Hawaiian Wedding Song

Hawaiian Wedding Song is a traditional pop song. The song was first adapted from the 1926 operetta, Prince of Hawaii, by Charles E. King. The song was originally titled “Ke Kali Nei Au” which is Hawaiian for Waiting Here for You. Al Hoffman and Dick Manning translated the original Hawaiian words into English and renamed Read More

Profile of a Performer: Patsy Cline

I have several friends that are huge Patsy Cline fans, so I thought it would be fun to take a look at her life and career. Wikipedia says, “Cline was known for her rich tone, emotionally expressive and bold contralto voice, and her role as a country music industry pioneer. Along with Kitty Wells, she Read More

Song Story: Blue Moon

Blue Moon was written by the popular songwriting duo Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart in 1934. The duo was contracted in May 1933 by MGM to write songs for an upcoming movie called Hollywood Party.  Richard Rodgers later recalled, “One of our ideas was to include a scene in which Jean Harlow is shown as Read More

Song Story: Blue Moon of Kentucky

Blue Moon of Kentucky was written in 1946 by Bill Monroe, a bluegrass musician.  Bill Monroe recorded the song and released it in early 1947.  The popularity of the song spread and it became a huge hit. Elvis Presley recorded the song with Sun Records in 1954.  Scotty Moore recalled, “We all of us knew Read More

Unforgettable

Unforgettable was written by Irving Gordon and published in 1951. Gordon actually conceived of the title being “Uncomparable”, however the music publishing company requested the name be changed to “Unforgettable.” The most popular version of the song is by the legendary Nat King Cole.  His arrangement was written by Nelson Riddle.  He initially recorded the Read More

Blue Christmas

Blue Christmas was written by Billy Hayes and Jay W. Johnson. The song was first recorded by Doyle O’Dell in 1948. The following year the song was popularized by Ernest Tubb.  His version appeared at #1 on the Billboard magazine’s Country & Western Chart in the first week of January 1950.  His country version included Read More

Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear

Elvis Presley recorded {Let Me Be Your} Teddy Bear for his second movie, Loving You, in 1957.  He performs the song on screen. The song was written by Kal Mann and Bernie Lowe and published in 1957.  More than likely the duo wrote the song for the movie. The song became a huge hit for Read More

Crying in the Chapel

Crying in the Chapel was one of Elvis Presley’s hit songs.  However, it was written by Artie Glenn. Artie Glenn wrote it for his son, Darrell, who recorded the song in 1953.  The high schooler recorded the song with his group, The Rhythm Riders. After being rejected by several publishing companies, the song was published Read More

To Know Him is to Love Him

One of the interesting things about the history of songs, is discovering what inspired the lyrics and/or melody of the song. For To Know Him is to Love Him, that inspiration was a tombstone.  Phil Spector was nine years old when his father died.  His family then moved from New York to Los Angeles.   As Read More

Behind the Song: I Will Always Love You

I Will Always Love You was a signature song for Whitney Houston, after she performed the song in her movie, The Bodyguard. However, the song was written by another big known star, Dolly Parton.  This would become the biggest song of her career as both a performer and songwriter. The song was the second single Read More