Blueberry Hill (song)
"Blueberry Hill" is a popular song published in 1940, best remembered for its 1950s rock and roll version by Fats Domino. The music was written by Vincent Rose, the lyrics by Larry Stock and Al Lewis.[1] It was recorded six times in 1940. Victor Records released the recording by the Sammy Kaye Orchestra with vocals by Tommy Ryan on May 31, 1940.[2] Gene Krupa's version was issued on OKeh Records[3] on June 3 and singer Mary Small recorded a vocal version on the same label with Nat Brandwynne's orchestra, released June 20, 1940.[4] Other 1940 recordings were by: the Glenn Miller Orchestra on Bluebird Records (10768), Kay Kyser, Russ Morgan, Gene Autry (also in the 1941 film The Singing Hill), Connee Boswell, and Jimmy Dorsey. The largest 1940 hit was by the Glenn Miller Orchestra, which reached #2 on the US charts.[5]
"Blueberry Hill" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Fats Domino | ||||
from the EP This Is Fats Domino! | ||||
B-side | "Honey Chile" | |||
Released | 1956 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 2:14 | |||
Label | Imperial | |||
Composer(s) | Vincent Rose | |||
Lyricist(s) | ||||
Fats Domino singles chronology | ||||
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Louis Armstrong's 1949 recording charted in the Billboard Top 40, reaching number 29. It was an international hit in 1956 for Fats Domino and has become a rock and roll standard. It reached number two for three weeks on the Billboard Top 40 charts, becoming his biggest pop hit, and spent eight non-consecutive weeks at number one on the R&B Best Sellers chart.[6] The version by Fats Domino was also ranked number 82 in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.[7][8]
Recorded versions
- Gene Autry (from the movie The Singing Hill) (1941)
- The Glenn Miller Orchestra (vocal by Ray Eberle) (1941)[9] (The most famous version in the 1940s. Recorded in Chicago on May 13, 1940. It was released by Bluebird Records as catalog number 10768A and by EMI on the His Master's Voice label as catalog numbers BD 5632 and MH 92)
- Russ Morgan and His Orchestra (vocal by Carol Kaye) (1941)
- Kay Kyser and His Orchestra (vocal by Harry Babbitt) (1941)
- Louis Armstrong with Gordon Jenkins' Orchestra and Choir (1949) (with different lyrics)
- Steve Gibson and the Red Caps (1949)
- Fats Domino (1956)
- Scatman Crothers (1957)
- Elvis Presley (1957)
- Mose Allison (1957)
- Ricky Nelson (1958)
- Adriano Celentano (record Blueberry Hill/Tutti Frutti, 1958)[10]
- Andy Williams (1959)
- Duane Eddy (1959)
- Conway Twitty (1959)
- Carl Mann (1959)
- Pat Boone (1959)[11]
- Bill Haley & His Comets (1960)
- John Barry Orchestra (1960)
- Buster Brown (1960)
- Skeeter Davis (1961)
- Bing Crosby included the song in a medley on his album On the Sentimental Side (1962).
- Cliff Richard (1962)
- Johnny Hallyday (1962)
- Little Richard (1964)
- Slim Harpo (1964)
- San Remo Golden Strings (1966)
- Tutti Camarata on his album Tutti's Trombones (1966)
- The Loved Ones, Australia, (1966)
- The Everly Brothers (1967)
- Dave Clark 5 (1967)
- Led Zeppelin (1970 on the Led Zeppelin bootleg recording Live on Blueberry Hill)
- Freddy Fender (1970s)
- Loretta Lynn (1971)
- Dick Rivers (1972)
- Jerry Lee Lewis (1973, Southern Roots)
- Ellen McIlwaine (1975)
- The Beach Boys (1976)
- Billy "Crash" Craddock (1977)
- Link Wray (1982)
- Mud (1982)
- Jah Wobble (1980, The Legend Lives On... Jah Wobble in "Betrayal")
- Yellowman (1987)
- John Fahey (1990)
- Little Willie Littlefield on his album Singalong with Little Willie Littlefield (1990)
- New Orleans Nightcrawlers instrumental version on their album New Orleans Nightcrawlers (1996)
- Bruce Cockburn with Margo Timmins (1999)
- Jimmy Clanton (2006, played in Boomtown Casino)
- Johnny Hallyday with Chris Isaak (2007, La Cigale, live album recorded 2006 Flashback Tour)
- Elton John (2007, Goin' Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino)
- Brenda Lee
- Celine Dion and Johnny Hallyday
- Nat King Cole with Billy Preston (1957)
- The Loved Ones
- Babybird (2015 – recorded 1988)
- Dylan Frederick (2019)
In popular culture
- In the popular 1970s sitcom Happy Days, set in the 1950s, lead character Richie Cunningham, played by Ron Howard, would often sing "I found my thrill..." (the first line of Domino's 1950s version of "Blueberry Hill") in reference to pretty girls he dated or wanted to date.
- Joe Edwards' restaurant Blueberry Hill, on the Delmar Loop in St. Louis, Missouri, where Chuck Berry frequently played, is named after the song.[12]
- The Far Side, a comic written by Gary Larson, features a comic parodying the lyrics of this song. A man is talking in a phone booth on top of a hill named "Blueberry Hill." He says into the phone "Norm? This is Mitch. ... You were right—I found my drill." The parody is of the line "I found my thrill on Blueberry Hill."
- 12 Monkeys, a 1995 film by Terry Gilliam, features the Fats Domino version sung by a group of doctors.
- Prime Minister of Russia Vladimir Putin made a cover performance of the song on December 10, 2010 before an audience of international film and television celebrities, in support of a charity for ill children. Videos of his performance quickly went viral worldwide.[13]
References
- "Blueberry Hill Work ID: 320068128 – Writers". ACE Repertory. Retrieved April 14, 2018.
- Catalog #26643, with the flip side "Maybe"; matrix #51050
- No. 5672
- OKeh Records No. 5678
- Whitburn, Joel (2002). Pop Hits, Singles and Albums 1940-1954.
- Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 167.
- "500 Greatest Songs of All Time: Fats Domino, 'Blueberry Hill'". Rolling Stone. April 7, 2011. Retrieved October 7, 2011.
- "Pop Chronicles 1940s Program #2". 1972.
- "Adriano Celentano - Blueberry Hill". Discogs. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
- "Pat Boone - Blueberry Hill". Discogs. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
- Medlin, Jarrett (August 16, 2012). "Blueberry Hill Turns 40". St. Louis Magazine.
- Martel, Frances (December 11, 2010). "This Exists: Vladimir Putin Serenades Audience With Rendition Of 'Blueberry Hill'". Mediaite.com. Retrieved October 7, 2011.