| "Washington Square" | |
|---|---|
| Single by The Village Stompers | |
| from the album Washington Square | |
| Released | 1963 |
| Format | 7" (45 rpm) |
| Genre | Pop, Dixieland jazz, Instrumental |
| Label | Epic |
| Writer(s) | Bobb Goldsteinn, David Shire |
| Producer | Joe Sherman |
"Washington Square" is the title of a popular instrumental from 1963 by the New York City-based jazz group The Village Stompers.
Named after the famous park in New York City,[1] "Washington Square" became a hit single in November 1963, when it peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[2] The song was kept from the summit by Dale and Grace's hit song "I'm Leaving It Up to You".[3] It did, however, top the Billboard Easy Listening chart for three weeks that November[1] and made the top 30 on the Billboard R&B chart. In addition, the song was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category Best Instrumental Theme.
Other artists have recorded the song, sometimes as a vocal track. Among these acts are The Ames Brothers (their last national chart record), the Kirby Stone Four, Percy Faith, Lawrence Welk, Kenny Ball, Spike Jones, James Last, Andre Kostelanetz, Kai Winding, The Ventures, and The Dukes of Dixieland.[1][4]
"Washington Square" shares the same metre as many popular hymns, known as 86.86D or CMD [Common Metre doubled]. In the 1970s, some churches were singing hymns such as "The Lord Is My Shepherd" and "Amazing Grace" to the tune.