Singing the Blues

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Singing the Blues" is a popular song. It was written by Melvin Endsley and was published in 1956.

The best-known recording of the song, released in October 1956 by Guy Mitchell, spent 9 weeks at #1 on the Billboard chart from December 8, 1956 - February 2, 1957, despite competition from rival versions by Tommy Steele and Marty Robbins. Tommy Steele's version also made no. 1 in the UK Singles Chart for one week on 11 January 1957.

The song became a UK Top 30 hit for Dave Edmunds in 1980. Other notable cover versions include a 1960 recording by Bill Haley & His Comets, a 1963 version by Dean Martin, and a 1971 version by Black Oak Arkansas. In the United Kingdom both the versions by Steele and Mitchell hit #1 in the same year. The song was a hit again in 1994 when covered by Daniel O'Donnell. It is not related to the song "Singin' the Blues," written by Sam Lewis, Joe Young, Con Conrad and J. Russel Robinson and recorded by Frank Trumbauer and Bix Beiderbecke in 1927. The tune was also sung by Vivian Vance and William Frawley (Ethel and Fred of I Love Lucy fame) for a Ford Motor Company television commercial promoting the Edsel.

"Singing the Blues" was performed live by Paul McCartney on the MTV show Unplugged in 1991 and included on the subsequent soundtrack, Unplugged (The Official Bootleg).

A cover version was released by the Kentucky Headhunters on their 1997 album Stompin' Grounds.

This song has also famously been used by Sheffield Wednesday fans since the 'Boxing Day Massacre', on December 26, 1979, where the Owls beat their fierce rivals, Sheffield United, 4-0. One of the Wednesday scorers on that day, Terry Curran, even recorded a version of the song and is still used at Hillsborough to this day.

Preceded by "Love Me Tender" by Elvis Presley	Billboard Top 100 number one single (Guy Mitchell version) December 8, 1956 (9 weeks)	Succeeded by "Don't Forbid Me" by Pat Boone
Preceded by "Love Me Tender" by Elvis Presley	Cash Box magazine best selling record chart #1 record (Guy Mitchell version) December 1, 1956–January 26, 1957	Succeeded by "Young Love" by Tab Hunter
Preceded by "Just Walkin' in the Rain" by Johnnie Ray	UK number one single (Guy Mitchell, Tommy Steele version) 4 January 1957 (one week, Guy Mitchell version) 11 January 1957 (one week, Tommy Steele version) 18 January 1957 (one week, Guy Mitchell version)	Succeeded by "The Garden of Eden" by Frankie Vaughan
Preceded by "The Garden of Eden" by Frankie Vaughan	UK number one single (Guy Mitchell version) 1 February 1957 (one week)	Succeeded by "The Garden of Eden" by Frankie Vaughan