[On December
10, 1949, Antoine “Fats” Domino recorded “The Fat Man,” his first
recording at New Orleans’ legendary J&M
Recording Studios and one of the first rock ‘n roll recordings ever made.
So this week I’ll AmericanStudy 50s musical icons—share your own thoughts on
them and any other musical icons and moments for a hard-rocking weekend post!]
On three signature
songs from the 1950’s
top-charting and best-selling female artist.
1)
“Confess” (1947): There’s
a certain amount of luck required for any artistic success, as illustrated
nicely by a key element of Page’s first solo single (recorded after she had
spent a couple years singing for other groups like the
George Barnes Trio). Due to a musicians’ strike her label couldn’t find any
background singers for the recording session, and so Page and influential Mercury Records
engineer Bill Putnam decided to overdub Page’s own vocals instead, making
her the first
pop artist to harmonize with herself in this way. That innovative
technique, born out of necessity but made successful by Page’s voice and talent,
helped make “Confess” a Billboard Top
15 hit and would become a signature style for Page, featured in many of her biggest
1950s hits.
2)
“Tennessee Waltz”
(1950): Page didn’t write “Confess” (that was songwriting duo Bennie Benjamin and
George David Weiss), but it was given to her specifically by Mercury
Records. Whereas “Tennessee,” Page’s best-selling single and one of the
biggest-selling songs of the 1950s, came to her via a far more circuitous
route. It was written in 1946 by country star Pee Wee King
and first recorded by his
band, then covered in short order (as was the norm in that era, as I noted
in Monday’s post) by Cowboy
Copas and R&B
singer Erskine Hawkins and his orchestra. It was apparently that last
version which renowned producer
Jerry Wexler passed along to Page, and so it’s fair to say that her cover
combined the song’s country origins with that R&B sound and her own pop
inclinations (as well as another example of her signature overdubbing) to yield
one of the first modern “crossover” hits. And a hit Page’s version certainly was,
as it sold over 7 million copies throughout the 50s.
3)
“(How Much is That) Doggie in
the Window?” (1953): I’ll confess (see what I did there?) that the popularity
of novelty songs in early pop and rock music has always mystified me—apparently
“My Ding a Ling” was
Chuck Berry’s only
number one hit, for one example; or there’s the number three hit “Does Your Chewing Gum Lose
Its Flavour (On the Bedpost Overnight)?” (1959), for another. The
popularity of Page’s “Doggie” (written by popular songwriter Bob Merrill),
which went number one, stayed on the charts for five months, and sold over a
million copies, is slightly more understandable, as it was part of a children’s
concept album (Arfie Goes to School)
and so had that built-in youthful audience and appeal going for it. And yet—I’m
pretty sure “Doggie” was the only song from the 1950s best-selling female
artist I had heard prior to researching this post, which is partly a commentary
on my need to learn more about 50s music but also partly a reflection of just
how ubiquitous such novelty tracks can become. In any case, there’s a lot more
to Page, as I hope this post has illustrated!
Next 50s icon
tomorrow,
Ben
PS. What do you
think? Other musical icons or moments you’d highlight?
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