Sunday, November 28, 2010

Today in Music (1960): Elvis hit #1 with “Are You Lonesome Tonight?”

Are You Lonesome Tonight?

Elvis Presley

Writer(s): Lou Handman, Roy Turk (see lyrics here)


Released: November 1, 1960


First Charted: November 7, 1960


Peak: 16 BB, 16 CB, 15 GR, 14 HR, 22 CW, 3 RB, 14 UK, 11 CN, 16 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.)


Sales (in millions): 4.0 US, 1.0 UK, 9.0 world (includes US + UK)


Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 45.1 video, 85.91 streaming

Awards:

Click on award for more details.

About the Song:

“Are You Lonesome Tonight?,” “one of the more woebegone songs ever written,” SF was penned by Tin Pan Alley songwriters Roy Turk and Lou Handman in 1926. It included a narration based on a speech from William Shakespeare’s As You Like It. It was first recorded by Al Jolson FB and soon after by Vaughn Deleath and Henry Burr. It was revived in 1950 by bandleader Blue Barron KL and made popular again in 1959 by Jaye P. Morgan. FB Barron and Jolson’s versions of the song included the spoken word section, but it wasn’t in all the versions. SF

Prior to managing Elvis Presley, Colonel Tom Parker was the manager for singer Gene Austin. One of his best numbers was “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” and a favorite of Parker’s wife Marie. TC He asked Elvis to record it on behalf of his wife. KL Elvis obliged on April 4, 1960, copying “Jolson’s arrangement note for note and almost word for word.” KL The session had “the intimacy of a man singing close to the microphone in the wee small hours.” TC The spoken word section “becomes a lover’s conversation.” TC

Some people were bothered by what they perceived as Elvis’ move away from rock and roll. Indeed he “had grown up considerably since his hard rockin’ days,” TC upon his return from army service in Germany, but this wasn’t exactly a new direction. In 1958, he released “another lost love song with a narration.” KL The B-side for “All Shook Up” was “That’s When Your Heartaches Begin,” a song associated with the Ink Spots. KL

The song was featured on the EP Flaming Star, which wasn’t really a soundtrack to the Elvis movie of the same name since it was his first film to feature him in a dramatic, non-singing role. “Lonesome” was Elvis’ 14th song to top the U.S. pop charts. It debuted at #35, higher than any other Elvis song had entered the chart up to that point. It was on top of the chart two weeks later. It was also his sixth #1 in the UK.


Resources:

  • FB Fred Bronson (2003). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits (5th edition). Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 81.
  • TC Toby Creswell (2005). 1001 Songs: The Great Songs of All Time. Thunder’s Mouth Press: New York, NY. Pages 31-2.
  • KL Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh (2005). 1000 UK Number One Hits: The Stories Behind Every Number One Single Since 1952. London, Great Britain: Omnibus Press. Page 73.
  • SF Songfacts


Related Links:


First posted 3/19/2021; last updated 5/14/2025.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

An Alan Jackson Retrospective

First posted 12/5/2020.

A Retrospective: 1989-2010

Alan Jackson

A Brief History: Country singer Alan Jackson was born October 17, 1958 in Newnan, Georgia. He is a member of the Grand Ole Opry and was inducted into the Country Musci Hall of Fame in 2017. He has sold over 75 million records worldwide, had 35 #1 songs, won two Grammys, 16 Country Music Association (CMA) awards, and 17 Association of Country Music (ACM) awards.


Compilations:

The above compilations are spotlighted on this page. The snapshots of the studio albums listed below will indicate all songs featured on any of these compilations, noted with the codes above. Appearing after song titles are the songwriters in italicized parentheses, running times in brackets, and when relevant, the date the song was released as a single and its peaks on various charts. Click for codes to singles charts.


The Studio Albums:
  • Here in the Real World (1990)
  • Don’t Rock the Jukebox (1991)
  • A Lot About Livin’ and a Little ‘Bout Love (1992)
  • Who I Am (1994)
  • Everything I Own (1996)
  • High Mileage (1998)
  • Under the Influence (1999)
  • When Somebody Loves You (2000)
  • Drive (2002)
  • Good Time (2008)


Here in the Real World (1990):

  • Here in the Real World (1/13/90, 3 CW) G1, VB, 34
  • Wanted (6/23/90, 3 CW) G1, 34
  • Chasin’ That Neon Rainbow (10/6/90, 2 CW) G1, VB, 34
  • I’d Love You All Over Again (1/19/91, 12 CW) G1, 34
  • Home (4/20/96, 3 CW) G1, 34


Don’t Rock the Jukebox (1991):

  • Don’t Rock the Jukebox (4/29/91, 13 CW) G1, VB, 34
  • Someday (8/19/91, 11 CW) G1, 34
  • Dallas (12/30/91, 11 CW) G1, 34
  • Midnight in Montgomery (4/25/92, 3 CW) G1, VB, 34
  • Love’s Got a Hold on You (7/13/92, 12 CW) G1, 34


A Lot About Livin’ and a Little ‘Bout Love (1992):

  • She’s Got the Rhythm and I Got the Blues (10/5/92, 11 CW) G1, VB, 34
  • Tonight I Climbed the Wall (2/6/93, 4 CW) 34
  • Chattahoochee (5/21/93, 46 US, 14 CW, sales: ½ million) G1, VB, 34
  • Mercury Blues (9/18/93, 2 CW) G1
  • Who Says You Can’t Have It All (1/29/94, 4 CW) G1, 34


Who I Am (1994):

  • Summertime Blues (6/6/94, 13 CW, airplay: 3 million) G1, 34
  • Gone Country (8/27/94, 11 CW) G1, VB, 34
  • Livin’ on Love (8/29/94, 13 CW) G1, VB, 34
  • I Don’t Even Know Your Name (5/13/95, 11 CW) G1, 34

The Greatest Hits Collection

Alan Jackson


Released: October 24, 1995


Recorded: 1989-1995


Peak: 5 US, 14 CW, -- UK, 14 CN, 46 AU


Sales (in millions): 6.0 US, -- UK, 7.0 world (includes US and UK)


Genre: country


Tracks: (1) Chattahoochee (2) Gone Country (3) She’s Got the Rhythm and I Got the Blues (4) Midnight in Montgomery (5) Tall, Tall Trees (6) Chasin’ That Neon Rainbow (7) I’ll Try (8) Don’t Rock the Jukebox (9) Livin’ on Love (10) Summertime Blues (11) Love’s Got a Hold on You (12) Who Says You Can’t Have It All (13) Home (14) Wanted (15) I Don’t Even Know Your Name (16) Dallas (17) Here in the Real World (18) Someday (19) Mercury Blues (20) I’d Love You All Over Again


Total Running Time: 66:24

Rating:

4.217 out of 5.00 (average of 11 ratings)


Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About The Greatest Hits Collection:

Alan Jackson’s first greatest-hits set collected 18 songs from his first four albums alongside two new songs (Tall Tall Trees, I’ll Try). Every one of these songs hit the top 5 on the country charts and 13 of them went to #1.


Tracks Not on Previously Noted Albums:

  • Tall, Tall Trees (10/21/95, 12 CW) G1, VB, 34
  • I’ll Try (12/30/95, 11 CW) G1, 34


Everything I Love (1996):

  • Little Bitty (10/26/96, 58 US, 13 CW) G2, VB, 34
  • Everything I Love (1/18/97, 9) G2, VB
  • Who’s Cheatin’ Who (4/12/97, 2 CW) G2, VB, 34
  • There Goes (7/12/97, 11 CW) G2, 34
  • Between the Devil and Me (10/11/97, 2 CW) 34


High Mileage (1998):

  • I’ll Go on Loving You (8/1/98, 3 CW) G2
  • Right on the Money (10/17/98, 43 US, 11 CW) G2, VB, 34
  • Gone Crazy (2/6/99, 43 US, 4 CW) G2
  • Little Man (5/29/99, 38 US, 3 CW) G2, VB


Under the Influence (1999):

  • Pop a Top (10/9/99, 43 US, 6 CW) G2, VB
  • The Blues Man (2/19/00, 37 CW) G2
  • It Must Be Love (4/29/00, 37 US, 11 CW, 0.2 airplay) G2, VB, 34


When Somebody Loves You (2000):

  • www.memory (10/7/00, 45 US, 6 CW) G2, VB
  • Where I Come From (11/25/00, 34 US, 13 CW, 0.3 million) G2, 34
  • When Somebody Loves You (3/10/01, 52 US, 5 CW) G2


Drive (2002):

  • Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning (11/24/01, 28 US, 15 CW, airplay: 0.2 million) G2, VB, 34
  • Drive (For Daddy Gene) (2/2/02, 28 US, 14 CW, 0.2 million) G2, VB, 34

Greatest Hits 2 and Some Other Stuff

Alan Jackson


Released: August 12, 2003


Recorded: 1996-2003


Peak: 11 US, 111 CW, 47 UK, -- CN, -- AU


Sales (in millions): 6.0 US, -- UK, 6.0 world (includes US and UK)


Genre: country


Tracks, Disc 1: (1) Little Bitty (2) Everything I Love (3) Who’s Cheatin’ Who (4) There Goes (5) I’ll Go on Loving You (6) Right on the Money (7) Gone Crazy (8) Little Man (9) Pop a Top (10) The Blues Man (11) It Must Be Love (12) www.memory (13) When Somebody Loves You (14) Where I Come From (15) Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning (16) Drive (For Daddy Gene) (17) It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere (with Jimmy Buffett) (18) Remember When

Tracks, Disc 2: (1) Job Description (2) Tropical Depression (3) Let’s Get Back to Me and You (4) You Can’t Give Up on Love (5) Hole in the Wall (6) Buicks to the Moon (7) When Love Comes Around (8) The Sounds


Total Running Time: 96:46

Rating:

4.529 out of 5.00 (average of 16 ratings)


Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About Greatest Hits 2 and Some Other Stuff:

Jackson’s second compilation featured 16 songs from the five studio albums he released from 1996 to 2002 as well as ten new songs. 17 of these songs were top-10 country hits; nine of them went to #1.


Tracks Not on Previously Noted Albums:

  • It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere (with Jimmy Buffett) (6/21/03, 17 US, 18 CW, sales: ½ million, airplay: 0.3 million) G2, VB, 34
  • Remember When (11/8/03, 29 US, 12 CW, sales: 1 million, airplay: 0.3 million) G2, 34
  • Job Description G2
  • Tropical Depression G2
  • Let’s Get Back to Me and You G2
  • You Can’t Give Up on Love G2
  • Hole in the Wall G2
  • Buicks to the Moon G2
  • When Love Comes Around G2
  • The Sounds G2

The Very Best of

Alan Jackson


Released: June 14, 2004


Recorded: 1989-2003


Peak: -- US, 47 UK, -- CN, -- AU


Sales (in millions): -- US, -- UK, -- world (includes US and UK)


Genre: country


Tracks: (1) Gone Country (2) Drive (For Daddy Gene) (3) Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning (4) www.memory (5) It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere (with Jimmy Buffett) (6) Chattahoochee (7) She’s Got the Rhythm and I Got the Blues (8) Midnight in Montgomery (9) Little Man (10 Pop a Top (11) Don’t Rock the Jukebox (12) Little Bitty (13) Here in the Real World (14) Livin’ on Love (15) Who’s Cheatin’ Who (16) Tall, Tall Trees (17) Right on the Money (18) Chasin’ That Neon Rainbow (19) It Must Be Love (20) Everything I Love


Total Running Time: 69:52

Rating:

3.815 out of 5.00 (average of 7 ratings)

About The Very Best of:

This international release was a consolidation of The Greatest Hits Collection and Greatest Hits 2 and Some Other Stuff into a single-disc retrospective.


Good Time (2008):

  • Small Town Southern Man (11/19/07, 42 US, 12 CW) 34
  • Good Time (4/21/08, 40 US, 12 CW, airplay: 0.5 million) 34
  • Country Boy (9/29/08, 49 US, 11 CW) 34

34 Number Ones

Alan Jackson


Released: November 23, 2010


Recorded: 1989-2010


Peak: 37 US, 7 CW, -- UK, 77 CN, 7 AU


Sales (in millions): 0.5 US


Genre: country


Tracks, Disc 1: (1) Ring of Fire (2) Here in the Real World (3) Wanted (4) Chasin’ That Neon Rainbow (5) I’d Love You All Over Again (6) Don’t Rock the Jukebox (7) Someday (8) Dallas (9) Midnight in Montgomery (10) Love’s Got a Hold on You (11) She’s Got the Rhythm and I Got the Blues (12) Tonight I Climbed the Wall (13) Chattahoochee (14) Who Says You Can’t Have It All (15) Summertime Blues (16) Livin’ on Love (17) Gone Country (18) I Don’t Even Know Your Name (19) Tall, Tall Trees

Tracks, Disc 2: (1) As She’s Walking Away (2) Look at Me (3) I’ll Try (4) Home (5) Little Bitty (6) Who’s Cheatin’ Who (7) There Goes (8) Between the Devil and Me (9) Right on the Money (10) It Must Be Love (11) Where I Come From (12) Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning (13) Drive (For Daddy Gene) (14) It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere (with Jimmy Buffett) (15) Remember When (16) Small Town Southern Man (17) Good Time (18) Country Boy


Total Running Time: 132:48

Rating:

4.232 out of 5.00 (average of 11 ratings)

About 34 Number Ones:

It’s not clear what charts are being referenced that suggest Alan Jackson had 34 #1’s since only 25 of these songs hit the top of the Billboard country song chart. Quibbling aside, this is a nice overview of Jackson’s career. The collection features three songs not previously available on an Alan Jackson album. Look at Me was from the 2008 soundtrack Billy: The Early Years and As Long As She’s Walking Away was first released on Zac Brown Band’s You Get What You Give album. Jackson also turns in a cover of Ring of Fire, a song made famous by Johnny Cash.


Tracks Not on Previously Noted Albums:

  • Look at Me (2008)
  • As She’s Walking Away (with Zac Brown Band) (8/9/10, 32 US, 12 CW, 0.1 million airplay)
  • Ring of Fire (12/11/10, 45 CW)


Resources and Related Links: