HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

"Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte" is a popular song with music by Frank De Vol and lyrics by
Mack David Mack David (July 5, 1912 – December 30, 1993) was an American lyricist and songwriter, best known for his work in film and television, with a career spanning the period between the early 1940s and the early 1970s. David was credited with writing ...
, introduced in the 1964 film '' Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte'' starring
Bette Davis Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress of film, television, and theater. Regarded as one of the greatest actresses in Hollywood history, she was noted for her willingness to play unsympatheti ...
. The song's title appears with varying punctuation in its different versions: this article indicates how each specific version styled the title. Originally, the film and the song did not share a title, the working title of the film being ''What Ever Happened to Cousin Charlotte?''. Reportedly, Bette Davis disliked the working title feeling it falsely indicated a
sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music, or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...
to '' What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?'' and, the song with the opening lyric "Hush, hush, sweet Charlotte" having been written early in the film's development and having been played for Davis, she suggested ''Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte'' should serve as the film's title.


Background

In the storyline of the film, the song is written for Davis' character: the aging Southern belle Charlotte Hollis, by her would-be lover John Mayhew whose murder thirty-seven years ago is generally ascribed to Charlotte. The song also effectively functions as the film's theme as its lyrics in effect reference how Charlotte will obsess over her lost love throughout most of her life. The song's melody plays on a
music box A music box (American English) or musical box (British English) is an automatic musical instrument in a box that produces Musical note, musical notes by using a set of pins placed on a revolving cylinder (geometry), cylinder or disc to pluck ...
which Charlotte treasures, and is also a feature of the
gaslighting Gaslighting is the manipulation of someone into questioning their perception of reality. The term derives from the 1944 film ''Gaslight (1944 film), Gaslight'' and became popular in the mid-2010s. Some mental health experts have expressed c ...
to which Charlotte's subjected, as she hears the song played on the
harpsichord A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard, keyboard. Depressing a key raises its back end within the instrument, which in turn raises a mechanism with a small plectrum made from quill or plastic that plucks one ...
while she tries to sleep. Davis as Charlotte is also seen playing the song on the harpsichord and singing the most lyrically complete version of the song heard in the film, the Al Martino recording of the song only being heard for one chorus under the film's closing credits. The "Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte" song is heard in full as an instrumental - by the Frank DeVol Orchestra - under the film's opening credits, just prior to which a group of juvenile tormentors sing a debased version of the chorus, referencing Charlotte's supposed murder of John Mayhew. The Al Martino recording of "Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte", heard at the end the film, was relegated to the
B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...
of his January 1965 single release "My Heart Would Know" which reached No. 52 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100; "Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte" would be featured on Martino's ''Somebody Is Taking My Place'' album.


Patti Page recording

When the song earned an
Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
nomination for Best Song, Bette Davis herself reportedly was hoping to perform it: however
Patti Page Clara Ann Fowler (November 8, 1927 – January 1, 2013), better known by her stage name Patti Page, was an American singer. Primarily known for Pop music, pop and Country music, country music, she was the top-charting female vocalist and b ...
performed "Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte" on the April 5, 1965
37th Academy Awards The 37th Academy Awards were held on April 5, 1965, to honor film achievements of 1964. The ceremony was produced by MGM's Joe Pasternak and hosted, for the 14th time, by Bob Hope. The Best Picture winner, George Cukor's ''My Fair Lady'', w ...
broadcast, Page singing the song from the perspective of a third-party reassuring Charlotte that she .e. Charlottehas John's constant devotion: Page had recorded the song in a February 17, 1965 session at Columbia Recording Studio in
Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
. Despite the song's being bested for the Academy Award by " Chim Chim Cher-ee" from ''
Mary Poppins Mary Poppins may refer to: * Mary Poppins (character), a nanny with magical powers * Mary Poppins (franchise), based on the fictional nanny ** Mary Poppins (book series), ''Mary Poppins'' (book series), the original 1934–1988 children's fanta ...
'', a recording of Page's rendition of "Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte" was rush-released to become the singer's first
top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...
hit on
Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...
as of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart dated May 22, 1965, rising as high as No. 8 on the Hot 100 dated June 26, 1965. "Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte" ranked as Page's first top twenty hit since 1958 and earned her a fifteenth and final
gold record Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...
for sales of one million units. The track also reached number two on the
Easy Listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to the 1970s. It is related to middle of the road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit s ...
chart. Page's producer Bob Johnston impressed Columbia Records by facilitating Page's scoring of a major hit that Johnston was given the plum assignment of producing the ''
Highway 61 Revisited ''Highway 61 Revisited'' is the sixth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on August 30, 1965, by Columbia Records. Dylan continued the musical approach of his previous album ''Bringing It All Back Home'' (1965), usi ...
'' album by
Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...
. "Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte" served as the title cut for Page's May 1965 album release which consisted of songs with a
folk song Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...
influence.


Chart performance


Other versions

*Lyricist Mack David produced a recording of "Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte" by Hoyt Axton. *A
cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...
of "Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte" was cut by
Bruce Forsyth Sir Bruce Joseph Forsyth-Johnson (22 February 1928 – 18 August 2017) was an English entertainer and television presenter whose career spanned more than 75 years. Forsyth came to national attention from the late 1950s through the Associated Te ...
to compete with the June 1965 UK release of the Patti Page single; neither the Forsyth single - which featured the
Mike Sammes Michael William Sammes (19 February 1928 – 19 May 2001) was an English musician and vocal session arranger, performing backing vocals on pop music recorded in the UK from 1955 to the 1970s. Career Born in Reigate, Surrey, Sammes was the so ...
Singers - nor that by Page reached the UK charts. * Richard Chamberlain's rendition of "Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte" appeared on his September 1965 album release ''Joy in the Morning'' which consisted of songs from films or stage musicals. *"Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte" also was featured on the 1965 album ''
Chris Connor Mary Jean Loutsenhizer, known professionally as Chris Connor (November 8, 1927 – August 29, 2009), was an American jazz singer. Biography Chris Connor was born Mary Loutsenhizer in Kansas City, Missouri, to Clyde Loutsenhizer and Mabel Sh ...
Sings Gentle Bossa Nova''. *The Bette Davis version of "Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte" was first released on the 1976 album ''Miss Bette Davis''. *The instrumental version of the movie's theme - as "Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte" - was featured on the 1965 album release ''Theme from ''Peyton Place'' and 11 Other Great Themes'' by the Frank DeVol Orchestra and was issued as the B-side of that album's single "Theme from ''Peyton Place''". *
Saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...
virtuoso Gerry Mulligan also recorded an instrumental version of "Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte" for his 1965 album ''If You Can't Beat 'Em, Join 'Em'' which consisted of songs which had recently been mainstream pop hits. *The song was also recorded in 1965 by Eija Merilä ( fi) as "Tuuli Kuiskaa Sen" Finnish and by Birthe Wilke as "Sov Sød Charlotte" Danish.


References

{{authority control 1964 songs 1965 singles Al Martino songs Patti Page songs Columbia Records singles Songs written for films Songs with lyrics by Mack David