Sleep Walk

September 1959

The next two weeks were ruled by two Italian-American brothers from Brooklyn, going by the name of Santo & Johnny. "Sleep Walk" was their only hit in America, although they had more success internationally.

Another instrumental which, like "The Happy Organ," relies on an unusual instrument for its success – in this case, the steel guitar. To make an instrumental song that has any chance of commercial success, you've got to have something to replace the usual role of singer, and by that I mean you've got to have a lead instrument. Ever since the concerti grossi of the baroque period, more or less all successful instrumental music has one instrument in the lead, more prominently placed above all the others (if you can think of a counterexample, let me know). A common choice is the guitar: see the surf rock songs of the Ventures, and Dick Dale; the heavy metal-tinged jazz (or jazz-tinged heavy metal) of the Mahavishnu Orchestra; or the Allman Brothers with songs like "Jessica." Another popular instrument in the olden tymes was the saxophone (as in the ever-popular "Yakety Sax").

But here, in "Sleep Walk," we hear something we're not accustomed to, and it strikes us in an unusual way. The first impression is that of surprise ("What is that?"), but of course in a few seconds it turns to enjoyment, because the melody really is quite nice and original. But would we even be paying attention if it hadn't shocked us a little in the beginning with a fresh sound?

As we got further into the 60s, and onward, instrumental songs became less commercially viable. But of course, that doesn't mean they ain't good; some of my favorite songs are instrumentals. All guitar-based, though – I'll admit, I have a bias toward the instrument.

B+

The Three Bells

August–September 1959

Next up is "The Three Bells" by vocal trio the Browns, which was #1 for four weeks.

It's based on an earlier French song called "Les trois cloches," made popular by Edith Piaf (whom I only know of through the biopic La vie en rose); as far as I can tell, the meaning of the lyrics is more or less preserved in translation. It's a story song, chronicling the life of a fictional Jimmy Brown (who, curiously, has the same name as the lead singer). In three hushed, gospel-like verses, and three melodic choruses, we follow the path of Jimmy's life as he is born, gets married, and finally dies.

Jimmy Brown is a mythical figure, I suppose. The tone of the song is undeniably reverent – we are meant to be filled with awe when we hear the story of this legendary man. But here's the thing: we don't hear about a single thing he did in his lifetime, other than be born, get married, and die. I feel this has two effects, which are sort of opposite, and you can take your pick. The first thing it does is it increases the mystery of his life – we've got to use our imaginations to know what great things he did with his life. He becomes Davy Crockett, Paul Bunyan, John Henry, and all the other great American mythical heroes (or, I guess, the French ones).

But here's the other effect: what do being born, getting married, and dying have in common? They are three things that most everyone does in their lives. Jimmy becomes Everyman. So what... he's totally ordinary? So why sing a song about him? Well, I don't think the two interpretations of the song are entirely contradictory, as they might first seem. He's ordinary, yet extraordinary. Don't we all feel this way sometimes? With billions of people in the world, it can be humbling to realize it's pretty damn hard to be special. Of course I can only speak for myself, but I would imagine most everybody feels that they are truly special; extraordinary in some way. We could all be as famous and respected as any of the great figures in history, if we'd just had the right chance at the right time; or if the stars had lined up just a little differently. We could all be Jimmy Brown. But – and this is perhaps the central meaning of the song – we all are Jimmy Brown. For isn't there enough beauty and reward in the simple life described here? It's important to be comfortable with the life you've got, and "The Three Bells" reminds us of that.

B+

A Big Hunk o' Love

August 1959

Most of Elvis's most famous songs are from before the Hot 100 chart, and thus before the time frame of this blog. But here's the first one that we're concerned with, which was #1 for two weeks:



It's pretty fun to imagine the parents – the conservative, 50s parents – as they realized with horror what their innocent children were listening to. I mean, "Heartbreak Hotel" this ain't. Elvis wants the young women of America to give him a big-uh big-uh big-uh hunk o' love. And he's got a wishbone in his pocket! This is pretty much the raunchiest pop music got in those days.

Let's fast forward 50 years or so. Apart from a few minor stylistic differences, "Big Hunk o' Love" is more or less the same song as a certain 2006 hit by Akon and Snoop Dogg (which also hit #1 – so we'll get to it eventually). What was it Bob Dylan said about the times? Well they have indeed changed, but it's only the delivery that's changed. The message has been there all along. Sure, today's hyper-sexual club music leaves a lot less to the imagination, but let's not kid ourselves – Elvis knew what he wanted.

And let's not forget that this song was one of 10(!) top 40 hits Presley released during his two-year service in the U.S. Army. Here, get a load of the record cover:

Elvis's military service is one thing that redeemed him in the eyes of the older generations. He may have been a hip-swinging corrupter of youth, but he was all-American. Anyway, this isn't one of his best songs, but it's a good enough rocker that displays Presley's more upbeat side. "A Bing Hunk o' Love" will do.

B

Lonely Boy

July–August 1959

Paul Anka (a Canuck, as my Canadian colleague dutifully reminded me) had his only #1 hit with "Lonely Boy," which topped the chart for four weeks. I guess that makes it his biggest hit, although he had a smash hit with "Diana" a couple years earlier – before the inception of the Hot 100 chart, and this blog. But for the purposes of this blog, this is the one that matters most:

It's similar to "Venus," #1 a few months earlier, in that it's a love song, but not for any specific girl. Rather, it's a general call (to the heavens?) for "someone to love." I guess it's not too uncommon a theme in popular music – I'm reminded of Queen's 1976 "Somebody to Love" – but it's just a little funny that two songs like this were huge hits in such close succession. I guess a lot of people in the late 50s, uh, really wanted a girlfriend? I don't know.

And say, remember when pop singers wrote their own songs? Or at least some of them did. Anka was a pretty talented songwriter – he composed a number of successful songs for himself, as well as for other singers. I'll admit though, "Lonely Boy" doesn't really do it for me. Harmonically, it consists of a whopping 2 chords, which no amount of strings and backing singers could save from repetitiveness. But hey, better songs have been written on only 1 chord (Bob Dylan's "Masters of War" comes to mind). It's a funny thing about simple songs – they can be powerful and pithy, or trite and bland, and it's a fine line. It's just that there isn't really anything else about this song that stands out. It's kind of boring, and Anka is more shouting it than singing it.

But, credit where credit's due – Anka also gave us the far more awesome "She's a Lady," made famous by Tom Jones in the early 70s. And speak of the devil! Except for the bridge and the occasional embellishment, the song is built around, yes, 2 chords. Not the same 2, but what is it that makes this song so much better? Well, I don't think anyone would deny that it's a far better vocal performance (sorry Paul). And here, the simplicity of the song comes off as very direct, almost sexual. The 2 chords of "Lonely Boy," on the other hand, sleepily rock back and forth until the song finally fades out, which apparently worked just fine for listeners of 1959. But hey, if nothing else, here's a guy who was able to adapt to the changing times.

C

The Battle of New Orleans

June–July 1959

And now we come to the first nationalistic song on the list. It's also the first country-western song on the list – coincidence? It was apparently written by a high school history teacher, but the famous version is the massive (six weeks at #1) hit by Johnny Horton.



Funny this song should come up right now, because this Friday (January 8th) will be the 195th anniversary of the battle, which is often seen as the deciding American victory in the War of 1812. Of course, in the song, the details of the battle are not important. The Americans won, and the British ran away like little girls. However, it doesn't even purport to be a true account of the facts. It's deliberately mythologized and exaggerated – one of the later verses involves using an alligator as a cannon.

So it's all in good fun, but it raises the question: what did Americans of 1959 have against the British? This wasn't some flash-in-the-pan ditty – it was the number one single in America for a month and a half. The British had been our allies in both world wars, and most recently in the Korean war. Why the hostility at this particular time?

But maybe this has nothing to do with the U.K. Maybe people just wanted to remember a time when America won a war so triumphantly. The modern wars were American victories too, but they were increasingly bittersweet, being closer to the present, rather than history. And let's not forget that in the summer of '59, the U.S. had been funding a war in Vietnam for half a decade, and we would enter it ourselves in a short few months. Maybe people were scared enough that a nice little tale of red-blooded American victory seemed very appealing. But I'm betting this song didn't chart in England.

D