Singing the Blues

"Singing the Blues" is a popular song written by Melvin Endsley and published in 1956. (It is not related to the song "Singin' the Blues," written by Sam M. Lewis, Joe Young, Con Conrad and J. Russel Robinson and recorded by Frank Trumbauer and Bix Beiderbecke in 1927.)

The best-known recording was released in October 1956 by Guy Mitchell and spent nine weeks at #1 on the U.S. Billboard chart from December 8, 1956 to February 2, 1957. Mitchell's version was also number 1 in the U.K. for three (non-consecutive) weeks in early 1957.

Two other charting versions of the song were released almost simultaneously with Mitchell's, one by U.K. cover specialist Tommy Steele (with the Steelmen) and the other by U.S. country singer Marty Robbins.

Tommy Steele's version of "Singing The Blues" made #1 in the UK Singles Chart for one week on 11 January 1957, sandwiched by two of the weeks that Guy Mitchell's version of the same song topped the charts. Steele's recording of the song was not a chart success in the US.

The Marty Robbins version made it to number one on the Billboard C&W Best Sellers chart for 13 weeks in late 1956 and early 1957^[1] and peaked at number seventeen on the U.S. pop charts.^[2] In 1983, Gail Davies recorded a cover version, taking her version into the top 20 of the Hot Country Singles chart in the spring of 1983.

The song is often revived, and on three occasions new recordings of "Singing The Blues" have become U.K. Top 40 hits. These latter-day hit versions were by Dave Edmunds (1980), Daniel O'Donnell (1994), and Cliff Richard & the Shadows (2009).

Charting versions

Other cover versions

Other notable cover versions include a 1960 recording by Bill Haley & his Comets, a 1963 version by Dean Martin, and a 1971 version by Black Oak Arkansas. It was recorded by Marie Osmond for her 1975 album In My Little Corner of the World, by Gene Summers on his 1981 French album Gene Summers in Nashville, and by The Kentucky Headhunters for their album Stompin' Grounds (1997). A version by Bert Jansch appears on his 2000 release Crimson Moon.

"Singing the Blues" was performed live by Paul McCartney on the MTV show Unplugged in 1991 and included on the subsequent soundtrack, Unplugged (The Official Bootleg).

The tune was also sung by Vivian Vance and William Frawley (Ethel and Fred of I Love Lucy fame) for a Ford Motor Company television commercial promoting the Edsel.

The first line of this song is famously the last line of "London Calling" by the Clash, cut short and echoed in the final mix of the song (I never felt so much a-like, a-like, a-like...).

Birmingham City-supporting radio presenters Tom Ross and Ian Danter released a version to celebrate Birmingham's promotion to the Premier League, and has been sung since at least the 1969 season by fans of the Midlands club.

Everton fans sing a version of this song; "I've never felt more like singing the blues, when Everton win and Liverpool lose, oh Everton you've got me singing the blues."

Also this song is commonly used at Manchester City F.C. football matches, where the fans sing

Never felt more like singing the blues City win, United lose.

This song has also famously been used by Sheffield Wednesday fans. Their lyrics are:

Never felt more like singing the blues,

When Wednesday win and United lose!

Oh Wednesday, you got me singing the blues.

Boxing Day! Boxing Day! Boxing Day!

"Boxing Day" is added onto the end in reference to the 'Boxing Day Massacre,' on 26 December 1979, where the Owls beat their fierce rivals, Sheffield United, 4-0. One of the Wednesday scorers on that day, Terry Curran, even recorded a version of the song and it is still used at Hillsborough to this day.

References