Faded Love
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| "Faded Love" | |
| Written by | Bob Wills/John Wills |
|---|---|
| Lyrics by | Billy Jack Wills |
| Language | English |
| Form | Western swing |
| Original artist | Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys |
| Recorded by | (many, many other artists) |
"Faded Love" is a Western swing song written by Bob Wills and his brother, Billy Jack Wills. The melody came from an old fiddle tune Bob learned from his father, John Wills.[1][2] "Faded Love" is sentimental a song about lost love. The name comes from the refrain that follows each verse:
- I remember our faded love.
The song was a major hit for Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys (MGM K10786) reaching #8 on the charts in 1950.[3] It became one of his signature songs.
Leon McAuliffe had two Top 40 hits with "Faded Love", both reaching #22 (Cimarron 4057, 1962, and MGM 14249, 1971).[4] Also in 1962, it was a modest hit for Jackie DeShannon.
The song had even greater success when Patsy Cline covered the song in 1963. Her version became a hit, reaching #7 on the U.S. Country charts and it reached #96 on the Pop charts. Due to the plane crash that ended Cline's life, it was never released on an album. Instead, it was released on A Portrait, a compilation album the following year.
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[edit] Other versions
Country music singer (Cline's friend), Dottie West recorded "Faded Love" for her 1968 album Country Girl.
Elvis Presley recorded this song in 1970.
In 1980, the song became popular again as a duet recording by Ray Price and Willie Nelson. Their duet version — which features Crystal Gayle singing harmony on the chorus — was the biggest hit version of "Faded Love," reaching No. 3 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart in October 1980.
[edit] Predecessors and popular culture successors
The tune to "Faded Love" very closely approximates that of "Darling Nellie Gray", written in 1856 by Benjamin Russell Hanby. "Darling Nellie Gray" can be heard on Johnny Gimble's CD, The Texas Fiddle Collection (1989) by CMH Records, Inc.
The song was also mentioned in the 1977 Oak Ridge Boys song "Y'all Come Back Saloon" and in the 1984 Alabama song "If You're Gonna Play in Texas (You Gotta Have a Fiddle in the Band)".
[edit] References
- ^ Wolff, Country Music, p. 112: "It ['Faded Love'] originated with western swing pioneer Bob Wills, who grew up in the 1910s and '20s fiddling in rural Texas with his father, John Wills. They wrote the melody together when Bob was very young; it wasn't until 1950 that the song gained lyrics, courtesy of Bob's younger brother, Billy Jack."
- ^ McWhorter, Cowboy Fiddler, p. 61: "And he [Boyd Rogers] played a tune called 'Forsaken Lover.' It's note-for-note the same as 'Faded Love.' Bob took that old tune and slowed it down and put in that long Bob Wills bow, and it became 'Faded Love'."
- ^ Whitburn, The Billboard Book of Top 40 Country Hits, p. 393: "Rusty McDonald and The Playboy Trio (vocals)".
- ^ Whitburn, The Billboard Book of Top 40 Country Hits, p. 218.
[edit] Bibliography
- McWhorter, Frankie. Cowboy Fiddler in Bob Wills' Band. University of North Texas Press, 1997. ISBN 1-57441-025-3
- Whitburn, Joel. The Billboard Book of Top 40 Country Hits. Billboard Books, 2006. ISBN 0-8230-8291-1
