Tag Archives: tb50s

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Song of the Day #6,313: ‘The Shifting Whispering Sands’ – Billy Vaughn and His Orchestra

Throwing back to the week of October 18, 1955, we find the usual batch of repeats in the top four (including The Four Aces and The Four Lads in the #1 and #2 spots, respectively). And at #5 is one of the strangest hits I’ve covered yet.

‘The Shifting Whispering Sands’ is a Western song that combines spoken-word poetry and choral singing. Over the years it has been recorded by many artists, including Johnny Cash and Lorne Greene, but the most popular was this version by Billy Vaughn and His Orchestra.

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Song of the Day #6,299: ‘Moments to Remember’ – The Four Lads

Throwing back to the week of October 4, 1955, we find the usual crowd of repeat offenders atop the chart (I won’t bother listing them… they’ve all been shouted out repeatedly by now).

At the #5 spot that week, on its way to a peak at #2, was ‘Moments to Remember,’ a sleepy pop ballad by Canadian quartet The Four Lads. This song is tied with 1956’s ‘No, Not Much!’ as the foursome’s top-charting single.

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Song of the Day #6,285: ‘Autumn Leaves’ – Roger Williams

Throwing back to the week of September 20, 1955, we find a trio of usual suspects atop the singles chart: Mitch Miller’s ‘The Yellow Rose of Texas,’ The Four Aces’ ‘Love is a Many Splendored Thing,’ and Pat Boone’s ‘Ain’t That a Shame.’

In the fourth spot that week was ‘Autumn Leaves,’ an instrumental track by pianist Roger Williams. The song was composed a decade earlier by Joseph Kosma, a Hungarian who immigrated to France, with lyrics penned by Jacques Prévert. Johnny Mercer adapted the song to English.

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Song of the Day #6,271: ‘Love is a Many Splendored Thing’ – The Four Aces

Throwing back to the week of September 6, 1955, we find a trio of repeats atop the Billboard singles chart: Mitch Miller’s ‘The Yellow Rose of Texas,’ Pat Boone’s ‘Ain’t That a Shame,’ and Bill Haley & The Comets’ ‘Rock Around the Clock.’

That brings us to #4, ‘Love is a Many Splendored Thing’ by the pop quartet The Four Aces. This was the most popular version of the song, which has been recorded by at least a dozen others. It eventually reached #1.

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Song of the Day #6,257: ‘The Yellow Rose of Texas’ – Mitch Miller

Throwing back to the week of August 23, 1955, we find Bill Haley & the Comets and Pat Boone holding on to the top two spots with ‘Rock Around the Clock‘ and ‘Ain’t That a Shame,’ respectively.

That brings us to the #3 song that week, Mitch Miller’s version of ‘The Yellow Rose of Texas,’ which eventually reached #1. This traditional tune dates back at least 100 years from Miller’s recording. The original version had references to “darkeys” and “yellow women” that were sanitized over the years.

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