"The Old Lamp-Lighter" is a
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 repetit ...
. The music was written by
Nat Simon Nat Simon (6 August 1900, in Newburgh, New York – 1979) was an American composer, pianist, bandleader and songwriter. From the 1930s to 1950s his songs were used in over 20 films. Between 1931 and 1940 he also took part in the musical Vaudeville r ...
, the lyrics by
Charles Tobias. The song was published in
1946.
Background
The lyrics sentimentalize and memorialize the profession of
lamplighter
A lamplighter is a person employed to light and maintain candle or, later, gas street lights. Very few exist today as most gas street lighting has long been replaced by electric lamps.
Function
Lights were lit each evening, generally by means ...
s, who walked city streets at dusk turning on the gas-powered streetlamps and turned them off again at dawn.
1946 versions
Several versions of the song made the best-seller charts in 1946-1947. The most popular recording, by
Sammy Kaye
Sammy Kaye (born Samuel Zarnocay Jr.; March 13, 1910 – June 2, 1987) was an American bandleader and songwriter, whose tag line, "Swing and Sway with Sammy Kaye", became one of the most famous of the Big Band Era. The expression springs fr ...
(vocal by Billy Williams), 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 Ari ...
as catalog number 20-1963. It first reached the
''Billboard'' Best Seller chart on November 8, 1946, and lasted 14 weeks on the chart, peaking at number one.
[
]
A recording by
Kay Kyser
James Kern Kyser (June 18, 1905 – July 23, 1985), known as Kay Kyser, was an American bandleader and radio personality of the 1930s and 1940s.
Early years
James Kern Kyser was born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, the son of pharmacists Emily ...
(vocal by
Mike Douglas and Campus Kids) was released by
Columbia Records as catalog number 37095. It first reached the ''Billboard'' Best Seller chart on November 22, 1946, and lasted 11 weeks on the chart, peaking at number three.
[ A recording by ]Hal Derwin
Hal Derwin or Hal Derwyn (July 14, 1914 – February 9, 1998) was an American dance bandleader, principally active in the 1940s.
Early in his career, Derwin was a member of a vocal trio with Lee Gillette (later a talent scout for Capitol Records) ...
was released by Capitol Records as catalog number 288. It first reached the ''Billboard'' Best Seller chart on December 6, 1946, and lasted two weeks on the chart, peaking at number six.[ This was Derwin's only charted hit.
]
The Browns version
In 1960, the song was a major country-pop hit for The Browns
The Browns were an American country and folk music vocal trio best known for their 1959 Grammy-nominated hit, " The Three Bells". The group, composed of Jim Ed Brown and his sisters Maxine and Bonnie, had a close, smooth harmony characteristic ...
, released as a single early that year. It went on to become a major top-ten hit, spending 15 weeks on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, peaking at No. 5, while reaching No. 20 on ''Billboard''s Hot C&W Sides, and No. 17 on ''Billboard''s Hot R&B Sides.
Other versions
*Slim Whitman
Ottis Dewey Whitman Jr. (January 20, 1923 – June 19, 2013), known as Slim Whitman, was an American country music singer-songwriter and guitarist known for his yodeling abilities and his use of falsetto. He claimed he had sold in excess of ...
included the song on his album ''Just Call Me Lonesome'' (1961)
*The song was performed under the name ''Luktar-Gvendur'', by the Icelandic singer Björk on the album Gling-Gló
''Gling-Gló'' is the only studio album by Björk Guðmundsdóttir & tríó Guðmundar Ingólfssonar, consisting of Björk Guðmundsdóttir on vocals, Guðmundur Ingólfsson on piano, Guðmundur Steingrímsson on drums, and Þórður Högnason ...
, in 1990. On that album Björk teams up with the jazz trio of Guðmundur Ingólfsson: consisting of Guðmundur Ingólfsson on piano, Guðmundur Steingrímsson on drums and Þórður Högnason on bass. The album has become one of the classics of Icelandic contemporary pop music albums.
Use in Movies
*The song was sung by Gene Autry in the movie " Twilight on the Rio Grande" which first appeared in theaters on April 1, 1947.
See also
*List of number-one singles of 1947 (U.S.)
This article is about the US number-one songs chart held during the 1940s.
''Billboard'' number-one singles chart (which preceded the Billboard Hot 100 chart), which was updated weekly by the ''Billboard'' magazine, was the main singles chart ...
*The Old Dope Peddler
"The Old Dope Peddler" is a satirical song by Tom Lehrer. It was on Lehrer's first album ''Songs by Tom Lehrer'' from 1953, and a new live recording on '' Tom Lehrer Revisited'' in 1960.
The song is a parody of a popular tune well known at the ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Old Lamp-lighter, The
Songs about occupations
1946 songs
1946 singles
1960 singles
Songs with music by Nat Simon
Songs written by Charles Tobias
The Browns songs
Song recordings produced by Chet Atkins