Bluebirds over the Mountain
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"Bluebirds over the Mountain" is a song written and recorded in 1958 by Ersel Hickey, later covered by artists such as The Beach Boys, Ritchie Valens and Robert Plant. Hickey's original recording of the song peaked at No. 75 on the Billboard Top 100 Sides on the week ending May 10, 1958,[1] and No. 39 on the Cash Box chart. In Canada it reached No. 8.[2] Ritchie Valens' cover version was released on his eponymous 1959 album. A 1962 recording by The Echoes hit No. 112 on Billboard's Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles survey and was a top 20 hit on Chicago's WLS.[3] A 1965 version by Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks reached No. 8 in Canada.[4]
The Beach Boys version
[edit]| "Bluebirds over the Mountain" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by The Beach Boys | ||||
| from the album 20/20 | ||||
| B-side | "Never Learn Not to Love" | |||
| Released | November 29, 1968 (UK) December 2, 1968 (US) | |||
| Recorded | September 29, 1967; early October-November 14, 1968 [5] | |||
| Genre | Pop rock[6] | |||
| Length | 2:51 | |||
| Label | Capitol | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Ersel Hickey | |||
| Producer(s) | ||||
| The Beach Boys singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Bluebirds over the Mountain" was covered by the Beach Boys and released as a single under the Capitol Records label on November 29, 1968, in the United Kingdom (acquired and published by Northern Songs) and December 2, 1968, in the United States with the B-side "Never Learn Not to Love".[7][8] The song features Mike Love on lead vocals and the band's touring musician Ed Carter on lead guitar.[5]
The single peaked at No. 61 on the Billboard chart and No. 56 on the Cashbox sales chart.[9][10] It reached No. 53 in Canada.[11] It also peaked at No. 33 on the UK Singles Chart on the week ending January 8, 1969.[12] In the Netherlands, it peaked at No. 9 each on the Dutch Top 40 on the week ending January 18, 1969, and the Dutch Single Top 100 on the week ending January 25, 1969.[13][14]
Personnel
[edit]Credits from Craig Slowinski.[5]
The Beach Boys
- Al Jardine – backing vocals, acoustic guitar
- Mike Love – lead vocals
- Carl Wilson – backing vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, producer
- Bruce Johnston – backing vocals, organ, producer
Session musicians
- Ed Carter – lead guitar
- Daryl Dragon – marimba, vibraphone
- Larry Knechtel – bass
- Jim Gordon – drums
- Mike Kowalski – bongos, additional percussion
- Van McCoy – string and horn arrangements
References
[edit]- ^ "Top 100 Sides for Survey Week Ending May 10". Billboard. May 19, 1958. p. 31.
- ^ "CHUM Hit Parade - April 14, 1958".
- ^ "WLS Silver Dollar Survey, November 17, 1962". Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
- ^ "RPM Top 40&5 - March 29, 1965" (PDF).
- ^ a b c Slowinski, Craig (Spring 2019). Beard, David (ed.). "20/20: 50 Year Anniversary Special Edition". Endless Summer Quarterly Magazine. Charlotte, North Carolina.
- ^ "Lindsay Planer review". Allmusic. Retrieved 2011-04-29.
- ^ Badman, Keith. The Beach Boys. The Definitive Diary of America's Greatest Band: On Stage and in the Studio Backbeat Books, San Francisco, California, 2004. ISBN 0-87930-818-4 p. 232
- ^ Badman, Keith (2004). The Beach Boys: The Definitive Diary of America's Greatest Band: On Stage and in the Studio. London: United Entertainment Media. pp. 231–232. ISBN 0-87930-818-4.
- ^ "CASH BOX Top 100 Singles - Week ending January 4, 1969". Archived from the original on 2018-12-16. Retrieved 2018-12-16.
- ^ "The Billboard Hot 100 (week ending December 28, 1968)". Billboard. Retrieved February 17, 2022.
- ^ "RPM Top 100 Singles - January 13, 1969" (PDF).
- ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 50 (08 January 1969 – 14 January 1969)". Official Charts.
- ^ "The Beach Boys: 'Bluebirds over the Mountain'". Top 40. Retrieved February 17, 2022.
- ^ "The Beach Boys – Bluebirds over the Mountain". Dutch Charts. Retrieved February 17, 2022.
