Faded Love

"Faded Love" is a Western swing song written by Bob Wills, his father John Wills,[1] and his brother, Billy Jack Wills. The tune is considered to be an exemplar of the Western swing fiddle component of American fiddle.The melody came from an 1856 ballad, "Darling Nelly Gray", which John Wills knew as a fiddle tune.[2][3][4] "Faded Love" is a sentimental song about lost love. The name comes from the refrain that follows each verse: I remember our faded love.

For other uses, see Faded Love (disambiguation).
"Faded Love"
Single by Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys
Released1950 (1950)
GenreWestern swing
LabelMGM
Songwriter(s)Bob Wills, John Wills, Billy Jack Wills

The song was a major hit for Bob Wills and The Texas Playboys (MGM 10786) reaching number eight on the Country charts in 1950.[5] It became one of his signature songs.

Leon McAuliffe had two Top 40 hits with "Faded Love", both reaching number 22 (Cimarron 4057, 1962, and MGM 14249, 1971). The former was an instrumental version, and the latter rendition was a collaboration with Tompall & the Glaser Brothers.[6] Also in 1962, it was a modest hit for Jackie DeShannon, reaching No.97 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The song had even greater success when Patsy Cline covered it in 1963. Her version became a hit, reaching number seven on the U.S. Country charts and No.96 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Due to the airplane crash that ended Cline's life, her version was never released on a studio album. Instead, it was belatedly released on Patsy Cline's Greatest Hits, a compilation album in 1967. Cline's version was originally intended to be the title cut for a planned album and was made at what turned out to be the last recording session before her death.

Other versions
  • 1963: Jackie DeShannon recorded a version on her 1963 Guess Who EP (Liberty F-55526 USA.
  • 1966: Harry James recorded a version on his 1966 album Harry James & His Western Friends (Dot DLP 3735 and DLP 25735).
  • 1968: Country music singer (Cline's friend), Dottie West recorded "Faded Love" for her album Country Girl.
  • 1969: Country music singer Conway Twitty recorded it for the album You Can't Take The Country Out Of Conway.
  • 1970: Elvis Presley recorded in Nashville and released on the album Elvis Country. A live version was released on the live album Takin' Tahoe Tonite.
  • 1971: Delaney & Bonnie released a gospel-tinged version on the album Motel Shot.
  • 1973: Doug Sahm recorded the song in the New York studios of Atlantic Records for Doug Sahm and Band.
  • 1974: Barefoot Jerry released "Faded Love" on their album Watchin' TV (With the Radio On) (Monument Records).
  • 1976: The Flying Burrito Brothers recorded a live version with pedal steel player Sneaky Pete Kleinow on lead vocals and Gib Guilbeau on fiddle. It went unreleased until 2002 when it was released as part of the Red Album. It is notable for being one of the only officially released Burritos performance to feature Kleinow on lead vocals.
  • 1979: Syracuse Grand Master Fiddler Hal Casey recorded a version with his band North Country.
  • 1980: The song became popular again as a duet recording by Ray Price and Willie Nelson. Their duet version — which features Crystal Gayle singing harmony on the chorus — was the biggest hit version of "Faded Love," reaching No.3 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart in October 1980.
  • 1985: Wall of Voodoo recorded an abridged version of the song for their album Seven Days in Sammystown.
  • 2001: By Marco T, a Colombian singer, in a Spanish version.
  • 2015: By Asleep at the Wheel and the Time Jumpers for the album Still the King: Celebrating the Music of Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys.
  • 2016: Jazz guitarist John Scofield recorded a version for his album Country for Old Men.
  • 2017: Jazz vocalist Kama Ruby,[7] a distant cousin[8] of Bob Wills, covered this song on her third album release, 2017's Mind's Eye.
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gollark: But that was a demo.
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References
  1. San Antonio Rose - The Life and Music of Bob Wills. Charles R. Townsend. 1976. University of Illinois. page 11. ISBN 0-252-00470-1
  2. Wolff, Country Music, p. 112: "It ['Faded Love'] originated with western swing pioneer Bob Wills, who grew up in the 1910s and 1920s fiddling in rural Texas with his father, John Wills. They wrote the melody together when Bob was very young; it wasn't until 1950 that the song gained lyrics, courtesy of Bob's younger brother, Billy Jack."
  3. McWhorter, Cowboy Fiddler, p. 61: "And he [Boyd Rogers] played a tune called 'Forsaken Lover.' It's note-for-note the same as 'Faded Love.' Bob took that old tune and slowed it down and put in that long Bob Wills bow, and it became 'Faded Love'."
  4. Michael Corcoran's Texas Top 50", Lonestar Music Magazine, 29 July 2016 Note: user must type "Corcoran's top 50 into website search line.
  5. Whitburn, The Billboard Book of Top 40 Country Hits, p. 393: "Rusty McDonald and The Playboy Trio (vocals)".
  6. Whitburn, The Billboard Book of Top 40 Country Hits, p. 218.
  7. http://www.kamaruby.com/mindseyelinernotes/%5B%5D
  8. "Kama Ruby: 5 things you didn't know about Kama Ruby". AXS.

Bibliography
  • McWhorter, Frankie. Cowboy Fiddler in Bob Wills' Band. University of North Texas Press, 1997. ISBN 1-57441-025-3
  • Whitburn, Joel. The Billboard Book of Top 40 Country Hits. Billboard Books, 2006. ISBN 0-8230-8291-1
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