"Ramblin' Rose" is a 1962

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 ...

torch song A torch song is a sentimental love song, typically one in which the singer laments an unrequited or lost love, either where one party is oblivious to the existence of the other, where one party has moved on, or where a romantic affair has affect ...

written by brothers

Noel Sherman Noel Sherman (30 June 1930 Brooklyn – 4 June 1972 New York) was an American lyricist and nightclub producer. Among the standards that Sherman composed, often with his brother Joe Sherman, are " Ramblin' Rose", " Graduation Day", " Eso Beso" (" ...

(words) and Joe Sherman (music) and popularized by

Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's music career began after he dropped out of school at the age of 15, and continued f ...

. The recording by Nat King Cole reached No. 2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in 1962.

Original song release

Cole's recording of the song was released July 16, 1962, as a single by Capitol Records (catalog no. 4804; Side A; matrix no. 45-AA37861). It reached number two on both the '' Billboard'' and '' Cash Box'' charts - kept from number one by "

Sherry Sherry ( es, jerez ) is a fortified wine made from white grapes that are grown near the city of Jerez de la Frontera in Andalusia, Spain. Sherry is produced in a variety of styles made primarily from the Palomino grape, ranging from light versi ...

" by The Four Seasons - and sold more than a million copies as a single. The song spent five weeks at number one on the ''Billboard'' Easy Listening chart and the Australian charts, while on the

R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

, the song reached number seven. It was released as a single from Cole's album of the same name. The song was nominated for a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

in the category

Record of the Year The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without reg ...

Copyright

Original copyright *

Vol. 16; Part 5, No. 2, July–December 1962 (1963). "Ramblin' Rose". © Sweco Music Corp.
6 August 1962; EP166499. p. 1465.
(assigned to Comet Music Ltd. in 1962)

"Ramblin' Rose". © Renewal: 5 January 1990; RE465829

Charts

Covers and similar songs

The song has been

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

by many artists, particularly country music artists. There are four country versions of the song. Sonny James recorded the song first in July 1968 and released it five years later on the album ''The Gentleman from the South'' in 1973. Johnny Lee's version reached number 37 on the ''Billboard''

country chart Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

in 1977. The following year, singer

Hank Snow Clarence Eugene "Hank" Snow (May 9, 1914 – December 20, 1999) was a Canadian-American country music artist. Most popular in the 1950s, he had a career that spanned more than 50 years, he recorded 140 albums and charted more than 85 singles on ...

's version charted at number 93. In 1978,

Johnny Rodriguez Juan Raoul Davis "Johnny" Rodriguez (born December 10, 1951) is an American country music singer. He is a Tejano and Texas country music singer, infusing his music with Latin sounds, and even singing verses of songs in Spanish. In the 1970s an ...

released a cover of the song on the album ''Love Me with All Your Heart''.

Petula Clark Petula Sally Olwen Clark, CBE (born 15 November 1932) is an English singer, actress, and composer. She has one of the longest serving careers of a British singer, spanning more than seven decades. Clark's professional career began during the ...

released a French version in 1962, titled "Les Beaux Jours". Her recording reached number 10 in the French charts in 1963. Others recording this version of the song were

Charley Pride Charley Frank Pride (March 18, 1934 – December 12, 2020) was an American singer, guitarist, and professional baseball player. His greatest musical success came in the early to mid-1970s, when he was the best-selling performer for RCA Rec ...

(1962),

Roy Rogers Roy Rogers (born Leonard Franklin Slye; November 5, 1911 – July 6, 1998) was an American singer, actor, and television host. Following early work under his given name, first as co-founder of the Sons of the Pioneers and then acting, the rebra ...

(1962), Billy Vaughn, Louis Armstrong,

Bobby Vinton Stanley Robert "Bobby" Vinton (born April 16, 1935) is a American former singer and occasional actor, who also hosted his own self-titled TV show in the late 1970s. As a teen idol, he became known as "The Polish Prince", as his music paid trib ...

, Engelbert Humperdinck,

Paul Anka Paul Albert Anka (born July 30, 1941) is a Canadian-American singer, songwriter and actor. He is best known for his signature hit songs including " Diana", " Lonely Boy", " Put Your Head on My Shoulder", and "(You're) Having My Baby". Anka also ...

Floyd Cramer Floyd Cramer (October 27, 1933 – December 31, 1997) was an American pianist who became famous for his use of melodic "half step" attacks. He was inducted into both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. His signatu ...

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 ...

(''

The Nat King Cole Songbook ''The Nat King Cole Songbook'' is a 1965 studio album by Sammy Davis Jr., recorded in tribute to singer and pianist Nat King Cole, who had recently died. Track listing # " Rambling Rose" ( Joe Sherman, Noel Sherman) – 2:27 # "Unforgettable" ...

'', 1965),

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the " Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and developed rhythm and blues into th ...

(1967),

George Benson George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist. A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the 1960s, play ...

, the

Mills Brothers The Mills Brothers, sometimes billed the Four Mills Brothers, and originally known as the Four Kings of Harmony, were an American jazz and traditional pop vocal quartet who made more than 2,000 recordings that sold more than 50 million copies a ...

, Dean Martin (1973), Marvin Gaye (1976), and

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 ...

. Two other popular songs have identical titles, not to be confused with the Nat King Cole hit. * "Ramblin' Rose", which was written by Marijohn Wilkin, Fred Burch, and Obey Wilson. This song was first recorded by

Jerry Lee Lewis Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935October 28, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as " rock & roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis ma ...

and released in 1967. It has been covered by, among others,

MC5 MC5, also commonly called The MC5, is an American rock band formed in Lincoln Park, Michigan, in 1963. The original line-up consisted of Rob Tyner (vocals) Wayne Kramer (guitar), Fred "Sonic" Smith (guitar), Michael Davis (bass), and Dennis ...

, Primal Scream and the Finnish punk band Pelle Miljoona & 1980. * "Rambling Rose", a light pop song from 1948, was composed by Joe Burke with lyrics by Joseph McCarthy. A number of singers recorded it, most notably Perry Como. Dean Martin recorded both of these songs.

References

Bibliography