"The Old Lamp-Lighter" | |
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Single by Swing and Sway With Sammy Kaye | |
B-side | "Touch-Me-Not" |
Released | 1946 |
Label | RCA Victor |
Songwriter(s) | Nat Simon & Charles Tobias |
"The Old Lamplighter" | ||||
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Single by The Browns | ||||
from the album Town & Country | ||||
B-side | "Teen-Ex" | |||
Released | 1960 | |||
Genre | Countrypolitan | |||
Length | 2:20 | |||
Label | RCA Victor | |||
Songwriter(s) | Nat Simon & Charles Tobias | |||
Producer(s) | Chet Atkins | |||
The Browns singles chronology | ||||
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"The Old Lamp-Lighter" is a popular song. The music was written by Nat Simon, the lyrics by Charles Tobias. [1] The song was published in 1946.
The lyrics sentimentalize and memorialize the profession of lamplighters, who walked city streets at dusk turning on the gas-powered streetlamps and turned them off again at dawn.
Several versions of the song made the best-seller charts in 1946-1947. The most popular recording, by Sammy Kaye (vocal by Billy Williams), [2] was released by RCA Victor Records as catalog number 20-1963. It first reached the Billboard Best Seller chart on November 8, 1946, and lasted 14 weeks on the chart, peaking at number one. [3]
A recording by Kay Kyser (vocal by Mike Douglas and Campus Kids) was released by Columbia Records as catalog number 37095. It first reached the Billboard Best Seller chart on November 22, 1946, and lasted 11 weeks on the chart, peaking at number three. [3] A recording by Hal Derwin was released by Capitol Records as catalog number 288. It first reached the Billboard Best Seller chart on December 6, 1946, and lasted two weeks on the chart, peaking at number six. [3] This was Derwin's only charted hit.
In 1960, the song was a major country-pop hit for The Browns, released as a single early that year. It went on to become a major top-ten hit, spending 15 weeks on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at No. 5, [4] [5] while reaching No. 20 on Billboard's Hot C&W Sides, [6] [7] and No. 17 on Billboard's Hot R&B Sides. [8]
"Buttons and Bows" is a popular song with music written by Jay Livingston and lyrics by Ray Evans. The song was published on February 25, 1948 by Famous Music Corp., New York. The song was written for and appeared in the Bob Hope and Jane Russell film The Paleface and won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. It was originally written with an Indian theme, but was changed when the director said that would not work in the movie. It was a vocal selection on many radio programs in late 1948. It was reprised in the sequel, Son of Paleface, by Roy Rogers, Jane Russell and Bob Hope. In 2004 it finished #87 in AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs survey of the top tunes in American cinema.
"Too Young" is a popular song. The music was written by Sidney Lippman, the lyrics by Sylvia Dee. The song was published in 1951.
"Heartaches" is a song that was originally released in 1931 by composer Al Hoffman and singer John Klenner. It gained popularity in the 2010s due to its sampling in the Caretaker's album Everywhere at the End of Time.
"You Can't Be True, Dear" is a popular German song.
"Mam'selle" is a bittersweet song about a rendez-vous with a "mam'selle" (mademoiselle) in a small café. The music was written by Edmund Goulding, the lyrics by Mack Gordon.
"Love Somebody" is a pop standard recorded by Doris Day. The song was written by Joan Whitney and Alex Kramer and published in 1947.
"Red Roses for a Blue Lady" is a 1948 popular song by Sid Tepper and Roy C. Bennett. It has been recorded by a number of performers. Actor-singer John Laurenz (1909–1958) was the first to record the song for Mercury Records. It rose to #2 on the weekly “Your Hit Parade” radio survey in the spring of 1949. The original 78rpm single was issued on Mercury 5201 - Red Roses For A Blue Lady by John Laurenz.
"Linda" is a popular song written taking its name from then-one-year-old future star Linda McCartney. It was written by Jack Lawrence and published in 1946.
"Laughing on the Outside " is a popular song.
"Cruising Down the River" is a 1946 popular recording song, which became the winner of a public songwriting competition held in the UK. Words and music were entered by two middle-aged women named Eily Beadell and Nell Tollerton. The words had been written by Eily in the 1920s, and the melody composed by music hall artist Ena Dayne; as she could not read music, it was transcribed by Tollerton. It was sung in concert parties throughout the 1930s, mainly by Charles Ray. One of the original early recordings of this song, issued in the UK in January 1946 on the Columbia record label, was by Lou Preager and his Orchestra, with vocal by Paul Rich. This was immensely popular on radio, with record and sheet music sales making it one of the biggest hits of 1946 in the United Kingdom.
"I Can't Begin to Tell You" is a popular song with music written by James V. Monaco and lyrics by Mack Gordon. The song was published in 1945.
"Managua, Nicaragua" is a popular American song from 1946, whose music was written by Irving Fields, and lyrics by Albert Gamse.
"That Lucky Old Sun " is a 1949 popular song with music by Beasley Smith and words by Haven Gillespie.
"Serenade of the Bells" is a popular song written by Kay Twomey, Al Goodhart, and Al Urbano and published in 1947.
"Amor", also known as "Amor Amor" and "Amor Amor Amor" is a popular song.
"(I Love You) for Sentimental Reasons" is a popular song written by Ivory "Deek" Watson, founding member of the Ink Spots, also founding member of The Brown Dots and William "Pat" Best, founding member of the Four Tunes.
"Near You" is a popular song written and originally recorded by Francis Craig and His Orchestra at Castle Studio in 1947, with lyrics by Kermit Goell, that has gone on to become a pop standard.
"Powder Your Face with Sunshine" is a popular song written by Carmen Lombardo and Stanley Rochinski, and published in 1948. Rochinski wrote the lyrics for "Powder Your Face with Sunshine" while hospitalized due to spinal injuries incurred during World War II. Subsequently, he brought the lyrics to Lombardo who set it to music.
"That's My Desire" is a 1931 popular song with music by Helmy Kresa and lyrics by Carroll Loveday.
"Trust in Me" is a song written by Ned Wever, Milton Ager, and Jean Schwartz. Popular versions in 1937 were by Mildred Bailey and by Wayne King & his Orchestra.