"Red Roses for a Blue Lady" is a 1948

popular Popularity or social status is the quality of being well liked, admired or well known to a particular group. Popular may also refer to: In sociology * Popular culture * Popular fiction * Popular music * Popular science * Populace, the total ...

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 ...

Sid Tepper Sid Tepper (June 25, 1918 – April 24, 2015) was an American songwriter. He is best known for his collaborations with Roy C. Bennett, which spawned several hits for Elvis Presley. Between 1945 and 1970, Tepper and Bennett published over 300 son ...

and

Roy C. Bennett Roy C. Bennett (August 12, 1918 – July 2, 2015) was an American songwriter known for the songs he wrote with Sid Tepper, which spawned several hits for Elvis Presley. Between 1945 and 1970, Tepper and Bennett published over 300 songs. Biograp ...

(alias Roy Brodsky). It has been recorded by a number of performers. Actor-singer John Laurenz (1909–1958) was the first to record the song for

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 ...

. It rose to #2 on the weekly “Your Hit Parade” radio survey in the spring of 1949. The original 78rpm single was issued on Mercury 5201 - Red Roses For A Blue Lady (Roy Brodsky-Sid Tepper) by John Laurenz.

Lyrical content

The song is about a man who wishes to give flowers as a gift to the woman he loves after the two have had a disagreement and that said disagreement made her blue (i.e., sad). He hopes that if his sweetheart accepts his plea for forgiveness, the two will marry and that he will soon return to pick out the florist’s “best white orchid for her wedding gown."

Other recorded versions

*The best-selling recording was made by

Vaughn Monroe Vaughn Wilton Monroe (October 7, 1911 – May 21, 1973) was an American baritone singer, trumpeter, big band leader, actor, and businessman, who was most popular in the 1940s and 1950s. He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for rec ...

and his orchestra, with credited vocalists Vaughn Monroe and The Moon Men, on December 15, 1948. It was released by

RCA Victor Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Aris ...

as catalog number 20-3319 (in

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

) and by

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

on the

His Master's Voice His Master's Voice (HMV) was the name of a major British record label created in 1901 by The Gramophone Co. Ltd. The phrase was coined in the late 1890s from the title of a painting by English artist Francis Barraud, which depicted a Jack Russ ...

label as catalogue numbers BD 1247, HN 3014, HQ 3071, IM 13425, and GY 478. It first reached the ''Billboard'' magazine chart on January 14, 1949 and lasted 19 weeks on the chart, peaking at #4. *Another recording was made by

Guy Lombardo Gaetano Alberto "Guy" Lombardo (June 19, 1902 – November 5, 1977) was an Italian-Canadian-American bandleader, violinist, and hydroplane racer. Lombardo formed the Royal Canadians in 1924 with his brothers Carmen, Lebert and Victor, and othe ...

and his Royal Canadians on December 22, 1948. It was released by

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...

as catalog number 24549. The record first reached the ''Billboard'' chart on February 4, 1949 and lasted 13 weeks on the chart, peaking at #10. *The song was revived during the winter of

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

by vocalists

Vic Dana Samuel Mendola (born August 26, 1942, Buffalo, New York, United States), known professionally as Vic Dana, is an American dancer and singer. Biography Discovered by Sammy Davis Jr., Dana was an excellent male dancer, particularly in tap, and w ...

and

Wayne Newton Carson Wayne Newton (born April 3, 1942) is an American singer and actor. One of the most popular singers in the nation from the mid-to-late 20th-century, Newton remains one of the best-known entertainers in Las Vegas. He is known by the nicknam ...

and instrumentalist

Bert Kaempfert Bert Kaempfert (born Berthold Heinrich Kämpfert; 16 October 1923 – 21 June 1980) was a German orchestra leader, multi-instrumentalist, music producer, arranger, and composer. He made easy listening and jazz-oriented records and wrote the musi ...

, all three versions charting simultaneously: Dana's rendition was the most successful, peaking at #10 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 ...

chart. Kaempfert's recording peaked at #11 on the same chart, and Newton's reached #23. All three versions were also listed on ''Billboard''′s

Easy Listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, n ...

survey, reaching #2, #3, and #4 respectively. *

Andy Williams Howard Andrew Williams (December 3, 1927 – September 25, 2012) was an American singer. He recorded 43 albums in his career, of which 15 have been gold certified and three platinum certified. He was also nominated for six Grammy Awards. He hos ...

released a version in 1965 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 his hit song " ...and Roses and Roses". *

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 ...

recorded a version in 1965 on his album ''Harry James Plays Green Onions & Other Great Hits'' ( Dot DLP 3634 and DLP 25634). *

Bruno Balz Bruno Balz (6 October 1902, in Berlin – 14 March 1988, in Bad Wiessee) was a German songwriter and schlager writer. From the time he wrote the music for the first German sound film until his retirement in the 1960s, Balz was responsible for th ...

has written

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

lyrics. The German title is "Ich sende dir Rosen". The Cornel Trio recorded it in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

on October 15, 1952. The song was released by

Electrola Electrola is a German record label and subsidiary of Universal Music Group. Based in Munich, its roster has included Chumbawamba, Matthias Reim, Helene Fischer, Brings, Höhner and Santiano. History On 8 May 1925 the British Gramophone Company ...

as catalog number EG 7848. *The Swedish singer

Östen Warnerbring Östen Warnerbring (22 November 1934 – 18 January 2006), also known as Östen med Rösten (lit. "Östen with the Voice"), was a Sweden, Swedish singer, musician, composer and lyrics writer who mastered several musical genres. He started out as a ...

had his breakthrough in 1965 with a Swedish version of the song with lyrics by Carl Holmberg, "En röd blomma till en blond flicka".

Chart history

Weekly charts

;Vaughn Monroe and His Orchestra Vocalists ;Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians ;Vic Dana

Year-end charts

;Bert Kaempfert & His Orchestra ;Wayne Newton

References

{{Authority control 1948 songs 1949 singles 1965 singles Songs written by Sid Tepper Songs written by Roy C. Bennett Vic Dana songs Andy Williams songs Vaughn Monroe songs Wayne Newton songs