Oh! Carol”, legal title “Oh Carol”, is an international hit written by Neil Sedaka in 1958 about his then-girlfriend, Carol Klein, later to become Carole King. The song was co-written with Howard Greenfield. The song reached #9 in the American charts in 1959. It also earned Sedaka his first #1 ranking when it went to #1 on the Italian charts for four weeks in January 1960. Continue reading
“Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” is a song credited to Lennon–McCartney, but written by Paul McCartney and released by The Beatles on their 1968 album The Beatles (also referred to as The White Album). It was released as a single that same year in many countries, but not in the United Kingdom, nor in the United States until 1976. Continue reading
“North to Alaska” is a 1960 hit song by Johnny Horton which featured in the movie of the same name. Though Horton had sung several popular movie tie-in songs, this was the first one that was sung over the opening titles. Continue reading
“No More” is a version of “La Paloma” recorded by Elvis Presley singing it in Blue Hawaii, a 1961 musical film set in the state of Hawaii and starring Elvis Presley. The screenplay by Hal Kanter was nominated by the Writers Guild of America in 1962 in the category of Best Written American Musical. The movie opened at no. 2 in box office receipts for that week and despite mixed reviews from critics, finished as the 10th top-grossing movie of 1961 and 14th for 1962 on the Variety national box office survey, earning $5 million. The film won a fourth place prize Laurel Award in the category of Top Musical of 1961. Continue reading
Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen is a spiritual. The song is well known and many cover versions of it have been produced, although the rendition by Louis Armstrong is the best known. Marian Anderson had her first successful recording with a version of this song on the Victor label in 1925. Lena Horne recorded a version of the song in 1946. Deep River Boys recorded their version in Oslo on August 29, 1958. It was released on the extended play Negro Spirituals Vol. 1 (HMV 7EGN 27). The song was arranged by Harry Douglas. Continue reading