Throwing back to the week of May 31, 1955, we find a quartet of repeats atop the Billboard chart: Perez Pablo’s ‘Cherry Pink & Apple Blossom White,‘ Les Baxter’s ‘Unchained Melody,’ Georgia Gibbs’ ‘Dance With Me Henry (Wallflower),’ and Bill Hayes’ ‘The Ballad of Davy Crockett.’

I mentioned in the Les Baxter post that multiple versions of ‘Unchained Melody’ were kicking around the top ten that spring, and this week at #5 we find another of them. Al Hibbler’s take was the top-performing vocal version of the song until the Righteous Brothers came along a decade later.

This was the biggest hit for Hibbler, an R&B singer who was born blind and kick started his career after winning a talent contest in Memphis. Hibbler sang with Duke Ellington’s orchestra for nearly a decade before leaving to pursue solo success.

Hibbler became active in the civil rights movement in the 50s and 60s and was consequently shunned by major labels, but Frank Sinatra threw him a lifeline and signed him to his Reprise Records label. I included that info for my parents. 🙂