Allentown Jail
"Allentown Jail" is a folk-style song. Written by Irving Gordon, it tells the story of a man who is caught stealing a diamond for his girlfriend and ends up in the Allentown jail.
| "Allentown Jail" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by The Lettermen | ||||
| B-side | "Two Brothers" | |||
| Released | 1963 | |||
| Label | Capitol | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Irving Gordon | |||
| The Lettermen singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
In 1951, Jo Stafford recorded this song. It was released as a single on Columbia Records.
In 1960, Kathy Linden recorded it as her first single on Monument Records.[1]
The song became popular in the folk scene. The Kingston Trio recorded a version in 1962 with plans of releasing it as a single, but the single never came to fruition. Their version has since been released on various CD compilations of their works.
In 1963, a more harmonic arrangement was performed by The Lettermen and released as a single. This version incurred some success, but only to a minor degree.
Other artists who recorded this song include The Seekers, The Springfields (folk group of which Dusty Springfield was a member), Billy Strange and British singers Lita Roza and Karen Young. There is also a French adaptation of the song, "Les prisons du roy", by Edith Piaf, which was later covered by Marianne Faithfull.
References
- Kathy Linden, "Allentown Jail" single release Retrieved January 22, 2016.