SHG: Everly Bros.: "Problems"

The Everly Bros.: “Problems”
Entered the chart on: 11/24/58
Peaked on: 12/15/58
Weeks at #2: 1
Song at #1: “To Know Him Is to Love Him” by the Teddy Bears

October 27th, 1958.

That is the magical date. The date that Billboard Magazine consolidated all their various charts into the Hot 100. The magical date where my work on this feature suddenly becomes less of a confounding boondoggle. If I were to do another similar feature like this, I think I’d start it from that date instead of January 1st, 1955.

Anyway, another day, another Everly Brothers tune. “Bye Bye Love” is, of course, a classic, but this one’s not ringing a bell for me for whatever reason. Let’s investigate this one together.



God, how I love the acoustic guitar strumming on this. Like a lot of Everly Brothers tunes, there’s a real bluegrass feel to this. You can feel the link from old-timey hillbilly music to this in everything they do. At least I can. There’s not really so much separating old folk tunes like “The Cumberland Gap” to this.

The electric lead is another nice touch. Lyrically, this isn’t your typical stuff. I mean, they put it in teenager terms by making references to high school, but there aren’t many songs from that era that are basically saying, “life is confusing and I don’t know which way to turn.” Not only that, there doesn’t seem to be any clear-cut solution to the protagonist’s titular problems.

Rather existentialist for 50s rock & roll.

Rating: 5

SHG: Bobby Day: "Rock-in Robin"

Bobby Day: “Rock-in Robin”
Entered the chart on: 8/4/1958
Peaked on: 10/13/1958
Weeks at #2: 2 weeks
Song at #1: “It’s All in the Game” by Tommy Edwards

It’s funny how many of these songs are evoking strong memories of the last time I went to Mel’s Diner, either the one on Geary or the one on Lombard. Both are very 50s themed, with tons of these tunes on the jukeboxes, and stills from American Graffiti plastered all over the walls. I suppose I’m forever meant to mentally associate Ron Howard and Cindy Williams with this era, in spite of the fact that they were actually children and not teenagers when these songs were popular.

And yes, Joel Whitburn’s tome reliably informs me that this is the correct spelling of this song’s title. I’m looking at the label of the original 45 RPM Class label single over at rateyourmusic, and this confirms it.



Damn, this song is fun! Yes, this is one of those very silly songs like “Tweedlee Dee,” or “Wear My Ring Around Your Neck” for that matter, that is elevated by its performer. I’m rather shocked to learn that Bobby Day is a one-hit wonder, as based on this, he really should have had a hotter career as the man really knows how to sell a song!

Again, like “Wear My Ring Around Your Neck,” the backing vocalists do a lot to help support the lead performer. I’m not going to pretend a song about various species of bird having a rock & roll party is somehow going to change your life, but for three minutes, it’ll make you tap your foot and put a smile on your face.

Plus, how many other rock & roll numbers can you name that feature a piccolo solo?

Rating: 4

SHG: Elvis Presley: "Wear My Ring Around Your Neck"

Elvis Presley: “Wear My Ring Around Your Neck”
Entered the chart on: 4/21/58
Peaked on: 4/28/58
Weeks at #2: 1 week
Song at #1: “Twilight Time” by the Platters

Step One in the taming of the Elvis: have him sing a song featuring the lyric, “I’m yours by heck.”

This song confused me as a kid. How small would a woman’s neck have to be to have a man’s ring fit around it. I didn’t know they meant for her to wear it from a chain around her neck. I imagine younger listeners would be even more confused, for if the tradition of wearing someone’s ring around your neck was passé even by my time...



Actually, this is Step 1½ in the taming of the Elvis. Step One was having him sing a song called “Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear*,” which this song is a veritable carbon-copy of. Right, this song isn’t anything tremendous, there’s even the “They tell us we’re too young, blah blah blah” bit in the bridge.

But here’s the thing. The bridge is what makes this song! Elvis is the main good thing about this song, and it’s during that bridge where he really cuts loose. If you had a lesser performer, say a Tommy Sands, doing this song, it would be totally worthless. Elvis elevates the material with his energy and charisma.

Speaking of Tommy Sands, might I add that the Jordanaires are featured to much better effect here than on “Teen-Age Crush”? Their excited “doo-doot-doo” backing vocals propel the song to new heights, so it’s not only Elvis himself making the most of mediocre material. For whatever reason, this song remains quite enjoyable.

Rating: 4

*me being me, I’d prefer Teddy Roosevelt, or better yet “Pecos Bill” Shafter, to be my Teddy Bear.

SHG: The Chordettes: "Lollipop"

The Chordettes: “Lollipop”
Entered the chart on: 3/10/58
Peaked on: 3/31/58
Weeks at #2: 2 weeks
Songs at #1: “Tequila” by the Champs and “Catch a Falling Star” by Perry Como

Does it count as “whitewashing” if only half of the original artists were black?

Ronald and Ruby, a duo of a black man and a white woman, were the original performers of “Lollipop.” Ruby was actually the song’s co-writer, Beverly Ross, who at the urging of her mother didn’t use her real name for the recording. They also didn’t do any promotion on TV for the song, which is why it stalled at #20, while the Chordettes’ rendition sailed to #2.

Anyway, if you’d told me Ronald and Ruby were two women, I’d be hard-pressed to negate that claim, as Ronald has a pretty high voice on the original recording. Out of sheer curiosity, I also checked out the cover by the English family group the Mudlarks, and it is an odd duck indeed*, being rather gender-confused, as the two Mudlark brothers give the “I call him” line to their sister to deliver solo.

As for the Chordettes, could there be a more quintessentially “fifties” female vocal group? Possibly the McGuire Sisters, but “Mister Sandman” is used to evoke the era of poodle skirts and malt shops way, way more often with “Sincerely,” and they weren’t whitewashing an R&B act’s hit, so I’m sticking with the Chordettes.



Well, it’s obvious why this version was the big hit. They have the “pop” effect after the refrain! And the wordless guest spot by the nameless bass singer. I tend to be more forgiving of this squeaky-clean vocal harmony pop when delivered by female groups. Does that make me sexist? Reverse sexist? Anyway, I’m enjoying this. Maybe because I’m picturing Jasper from The Simpsons delivering it while wearing a Little Lord Fauntleroy outfit and having his teeth fall out when he tries to do the “pop.”

The song is, of course, extremely inane, but I forgive it because it’s fun. I can forgive inanity if it’s fun and not annoying. And if there was effort put into it. It’s obvious that effort was put into every aspect of this, from the songwriting on down to the vocal arrangement and the harmonies, etc. And it shows.

Rating: 4

*No idea if he was actually involved, but Joe Meek is very much in evidence on the Mudlarks’ version, at least at the start of the recording, where it sounds like a spaceship landing!

SHG: Chuck Berry: "Sweet Little Sixteen"

Chuck Berry: “Sweet Little Sixteen”
Entered the chart on: 2/24/58
Peaked on: 3/17/1958
Weeks at #2: 3 weeks
Song at #1: “Tequila” by the Champs

I’m just going to bask in the Golden Age of Rock & Roll while it still lasts. Because, blessed/cursed with the gift of foresight, I know what happens in 1959.

Chuck Berry, for me, is rock & roll. When I think the early days of rock, I think of Chuck strumming his guitar and doing his duck-walk. He is the quintessence of the early rock & roll sound. And this was his biggest hit (Yes, I know, fourteen years later, he went all the way to #1 with a crummy live recording of a hideous novelty number that’s little more than a litany of crude penis jokes. Leave me my illusions.).



My God, this song has been imitated so many times, and almost never has anyone come close to touching the original. The song isn’t super-complex, which means it was pretty easy to imitate. Berry gets the easy part on guitar, but since he has to accompany himself while singing I’ll let it slide. The piano player gets the juicy part. I’m not sure who played piano on this, but man, that cat is wild. For a rocker, Berry has a lighter, thinner voice than I remember, but it works for some reason. Probably as it reminds me of later vocalists that followed in his wake that I also like (Prince, for example).

This might be the first song that seeks airplay by name-dropping US locales (and he even gets in a mention of American Bandstand in there). The song is the tale of a teenaged girl who’s obsessed with rock & roll and wants to go to a show. Actually, it might be the most complex and intricate lyric to a rock song I’ve covered thus far, since it tells a story with a beginning, middle and end (by the end, our nameless female protagonist has to sleep off her partying weekend lifestyle and get back to the dull grind of high school). Maybe not as poetic a story as “Blueberry Hill,” but I was nonetheless entertained and compelled by it.

In short, it’s as good as you remember it being, and is still worth a listen after all these years.

Rating: 5

SHG: The Four Preps: "26 Miles (Santa Catalina)"

The Four Preps: “26 Miles (Santa Catalina)”
Entered the chart on: 1/20/1958
Peaked on: 3/10/1958
Weeks at #2: 3 weeks
Songs at #1: “Get a Job” by the Silhouettes and “Tequila” by the Champs

That name isn’t a joke. Apparently, these guys formed a singing group at prep school. So...more squeaky clean white boys singing harmony. It seems I have heard this song before, but I’m not conjuring up any memory of the actual melody. I do know that it’s about taking the ferry to Santa Catalina, as the parenthetical subtitle helpfully informs us. On the other hand, David Sommerville (a.k.a. David Troy) of the Diamonds was later a member. And this was a self-penned number by two of the group members. So there’s two things in its favor right off the bat. I promised to be open-minded during this series...



Anyone else thinking The Addams Family when hearing that guitar intro? The whistling also gives this a bit of a mysterious air to it. Vocally, I’m having a hard time from separating this from other Wonder bread vocal harmony groups like the Four Lads and the Crew-Cuts. The song’s protagonist claims he’s looking for romance in Santa Catalina, but it’s not clear if he means that his sweetie lives there, or if he just plans on hitting on beach bunnies until one consents to make out with him. I’m guessing the latter, considering the line about “island pearls.”

Eh...I’m kind of running out of things to say about this. It’s OK for what it is, I guess, but the exotic arrangement kind of strikes me as more memorable than the song itself. Cute, but insubstantial.

Rating: 2

SHG: Ricky Nelson: "Stood Up"

Ricky Nelson: “Stood Up”
Entered the chart on: 12/30/1957
Peaked on: 1/13/1958
Weeks at #2: 3 weeks
Song at #1: “At the Hop” by Danny & the Juniors

Now, I was quick to come to Ricky’s defense, at least a little, during my last review but...come on! “Stood Up”? Ricky Nelson, the most desirable dream date for teenage girls in the late 50s? I believe that like I believe the Crew Cuts were the original artists singing “Sh-Boom.”

I’m sure I’m missing some context here. I never watched Ozzie and Harriet, and I’m sure this song was used, Partridge Family-style, to have Ricky teach a lesson to some high-school heartbreaker or something. Maybe I’m being a bit harsh here. Let’s examine the case of this song.



OK, already I like this better than “A Teenager’s Romance.” It’s more of that old-time rock & roll with some great electric guitar and an infectious beat. That said, after “Great Balls of Fire,” Ricky can’t help but come across as a bit...sedate? I kind of want Jerry Lee Lewis to come up behind him with a pitchfork to put a little more fire into his performance.

So...good, but not great. I like this, but it doesn’t excite me.

And isn’t that what good rock and roll is supposed to do?

Rating: 3

SHG: Frank Sinatra: "All the Way"

Frank Sinatra: “All the Way”
Entered the chart on: 10/28/1957
Peaked on: 1/6/1958
Weeks at #2: 1 week
Song at #1: “At the Hop” by Danny & the Juniors

Frank Sinatra is an artist that is hard to be impartial about.

I know some who absolutely hate him (Hello, Al!). I know others who think he is an utterly brilliant song stylist. Me? I think a lot of the former camp are letting perceptions of Frank Sinatra the person get in the way of Frank Sinatra the artist. Sort of how people hate Richard Wagner because he’s such a horrible person, rather than because he makes bad music (which he didn’t).

To be fair, by the time the 60s rolled round, Sinatra had rather become a grotesque caricature of himself, a cantankerous, foul-mouthed, hard-drinking lout who’d rather spend time carousing with his drinking buddies, romancing hot young starlets and pushing his considerably less-talented offspring into the spotlight than polishing his vocal instrument. His lackadasical performance on the fluke 1966 #1 smash “Strangers in the Night” was sadly indicative of his approach to singing at the time (the half-assed scat singing quickly becoming a point of parody for Sinatra impressionists).

That said, this is from the reliable Cahn/Van Heusen songwriting team, so one gets the feeling that, even though I can’t conjure up the melody from memory, Frank probably cared about this a little more than “Strangers” (which he considered “a piece of shit,” and it shows in his “I don’t give a crap about this” performance).



OK, this one’s coming back to me now. From the movie The Joker Is Wild, which I’m sure I’ve never seen, but I have heard this before.

Frank isn’t unseating Nat “King” Cole as my favorite pre-rock balladeer, but damn, his performance on this could come close to convincing me. This is another brilliant Nelson Riddle orchestration, swathed in pillowy strings. His voice is smooth and supple as Nat’s, and glides gorgeously over the notes.

This is really a beautiful song. I get the feeling that Frank was to singing what Bette Davis was to acting, i.e.: he gave the song the performance he thought it deserved.

It’s pretty obvious he thought very highly of this one.

Rating: 4