"Sam's Song (The Happy Tune)" is an American pop song written in 1950 with music by Lew Quadling and lyrics by Jack Elliott. It was first released as a

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 ...

single by Joe "Fingers" Carr and the Carr-Hops in May 1950. By June of that year, Carr's single had made it to all three of '' Billboard''s music popularity charts, and several other artists had released the song, including bandleaders

Freddy Martin Frederick Alfred Martin (December 9, 1906 – September 30, 1983) was an American bandleader and tenor saxophonist. Early life Freddy Martin was born in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Raised largely in an orphanage and by various relatives, ...

and

Victor Young Albert Victor Young (August 8, 1899– November 10, 1956)"Victor Young, Composer, Dies of Heart Attack", ''Oakland Tribune'', November 12, 1956. was an American composer, arranger, violinist and conductor. Biography Young is commonly said to ...

. Gary and Bing Crosby's release of the song in July 1950 was a hit, ranked as the 4th best selling record of 1950 according to Billboard. Dean Martin and

Sammy Davis Jr. Samuel George Davis Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990) was an American singer, dancer, actor, comedian, film producer and television director. At age three, Davis began his career in vaudeville with his father Sammy Davis Sr. and the ...

also released a recording of the song which hit 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 streamin ...

in 1962.

Recording history

The first recording of the song, released in May 1950 by Joe "Fingers" Carr and the Carr-Hops, stayed on the ''Billboard'' charts for 13 weeks, peaking at #7 on the Jukebox chart and #8 on the Best Sellers chart. On June 23, 1950, Bing Crosby's son Gary Crosby recorded the song for

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in W ...

with his father, along with "

Play a Simple Melody "Play a Simple Melody" is a song from the 1914 musical, '' Watch Your Step'', with words and music by Irving Berlin. The show was the first stage musical that Berlin wrote. It ran for 175 performances at the New Amsterdam Theater in New York City. ...

" as the

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 ...

, making his record debut at the age of 17. After its release in July, the Crosbys' recording stayed on the Billboard Best Sellers chart for 19 weeks, peaking at #3. It was also a hit on the Radio and Jukebox charts, peaking at #3 on both. The recording was also ranked #4 on Billboard's list of the top popular records of 1950 according to retail sales. The next recording to chart was in 1962, when Dean Martin and

released the song as the B-side of a Reprise single, which peaked at #94 on the Hot 100. The A-side was Davis' duet with Frank Sinatra, "

Me and My Shadow "Me and My Shadow" is a 1927 popular song. Officially the credits show it as written by Al Jolson, Billy Rose, and Dave Dreyer, with Jolson and Dreyer being shown on the sheet music as being responsible for the music and Rose the lyrics. Al ...

," and both tracks include banter between the singers and comical changes to the lyrics. Their recording of "Sam's Song" stayed on the Hot 100 for three weeks.

References

{{Bing Crosby singles 1950 songs 1950 singles 1962 singles Bing Crosby songs Sammy Davis Jr. songs Dean Martin songs