| "Hello, Dolly!" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byLouis Armstrong | ||||
| from the albumHello, Dolly! | ||||
| B-side | "A Lot of Livin' to Do" | |||
| Released | January 1964[1] | |||
| Recorded | 1963 | |||
| Studio | Columbia 30th Street,New York City | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 2:27 | |||
| Label | Kapp | |||
| Songwriter | Jerry Herman | |||
| Producer | Michael Kapp | |||
| Louis Armstrong singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Billboard | positive (a "Pop spotlight" pick)[2] |
"Hello, Dolly!" is the title song of the popularmusical of the same name, with music and lyrics byJerry Herman.
A recording byLouis Armstrong released in 1964 was a widely popular success, winning theSong of the Year andMale Vocal Performance awards at the7th Annual Grammy Awards. Armstrong's rendition was inducted into theGrammy Hall of Fame in 2001.
At the behest of his manager,Louis Armstrong made a demonstration recording of "Hello, Dolly!" in December 1963, for the song's publisher to use to promote theBroadway show.[3]
In January 1964, the same monthHello, Dolly! opened in New York City,Kapp Records released Armstrong's publishing demo as a commercial single. His version reachedNo. 1 on the U.S.Billboard Hot 100, endingthe Beatles' streak of3 chart-topping hits in a row over 14 consecutive weeks.
"Hello Dolly!" became the most successful single of Armstrong's career, followed by a Gold-selling album of the same name.[4] The song also spent nine weeks atop theadult contemporary chart shortly after the opening of the musical. The song also made Armstrong the oldest artist ever to reachNo. 1 on the Hot 100 since its introduction in 1958.Billboard ranked the record as theNo. 3 song of 1964, behind the Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "She Loves You".[5]
"Hello, Dolly!" won theGrammy Award for Song of the Year in 1965, and Armstrong received a Grammy forBest Vocal Performance, Male. Louis Armstrong also performed the song alongsideBarbra Streisand for themusical's 1969 screen adaptation. In 2018, the song was listed at number 178 on theBillboard Hot 100 60th Anniversary chart.[6] There were other charting versions of the song also in 1964 by Kenny Ball, Frankie Vaughan, The Batchelors and Frank Sinatra. Liberace also recorded a vocal version of the song.
Lyndon B. Johnson, often referred to by the moniker "LBJ", used the tune, rechristened "Hello, Lyndon!", as acampaign song for his run in the1964 U.S. presidential election. This version of the song was performed byCarol Channing at that year'sDemocratic National Convention, and a recording was made byEd Ames for distribution at the convention.[7]
"Hello, Dolly!" became caught up in a lawsuit which could have endangered plans for filming the musical.Mack David, a composer, sued for infringement of copyright, because the first fourbars of "Hello, Dolly!" were the same as those in therefrain of David's song "Sunflower" from 1948. As he recounts in his memoirs, Herman had never heard "Sunflower" before the lawsuit, and wanted a chance to defend himself in court, but, for the sake of those involved in the show and the potential film, he reluctantly agreed to pay a settlement before the case would have gone to trial.[8][9]
