Are You Lonesome Tonight? (song)
1926
Are You Lonesome Tonight? is a pop ballad, 1926 by Lou Handman (music) and Roy Turk ( text ) was written. The most famous cover version is by Elvis Presley (on the album cover of the title, however, Are You Lonesome To- night? Was written ). The song reached number 81 on Billboard 's Greatest Songs of All Time.
History
Roy Turk, a former vaudeville artists, worked as a copywriter in the Tin Pan Alley. Together with composer Lou Handman he wrote the song, which is considered one of the standards of Tin Pan Alley - era today. One of the first recordings was released by Al Jolson in 1927, but was not a success. Only in the version by Vaughn De Leath, published by Edison Records, reached the ballad in the charts and reached there in November 1927 4th place in 1927 also took the tenor Henry Burr his version of the song and thus reached # 10 in the charts, then got the song for over 20 years in oblivion. A recording of the Carter Family, which appeared at Brunswick Records in 1936, could not place a commercial success. In 1950, the American bandleader Blue Barron and his orchestra and the singer Bobby Beers recorded a big band version, which listed a total of eight weeks in the charts, reaching number 19. The piece exhibited here for the first time on a spoken passage. In the same year Al Jolson took the song again, it also contained the spoken passage. Jaye P. Morgan in 1959 reached number 65 on the charts with the song.
Elvis Presley
The piece was one of the favorite songs of Marie, the Presley manager Colonel Parker woman, which is why he asked Elvis Presley to receive it. Presley liked the song and felt that it could very well find a niche in the music of his time in a modernized version. The recordings took place on April 4, 1960 by four clock in the morning in the studios of RCA in Nashville instead. The studio musicians were the same, with which Presley had already recorded his version of ' O sole mio, entitled It's Now or Never. Among them were the guitarist Scotty Moore and Hank Garland, bassist Bob Moore, drummer DJ Fontana, pianist Floyd Cramer and saxophonist Boots Randolph. The record company RCA Victor initially wanted that Presley released a rock song by the ballad It's Now or Never. At the urging of Parker and Presley, the ballad was released on November 2, 1960, with rockier piece I gotta know as B-side. It rose in the first week at # 35 on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached the end of November 1st place, which it held until mid-January 1961. It was certified double platinum for more than two million units sold. In the German Media Control Charts, the song reached in the spring of 1961 4th place in the British UK Top 40, it was in February 1961 three weeks at No. 1
Presley changed during his live performances, the lyrics are often in a humorous way off. An appearance at the Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas in 1969, in which Presley instead of " Do you gaze at your doorstep and picture me there " sang became famous: "Do you gaze at your bald head and wish you had hair" ( " Do you look at your wish test bald head and you had hair " ), whereupon he broke into laughter a few moments later. In addition, he added in the spoken section one: " You know someone said that the world 's a stage, and each must play a part. " ( "You know someone said that the world is a stage and each must play a role." ) " All the world 's a stage" is the beginning of the monologue of the melancholy Jaques in William Shakespeare's " As You Like It" in the scene VII of Act II. The audience voted into laughter with one that has been exacerbated by the background singer who continued to sing in falsetto, with Presley encouraged her to "sing it, baby ." This version reached the Top 30 in the UK, after she was released by RCA Records on the box set Elvis Aaron Presley.
Answer songs
In the same year, in which appeared the Presley version, published several record companies so-called answer songs (response versions) with female performers and also a text by Roy Turk. Successful production recording with Thelma Carpenter, the Coral Records (No. 9-62241 ) was brought out and was in the Billboard Hot 100 square reached 55. In addition to the Turk Answer texted song with the title Yes, I'm Lonesome Tonight, the record company Capitol brought a version with Jeanne Black out (No. 4492 ), which differs from a Turk text the authors Benny Davis / Joe Burke / Mark Fisher used and the title Oh, How I Miss You Tonight wore. Jeanne Black, too, could be placed with rank 63 on the Hot 100.
Germany
The Elvis Presley version of Are You Lonesome Tonight? was first listed on January 14, 1961 in the charts of the music market. She reached the fourth place, the best quotation and stayed 16 weeks in the top 50 just a week earlier had the music market, the German version with Peter Alexander and the title Are you lonesome tonight night? included in the Top 50. The Germany's largest record company Polydor, in December 1960 ( No. 24420 ) brought out version also reached number four and was quoted 17 weeks long. In the annual chart Peter Alexander came up with this title on the 29th place. At the same time, Decca issued a second largely unnoticed version with Wyn Hoop (No. 19134 ). They also used the text by Kurt Feltz, whose German version closely follows the original Presley and also contains a spoken passage. Also as in the states, there are also Are you lonely tonight? an answer song. He was entitled Yes, I 'm lonely tonight ' night! also produced with Polydor and released under No. 24582 in the summer of 1961 with the hitherto unknown singer Wilma Lucini.