Moody River: Difference between revisions
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{{Unreferenced|date=February 2011}} |
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{{Infobox song |
{{Infobox song |
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| name = Moody River |
| name = Moody River |
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| type = single |
| type = single |
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| artist = [[Pat Boone]] |
| artist = [[Pat Boone]] |
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| album = Moody River |
| album = [[Moody River (album)|Moody River]] |
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| B-side = A Thousand Years |
| B-side = A Thousand Years |
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| released = May 1961 |
| released = May 1961 |
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| recorded = April 8, 1961 |
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| studio = [[Radio Recorders]], Hollywood, California, U.S. |
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| recorded = |
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| studio = |
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| venue = |
| venue = |
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| genre = [[Country pop]] |
| genre = [[Country pop]] |
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| writer = Gary D. Bruce |
| writer = Gary D. Bruce |
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| producer = [[Randy Wood (record producer)|Randy Wood]] |
| producer = [[Randy Wood (record producer)|Randy Wood]] |
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| prev_title = [[Theme of Exodus|The Exodus Song (This Land Is Mine)]] |
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| prev_title = |
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| prev_year = |
| prev_year = 1960 |
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| next_title = |
| next_title = [[Big Cold Wind]] |
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| next_year = |
| next_year = 1961 |
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| misc = |
| misc = |
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| type = single |
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| file = Moody_River_by_Pat_Boone.ogg |
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}} |
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}} |
}} |
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"'''Moody River'''" is a song |
"'''Moody River'''" is a song written by and originally performed by country rockabilly singer Chase Webster (real name Gary Daniel Bruce, not to be confused with Gary Bruce, the drummer of [[The Knack]]). |
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[[Pat Boone]] recorded and released his own version in May 1961, where it reached number-one on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] chart the following month.<ref>''Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990'' - {{ISBN|0-89820-089-X}}</ref> This was the title track from one of Boone's better-selling albums. Boone sang this song as if he were in pain. |
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This was the title track from one of Boone's better-selling albums. Boone sang this song as if he were in pain. It was covered some years later by Johnny Burnette in 1962, also [[Frank Sinatra]] and [[Johnny Rivers]]. In August 2009, [[John Fogerty]] covered the song in the album entitled ''[[The Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again]]''. |
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==Plot== |
==Plot== |
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The song tells the |
The 'story-song' tells the tale of a man who plans to meet his love on the riverbank, by an old oak tree, but finds her glove and a note for him, indicating she has committed suicide via drowning, "river more deadly, than the vainest knife". The note explains that she had cheated on him and cannot lie about it, "No longer can I live with this hurt and this sin. I just couldn't tell you 'that guy was just a friend'." |
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He then notices his own reflection in the river, "lonely, lonely face just lookin' back at me", and begins to weep "Tears in his eyes, and a prayer on his lips, and the glove of his lost love, at his fingertips". |
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=="Vainest knife" lyric== |
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Gary Bruce's original lyrics were "more deadly than the sharpest knife", but during the recording session the P in "sharpest" kept [[pop filter|popping]]. Rather than find a different mic or a filter, Chase changed "sharpest" to "vainest" on the spot, with no thought given to the meaning. |
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When Pat Boone recorded it a couple of months later, Dot Records chief exec, Randy Wood, verified the lyric before Boone's release. |
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== Chart performance == |
== Chart performance == |
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!align="left"|Chart (1961) |
!align="left"|Chart (1961) |
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!align="center"|Peak<br />position |
!align="center"|Peak<br />position |
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⚫ | |||
|Canada ([[CHUM Chart|CHUM]] ''Hit Parade'')<ref>[http://chumtribute.com/61-06-26-chart.jpg CHUM Tribute Charts, June 26, 1961]</ref> |
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| style="text-align:center;"|1 |
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|New Zealand (''Lever Hit Parade'')<ref>[http://www.flavourofnz.co.nz/index.php?qpageID=search%20lever&qartistid=175#n_view_location Flavour of New Zealand, 20 July 1961]</ref> |
|New Zealand (''Lever Hit Parade'')<ref>[http://www.flavourofnz.co.nz/index.php?qpageID=search%20lever&qartistid=175#n_view_location Flavour of New Zealand, 20 July 1961]</ref> |
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| style="text-align:center;"|1 |
| style="text-align:center;"|1 |
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|align="left"|U. |
|align="left"|U.K. Singles charts |
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⚫ | |||
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|align="left"|U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100<ref>''Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990'' - {{ISBN|0-89820-089-X}}</ref> |
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|align="center"|1 |
|align="center"|1 |
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|- |
|- |
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|align="left"|U.S. Adult Contemporany |
|align="left"|U.S. Adult Contemporany |
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|align="center"|4 |
|align="center"|4 |
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⚫ | |||
|align="left"|U.K. Singles charts |
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⚫ | |||
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==See also== |
==See also== |
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*[[List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 1961 (U.S.)]] |
*[[List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 1961 (U.S.)]] |
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==References== |
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{{Reflist}} |
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==External links== |
==External links== |
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* {{YouTube|AzpoZyiLLwA|Video of original recording by Chase Webster}} |
* {{YouTube|AzpoZyiLLwA|Video of original recording by Chase Webster}} |
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* [http://www.beachwoodreporter.com/music/pat_boone_moody_river.php "Beachwood Reporter" background and commentary on Moody River] |
* [http://www.beachwoodreporter.com/music/pat_boone_moody_river.php "Beachwood Reporter" background and commentary on Moody River] |
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{{Pat Boone}} |
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{{authority control}} |
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[[Category:1961 singles]] |
[[Category:1961 singles]] |
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[[Category:Pat Boone songs]] |
[[Category:Pat Boone songs]] |
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[[Category:Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles]] |
[[Category:Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles]] |
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[[Category:Number-one singles in Canada]] |
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[[Category:Number-one singles in New Zealand]] |
[[Category:Number-one singles in New Zealand]] |
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[[Category:Songs about suicide]] |
[[Category:Songs about suicide]] |
Latest revision as of 06:14, 7 August 2024
"Moody River" | ||||
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Single by Pat Boone | ||||
from the album Moody River | ||||
B-side | "A Thousand Years" | |||
Released | May 1961 | |||
Recorded | April 8, 1961 | |||
Studio | Radio Recorders, Hollywood, California, U.S. | |||
Genre | Country pop | |||
Length | 2:41 | |||
Label | Dot | |||
Songwriter(s) | Gary D. Bruce | |||
Producer(s) | Randy Wood | |||
Pat Boone singles chronology | ||||
|
"Moody River" is a song written by and originally performed by country rockabilly singer Chase Webster (real name Gary Daniel Bruce, not to be confused with Gary Bruce, the drummer of The Knack).
Pat Boone recorded and released his own version in May 1961, where it reached number-one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart the following month.[1] This was the title track from one of Boone's better-selling albums. Boone sang this song as if he were in pain.
Plot
[edit]The 'story-song' tells the tale of a man who plans to meet his love on the riverbank, by an old oak tree, but finds her glove and a note for him, indicating she has committed suicide via drowning, "river more deadly, than the vainest knife". The note explains that she had cheated on him and cannot lie about it, "No longer can I live with this hurt and this sin. I just couldn't tell you 'that guy was just a friend'."
He then notices his own reflection in the river, "lonely, lonely face just lookin' back at me", and begins to weep "Tears in his eyes, and a prayer on his lips, and the glove of his lost love, at his fingertips".
"Vainest knife" lyric
[edit]Gary Bruce's original lyrics were "more deadly than the sharpest knife", but during the recording session the P in "sharpest" kept popping. Rather than find a different mic or a filter, Chase changed "sharpest" to "vainest" on the spot, with no thought given to the meaning.
When Pat Boone recorded it a couple of months later, Dot Records chief exec, Randy Wood, verified the lyric before Boone's release.
Chart performance
[edit]Chart (1961) | Peak position |
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Canada (CHUM Hit Parade)[2] | 1 |
New Zealand (Lever Hit Parade)[3] | 1 |
U.K. Singles charts | 18 |
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[4] | 1 |
U.S. Adult Contemporany | 4 |
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
- ^ CHUM Tribute Charts, June 26, 1961
- ^ Flavour of New Zealand, 20 July 1961
- ^ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
External links
[edit]- Pat Boone at Bear Family Records
- Video of original recording by Chase Webster on YouTube
- "Beachwood Reporter" background and commentary on Moody River