Putting a cap on 1962.
20 - "Wolverton Mountain," Claude King
Louisianan King had 20 Top 40 country hits, and his only #1 on that chart was also his one major pop hit. It's the tale of a man who is determined to marry a woman whose (lips are sweeter than honey) who lives on a mountain with her father. Unfortunately, that father, a man named Clifton Clowers, is "handy with a gun and a knife," and he knows when a stranger is approaching his property because "the bears and the birds" tell him. In spite of this, the song's narrator is determined to climb that mountain and risk his life for love. Interestingly enough, there was a real Clifton Clowers who lived on a mountain in Arkansas, and his nephew co-wrote this song with King to immortalize him. I'm not sure if he had a daughter, or how he parented her if he did. But I do know that Claude King just passed away in March at the age of 90. R.I.P., you romantic mountaineer you.
19 - "Don't Play That Song (You Lied) Ben E. King
The ex-Drifter picked up another of his early-60s hits with this soulful plea for someone to stop playing the tune that reminds him of an ex-lovers deception. The arrangement is somewhat similar to "Stand By Me," but that doesn't detract from it. Aretha Franklin did a cover of this that we encountered in 1970. I'm not going to choose between the two versions.
18 - "Sharing You," Bobby Vee
Born Robert Velline in Fargo, North Dakota, Vee was only 15 when he and a band he quickly cobbled together were asked to fill in for Buddy Holly at the show in Minnesota that he, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper were flying to when their plane crashed. After getting a good reception at that show, Vee got a record deal, and soon afterward began a run of hits that peaked with the 1961 #1 "Take Good Care of My Baby." On this song, Vee gives a typically teen idolly performance on a song about how he's with a girl he knows is two-timing him, but he just can't let her go. It's okay, but there are other songs of his that I know that are better. "Rubber Ball," for instance.
17 - "A Steel Guitar and a Glass of Wine," Paul Anka
The Anka-Man was nearing the end of his first run of hits when he charted with this song about that time-honored method of getting over heartbreak: drinking alcohol and listening to sad music. This was better than I expected. The arrangement was pretty peppy, but I still felt the pain. Good stuff.
16 - "Roses are Red (My Love)," Bobby Vinton
The son of a Pittsburgh bandleader, Vinton signed a record deal in 1960 after completing a stint in the army. But his early records didn't sell, and the label was close to dropping him when he recorded a song he found on the company's reject pile about a guy's unsuccessful attempts to win a girl with a version of a cliched poem that apparently dates back to the 16th Century. He took the promotion of the single into his own hands by arranging for the record to be delivered, along with a dozen roses, to hundreds of radio disc jockeys. The result was a song that topped the charts for four weeks and launched The Polish Prince's career. It's not the greatest song, but Bobby sells it, particularly the melancholy on the last verse when he meets his old loves young daughter and tells her mother that boys will be writing love poems in her yearbook someday. Sentimental, but just shy of sappy.
15 - "Follow That Dream," Elvis Presley
And here we start getting into the heart of Elvis' Hollywood period, when he was starring in two to three movies a year and most of his recordings were soundtracks to those films. This fun, short rockabilly shuffle about positivity came from a movie where Elvis fights for his family's right to squat on a piece of land near a highway. Yeah, doesn't sound great to me either. Haven't seen it, don't plan to. But the song's all right.
14 - "Lovers Who Wander," Dion
Bronx native Dion DiMucci first found stardom in the 50s with the doo-wop group The Belmonts, then had even more success after going solo in 1961. He'd go to #1 with "Runaround Sue," and picked up seven more Top Tens, including this song that sounds a lot like that record. Lyrically, this is more along the lines of "Heartbreak Hotel," except the place Dion ends up seems a lot happier. Okay, but you're better off just listening to "Runaround Sue."
13 - "The One Who Really Loves You," Mary Wells
In June of 1961, Wells became the first female solo singer on Motown Records to hit the Pop Top 40 with a song called "I Don't Want to Take a Chance." A year later, she scored her first Top Ten with this single, a calypso-flavored warning to a man not to pay attention to other girls (whom she mentions by name as Susie, Jenny, Millie, and "Silly Lilly"), who are "filling (his) head with jive," and focus all his attention on her, the one who truly cares for him. Honestly, I don't really know any other of Wells' hits besides "My Guy," but this makes me feel like her other songs would be well worth investigating.
12 - "Al Di La," Emilio Pericoli
Italian singer Pericoli had his only American hit with this romantic ballad in his native language, whose title translates to "Beyond." It became popular in America after Pericoli performed it in a movie called Rome Adventure. Nothing special to these ears, but the guy seems like a good singer.
11 - "Snap Your Fingers," Joe Henderson
Henderson, from Gary, Indiana (a town that would become famous in the music world a few years later for a certain family act), had mainly recorded gospel music before hitting the pop Top Ten with this slow groover on which he pledges that he will be there for the woman he loves whenever she gives him the slightest indication that he's welcome. Henderson's voice is deep, cool and smooth, and the jazzy arrangement is a winner. Sadly, he'd only have a couple more minor hits before dying of a heart attack at the very young age of 27. I could have used a few more decades of that voice.
It's a bird, it's a plane, no, it's the Top Ten.
10 - " Second Hand Love," Connie Francis
Connie's penultimate pop Top Ten was this country ballad about how she's not the preferred choice of her beloved. More crying material, heartbrokenly delivered. At least she got happier on her final Top Ten, "V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N."
9 - "That's Old Fashioned (That's the Way Love Should Be)," The Everly Brothers
Phil and Don's final Top Ten about romancing a girl in a more traditional way "in a modern changing world." This inclueds holding hands at the movies, carving initials in a tree, and sipping ice cream sodas while listening to the jukebox. Old-fashioned, yes, but the usual snappy harmonies and catchy melody from the boys. Dig it.
8 - "Cindy's Birthday," Johnny Crawford
L.A. kid Crawford's showbiz career began in 1955, at the age of 9, when he was the one of the original Mouseketeers on TV's Mickey Mouse Club. Three years later, after being downsized, he moved into the role of Chuck Connors' son on the Western series The Rifleman. Late in that show's run, he began a recording career that spawned four hits, the biggest of which being the first, this teenybopper story about how he has no time for TV, dancing, or even school, because he's busy writing a song for this Cindy on her special day. If you want to imagine what a Justin Bieber song would sound like if he were around 50 years ago, take a listen to this.
7 - "Playboy," The Marvelettes
Six months after giving Motown its first pop #1 with "Please Mr. Postman," these ladies had their second Top Ten with this number about "Runaround Sue"'s male equivalent. There's a cool rasp to singer Gladys Horton's voice on this. A forgotten Motown gem.
6 - "(The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance," Gene Pitney
Connecticut native Pitney scored his first Top Ten with this tale of a timid, bookish sort who bests a notorious outlaw in a gunfight. It was inspired by, but not used in, a hit Western that starred John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, and Lee Marvin. Pitney uses his voice to convey the drama expertly, and I like the violin parts that I can only describe as "Country and Middle Eastern." A clear classic.
5 - "Stranger On the Shore," Mr. Acker Bilk
Born in 1929 with the given name Bernard, Bilk had worked in a cigarette factory, served with the British military in the Middle East, and became a blacksmith before he began to start having success playing the clarinet. In 1961, he wrote and recorded an instrumental called "Jenny," named after his newborn daughter, but after it was retitled and used as the theme for a BBC TV show, it became a massive U.K. hit, and eventually crossed the Atlantic to become the first U.S. charttopper by a British artist in ten years. It's a sleepy tune, evocative of lazy summer nights. I'm sure you've all heard it somewhere sometime. It just...exists. And as you may know, it would take much less than ten years for Britain to have their next American #1.
4 - "It Keeps Right On A-Hurtin'," Johnny Tillotson
Tillotson, a Floridian who had broken through the previous year with the #2 hit "Poetry in Motion," turned the rare trick of cracking the Top Ten on the pop, country and R&B charts with the same record, this self-penned account of heartbreak. A good weepie, but one that would probably be more effective in the hands of a better singer.
3 - "Palisades Park," Freddy Cannon
Frederick Picarello, Jr. of Lynn, Massachussetts, made his first minor impression on the charts at age 17 when he played guitar on the 1956 #24 pop hit "Ka-Ding-Dong" by The G-Clefs. Three years later, he scored two Top Tens of his own with "Tallahassie Lassie" and "Way Down Yonder in New Orleans." He releases several singles after that, but he wouldn't return to the Top Ten for another three years, when he hit it big again with this song whose sound and lyrics are evocative of an old-school amusement park, what with references to Ferris wheels and Tunnels of Love, as well as a rollercoaster sound effect and an organ riff that brings to mind a stroll through the midway. A cool little oldie, written by none other than game show mastermind/alleged CIA assassin Chuck Barris. I would never dream of gonging this.
2 - "The Stripper," David Rose and His Orchestra
London-born, Chicago-raised composer and bandleader Rose wrote music for radio and television for many years, and had brief marriages to actresses Martha Raye and Judy Garland. But he's probably best known for this instrumental that has accompanied many a bump-and-grind routine since an MGM Records office boy found it among a bunch of unreleased Rose tapes and decided to use it as the B-side for a son called "Ebb Tide." As sometimes happens, the B-side became the hit, and it went to #1. It's a sultry, almost seedy jazz number, and one could certainly picture imagining women removing clothing to its strains even without knowing the title. It's become ingrained in pop culture, but still, the fact that a song with that title was so big back then amazes me, which is why I'm giving it this week's Uneasy Rider.
And the toppermost of the poppermost 51 years ago was...
1 - "I Can't Stop Loving You," Ray Charles
The late legend had his final pop Number One with this cover of a 1958 Don Gibson hit, taken from Ray's smash LP Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music. His amazing, heartbreaking performance bridged the gap between C&W and R&B, and considering the tone of the times, this made a statement, intentional or not. The blues are universal, and great music is great music.
Three down, seven to go. See you next time in 1963.
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