"Broken Hearted Melody" is a

popular song Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Funk ...

written by

Hal David Harold Lane David (May 25, 1921 – September 1, 2012) was an American lyricist. He grew up in New York City. He was best known for his collaborations with composer Burt Bacharach and his association with Dionne Warwick. Early life David ...

and

Sherman Edwards Sherman Edwards (April 3, 1919 – March 30, 1981) was an American composer, jazz pianist, and songwriter, best known for his songs from the 1969 Broadway musical '' 1776'' and the 1972 film adaptation. Early life Edwards was born in the East ...

. It was recorded by

Sarah Vaughan Sarah Lois Vaughan (March 27, 1924 – April 3, 1990) was an American jazz singer. Nicknamed "Sassy" and "Jazz royalty, The Divine One", she won two Grammy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, and was nominated for a total of nine ...

and it became a hit for Vaughan, reaching No. 7 on ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1958.

Background

Hal David wrote the lyrics for "Broken Hearted Melody", with Sherman Edwards writing the music instead of his better-known collaborator

Burt Bacharach Burt Freeman Bacharach ( ; born May 12, 1928) is an American composer, songwriter, record producer and pianist who composed hundreds of pop songs from the late 1950s through the 1980s, many in collaboration with lyricist Hal David. A six-time Gra ...

recorded the song in early 1958, left it for over a year before releasing it around the first of July

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

. It was initially released as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

to "

Misty Misty may refer to: Music * ''Misty'' (Ray Stevens album), an album by Ray Stevens featuring the above song * ''Misty'' (Richard "Groove" Holmes album), an album by Richard "Groove" Holmes featuring the above song * ''Misty'' (Eddie "Lockjaw" ...

", but flipped when "Broken Hearted Melody" proved more popular with the public. "Broken Hearted Melody" became one of Sarah Vaughan's biggest

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...

, yielding Vaughan her first million seller. It was also Vaughan's first song to receive a Grammy nomination at the

2nd Annual Grammy Awards The 2nd Annual Grammy Awards were held on November 29, 1959, at Los Angeles and New York. Hosted by Meredith Willson, this marked the first televised Grammy Award ceremony, and it was aired in episodes as special ''Sunday Showcase''. It was held i ...

for Best Performance By A "Top 40" Artist. It became part of her

concert A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variety a ...

repertoire for many years afterwards.

Chart performance

The song became a major hit for Vaughan, peaking at No. 7 in the

Billboard Charts The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in '' Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, p ...

in September 1959, and No. 5 on the R&B charts in October 1959. This version was released by

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it is ...

under catalog number 957085. The song was also released in the UK, where it first entered the charts on September 11, 1959, and spent 11 weeks there, also peaking at No. 7.

Charts

References

External links

* Billboard Chart History for Sarah Vaughan {{authority control 1958 songs 1959 singles Songs with lyrics by Hal David Songs written by Sherman Edwards Sarah Vaughan songs