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"Why Do Fools Fall in Love" | ||||
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Single by Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers | ||||
from the album The Teenagers Featuring Frankie Lymon | ||||
B-side | "Please Be Mine" | |||
Released | January 10, 1956 | |||
Recorded | November 1955 | |||
Genre | Doo-wop, rock and roll | |||
Length | 2:20 | |||
Label | Gee | |||
Songwriter(s) | Frankie Lymon, Herman Santiago, Jimmy Merchant [1] | |||
Producer(s) | George Goldner | |||
Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers singles chronology | ||||
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Audio sample | ||||
13-second audio sample of "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" |
"Why Do Fools Fall in Love" (initially "Why Do Birds Sing So Gay?") is a debut single by American rock and roll band Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers that was released on January 10, 1956. It reached No. 1 on the R&B chart, [2] No. 6 on Billboard 's Pop Singles chart, [3] and No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart in July. [4] [5] Many renditions of the song by other artists have also been hit records in the U.S., including versions by the Diamonds (in 1956), the Beach Boys (in 1964), and Diana Ross (in 1981).
The song was included in Robert Christgau's "Basic Record Library" of 1950s and 1960s recordings—published in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981) [6] —and ranked No. 314 on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. [7] In 2001, the 1955 recording of the song on Gee Records was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. [8]
In late 1955, The Teenagers (at that time calling themselves The Premiers) auditioned a song called "Why do Birds Sing So Gay?" for George Goldner, recording producer and owner of Gee Records. Herman Santiago, tenor of the group, had written the song based on a line from some love letters given to the guys by a tenant in bassist Sherman Garnes' apartment building. One of them featured the words "Why do birds sing so gay?," which fit in with lyrics of other songs that Herman had been writing based on a 1-6-2-5 chord pattern. Herman adjusted the harmony to take advantage of Frankie Lymon's high tenor/soprano. At Goldner's suggestion, some of the lyrics were changed. During the audition, Lymon's voice stood out and Goldner recommended the lead in subsequent recording sessions be given to Lymon. The singer did some improvising and recreated the melody to match his own style. According to Jimmy Merchant, what happened at the recording session was a combination of "Frankie's singing ability coupled with George Goldner's special ability to bring out the best in Frankie." [9]
Although early vinyl single releases of "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" credit Frankie Lymon, Herman Santiago, and George Goldner as co-writers of the song, later releases and cover versions were attributed only to Lymon and record producer George Goldner. Goldner's name was later replaced by Morris Levy when Levy bought Goldner's interest in Gee Records, the Teenagers' record company. [10] After a lengthy court battle, songwriting credits were awarded to original Teenagers members Herman Santiago and Jimmy Merchant in December 1992. [11]
However, this ruling was overturned by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit because Santiago and Merchant did not bring the case to court soon enough. This gave the song rights back to Lymon and Levy. [12] The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a further appeal. [13] The current publisher of the song is EMI Music Publishing, which still lists these two as the songwriters.
"Why Do Fools Fall in Love" | ||||
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Single by the Beach Boys | ||||
from the album Shut Down Volume 2 | ||||
A-side | "Fun, Fun, Fun" | |||
Released | February 3, 1964 | |||
Recorded | January 7–8, 1964 | |||
Length | 2:07 (original version)
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Label | Capitol | |||
Songwriter(s) | Frankie Lymon, Morris Levy | |||
Producer(s) | Brian Wilson | |||
The Beach Boys singles chronology | ||||
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The song was used as a B-side for the Beach Boys single "Fun, Fun, Fun", which reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1964. [14] The Beach Boys' version of the song charted at #120. [15] It was included on the Beach Boys 1964 album Shut Down Volume 2 and had only appeared in mono since the release of the single back in 1964.
The single mix of the song was later found and used on the 2007 The Warmth of the Sun compilation and on The Original US Singles Collection The Capitol Years 1962–1965 . This box set, released in 2008, also used a recently found mono single edit mix. In 2009, a new stereo mix was created with a newly discovered intro, due to the discovery of the original multitrack masters by Jon Stebbins and is featured on the band's compilation Summer Love Songs . The song was also performed as part of the band's 50th Anniversary Tour, usually during the first half of the shows. One of the performances was later included on the live album from the tour.[ citation needed ]
Sourced from Craig Slowinski. [16]
The Beach Boys
Additional musicians
"Why Do Fools Fall in Love" | ||||
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Single by Diana Ross | ||||
from the album Why Do Fools Fall in Love | ||||
B-side | "Think I'm in Love" | |||
Released | September 25, 1981 | |||
Recorded | 1980 | |||
Genre | R&B [17] | |||
Length | 2:51 | |||
Label | RCA Records | |||
Songwriter(s) | Herman Santiago | |||
Producer(s) | Diana Ross | |||
Diana Ross singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Why Do Fools Fall in Love" on YouTube |
American singer Diana Ross released a cover version on the RCA label on September 25, 1981, as the first single from her album of the same name (1981). She also produced her rendition of the song. It was a hit, peaking at No. 2 on the US adult contemporary chart, No. 4 in the UK Singles Chart, No. 6 on the US R&B chart, and No. 7 on Billboard's Pop Singles Chart, [18] and earning her a British Phonographic Industry silver disc award for sales in excess of 250,000 copies. It also reached No.1 in Belgium and the Netherlands and climbed to the top 10 in Ireland, New Zealand and Switzerland as well as making the top 20 in Australia, Canada and West Germany. A reissue of Ross' cover peaked at No. 36 on the UK chart in July 1994. [4]
After Ross returned the song to the top ten, a controversy ensued concerning Lymon's estate. Three women involved in lawsuits and countersuits over Lymon's copyrights and royalties each claimed to be Lymon's rightful widow. The string of court cases were portrayed in the 1998 film Why Do Fools Fall in Love .[ citation needed ]
In the music video, Ross performs the song on Fremont Street in Las Vegas. [19]
Weekly charts
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Chart (1994) | Peak position |
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UK Singles (OCC) | 36 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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United Kingdom (BPI) [43] | Silver | 250,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
The recording by Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers is featured in the 1973 film American Graffiti , in a scene where Richard Dreyfuss's character first notices a mysterious blonde girl; as well as the 1999 film October Sky , it is featured when Jake Gyllenhaal's character Homer Hickam and his friends are spending the night out at the dance club. The song is featured in the final episode of the first series of the 2012 BBC drama Call the Midwife , as well as the Academy Award-nominated British short film Boogaloo and Graham . In 1998, the legacy of the song and its author was the theme of the movie of the same name.[ citation needed ]
Franklin Joseph Lymon was an American rock and roll/rhythm and blues singer and songwriter, best known as the boy soprano lead singer of the New York City-based early rock and roll doo-wop group The Teenagers. The group was composed of five boys, all in their early to mid-teens. The original lineup of The Teenagers, an integrated group, included three African-American members, Lymon, Jimmy Merchant, and Sherman Garnes; and two Puerto Rican members, Joe Negroni and Herman Santiago. The Teenagers' first single, 1956's "Why Do Fools Fall in Love", was also their biggest hit. After Lymon went solo in mid-1957, both his career and that of The Teenagers fell into decline. In 1968, Lymon was found dead at the age of 25 on the floor of his grandmother's bathroom from a heroin overdose. Lymon was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 as a member of the Teenagers. His life was dramatized in the 1998 film Why Do Fools Fall in Love.
The Teenagers were an American music group, most noted for being one of rock music's earliest successes, presented to international audiences by DJ Alan Freed. The group, which made its most popular recordings with young Frankie Lymon as lead singer, is also noted for being rock's first all-teenaged act. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.
Herman Santiago is a Puerto Rican rock and roll pioneer and songwriter who was previously a member of the vocal group Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers. He (disputedly) co-wrote the group's iconic hit "Why Do Fools Fall in Love".
Why Do Fools Fall in Love may refer to:
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"I Want You to Be My Girl" is a song written by George Goldner and Richard Barrett and performed by The Teenagers featuring Frankie Lymon. It reached #3 on the U.S. R&B chart and #13 on the Billboard pop chart in 1956. The song was featured on their 1956 album, The Teenagers Featuring Frankie Lymon.
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