Tag: Liberty Records

Holiday Rodents Make Their Debut…

It was on this day in 1958 that Alvin, Simon and Theodore hit #1 with The Chipmunk Song. It became the first Christmas song to hit #1 in America. It remained #1 for four weeks. Christmas had been over for a month and most folks had taken down the lights and decorations, and that song was still hanging in at #1.

Influence for the song stemmed from real life events. The song was written and produced by Ross Bagdasarian (a.k.a. David Seville). Its inspiration came to him from his youngest son, Adam. It seems he had a habit of asking in September if it was Christmas yet. That got Ross thinking. He figured if his son was already asking about the holiday so early, other kids probably were too.

According to songfact.com: The song went through three versions before Bagdasarian’s family gave it the OK. The first version was an instrumental, the second was titled “In A Village Park,” and the third and winner was “The Chipmunk Song.” Bagdasarian came up with the idea for a trio of singing chipmunks after seeing one of those creatures on the road, refusing to move for his car.

Fun Fact: Ross Bagdasarian can be seen playing the piano as a struggling composer in the Alfred Hitchcock movie classic Rear Window starring Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly. 

Speeding up his voice was nothing new to David Seville. He had previously recorded two singles using the pitched-up voice technique. The first was “Witch Doctor,” which went to #1 US in April 1958. On that song, the high pitched voice represented the witch doctor, not a chipmunk.

When he decided on having three separate voices for his Chipmunks, Dave took advantage of his record label. The Chipmunks were called Alvin, Simon and Theodore. They were named after Liberty Records president Al Bennett, owner Si Warnoker and the engineer on duty when it was recorded, Ted Keep.

The song would go on to win three Grammy Awards: Best Comedy Performance, Best Recording For Children, and Best Engineered Record – Non-Classical (this one went to engineer Ted Keep, the namesake for Theodore). It was also nominated for Record of the Year.

The Chipmunk Christmas albums were a big part of my childhood. My brother and I always had them playing on our record players. In 2020, I wrote about them and featured one of their songs. You can read that blog here.

Tune Tuesday: Cry Me a River

One of my followers mentioned a few weeks ago that I needed to post more musical posts. I’m hoping to revive Tune Tuesday with a classic.

I remember I used to hear Frank Sinatra talking about “saloon songs” and “torch songs.” This one would be considered a torch song. By definition, a torch song is “a sentimental love song, typically one in which the singer laments an unrequited or lost love, either where one party is oblivious to the existence of the other, where one party has moved on, or where a romantic affair has affected the relationship.” The term comes from the phrase “to carry a torch for someone.”

Arthur Hamilton published Cry Me a River in 1953. He said “I had never heard the phrase. I just liked the combination of words… Instead of ‘Eat your heart out’ or ‘I’ll get even with you,’ it sounded like a good, smart retort to somebody who had hurt your feelings or broken your heart.” The song was originally written for Ella Fitzgerald to sing in the movie “Pete Kelly’s Blues.”

According to Hamilton, he and singer Julie London had been high school classmates, and she contacted him on behalf of her husband, Jack Webb, who was the film’s director and was looking for new songs for its soundtrack. When the song was dropped from the movie soundtrack, Julie London released it in 1955 when she was at Liberty Records.

Julie’s version is a stripped down jazz version with a guitar and bass accompaniment. Her vocal is simple and beautiful. I will share her version here, but it is not her version that I like the best.

The version that I absolutely love is by Michael Buble’. I love the fact that he has brought back so many of the great standards and shared them with today’s audiences. His cover of Cry Me a River can be found on his Crazy Love album from 2009. It is the opening cut on the album and it gets your attention immediately!

He actually wrote the opening music of his version. It has been described as “James Bond-like” and that actually fits. I could hear it being used over the opening credits of a Bond movie. This arrangement paired with Michael’s vocal blow me away every time! Give it a listen!

Cry Me a River

Now, you say you’re lonely
You cried the whole night through
Well, you can cry me a river
Cry me a river
I cried a river over you

And, now, you say you’re sorry
For being so untrue
Well, you can cry me a river
Cry me a river
I cried a river over you

You drove me
Nearly out of my head
While you never shed a tear, babe
Remember?
I remember all that you said
You told me love was too plebeian
Told me you were through with me

And now you say you love me
Well, just to prove that you do
Why don’t you cry me a river?
Cry me a river
‘Cause I cried a river over you
Over you

You say you love me, but you lie

Now, you say you love me
Well, just to prove that you do
Come on and cry me a river
Oh, cry me a river
I cried a river over you
I cried a river
Over you

I cried a river
Now you can, too
Cry me a river

Cry me a river