banana boat song

Description

1956 (These two songs are young Shirley Bassey's second 45 single, recorded back in 1956 when she was a teenager. This 45 included a Country Song, and a Jazz Favorite, and Shirley, sings both genres with equal passion and gusto. As these were amongst the very first of Shirley's recordings they didn't chart, but anyone listening to these songs 56 years later (Now) will appreciate the talents of this very young lady who poccesses a such a strong voice that has allowed her to sing many different genres of music. Shirley has recorded only a handful of Country songs in her almost 60 year career, but this recording shows she had the instincts to sing this genre at an early age. The side (B), was Born To Sing The Blues, which was the first track of her first LP encompassing Jazz Favorites. ABOUT the song, 'The Wayward Wind" "The Wayward Wind" is a country song written by Stanley Lebowsky and Herb Newman. In 1956 versions were recorded by Gogi Grant, Tex Ritter, and Jimmy Young, of which Grant's was the biggest seller in the United States and Ritter's in the United Kingdom. The song reached #1 on the Cash Box chart, which combined all recorded versions, but must have got most of that popularity from the Gogi Grant version, which reached #1 on the Billboard chart on its own. The song is one of only two songs that were major hits for Grant, the other being "Suddenly There's a Valley". In 1961 Gogi Grant's recording was reissued and reached Billboard #50 and Cash Box #78. That same year, Patsy Cline made a recording, which did not chart. But, although it didn't chart, Patsy's version is one of my favorite versions of this song. In 1963 a new recording was made by Frank Ifield, which reached #1 on the UK charts. LYRICS - The Wayward Wind: The wayward wind is a restless wind A restless wind that yearns to wander And he was born the next of kin The next of kin to the wayward wind In a lonely shack by a railroad track He spent his younger days And I guess the sound of the outward-bound Made him a slave to his wand'rin ways And the wayward wind is a restless wind A restless wind that yearns to wander And he was born the next of kin The next of kin to the wayward wind Oh, I met him there in a border town He vowed we'd never part Though he tried his best to settle down I'm now alone with a broken heart And the wayward wind is a restless wind A restless wind that yearns to wander And he was born the next of kin The next of kin to the wayward wind The next of kin to the wayward wind ABOUT Shirley's LP, 'Born To Sing The Blues': Born to Sing the Blues is Shirley Bassey's debut album, released on a 10" LP in 1957 by the Philips Records label. Long-playing records were newly introduced in the mid-1950s and the 10" album was briefly introduced as an album format. Within a few years the 12" album was the format offered to the record buying public, remaining so until the mid-1980s when the Compact Disc took the market by storm. Shirley Bassey had been signed, a year earlier, to Philips by Johnny Franz and had released three singles which failed to chart, including her debut recording "Burn My Candle (At Both Ends)". But 1957 would bring her first chart success with the top ten hit "The Banana Boat Song". Philips were not certain to which market Shirley Bassey should be directed. They had recorded her singing Great American Songbook standards, novelty songs and even the blues. The opening track from the album, the only one previously released, is the title song "Born to Sing the Blues". This track was one of the three singles issued in 1956, as the B-side of "The Wayward Wind". After a successful live performance of the song on British television, John Franz decided to present her in an album of traditional blues songs. Several of the compositions that appeared on the album were written by W.C. Handy, known as "Father of the Blues". The recordings appear here in mono, no stereo versions are known to exist. In the 1970s Philips d...