I Almost Lost My Mind

Last updated
"I Almost Lost My Mind"
Single by Ivory Joe Hunter
from the album I Get That Lonesome Feeling
B-side "If I Give You My Love"
ReleasedDecember 1949 (1949-12)
RecordedOctober 1, 1949
Genre Rhythm and blues
Length3:10
Label MGM
Songwriter(s) Ivory Joe Hunter
Ivory Joe Hunter singles chronology
"7th Street Boogie"
(1949)
"I Almost Lost My Mind"
(1949)
"I Quit My Pretty Mama"
(1950)
"I Almost Lost My Mind"
Single by Pat Boone
from the album Pat's Great Hits
B-side "I'm in Love with You"
ReleasedMay 8, 1956
Recorded1956
Genre Pop
Length2:27
Label Dot
Composer(s) Ivory Joe Hunter
Pat Boone singles chronology
"Long Tall Sally" / "Just as Long as I'm with You"
(1956)
"I Almost Lost My Mind"
(1956)
"I'm in Love with You"
(1956)


"I Almost Lost My Mind" is a popular song written by Ivory Joe Hunter and published in 1950. Hunter's recording of the song was a number one hit on the US Billboard R&B singles chart in that year. [1]

Hunter recorded the 12-bar blues style song on October 1, 1949, and became a rhythm and blues hit and a pop standard. Hunter's record sold one million copies by 1956. [2] The best selling version of the song was a cover version by Pat Boone, which reached number one on the Billboard charts in 1956. [3] It has since been recorded by a variety of pop artists, big bands, country and western stars, rock and rollers, and Latin, jazz and blues performers.

In the Blues song, the narrator states that he lost his baby, and goes to see the gypsy to have his fortune read, However, he hangs his head down in disappointment when she tells him that his "baby has left him and this time she's gone for good". The final verse was unrhymed , with the word "Good" said twice. In Boone's version, he ends it with a long "OOHH" as if he was crying.

See also

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References

  1. Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 267.
  2. Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. p.  50. ISBN   0-214-20512-6.
  3. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits. New York: Billboard Books. p. 75. ISBN   0-8230-7499-4.