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| "Singing the Blues" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byGuy Mitchell | ||||
| B-side | "Crazy With Love" | |||
| Released | October 1956 | |||
| Studio | Columbia 30th Street Studio, New York City | |||
| Genre | Rock and roll | |||
| Length | 2:31 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Melvin Endsley | |||
| Producer(s) | Mitch Miller | |||
| Guy Mitchell singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Singing the Blues" is apopular song composed byMelvin Endsley and published in 1956. The highest-charting version was byGuy Mitchell and the first recording of the song was byMarty Robbins. It is not related to the 1920 jazz song "Singin' the Blues" recorded byFrank Trumbauer andBix Beiderbecke in 1927.
The best-known recording was released in October 1956 byGuy Mitchell and spent ten weeks at No. 1 on the U.S.Billboard chart from 8 December 1956, to 2 February 1957. It was Mitchell's second and last hit in Italy, on nationalMusica e Dischi Hit Parade, after "My Heart Cries For You" in 1951. An example of the U.S. recording is on Columbia #40769, dated 1956, with theRay Conniff Orchestra. Mitchell's version was also No. 1 in theUK Singles Chart for three (non-consecutive) weeks in early 1957,[1][2] one of only four singles to rise to No. 1 on the chart on three separate occasions, with the other three being "I Believe" byFrankie Laine, "Happy" byPharrell Williams and "What Do You Mean?" byJustin Bieber.[3] Mitchell's version prominently featureswhistling in the intro and solo sections.
Two other charting versions of the song were released almost simultaneously with Mitchell's, one by the English singerTommy Steele (with the Steelmen) and the other (recorded before Mitchell covered it)[4] by US country singerMarty Robbins.[5]
Tommy Steele's version of "Singing the Blues" made number 1 in theUK Singles Chart for one week on 11 January 1957, sandwiched by two of the weeks that Guy Mitchell's version of the same song topped the charts.[6] Steele's recording of the song was not a chart success in the US.
The Marty Robbins version, recorded at theBradley Studios in Nashville, Tennessee,[7] made it to number one on theBillboardC&W Best Sellers chart for 13 weeks in late 1956 and early 1957[8] and peaked at number seventeen on the US pop chart.[9] In 1983,Gail Davies recorded a cover version, taking her version into the top 20 of the Hot Country Singles chart in the spring of 1983.
The song is often revived, and on four occasions new recordings of "Singing the Blues" have become UK Top 40 hits. These latter-day hit versions were byDave Edmunds (1980),Gail Davies (1983),Daniel O'Donnell (1994), andCliff Richard &the Shadows (2009).
| Release date | Performer | Chart Positions | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [10] | U.S. | U.S. C&W | CAN Country | |||
| 1956 | Marty Robbins | — | 17 | 1 | — | — |
| 1956 | Guy Mitchell | 1 | 1 | — | — | Reached number 1 in the UK in early 1957 |
| 1956 | Tommy Steele & the Steelmen | 1 | — | — | — | Reached number 1 in the UK in early 1957 |
| 1964 | Connie Francis & Hank Williams Jr. | |||||
| 1980 | Dave Edmunds | 28 | — | — | — | — |
| 1983 | Gail Davies | — | — | 17 | 19 | — |
| 1994 | Daniel O'Donnell | 23 | — | — | — | — |
| 1997 | The Kentucky Headhunters | — | — | 70 | — | — |
| 2009 | Cliff Richard &the Shadows | 40 | — | — | — | — |
Trumpeter Bob Scobey and banjoist/vocalist Clancy Hayes recorded atrad jazz version in 1958 for the LP "Scobey and Clancy raid the Jukebox" on the Good Time Jazz label. Other notable cover versions include a 1960 recording byBill Haley & His Comets, a 1963 version byDean Martin, and a 1971 version byBlack Oak Arkansas. It was recorded byMarie Osmond for her 1975 albumIn My Little Corner of the World, byGene Summers on his 1981 French albumGene Summers in Nashville, byRandy Travis on his 1989 albumNo Holdin' Back, and byThe Kentucky Headhunters for their albumStompin' Grounds (1997). A version byBert Jansch appears on his 2000 releaseCrimson Moon. Frank Ifield, Max Bygraves and Slim Whitman also recorded the song.
"Singing the Blues" was performed live byPaul McCartney on the MTV showUnplugged in 1991 and included on the subsequent soundtrack,Unplugged (The Official Bootleg).
Hank Snow did it on his 1969 album on RCA "I Went To Your Wedding".
The song was also performed byAlbert Lee.[11]
The tune was also sung byVivian Vance andWilliam Frawley (Ethel and Fred ofI Love Lucy fame) for a Ford Motor Company television commercial promoting the Edsel.
The Californian pop punk bandGroovie Ghoulies covered the song on their third albumWorld Contact Day in 1996.
The first line of this song is famously the last line of "London Calling" by the Clash, cut short and echoed in the final mix of the song ("I never felt so much a-like, a-like, a-like...").
Hugues Aufray and his Skiffle Group recorded a French version of the song, "Tout le long du chemin", in 1964.[12]
Birmingham City-supporting radio presenters Tom Ross and Ian Danter released a version to celebrate the club's promotion to the Premier League. It has been sung since at least the 1969 season by fans of the Midlands club.Blackburn Rovers fans have been known to sing a version of the song: "Never felt more like singing the blues, the Rovers win and Burnley lose, oh Rovers, you've got me singing the blues."Everton fans sing a version of this song; "I've never felt more like singing the blues, when Everton win andLiverpool lose, oh Everton you've got me singing the blues." Also this song is commonly used atManchester City football matches, where the fans sing: "Never felt more like singing the blues, City win,United lose." This song has been used bySheffield Wednesday fans since the 1960s. Their lyrics are: "Never felt more like singing the blues, When Wednesday win, United lose." Former Wednesday playerTerry Curran recorded a version of the song in 1980 that sold tens of thousands, that is still used atHillsborough to this day.Ipswich Town fans also use the song and the club recorded their own version of it, with the chorus being "I've never felt more like singing the Blues, When Ipswich win and Norwich lose, Oh Ipswich you've got me singing the blues".
