SONG OF THE DAY
“Beautiful Dreamer” by Marty Robbins (The Essential Marty Robbins: 1951 to 1982, Legacy/ Columbia Records, 1991). Written by Stephen Foster.
INTERESTING FACTS (a la wikipedia)
– “Beautiful Dreamer” is a popular American song, the last known song written by Stephen Foster. It was published posthumously in 1864, the year Foster died.
– Notable covers include the following:
- Bing Crosby with John Scott Trotter & his Orchestra, Decca 3118 (matrix DLA 1967-B)
- Roy Orbison on his album In Dreams (Monument Records, 1963)
– An instrumental version is woven into the score for Gone with the Wind, showing up, for example, during the intermission.
– The song is also used by film composer Danny Elfman in the 1989 score for the motion picture Batman (directed by Tim Burton). In the context of the film, it functions as the Joker’s twisted “love song” for the female lead, Vicki Vale.
– The song also recurs throughout the 1947 comedy The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, starring Danny Kaye and Virginia Mayo.
– An instrumental version is played on the violin by the character Papa Mousekewitz in the 1986 animated film An American Tail.
– The song appears in the film The Naked Spur whenever there is a romantic scene between Jimmy Stewart and Janet Leigh.
– The song is used in two episodes of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. The first episode entitled “The Prisoner” where Loren Bray (Orson Bean) performed the first verse of the song on his harmonica. Later in the same episode, a group of townsfolk {including Bray} played the entire song at Ms. Olive’s(Gail Strickland) Hurdy-Gurdy. Later in the series the song was performed by Barbara Mandrell in the episode “All That Glitters”.
– In the HBO series Deadwood, the song can be heard on the piano in the background during a bar scene in episode 9 of season 1.
– An upbeat instrumental version of the song appears in the movie Office Space in the scene where Peter is sleeping through his boss calling his answering machine to tell Peter to come into work.
– Marty Robbins, was an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. One of the most popular and successful country and Western singers of his era, for most of his nearly four-decade career, Robbins was rarely far from the country music charts, and several of his songs also became pop hits.
– Robbins became known for his appearances at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee.
-In addition to his recordings and performances, Robbins was an avid race car driver, competing in 35 career NASCAR races with six top 10 finishes, including the 1973 Daytona 500.
– Robbins later portrayed a musician in the 1982 Clint Eastwood film Honkytonk Man. Robbins died a few weeks before the film’s release in December 1982 of complications following cardiac surgery.
– Robbins’s 1957 recording of “A White Sport Coat and a Pink Carnation” sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.
– His musical accomplishments include the Grammy Award for his 1959 hit and signature song “El Paso,” taken from his album Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs. “El Paso” was the first song to hit #1 on the pop chart in the 1960s.
– It was followed up, successfully, by “Don’t Worry”, which reached #3 on the pop chart in 1961, becoming his third, and last, Top 10 hit.
– He won the Grammy Award for the Best Country & Western Recording 1961, for his follow-up album More Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs, and was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Country Song in 1970, for “My Woman, My Woman, My Wife”.
– Robbins was named Artist of the Decade (1960–69) by the Academy of Country Music, was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1982, and was given a Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1998 for his song “El Paso”.
– Robbins was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1975. For his contribution to the recording industry, Robbins has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6666 Hollywood Blvd.
– Robbins has been honored by many bands, including the Grateful Dead who covered “El Paso”. The Who’s 2006 album Endless Wire includes the song “God Speaks Of Marty Robbins”. The song’s composer, Pete Townshend, explained that the song is about God deciding to create the universe just so he can hear some music, “and most of all, one of his best creations, Marty Robbins.”
– Johnny Cash recorded a version of “Big Iron” as part of his American Recordings series, which is included in the Cash Unearthed box set.
– Both Frankie Laine and Elvis Presley, among others, recorded versions of Robbins’s song “You Gave Me a Mountain”, with Laine’s recording reaching the pop and adult contemporary charts in 1969.