Thursday, March 29, 2018

“Blue Velvet” #1 9/21/1963

Originally a 1951 mid-range hit for Tony Bennett and recorded by dozens of others (I dig the Clovers re-do from ‘55), the definitive version belonged to Bobby Vinton and reached the top in the fall of 1963. Bobby scored earlier in the year with “Blue On Blue” and was persuaded to do a whole album of “Blue”-themed songs. Yet at the time, he treated this as a throwaway and knocked it out in two takes.

The next #1 was “Sugar Shack” which brings us full circle, as I began this blog in August 2014 with a look at songs from late 1963 around the time of the Kennedy assassination. Thanks for indulging my occasional inclusions of pre-Beatles #1 records! Fear not. We return to 1968 tomorrow.


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