"Comes A-Long A-Love" was a

hit single A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single or simply a hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record' ...

for American

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

Kay Starr Katherine Laverne Starks (July 21, 1922 – November 3, 2016), known professionally as Kay Starr, was an American singer who enjoyed considerable success in the late 1940s and 1950s. She was of Iroquois and Irish heritage. Starr performed multip ...

. The

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...

was released in 1952 and was written by the former

Tin Pan Alley Tin Pan Alley was a collection of music publishers and songwriters in New York City that dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It originally referred to a specific place: West 28th Street ...

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

Al Sherman Avrum Sherman (September 7, 1897 – September 16, 1973), pen name Al Sherman, was a Russian-American songwriter and composer active during the Tin Pan Alley era in American music history. Some of his most recognizable song titles include: "Yo ...

. The melody was adapted from the final part of the overture to

Gioachino Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. He set new standards f ...

's opera ''

Semiramide ''Semiramide'' () is an opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The libretto by Gaetano Rossi is based on Voltaire's tragedy ''Semiramis'', which in turn was based on the legend of Semiramis of Assyria. The opera was first performed at La Fenice ...

''. "Comes A-Long A-Love" was the last

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

song Sherman would write, before handing the reins over to his sons, Bob and Dick Sherman, who were just beginning their songwriting careers. The song was first published on June 9, 1952.

Kay Starr version

The hit recording by Kay Starr, with orchestra conducted by Harold Mooney, was made for

Capitol A capitol, named after the Capitoline Hill in Rome, is usually a legislative building where a legislature meets and makes laws for its respective political entity. Specific capitols include: * United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. * Numerous ...

on August 19, 1952. In 1963, Starr recorded it again for ''The Fabulous Favorites'', a stereo album of her greatest hits, which was released by Capitol on June 1, 1964.

Chart performance

On September 27, 1952, Starr's version of "Comes A-Long A-Love" charted on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' Best Selling Pop Singles

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...

, where it reached No. 9. Outside, the US, the track also topped the then fledgling

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in January 1953 for a week, becoming only the third chart topper in that listing. The song was the first singles chart No. 1 not to also reach that position on the UK's sheet music charts. It entered that listing on December 20, 1952, and peaked at No. 6. Starr's recording was the first version to be issued in the UK, in October 1952, and the only other recordings of the song available in the UK besides hers were by British acts: The Tanner Sisters and Harry Farmer (

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

). Starr's was the only rendition to make the UK singles sales chart, first appearing on the December 5, 1952 listing and peaking at No. 1 in its eighth week on chart.

In popular culture

*The song has appeared on the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

s of several films, including the 2006 release ''

Confetti Confetti are small pieces or streamers of paper, mylar, or metallic material which are usually thrown at celebrations, especially parades and weddings. The origins are from the Latin ''confectum'', with ''confetti'' the plural of Italian ''con ...

''.

Bibliography

Sherman, Robert B. Robert Bernard Sherman (December 19, 1925 – March 6, 2012) was an American songwriter, best known for his work in musical films with his brother, Richard M. Sherman. The Sherman brothers produced more motion picture song scores than any ...

'' Walt's Time: from before to beyond'', Santa Clarita: Camphor Tree Publishers, 1998.

References

{{authority control 1952 singles Kay Starr songs Songs written by Al Sherman Songs written for films Pop ballads UK Singles Chart number-one singles 1952 songs

Kay Starr version

Chart performance

In popular culture

See also

Bibliography

References