The Yellow Rose of Texas (song)

The Yellow Rose of Texas is a folk traditional, which was written in the first half of the 19th century by a composer, of which only the initials " JK " have survived. Became famous for the song in a 1955 recorded by Mitch Miller version that was a number-one hit in the U.S..

Genesis of the song

The first handwritten version of the song is in the archives of the University of Texas, it is believed that it dates to 1836, where the event was the Battle of San Jacinto. The first printed edition of the text appeared in 1853 in a report issued in Philadelphia Songbook, the first note issue was published in 1858 in New York City. As an author, only the initials " JK " were specified. The piece said to have been originally written for the mid-19th century, very popular minstrel shows. During the Civil War it was used by both warring parties under different versions, including The Gallant Hood of Texas and The Song of the Texas Rangers.

Version of Mitch Miller

Bill Randle, a DJ from Cleveland, had in the early 1950s with the idea to record the song as a pop song. This spread to Don George and arranged it with a march rhythm. In this version, it appeared on a compilation with songs from the American Civil War. This in turn attracted the attention of Mitch Miller, who rearranged the piece again and it provided them with a marching drum. It was the first time that the marching drum in pop music was used. Satisfied with his version of the play, Miller was pressing 100,000 singles. The record company, Columbia Records protested against this single-handedly Miller, and he bought the label of the singles for 15 cents a piece from. He did not regret this step, as the single reached on September 3, 1955 # 1 on the U.S. charts and sold over 1 million copies.