View source for Lovesick Blues

{{short description|1949 single by Hank Williams}}
{{good article}}
{{Infobox song
| name          = Lovesick Blues
| cover         = Hank Williams - Lovesick Blues.jpg
| alt           = 
| type          = single
| written       = 1921<ref name=assign />
| published     = {{Start date|1922|04|03}} [[Irving Mills|Jack Mills, Inc.]],<ref name="pub">{{Cite book|last=Library of Congress. Copyright Office.|url=http://archive.org/details/catalogofcopyr171libr|title=Catalog of Copyright Entries, 1922 Music First Half of 1922 New Series Vol 17 Part 1|date=1922|publisher=U.S. Govt. Print. Off.|others=United States Copyright Office|language=English}}</ref> {{Start date|1949|11|1}} Mills Music, Inc.,{{sfn|Harwood|2008|p=110}} [[Acuff-Rose Music|Acuff-Rose Publications, Inc.]]<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|title=U.S. Copyright Office Virtual Card Catalog 1946-1954|url=https://vcc.copyright.gov/browse|access-date=2021-09-09|website=vcc.copyright.gov}}</ref>
| artist        = [[Hank Williams|Hank Williams with His Drifting Cowboys]]
| album         = 
| B-side        = [[Never Again (Will I Knock on Your Door)]]
| released      = {{Start date|1949|02|11}}<ref>{{Cite web|title=Release "Lovesick Blues / Never Again (Will I Knock On Your Door)" by Hank Williams - MusicBrainz|url=https://musicbrainz.org/release/9ccbdfdd-3d23-4ccd-93ef-9ff95b8923c1|access-date=2021-08-19|website=musicbrainz.org}}</ref>{{sfn|Koon|p=153|1983}}
| recorded      = {{Start date|1948|12|22}}<ref>{{Cite web|title=Hank Williams 45rpm Issues|url=https://jazzdiscography.com/Artists/hank-williams/hank-williams-45-releases.php|access-date=2021-08-19|website=jazzdiscography.com}}</ref>
| studio        = Herzog Studio, [[Cincinnati]]
| venue         = 
| genre         = [[Country music|
Country]], [[honky-tonk#music|Honky-tonk]]
| length        = 2:45
| label         = [[MGM Records|MGM 10352]]
| writer        = 
| composer      = [[Cliff Friend]]
| lyricist      = [[Irving Mills]], [[Hank Williams]]
| producer      = [[Fred Rose (songwriter)|Fred Rose]]
| prev_title    = [[A Mansion on the Hill]]
| prev_year     = 1948
| next_title    = [[Wedding Bells (Hank Williams song)|Wedding Bells]]
| next_year     = 1949
| misc          = {{Audio sample
 | type        = single
 | file        = Lovesick Blues Hank Williams.ogg
 | description = Hank Williams – "Lovesick Blues"
}}
}}
"'''Lovesick Blues'''" is a [[Tin Pan Alley]] song, composed by [[Cliff Friend]], with lyrics by [[Irving Mills]]. It first appeared in the 1922 musical "Oh, Ernest", and was recorded that year by Elsie Clark and [[Irving Kaufman (singer)|Jack Shea]]. [[Emmett Miller]] recorded it in 1925 and 1928, followed by country music singer [[Rex Griffin]] in 1939. The recordings by Griffin and Miller inspired [[Hank Williams]] to perform the song during his first appearances on the ''[[Louisiana Hayride]]'' radio show in 1948. Receiving an enthusiastic reception from the audience, Williams decided to record his own version despite initial push back from his producer [[Fred Rose (songwriter)|Fred Rose]] (a former 1920s Tin Pan Alley songwriter) and his band.

[[MGM Records]] released "Lovesick Blues" in February 1949, and it became an overnight success, quickly reaching number one on ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard's]]'' Top Country & Western singles chart and number 24 on the Most Played in Jukeboxes list. After a 42 week run, 16 of those weeks at number 1, the publication named it the top country and western record of the year, while ''[[Cashbox (magazine)|Cashbox]]'' named it "Best Hillbilly Record of the Year". It was the biggest hit of Hank Williams' career.

Several cover versions of the song have been recorded. The most popular, [[Frank Ifield]]'s 1962 version, topped the [[UK Singles Chart]]. In 2004, Williams' version was added to the [[National Recording Registry]]. Miller's 1928 recording was inducted into the [[Grammy Hall of Fame]] in 2007, and Williams' 1949 recording in 2011.<ref>{{cite web |title=Grammy Hall of Fame Award |url=https://www.grammy.com/awards/hall-of-fame-award#l |website=Grammy Awards |access-date=1 May 2024}}</ref>

== Background and recordings ==
[[File:Anna Chandler - Lovesick Blues.jpg|thumb|left|upright|First sheet music, published in 1922<ref>[[commons:File:Lovesick_Blues_sheet_music.pdf|First sheet music]] (1922) at Wikimedia Commons.</ref>]]

"Lovesick Blues" was originally titled "I've Got the Love-sick Blues," and  published by [[Irving Mills|Jack Mills, Inc.]] in 1922;<ref name="pub"/> [[Irving Mills]] wrote the lyrics and [[Cliff Friend]] composed the music. It was first performed by [[Anna Chandler]] in the [[Tin Pan Alley]] musical ''Oh! Ernest'' and recorded by Elsie Clark on March 21, 1922 with [[Okeh Records]].{{sfn|Tosches|p=247|2009}} Following the recording, Friend and Mills copyrighted the song on April 3, 1922.<ref name=pub /> It was featured in a show at the Boardwalk Club in New York City in June 1922 and recorded by [[Irving Kaufman (singer)|Jack Shea (aka Irving Kaufman)]] on [[Vocalion Records]] later that summer.{{sfn|Tosches|2002|p=157}}

On September 1, 1925, OKeh Records sent scout [[Ralph Peer]] and a recording crew to Asheville, North Carolina. Among the aspiring artists recorded by Peer was [[Emmett Miller]]. Accompanied by Walter Rothrock on the piano, Miller cut four sides for the label, including "Lovesick Blues".{{sfn|p=108|Harwood|2008}} The single was paired with "Big Bad Bill (is Sweet William Now)" and released in November 1925.{{sfn|Tosches|2002|p=158}} On June 12, 1928 accompanied by the Georgia Crackers ([[Tommy Dorsey]], [[Jimmy Dorsey]], [[Eddie Lang]], and Leo McConville), Miller re-recorded the song, which was released to weak sales.{{sfn|p=108|Harwood|2008}}

Eleven years later, Miller's version was covered by country music singer [[Rex Griffin]]. Like Hank Williams, Griffin was a prolific songwriter who was rarely inspired to record compositions other than his own. Griffin rearranged the song by using the original chorus - "I got a feeling called the blues" as a verse, and turning the verse "I'm in love, I'm in love, with a beautiful gal" into the new chorus.{{sfn|Escott|1994|p=99}} He added several [[Yodeling|yodels]] that emphasised the pain of the singer. Though it was his final session for [[Decca Records]], he was eventually inducted by the [[Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame]], in recognition of songs like "[[The Last Letter]]" and "The Lovesick Blues." His recording on September 25, 1939{{sfn|Jennings|2008|p=211}} was the first "[[Hillbilly#Music|Hillbilly]]" version (equivalent to today's "[[Country music]]") of the latter, and it was his arrangement that Hank Williams later "imitated and immortalized", in December 1948.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame|url=http://nashvillesongwritersfoundation.com/Site/inductee?entry_id=2321|access-date=2021-10-23|website=nashvillesongwritersfoundation.com}}</ref>

== Hank Williams recording ==

[[Hank Williams]], who heard both the Miller and Griffin versions,{{sfn|p=110|Harwood|2008}} started performing the song on the ''[[Louisiana Hayride]]'' shortly after joining in August 1948. Horace Logan, the show's producer and programming director for [[KWKH]], reported that the audience "went crazy" the first time Williams performed the song on the show.{{sfn|Deikman|p=13|2007}}  In light of the live audience's strong positive reaction, Williams decided to record the song. His decision was questioned by his musicians and also his producer, [[Fred Rose (songwriter)|Fred Rose]], who felt that the song did not merit a recording.{{sfn|Jennings|2008|p=211}}{{sfn|Campbell|p=126|2011}} Williams, mindful of the reaction he received live,  persisted, and the recording took place during the final half-hour of a session recorded at Herzog Studio in [[Cincinnati, Ohio]],{{sfn|Kosser|2006|p=22}} on December 22, 1948.{{sfn|Koon|p=41|1983}} For this recording, Williams replaced the jazz musicians with a modern country music band, using a rhythm guitar, mandolin, string bass, drums and a steel guitar.{{sfn|Gilliland|1969}} Williams' session band was composed of Clyde Baum (mandolin), Zeke Turner (electric guitar), [[Jerry Byrd]] (steel guitar), Louis Innis (rhythm guitar), [[Tommy Jackson (musician)|Tommy Jackson]] (fiddle) and Willie Thawl (bass).{{sfn|Escott|1994|p=96}} 

With little time left, Byrd and Turner replicated the musical arrangement they previously used on an [[Ernest Tubb]] session for a cover of [[Jimmie Rodgers (country singer)|Jimmie Rodgers]]' "[[Waiting for a Train (Jimmie Rodgers song)|Waiting for a Train]]".  In the episode of ''[[American Masters]]'' about Williams, Drifting Cowboy [[Don Helms]] recalls, "When they recorded 'Lovesick Blues,' Fred told Hank, 'That song's out of meter!  Got too many bars in it.  And you hold that note too long.'  And Hank said, 'Well, when I find a note I like, I wanna hold on to it as long as I can,' you know, just tryin' to be funny.  And Fred said, 'Well, I'll tell you what I'm gonna do.  That thing is so much out of meter, I'm gonna get me a cup of coffee and when I get back maybe ya'll have that thing cut.'  And they did, but it was still out of meter. So Fred lived with that the rest of his life."  Williams combined Griffin's lyrical arrangement with a [[Beat (music)|two-beat]] honky-tonk track,{{sfn|Escott|p=97|1994}} borrowing the yodeling and [[Drop (music)|beat drops]] from Miller's recording.{{sfn|Campbell|p=126|2011}} "Lovesick Blues" was recorded in two takes.{{sfn|Escott|p=97|1994}}

[[File:Hank Williams MGM Records 1948 - Cropped.jpg|Hank Williams, depicted on an MGM publicity portrait|thumb|upright]]
MGM released "Lovesick Blues" on February 11, 1949, coupling it with "Never Again (Will I Knock On Your Door)".{{sfn|Koon|p=153|1983}} The single sold 50,000 copies in the first two weeks.{{sfn|Kosser|2006|p=22}} On its February 26, 1949 review, [[Billboard (magazine)|''Billboard'']] opined: "Hank's razz-mah-tazz approach and ear-catching yodeling should keep this side spinning". Based on votes sent to ''Billboard'', the record was rated with 85 points by disc jockeys, 82 by record dealers and 85 by jukebox operators. Between the three, the track scored an overall of 84. In reference to its 100-point scale, ''Billboard'' regarded the record as "Excellent".{{sfn|Billboard staff|p=116|1949}} It reached number one on ''Billboard's'' Top C&W singles, where it remained for sixteen weeks and reached number twenty-four on Most Played in Jukeboxes.{{sfn|Jennings|p=212|2008}} The magazine listed it as the "number one country and western record of 1949" while ''[[Cashbox (magazine)|Cashbox]]'' named it "Best Hillbilly record of the year".{{sfn|Koon|p=41|1983}}

In March 1949, [[Wesley Rose]] requested Williams to send him the records by Griffin and Miller to prove that the song was in the public domain.{{sfn|Escott|p=99|1994}} Despite the prior recordings, it was published by [[Acuff-Rose Music|Acuff-Rose Publications]], Nashville, on March 21, 1949. Irving Mills, the original lyricist, and president of publisher Mills Music, Inc., sued Acuff-Rose. In less than three months, with the case still pending, Acuff-Rose Publications, Inc. assigned its March copyright to Mills Music, Inc. on July 29, 1949. "Lovesick Blues" was already at the top of the "Most Played Juke Box (Country & Western) Records) chart", which is where it remained for 16 weeks, and a total run of 42 weeks. As the excitement was calming down, the final settlement came on November 1. It was re-published on that date as "Lovesick blues; words and music by Irving Mills and Cliff Friend, arr. by Hank Williams. © Mills Music, inc., New York; 1Nov49; on changed lyrics & music."<ref name="auto"/> According to author [[Colin Escott]], it was agreed that Mills and Acuff-Rose would share the publishing of Williams' recording.{{sfn|Escott|p=99|1994}} Mills later gained the rest of the rights to the song when he purchased Friend's rights effective June 22, 1951.<ref name=assign>{{Cite web|title=U.S. Copyright Office Virtual Card Catalog Assignments 1928-1977 Titles|url=https://vcc.copyright.gov/browse|access-date=2021-09-09|website=vcc.copyright.gov}}</ref>

Following the success of the song, Williams was invited to appear as a guest on the ''[[Grand Ole Opry]]'', on June 11, 1949.{{sfn|Koon|p=41, 42|1983}} After the performance, Williams received a standing ovation.{{sfn|Williams|1981|p=1}} "Lovesick Blues" became his signature song, which he used to close his shows.{{sfn|Williams|1981|p=82}} It was also his first number one hit, and garnered Williams the stage nicknames of "The Lovesick Blues Boy" and "Mr. Lovesick Blues".{{sfn|Escott|p=100|1994}} In 1949, the singer received second billing behind [[Eddy Arnold]] on the list of the "Year's Top Selling Folk Artists".{{sfn|Williams|1981|p=82}}  Williams' version of the song was featured in the films ''[[The Last Picture Show]]'' (1971), ''[[Forrest Gump]]'' (1994) and ''[[The Shawshank Redemption]]'' (1994). In 2004, "Lovesick Blues" was added to the [[National Recording Registry]] by the [[Library of Congress]].{{sfn|Tyler|2008|p=174}}

== The Crickets recording ==
[[The Crickets]] released their cover of the song (based on Williams' version) in 1971 on the [[Philips Records|Philips]] label. The song appeared originally as the B-side to the single "My Rockin' Days". The recording lineup consisted of [[Sonny Curtis]] providing lead guitar and vocals, [[Joe Osborn]] on bass, Jerry Allison on drums, and [[Glen Hardin]] on piano. The song was performed live on ''[[The Old Grey Whistle Test]]'' in 1972.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rockin50s.com/crickets_recordings/INDEX.htm |title=Who's Who On The Cricket's Recordings |access-date=2013-02-11 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130211043248/http://www.rockin50s.com/crickets_recordings/INDEX.htm |archive-date=2013-02-11 }}</ref>

== Other versions ==
*Singer [[Sonny James]] released a version of the song on the flip side of "Dear Love" in June 1957.{{sfn|Billboard staff|1957|p=52}} The song peaked at number 15 on ''Billboard's'' Hot Country Songs.{{sfn|Whitburn|p=186|2005}}
*In March 1960, [[Patsy Cline]] released a version of "Lovesick Blues" via [[Decca Records]]. It was backed on the B-side with the track "How Can I Face Tomorrow".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cline |first1=Patsy |title="Lovesick Blues"/"How Can I Face Tomorrow" (7" vinyl single) |journal=[[Decca Records]] |date=March 1960 |id=31061A}}</ref> Cline's version failed to become a commercial success due to a lack of promotion and advertisement from her record label.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Nassour |first1=Ellis |title=Honky Tonk Angel: The Intimate Story of Patsy Cline |date=1993 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |location=New York |isbn=0-312-08870-1 |page=120}}</ref>
*[[Floyd Cramer]]'s 1962 instrumental version of the song peaked at 87 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.{{sfn|Billboard staff|1962|p=2}}
*In November 1962, [[Frank Ifield]]'s version of "Lovesick Blues" topped the [[UK Singles Chart]],{{sfn|Billboard staff 2|1962|p=37}} and reached number 44 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in early 1963. {{sfn|Billboard staff|1963|p=23}} ''[[Gramophone (magazine)|Gramophone]]'' compared his singing to a "rough and raucous Jimmie Rodgers".{{sfn|Gramophone staff|1962|p=316}} Meanwhile, ''[[The Young Elizabethan|Elizabethan]]'' delivered a negative review, stating: "No true country singer would dare do to a Hank Williams number what Frank Ifield has done to 'Lovesick Blues'." The review finished by declaring that Ifield had "none of [[Jim Reeves]]' depth and character, nor of the subtle melodic quality (of) [[Don Gibson]]."{{sfn|Valentine|p=4|1963}} By the end of February 1963, ''Billboard'' estimated that the single had sold close to a million copies worldwide.{{sfn|Wedge|1963|p=25}}
*Charley Pride recorded "Love Sick Blues" in 1968.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://secondhandsongs.com/performance/166341|title=Lovesick Blues by Charley Pride|website=Secondhandsongs.com}}</ref>
* [[Little Richard]] released a version of the song arranged with what has been described as a "New Orleans rhythm"<ref>{{cite web |title=Little Richard's Warner Bros. Albums Reissued On Collectors' Choice On June 23 |url=https://news.allaboutjazz.com/little-richards-warner-bros-albums-reissued-on-collectors-choice-on-june-23 |website=All About Jazz |date=4 May 2009 |access-date=10 August 2020}}</ref> on his album ''[[The Rill Thing]]'' in 1970.
* [[Glen Campbell]] recorded a version of the song for his album, ''[[Houston (I'm Comin' to See You)]]'' in 1973.
*In 1992, [[George Strait]] released a version that reached number 24 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles.{{sfn|Whitburn|p=619|2005}} The single peaked at number 22 on RPM's Country Tracks.{{sfn|RPM staff|p=2|1992}} This chart placing broke a string of 31 consecutive top ten country hits for Strait; he would subsequently reel off another 18 top ten hits in a row after "Lovesick Blues" dropped off the chart.  In all, of the 50 singles Strait issued between 1982 and late 1996, "Lovesick Blues" was the only one not to hit the top 10 on the US country charts.
*In 2018, [[Mason Ramsey]] became a viral sensation when he was recorded singing "Lovesick Blues" at a [[Walmart]] store in [[Harrisburg, Illinois]],<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://time.com/5225039/walmart-yodeling-boy-video-goes-viral/|title=The Internet Has Fallen Hard For This 10-Year-Old Boy Yodeling at Walmart|magazine=Time|access-date=April 5, 2018}}</ref> which led to him signing a record deal,<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/country/8393343/yodeling-boy-atlantic-records-big-loud-famous-single|title=Yodeling Boy Signs With Atlantic Records & Big Loud, Releases 'Famous': Listen|magazine=Billboard|access-date=April 28, 2018}}</ref> and his version of the song was included on his debut EP, ''Famous''.

== Chart performance ==

=== Hank Williams ===
{|class="wikitable sortable"
!align="left"|Chart (1949)
!align="center"|Peak<br />position
|-
|''Billboard'' [[Hot Country Songs|Hot Country Singles]]
|align="center"|1{{sfn|Jennings|p=212|2008}}
|-
|align="left"|U.S. ''Billboard'' Most Played By Disc Jockeys
|align="center"|24{{sfn|Koon|p=41|1983}}
|}

=== Other artists ===
{|class="wikitable"
!Year
!Artist
!Chart
!Peak position
|-
|1949
|Red Kirk
|''Billboard'' Most Played Juke Box (Country & Western) Records
|align="center"|14{{sfn|Whitburn|2005|p=207}}
|-
|1957
|[[Sonny James]]
|''Billboard'' Most Played C&W by Jockeys
|align="center"|15{{sfn|Billboard staff|1957|p=52}}
|-
|rowspan=3|1962
|[[Floyd Cramer]]
|[[Billboard Hot 100|Billboard Pop Singles]]
|align="center"|87{{sfn|Billboard staff|1962|p=2}}
|-
|[[Frank Ifield]]
|[[UK Singles Chart]]
| align="center"| 1{{sfn|Billboard staff 2|1962|p=37}}
|-
|[[Frank Ifield]]
|[[CHUM Chart|Canada]]
| align="center"| 18<ref>{{cite web|url=http://chumtribute.com/62-12-03-chart.jpg| title=CHUM Hit Parade - December 3, 1962}}</ref>
|-
|1963
|Frank Ifield
|[[Billboard Hot 100|Billboard Pop Singles]]
|align="center"| 44{{sfn|Billboard staff|1963|p=23}}
|-
|1975
|[[Sonny Curtis]]
|''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles
|align="center"|78{{sfn|Whitburn|2005|p=512}}
|-
|1978
|Jim Owen
|''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles
|align="center"|97{{sfn|Whitburn|2005|p=512}}
|-
|rowspan=2|1992
|rowspan=2|[[George Strait]]
|Canada Country Tracks (RPM)
|align="center"| 22{{sfn|RPM staff|p=2|1992}}
|-
|''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles
|align="center"| 24{{sfn|Whitburn|p=619|2005}}
|-
|}

== See also ==

*[[Yodeling]]

== Footnotes ==
{{reflist|30em}}

== References ==
{{refbegin|30em}}
*{{cite magazine|author=Billboard staff|title=Record Reviews|magazine=Billboard|date=1949|volume=61|issue=9|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc|issn=0006-2510}}
*{{cite magazine|author=Billboard staff|year=1957|magazine=Billboard|title=Tips on Coming Tops|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc|issn=0006-2510|volume=69|number=24}}
*{{cite magazine|author=Billboard staff|year=1962|magazine=Billboard|title=Billboard Music Week Hot 100|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc|issn=0006-2510|volume=74|number=16}}
*{{cite magazine|author=Billboard staff 2|year=1962|magazine=Billboard|title=Hits of the World|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc|issn=0006-2510|volume=74|number=49}}
*{{cite magazine|author=Billboard staff|year=1963|title=Billboard Hot 100|magazine=Billboard|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc|issn=0006-2510|volume=75|number=4}}
*{{cite book|last=Campbell|first=Michael|title=Popular Music in America: The Beat Goes on|publisher=Cengaging Learning|year=2011|isbn=978-0-8400-2976-8}}
*{{cite book|last=Deikman|first=Diane|title=Live Fast, Love Hard: The Faron Young Story|publisher=University of Illinois Press|year=2007|isbn=978-0-252-09380-7}}
*{{cite book|last=Escott|first=Colin|author-link=Colin Escott|year=1994|title=Hank Williams: The Biography|publisher=Hachette Digital, Inc|isbn=0-316-24986-6|page=307}}
*{{Cite episode|first=John|last=Gilliland|year=1969|url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc19757/m1/ |title=Pop Chronicles: Tennessee Firebird: American country music before and after Elvis|series=1|number=9|station=KRLA 1100}}
*{{cite journal|author=Gramophone staff|year=1962|title=Gramophone review|journal=Gramophone|publisher=General Gramophone Publications Limited|volume=40}}
*{{cite book|last=Harwood|first=Robert|title=I Went Down to St. James Infirmary: Investigations in the Shadowy World of Early Jazz-Blues in the Company of Blind Willie McTell, Louis Armstrong, Don Redman, Irving Mills, Carl Moore, and a Host of Others, and Where Did This Dang Song Come from Anyway?|publisher=Harlan Press|year=2008|isbn=978-0-9809743-0-0}}
*{{cite book|last=Jennings |first=Dana|year=2008|title=Sing Me Back Home: Love, Death, and Country Music|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=978-1-4299-9624-2}}
*{{cite book|last=Koon|first=George William|title=Hank Williams, so Lonesome|year=1983|publisher=University of Mississippi press|isbn=978-1-57806-283-6|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781578062836}}
*{{cite book|last=Kosser|first=Michael|title=How Nashville Became Music City, U.s.a.: 50 Years of Music Row|year=2006|publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation |isbn=978-0-634-09806-2|url=https://archive.org/details/hownashvillebeca00mich}}
*{{cite journal|author=RPM staff|year=1992|journal=RPM|title=RPM100 Country Tracks|volume=55|number=13}}
*{{cite book|last1=Tosches|first1=Nick|title=Where dead voices gather|year=2002|publisher=Little, Brown and Co.|isbn=978-0-316-07714-9}}
*{{cite book|last=Tosches|first=Nick|year=2009|title=Country: The Twisted Roots of Rock 'n' Roll |publisher=Da Capo Press|isbn=978-0-7867-5098-6}}
*{{cite book|last=Tyler|first=Don|title=Music of the post war era|year=2008|publisher=ABC-Clio|isbn=978-0-313-34191-5}}
*{{cite journal|last=Valentine|first=Anne|year=1963|title=Music Review|journal=Elizabethan|publisher=Periodical Publications|volume=16}}
*{{cite magazine|last=Wedge|first=Don|year=1963|title=Disk Retailers Association Meets|magazine=Billboard|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc|issn=0006-2510|volume=75|number=8}}
*{{cite book|last=Whitburn|first=Joel|year=2005|title=Joel Whitburn's Top Country Songs: 1944–2005, Billboard|publisher=Record Research|isbn=978-0-89820-165-9}}
*{{cite book|last=Williams |first= Roger M.|title=Sing a sad song: the life of Hank Williams|year=1981|publisher=University of Illinois Press|isbn=978-0-252-00861-0}}
{{refend}}

{{Hank Williams}}
{{Sonny James}}
{{Patsy Cline singles}}
{{George Strait 1990s singles}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:1922 songs]]
[[Category:1949 singles]]
[[Category:1960 singles]]
[[Category:1962 singles]]
[[Category:1992 singles]]
[[Category:Billboard Hot Country Songs number-one singles of the year]]
[[Category:Floyd Cramer songs]]
[[Category:George Strait songs]]
[[Category:Hank Williams songs]]
[[Category:Glen Campbell songs]]
[[Category:Frank Ifield songs]]
[[Category:Mason Ramsey songs]]
[[Category:Irish Singles Chart number-one singles]]
[[Category:MCA Records singles]]
[[Category:Patsy Cline songs]]
[[Category:Pop standards]]
[[Category:Songs with lyrics by Irving Mills]]
[[Category:Songs with music by Cliff Friend]]
[[Category:Sonny James songs]]
[[Category:UK singles chart number-one singles]]
[[Category:United States National Recording Registry recordings]]
[[Category:Okeh Records singles]]
[[Category:Yodeling songs]]