The end of 1956 is fast approaching us as Autumn makes itself known back in 2022. Let’s hear how its sounding back there:
The songs of October, 1956
“A House With Love In It” – Four Lads
“After The Lights Go Down Low” – Al Hibbler
“Allegheny Moon” – Patti Page
“Be-Bop-A-Lula” – Gene Vincent
“Blueberry Hill” – Fats Domino*
“Bus Stop Song” – Four Lads
“Canadian Sunset” – Andy Williams
“Canadian Sunset” – Hugo Winterhalter
“Chains Of Love” – Pat Boone
“Cindy Oh Cindy” – Vince Martin And The Tarriers*
“Don’t Be Cruel” – Elvis Presley
“Friendly Persuasion” – Pat Boone
“Green Door” – Jim Lowe*
“Happiness Street” – Georgia Gibbs
“Honky Tonk” – Bill Doggett
“Hound Dog” – Elvis Presley
“I Almost Lost My Mind” – Pat Boone
“I Walk The Line” – Johnny Cash*
“In The Middle Of The House” – Rusty Draper
“In The Middle Of The House” – Vaughn Monroe
“In The Still Of The Nite” – Five Satins*
“It Isn’t Right” – Platters*
“Just Walkin’ In The Rain” – Johnnie Ray
“Lay Down Your Arms” – Chordettes*
“Let The Good Times Roll” – Shirley And Lee*
“Love Me Tender” – Elvis Presley*
“Miracle Of Love” – Eileen Rodgers
“My Prayer” – Platters
“Out Of Sight Out Of Mind” – Five Keys*
“See Saw” – Moonglows*
“Soft Summer Breeze” – Eddie Heywood
“St. Therese Of The Roses” – Billy Ward
“That’s All There Is To That” – Nat King Cole And The Four Knights
“The Flying Saucer” – Buchannan And Goodman
“The Fool” – Sanford Clark
“The Italian Theme” – Cyril Stapleton*
“Theme From Song For A Summer Night” – Mitch Miller
“Tonight You Belong To Me” – Lawrence Welk*
“Tonight You Belong To Me” – Patience And Prudence
“True Love” – Bing Crosby And Grace Kelly*
“True Love” – Jane Powell
“Whatever Will Be Will Be (Que Sera Sera)” – Doris Day
“When The White Lilacs Bloom Again” – Billy Vaughn
“When The White Lilacs Bloom Again” – Helmut Zacharias
“You Don’T Know Me” – Jerry Vale
“You’ll Never Never Know” – Platters*
* = New to the chart this week.
You can listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link or embedded below:
This month in history
On the 5th of October “The Ten Commandments”, starring Charlton Heston as Moses and directed by Cecil B. DeMille, is released in the United States becoming one of the highest-grossing films of all time. Watch the trailer below:
Over the other side of the Atlantic the English footballer Bobby Charlton makes his first appearance for Manchester United F.C., aged 18, in a match against Charlton Athletic. Not a match starring Charlton but a newsreel of a match from that year gives a real vibe of the time below:
And finally, on the 17th Shostakovich debuts a new work in Moscow. His string Quartet No. 6 in G major, Op. 101, was composed in 1956 – you can hear it below.
What’d Sadie think?
Elvis’ “Don’t Be Cruel” is number 1 throughout the month. Not surprising, but it is a big month for classic songs to debut as well…
Like the great “Blueberry Hill” by Fats Domino. Except this is far from the debut of this song which is actually from 1940 and had versions from the likes of Louis Armstrong (1949) along the way. But the Fats Domino version is the Rock ‘n’ Roll version that would make it truly a classic.
And another classic, that is actually from 1956 is “I Walk The Line” by Johnny Cash. Apparently the unique chord progression for “I Walk the Line” was inspired by the backwards playback of guitar runs on Cash’s tape recorder.
Then, while he’s still at number 1 with “Don’t be Cruel” Elvis debuts “Love Me Tender”. The song apparently puts new words to a new musical adaptation of the Civil War song “Aura Lee,” published in 1861. Here’s Elvis debuting the song on the Ed Sullivan show this month:
And then the trailer for the eponymous film and his acting debut:
And then there is the classic “In The Still Of The Nite” by the Five Satins. The song was apparently spelled as “In the Still of the Nite” to avoid confusion with Cole Porter’s “In the Still of the Night”.
“Cindy Oh Cindy” by Vince Martin And The Tarriers had us singing along half-way through, even though we weren’t familiar with it. Sweet.
“Green Door” by Jim Lowe I’m familiar with and is a fun number. Though much googling has not given a definitive answer to what is meant to be behind the green door. Probably drugs right? Catchy anyway.
“It Isn’t Right” and “You’ll Never Never Know” are both new tunes by the Platters this month. Neither great, but the former is the best because of the Sax part.
“Let The Good Times Roll” by Shirley And Lee lives up to its name. Let’s get the party started! (And another great sax part.)
“Out Of Sight Out Of Mind” by the Five Keys takes the tempo right down and is a bit of a snore fest.
“Lay Down Your Arms” by the Chordettes is either literal or metaphorical? One of the two definitely. Not a great song either way.
“See Saw” by the Moonglows continues the energetic tunes with great sax parts theme for this week. Lovin’ it.
“The Italian Theme” by Cyril Stapleton is surely from a movie and sounds exactly like you’d expect it to by the name. So it’s Ok.
“Tonight You Belong To Me” by Lawrence Welk is the second charting version of this song and it isn’t a necessary addition.
“True Love” by Bing Crosby And Grace Kelly is from one of my favourite musical films “High Society” (the film it is based on is my absolute favourite, “The Philadelphia Story”). But it’s not my favourite song from the film by a long shot.
Now go listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.