Vernon Dalhart Marion Try Slaughter (April 6, 1883 – September 14, 1948), better known by his stage name Vernon Dalhart, was an American country music singer and songwriter. His recording of the classic ballad "Wreck of the Old 97" was the first country song ...

recorded "Puttin' On the Style" in December 1925 and by 1926 it was a popular hit. The song was collected in the Catskills by

Norman Cazden Norman Cazden (Born September 23, 1914 in New York City; died August 18, 1980 in Bangor, Maine) was an American composer. The son of Russian immigrants, he studied first at the Juilliard School of Music and New York's City College, and then in ...

from Ernie Sagar in 1945 showing that it had entered oral tradition. Another version has also been collected from oral tradition in West Virginia.

Other versions

"Puttin' On the Style" was a

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th y ...

hit for

skiffle Skiffle is a genre of folk music with influences from American folk music, blues, country, bluegrass, and jazz, generally performed with a mixture of manufactured and homemade or improvised instruments. Originating as a form in the United States ...

artist

Lonnie Donegan Anthony James Donegan (29 April 1931 – 3 November 2002), known as Lonnie Donegan, was a British skiffle singer, songwriter and musician, referred to as the "King of Skiffle", who influenced 1960s British pop and rock musicians. Born in Scotl ...

. It was recorded live at the

London Palladium The London Palladium () is a Grade II* West End theatre located on Argyll Street, London, in the famous area of Soho. The theatre holds 2,286 seats. Of the roster of stars who have played there, many have televised performances. Between 1955 an ...

and released as a

double A-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 company ...

along with "

Gamblin' Man "Gamblin' Man" was a 1957 hit single for skiffle artist Lonnie Donegan. It was recorded live at the London Palladium and released as a double A side along with "Puttin' On the Style". It reached No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart in June and July 1957, ...

" and reached No. 1 in the

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 June and July 1957, where it spent two weeks in this position. It was Donegan's second consecutive No. 1 in the UK and the UK's first double-sided chart topper. It was the last UK chart-topper to be solely issued in 78rpm format, as Pye Nixa did not release it on 7" single at the time (although it was later re-released as a 7"). This record was released in the USA on August 19, 1957 as Mercury 71181, but did not chart. A low quality recording of the song performed by the

Quarrymen The Quarrymen (also written as "the Quarry Men") are a British skiffle/rock and roll group, formed by John Lennon in Liverpool in 1956, which evolved into the Beatles in 1960. Originally consisting of Lennon and several schoolfriends, the Quar ...

, John Lennon's group live on 6 July 1957 exists, although it has never been released officially. It was recorded the same day that Lennon met his songwriting partner

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

, and is the earliest

Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developme ...

related recording that exists. The song was also satirised by

Peter Sellers Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show'', featured on a number of hit comic songs ...

on his song "Puttin' on the Smile" (1959), which he presented in the guise of folk singer, Lenny Goonagan. The Chad Mitchell Trio also recorded this song on the "Mighty Day on Campus" album. Finnish singer Lasse Liemola had a hit in 1958 with a Finnish version of the song titled as "Diivaillen". In 1974 a group called Hullujussi covered "Diivaillen" in their album "Bulvania". A version of it was performed on the television series western '' Men of Shiloh'' Episode 20, "Tate: Ramrod" by

Rex Allen Rex Elvie Allen (December 31, 1920 – December 17, 1999), known as "the Arizona Cowboy", was an American film and television actor, singer and songwriter; he was also the narrator of many Disney nature and Western productions. For his contribut ...

during a dance segment on the show. Lyrics pertaining to 20th century events and technology such as "the young man in the hot rod car" were omitted.

Charts

's version of the song first entered the UK singles charts ''June 13, 1957'', starting at number 11, after which it moved to number 7, number 2, and eventually, by June 28, was at number 1., where it remained for two weeks, before being overtaken by Elvis Presley's

All Shook Up "All Shook Up" is a song recorded by Elvis Presley, published by Elvis Presley Music, and composed by Otis Blackwell. The single topped the U.S. ''Billboard'' Top 100 on April 13, 1957, staying there for eight weeks. It also topped the ''Bil ...

''', after which the track spent 3 weeks at number two, before falling to number 4, and rising back to number 2, only to fall again to number 16 over the proceeding five weeks. In late September the song would rise to number 11, before falling to its final position of 27 in October 1957. When The Quarreymen covered the song, it was in its second week at number one.

References

1957 singles UK Singles Chart number-one singles {{1950s-single-stub