When You Were Sweet Sixteen

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"When You Were Sweet Sixteen" is a popular song.

It was written by James Thornton. The song was published in 1898.

The original sheet music attributed both Bonnie Thornton, Raymon Moore, Helene Mora, and others as having sung the song with "great success"; however, the song has been recorded by many artists. One of the best-known versions of the song was made by Al Jolson in 1929.

The song was revived in 1947 by Perry Como in a recording made on April 10 of that year. The recording was released by RCA Victor Records as catalog number 20-2259. The record first reached the Billboard magazine charts on August 16, 1947 and lasted 12 weeks on the chart, peaking at #2. The song was one side of a two-sided hit; the flip side, "Chi-Baba, Chi-Baba (My Bambino Go to Sleep)," reached #1. The record was also released, with the same flip side, in the United Kingdom, by HMV with catalog number BD-1180. It was re-released in the USA in 1949 as a 78rpm single (catalog number 20-3300-A) and a 45rpm single (catalog number 47-2888), with the flip side "Song of Songs."

The 1947 revival of the song led to a number of artists recording it that year, including Jolson, whose June 18, 1947 recording was released by Decca Records as catalog number 24106. It was also recorded in England by Steve Conway on April 5, 1948 (released by UK Columbia as catalog number FB-3398) and by Josef Locke on April 16, 1948 (released by UK Columbia as catalog number DB-2409).

The song was also a hit for The Fureys & Davey Arthur, who took it to number 14 in the UK in October 1981.

One of the most popular recent versions is by Liverpool-based singer Charlie Landsborough