Moody River: Difference between revisions

"Moody River"
"Moody River"
	Moody River by Pat Boone
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

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Latest revision as of 06:14, 7 August 2024

"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

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

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

Chart (1961)	Peak position
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

References

^ 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

This 1960s single-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X

[2] CHUM Tribute Charts, June 26, 1961

[3] Flavour of New Zealand, 20 July 1961

[4] Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

@@ Line 6: / Line 6: @@
 | type       = single
 | artist     = [[Pat Boone]]
-| album      = Moody River
+| album      = [[Moody River (album)|Moody River]]
 | B-side     = A Thousand Years
 | released   = May 1961
-| format     = 45 rpm
+| recorded   = April 8, 1961
+| studio     = [[Radio Recorders]], Hollywood, California, U.S.
-| recorded   =
-| studio     =
 | venue      =
 | genre      = [[Country pop]]
@@ Line 18: / Line 17: @@
 | writer     = Gary D. Bruce
 | producer   = [[Randy Wood (record producer)|Randy Wood]]
+| prev_title = [[Theme of Exodus|The Exodus Song (This Land Is Mine)]]
-| prev_title =
-| prev_year  =
+| prev_year  = 1960
-| next_title =
+| next_title = [[Big Cold Wind]]
-| next_year  =
+| next_year  = 1961
-| misc       = {{Audio sample
+| misc       =
- | type = single
- | file = Moody_River_by_Pat_Boone.ogg
-}}
 }}
-"'''Moody River'''" is a song released in May 1961, which was performed by [[Pat Boone]].  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>  It was written by and originally performed by country rockabilly singer Chase Webster (real name Gary Daniel Bruce, not to be confused with Gary Bruce of [[the Knack]]). Webster was a labelmate of Boone's at Dot Records.
+"'''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|''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.
-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]]''.
 ==Plot==
-The song tells the story of a man who goes to meet his love at the river, by the old oak tree, and finds that she has committed suicide.  A note on the riverbank explains that she has cheated on him and that "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 looks into the river and sees his own reflection on the river looking back, ever hauntingly, at him. He is the "lonely, lonely face just lookin' back at me". So with "Tears in his eyes, and a prayer on his lips, and the glove of his lost love, at his fingertips".
+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==
+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.
+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 ==
@@ Line 39: / Line 42: @@
 !align="left"|Chart (1961)
 !align="center"|Peak<br />position
+|-
+|Canada ([[CHUM Chart|CHUM]] ''Hit Parade'')<ref>[http://chumtribute.com/61-06-26-chart.jpg CHUM Tribute Charts, June 26, 1961]</ref>
+| style="text-align:center;"|1
 |-
 |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>
 | style="text-align:center;"|1
 |-
-|align="left"|U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100<ref>''Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990'' - ISBN 0-89820-089-X</ref>
+|align="left"|U.K. Singles charts
+|align="center"|18
+|-
+|align="left"|U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100<ref>''Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990'' - {{ISBN|0-89820-089-X}}</ref>
 |align="center"|1
 |-
 |align="left"|U.S. Adult Contemporany
 |align="center"|4
-|-
-|align="left"|U.K. Singles charts
-|align="center"|18
 |}
 ==See also==
 *[[List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 1961 (U.S.)]]
+==References==
+{{Reflist}}
 ==External links==
@@ Line 60: / Line 69: @@
 * {{YouTube|AzpoZyiLLwA|Video of original recording by Chase Webster}}
 * [http://www.beachwoodreporter.com/music/pat_boone_moody_river.php "Beachwood Reporter" background and commentary on Moody River]
+{{Pat Boone}}
+{{authority control}}
 [[Category:1961 singles]]
 [[Category:Pat Boone songs]]
 [[Category:Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles]]
+[[Category:Number-one singles in Canada]]
 [[Category:Number-one singles in New Zealand]]
 [[Category:Songs about suicide]]

v t e Pat Boone
Discography
Albums	Pat Boone Howdy! "Pat" Hymns We Love Pat's Great Hits Pat Boone Sings Irving Berlin Star Dust Yes Indeed! Tenderly Pat Boone Sings White Christmas Moonglow This and That Great! Great! Great! Moody River I'll See You in My Dreams Pat Boone's Golden Hits Featuring Speedy Gonzales Pat Boone Sings Guess Who? Pat Boone Sings Days of Wine and Roses The Star Spangled Banner Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport The Touch of Your Lips Ain't That a Shame Boss Beat! Near You The Golden Era of Country Hits My 10th Anniversary with Dot Records Pat Boone Sings Winners of the Reader's Digest Poll Great Hits of 1965 Memories Wish You Were Here, Buddy Christmas Is A Comin' I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman Golden Hits – 15 Hits of Pat Boone Look Ahead Departure Texas Woman The Country Side of Pat Boone Songmaker In a Metal Mood: No More Mr. Nice Guy American Glory
EPs	Four by Pat
Singles	"Two Hearts" "Ain't That a Shame" "At My Front Door (Crazy Little Mama)" "No Arms Can Ever Hold You" "Gee Whittakers!" "I'll Be Home" "Tutti Frutti" "Long Tall Sally" "I Almost Lost My Mind" "Friendly Persuasion" / "Chains of Love" "Don't Forbid Me" / "Anastasia" "Why Baby Why" "Love Letters in the Sand" / "Bernardine" "Remember You're Mine" "April Love" "When the Swallows Come Back to Capistrano" "A Wonderful Time Up There" "It's Too Soon to Know" "Sugar Moon" "That's How Much I Love You" "For My Good Fortune" / "Gee, But It's Lonely" "I'll Remember Tonight" "Good Rockin' Tonight" / "With the Wind and the Rain in Your Hair" "For a Penny" / "The Wang Dang Taffy-Apple Tango" "'Twixt Twelve and Twenty" "Fools Hall of Fame" "Beyond the Sunset" "(Welcome) New Lovers" / "Words" "Spring Rain" / "Walking the Floor over You" "Candy Sweet" "Dear John" / "Alabam" "The Exodus Song (This Land Is Mine)" "Moody River" "Big Cold Wind" "Johnny Will" "Pictures in the Fire" / "I'll See You in My Dreams" "Quando Quando Quando" "Speedy Gonzales" "Ten Lonely Guys" "White Christmas" "Meditation (Meditação)" "Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport" "Some Enchanted Evening" "Beach Girl" / "Little Honda" "Baby Elephant Walk" "As Tears Go By" / "Judith" "Wish You Were Here, Buddy" "Gonna Find Me a Bluebird" "July You're a Woman" "I Saw the Light"
Related articles	'Twixt Twelve and Twenty Debby Boone
Category