the instrumental version of Are You Lonesome To-night?, which was recorded on 18 June 1926 by Bob Haring's Cameo Dance Orchestra, is the true original recording. Well, yes and no.

Yes, it is a recording, probably the first, of a number called Are You Lonesome To-night? No, this is not the same Are You Lonesome To-night? we know in more popular vocal versions, including those by Vaughn De Leath, Lou Handman, Al Jolson, and Elvis Presley.

-The number is performed in 4/4 time, rather than in 3/4.
-The tune is totally different.
-The writing credits are different, being for Turk, Link and Britt, rather than for Turk and Handman.

Haring's 1926 recording was released on at least three labels: Cameo 967, Lincoln 2540 and Romeo 250 (all with the same matrix number).

Cameo was the flagship label of the Cameo Record Corporation, and the label produced Lincoln and Romeo as "house brands" for sale at specific dime store chains: Romeo was for S. H. Kress & Company, for example. In any case, the three labels regularly used the exact same masters, but whether for contractual reasons or simply to make their rosters look more impressive than they actually were, a different artist pseudonym was used for each label. Thus, on Cameo, Are You Lonesome To-night? is credited to the Cameo Dance Orchestra, while on Romeo it's the Dixie Daisies, and the Lincoln issue credits Lincoln Dance Orchestra (or possibly Dale's Dance Orchestra). In this case, all are pseudonyms for Bob Haring who was a staff bandleader at Cameo in the mid-1920s, cutting hundreds of records under almost as many names!

There remains just one mystery, for the name of the lyricist is the same on both versions of Are You Lonesome To-night?, namely Turk. Presumably this is Roy Turk in both cases. That's strange in itself, but then, what happened to the lyrics of the instrumental version?

http://davidneale.eu/elvis/aylt/romeo-250-b.html

Suspicious Minds wrote:... what happened to the lyrics of the instrumental version?

There weren't any.

It's a common feature with instrumentals...

Colin B wrote:

Suspicious Minds wrote:... what happened to the lyrics of the instrumental version?

There weren't any.

It's a common feature with instrumentals...

The clip on Youtube is no longer availabe.


colonel snow