Saturday Music Post - Blueberry Hill

"Blueberry Hill" is best known today for Antoine "Fats" Domino's 1956 R&B hit, but it had been a hit for others over fifteen years earlier. Written in 1940 by Vincent Rose, Larry Stock, and Al Lewis, its first release was a fox trot rendition by Sammy Kaye's big band. The first hit version was by the Glen Miller Orchestra, also in 1940, on the RCA subsidiary Bluebird Records. (Note: Bluebird may be best remembered today for its early blues releases by Blind Willie McTell, Tampa Red, Memphis Minnie, Washboard Sam, and others. I didn't know until researching "Blueberry Hill" that big bands also recorded for Bluebird.) Louis Armstrong also had a hit with "Blueberry Hill" in 1949, with the Gordon Jenkins Orchestra, which was sort of a transitional version that influenced Domino. (Another note: Gordon Jenkins seemed to make a habit of recording with diverse artists, including the Weavers' English translation of "Tzena Tzena" in 1950.)

There have been numerous covers, virtually all of the Fats Domino version, including an unexpected one by an infamous amateur at the bottom of today's post at The Faculty Lounge.