12/8 and 6/8 time songs: part 2, 1960-1963 – “At Last” to “Surfer Girl”

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Selected 12/8 and 6/8 time* popular songs and recordings, part 2, 1960-1963:

page 1 (this page)

• 1960 – At Last (Etta James version), Get Well Soon, P.S. I Love You (Starlets version), White Christmas (Statues version), You Belong to Me (Santo & Johnny version)
• 1961 – Can’t Help Falling in Love, Come Home Soon, Daddy’s Home, House of the Rising Sun (Bob Dylan version), I Love How You Love Me, A Moment Ago, My True Story, A Sunday Kind of Love (Mystics version), Till (Angels version), Tragedy (Fleetwoods version)

page 2

• 1962 – Bring It On Home to Me, Cry Baby Cry, Don’t Make Me Over, The End of the World, Surfer Girl (demo)
• 1963 – Anyone Who Had a Heart, I’d Die, In My Room, Surfer Girl
• links: selected articles, forum threads, and videos on 12/8 and 6/8 time (bottom of page)

For items in the list in which a specific recording of a song is indicated, in each case this marks the first recording of the song in 12/8 or 6/8 time that I’ve identified. For all other songs in the list, the original recording is in 12/8 or 6/8 time.

This is the second part of a series in which each part features a portion of the recordings listed in the page “Earth Angel” to “Good Timin’”: doc’s pick of 12/8 and 6/8 time songs, 1954-1978. See also parts 1 and 3 of the series:

• 12/8 and 6/8 time songs: part 1, 1954-1959 – “Earth Angel” to “Put Your Head on My Shoulder”
• 12/8 and 6/8 time songs: part 3, 1964-1978 – “The Warmth of the Sun” to “Good Timin’”

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1960

At Last (m. Harry Warren, w. Mack Gordon)

Etta James – issued in December 1960 on the single Argo 5380, b/w “I Just Want to Make Love to You” (Willie Dixon)

audio file, VBR MP3 (7.0 MB), from the page At Last, at archive.org:

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Get Well Soon (Arthur Venosa) — Arthur “Artie” Venosa was a founding member of the American vocal harmony group The Elegants. Founding member and lead singer Vito Picone co-wrote, with Venosa, the group’s big hit “Little Star.”

The Elegants — issued on the 45 rpm single Hull Records 45-H-732, as the B-side of “Little Boy Blue (Is Blue No More)”; A-side written by Vito Picone

Hull 45-H-732 release date disagreement:

• January 1960, according to 45cat.com
• 1960 according to Discogs.com
• 1959 according to RateYourMusic.com

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P.S. I Love You (m. Gordon Jenkins, w. Johnny Mercer)

The Starlets – issued in April 1960 on Astro Records AS202-1 / AS203-2, b/w “Where is My Love Tonight?” (Barbara Allbut)

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White Christmas (Irving Berlin)

The Statues — issued in 1960 on the single Liberty Records F-55292, c/w “Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair”

Liberty Records F-55292 sides disagreement:

• 45cat.com — issued in December 1960; A-side: “White Christmas,” B-side: “Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair”
• Discogs.com — issued in 1960; A-side: “Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair,” B-side: “White Christmas

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You Belong to Me (Chilton Price, Pee Wee King, Redd Stewart)

Santo & Johnny — originally issued on the 1960 LP Encore, Canadian American Records CALP 1002 (Mono), SCALP 1002 (Stereo)

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1961

Can’t Help Falling in Love (Luigi Creatore, George David Weiss, Hugo Peretti)

Elvis Presley with The Jordanaires — recorded on 23 March 1961; issued 22 November 1961 on the single RCA Victor 47-7968, b/w “Rock-A-Hula Baby”

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Come Home Soon — See Get Well Soon, The Elegants (c. 1960) and Come Home Soon, The Intruders (1961)

Daddy’s Home — (James Sheppard, William H. Miller, Clarence Bassett, Charles Baskerville) — adapted from “A Thousand Miles Away” (James Sheppard, William H. Miller)

Shep and the Limelites — recorded in NYC on 1 February 1961; issued in March 1961 on the single Hull 45-H-740

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House of the Rising Sun – (traditional, Bob Dylan arrangement)

Bob Dylan — recorded on 20 November 1961; included, under the title “House of the Risin’ Sun,” on Dylan’s debut album Bob Dylan, Columbia CS 8579, released on 19 March 1962

It’s true that Dylan learned the song from Dave Van Ronk, but in my opinion Dylan’s own arrangement made the song significantly more accessible. Also, in the recordings of the song by Van Ronk that I’ve heard his arrangements are so loose that I find it impossible to even follow the meter, let alone tell whether he’s in 12/8 or 6/8 time.

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I Love How You Love Me (Barry Mann, Larry Kolber)

The Paris Sisters — produced by Phil Spector; issued in August 1961 on the single Gregmark 6, b/w “All Through the Night”

audio file, VBR MP3 (2.0 MB), from the page Next Set of 1960s Rock, at archive.org:

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audio file, VBR MP3 (2.0 MB), from the page The Heart of Rock ‘N’ Roll: Slow Dancing Classics, at archive.org

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A Moment Ago (Barbara Allbut)

The Angels — issued in August 1961 on the single Caprice C-107, as the B-side of their 1961 #14 hit “‘Til”

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My True Story

songwriting credits disagreement:

• Beltone 45-1006 label – Pitt, Waltzer
• Wikipedia – Eugene Pitt, Oscar Waltzer, Joe Rene
• SecondHandSongs – Oscar Waltzer, Phil Belmonte, Eugene Pitt

The Jive Five — issued in April 1961 on the single Beltone 45-1006, b/w “When I Was Single”

audio file, VBR MP3 (2.4 MB), from the page Next Set of 1960s Rock at archive.org:

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A Sunday Kind of Love (words and music: Barbara Belle, Anita Leonard, Stan Rhodes, and Louis Prima)

The Mystics — issued in August 1961 on Laurie label single #3014, b/w “Darling I Know Now” (Ralph Lizano)

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Till (m. Charles Danvers, w. Carl Sigman)

The Angels — issued in August 1961 on the single Caprice C-107, under the title “‘Til,” b/w “A Moment Ago” — peak chart position: #14 Billboard Hot 100 (pop); both sides were produced by Hutch Davie

From Wikipedia:

Till is a popular song with music by Charles Danvers and English lyrics by Carl Sigman,^[1]…It was derived from the French song “Prière Sans Espoir”,^[1] released in 1956 by Lucien Lupi on the EP L’Amour Viendra^[3] with original French lyrics written by Pierre Benoit Buisson.^[3][4] Italian singer Caterina Valente released a version in 1960 with lyrics by Gaiano [Carla Boni].^[5]

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Tragedy (Gerald H. Nelson and Fred B. Burch)

The Fleetwoods — issued in March 1961 on the single Dolton No. 40, b/w “Little Miss Sad One”

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