![]() He put in tremendous effort to compile the greatest Cohen website, connecting information that had never been connected, celebrating each aspect of Leonard’s life and career, and archiving such important material having to do with Leonard, and all the things he was. This was originally on Cohencentric, along with other Cohen-loved songs, in a blog created by Allan Showalter, one of the great Leonard champions of all time. I don’t know how long it took the guy to write it, but it probably didn’t take years. One of the greatest songs in history is ‘Blueberry Hill.’ ‘ The moon stood still on Blueberry Hill.’ I would be happy to have written that line. You might think that it is going to take the rest of the day, the week or the month. But the amount of time is beyond any reasonable conception of how much time you should spend. LEONARD COHEN: “Over the years I have discovered that a song eventually surrenders, it just needs enough time. Photo by Paul Zollo/American Songwriter Leonard Cohen It’s one of a handful of songs he chose to be singled out for its greatness: Leonard Cohen on Pico. įor Leonard Cohen, the song belonged to Fats. The song was also recorded in 2010 by a man we don’t associate with great songwriting or rock & roll much: Vladimir Putin, who sang it live, with a unison support vocal by another unseen singer, at a benefit concert. ![]() (Which means it reached #1, then fell off, and kept getting pushed back to the top eight weeks, which is highly unusual.) In America it was a hit both on the Top 40 charts (where it went to #2 for several weeks ) and the R&B charts, where it went to #1 for eight non-consecutive weeks. ![]() He was a pioneer.įats Domino’s record of “Blueberry Hill” was released in 1956 and became a giant His renditions of this – including live versions which came after Fats recorded it – are delightful, and show that some of the seeds of the first rock & roll were planted by him. Also, the way that Louie Armstrong brings out a lyric is delightful. Still it is a groove, and Satchmo’s delivery makes bridges the distance between the crooners and the rockers, which must have shaped Fats Domino’s approach. His record has drums on it – though not rock and roll drums closer to a swing groove played with brushes. As he did with every song he sang that was authentic. When Louis Armstrong cut it in 1949, for the first time, he added some real soul to it. Jimmy Dorsey and Glenn Miller each did big band versions, of which Miller’s was a hit, going to #2 on the pop music charts in 1940. Still the vocal by Howard Du Lany comes from the romantic crooner school of singing, which was ultimately replaced by what was to come. Gene Krupa’s version that same year doesn’t rock or roll, but it has more of a groove. The song is there – melody and lyrics – but no attitude yet, no groove. Tommy Ryan, a crooner, sang it with the Sammy Kaye Orchestra in 1940, as a ballad, supported not by any drums but horns and flutes mostly. In 1940 alone, however, it was recorded six separate times, and many other recordings followed in the years before Fats made it his. It was published in 1940, some sixteen years before Fats Domino had a hit with it. ![]() “Blueberry Hill” was written by three songwriters: Vincent Rose, who composed the music, and Larry Stock & Al Lewis, who wrote the lyrics. The Sammy Kaye Orchestra featuring Tommy Ryan, “Blueberry Hill”
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