"The Blacksmith Blues" is a song which was written for

Ella Mae Morse Ella Mae Morse (September 12, 1924 – October 16, 1999) was an American singer of popular music whose 1940s and 1950s recordings mixing jazz, blues, and country styles influenced the development of rock and roll. Her 1942 recording of "Cow-Cow ...

by Jack Holmes. The recording reached #3 on the '' Billboard'' chart when it was released in 1952, and sold over a million copies. Recordings were later made by Bing Crosby, the

John Barry Seven The John Barry Seven was a band formed by John Barry in 1957, after he abandoned his original career path of arranging for big bands. Origins Barry contacted three musicians with whom he had served in the Army and three local musicians and in ...

, and others.

Harry James Harry Haag James (March 15, 1916 – July 5, 1983) was an American musician who is best known as a trumpet-playing band leader who led a big band from 1939 to 1946. He broke up his band for a short period in 1947 but shortly after he reorganized ...

released a recording on Columbia 39671 with Toni Harper on vocals.

Original recording

Morse recorded the song on December 12, 1951, in the Capitol Records studio on

Melrose Avenue Melrose Avenue is a shopping, dining and entertainment destination in Los Angeles that starts at Santa Monica Boulevard, at the border between Beverly Hills and West Hollywood. It ends at Lucile Avenue in Silver Lake. Melrose runs north of Bev ...

in Hollywood. The arrangement was created by Billy May and Nelson Riddle, and the recording was produced by Lee Gillette.

Bob Bain Bob Bain (26 January 1924 – 21 June 2018) was an American guitarist mainly known for his film music contributions, including “Dr. Zhivago” (1965), where he played the balalaika in the score for certain scenes where “Lara’s Theme” is h ...

played a muffled ashtray with a triangle beater to create the hammer and anvil sound effect. The recording was originally issued as the B-side of " Love Me or Leave Me".

Origins of the song

The tune had first been copyrighted by Holmes in 1950, when it was recorded, with completely different lyrics, as "Happy Pay-Off Day". Its first recording was by

Mickey Katz Meyer Myron "Mickey" Katz (June 15, 1909 – April 30, 1985) was an American musician and comedian. He was the father of actor Joel Grey and paternal grandfather of actress Jennifer Grey. Early life Meyer Myron Katz was born on Sawtell Court in ...

, and it was also recorded by

Little Willie Littlefield Willie Littlefield, Jr., billed as Little Willie Littlefield (September 16, 1931 – June 23, 2013), was an American R&B and boogie-woogie pianist and singer whose early recordings "formed a vital link between boogie-woogie and rock and roll". ...

(as "Happy Pay Day"), and

Sonny Burke Joseph Francis "Sonny" Burke (March 22, 1914 – May 31, 1980) was an American musical arranger, composer, Big Band leader and producer. In 1937, he graduated from Duke University, where he had formed and led the jazz big band known as the Duke ...

. However, none of the recordings were hits. Over a year later, music publisher Del Evans remembered the tune, had Holmes write a new set of lyrics, and had it recorded by Ella Mae Morse. "Happy Pay-Off Day" at SecondHandSongs.com
Retrieved 29 December 2012

Copyright claims

A legal dispute arose in 1952 when Ken Watkins of Lynda Music, who originally held the copyright to "Happy Pay-Off Day", sued music publishers

Hill & Range Hill & Range (originally "Hill and Range Songs, Inc.") is a music publishing company which was particularly responsible for much of the country music produced in the 1950s and 1960s, and had control over the material recorded by Elvis Presley over ...

, to whom he had sold the rights. The dispute was over whether Hill & Range needed to pay royalties to Lynda Music for the rewritten song. The case eventually collapsed after Watkins failed to attend the court. In a separate dispute in 1959, Mrs Mildred Schultz sued for breach of copyright, claiming that the music was a copy of her 1941 composition "Good Old Army", which she had rewritten in 1949 as "Waitin' For My Baby" but never published or recorded. The suit was unsuccessful. Zayde's Turntable, ''A record for the radio''
Retrieved 29 December 2012

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blacksmith Blues 1952 singles Ella Mae Morse songs 1950 songs Songs about occupations