"A Thousand Miles Away" is a 1956 song recorded by the American

doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a genre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chica ...

group

The Heartbeats The Heartbeats were a 1950s American doo-wop group best known for their song "A Thousand Miles Away", which charted at No. 53 in the US ''Billboard'' listings in 1957. Career The Heartbeats began as a quartet in early 1953 in Jamaica, Queens a ...

. The song was written by James Sheppard and William H. Miller.

Background

Sheppard co-wrote the song after his ex-girlfriend moved away to Texas.

Track listing

7" Vinyl # a. "A Thousand Miles Away" - 2:22 # b. "Oh Baby Don't" - 2:25

Chart performance

*"A Thousand Miles Away" reached #5 on the

R&B Singles The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

chart and #52 in the US on

The Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

. *A 1960, reissue had the song peak at #96 on the Hot 100.

Cover versions

Other artists who have released a cover versions of the song are: *

The Fleetwoods The Fleetwoods were an American vocal group from Olympia, Washington whose members were Gary Troxel (born November 28, 1939), Gretchen Christopher (born February 29, 1940), and Barbara Ellis (born February 20, 1940). Early history The band mem ...

The Diamonds The Diamonds are a Canadian vocal quartet that rose to prominence in the 1950s and early 1960s with 16 ''Billboard'' hit records. The original members were Dave Somerville (lead), Ted Kowalski (tenor), Phil Levitt (baritone), and Bill Reed (ba ...

Harry Nilsson Harry Edward Nilsson III (June 15, 1941 – January 15, 1994), sometimes credited as Nilsson, was an American singer-songwriter who reached the peak of his commercial success in the early 1970s. His work is characterized by pioneering vocal ove ...

released a cover version of the song.

In popular culture

The song was featured in the 1973 film "

American Graffiti ''American Graffiti'' is a 1973 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by George Lucas, produced by Francis Ford Coppola, written by Willard Huyck, Gloria Katz and Lucas, and starring Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard (billed as Ronn ...

".Original Soundtrack - American Graffiti
Retrieved 09-24-11

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thousand Miles Away, A 1957 singles The Fleetwoods songs The Diamonds songs 1957 songs Roulette Records singles