Lovesick Blues


"Lovesick Blues" is a show tune written by Cliff Friend and Irving Mills. The song first appeared in the 1922 musical Oh, Ernest. It was recorded by Emmett Miller in 1925 and 1928, and later by country music singer Rex Griffin. The recordings by Griffin and Miller inspired Hank Williams to perform the song during his first appearances on the Louisiana Hayride radio show in 1948. Receiving an enthusiastic reception from the audience, Williams decided to record his own version despite initial push back from his producer Fred Rose and his band.
MGM Records released "Lovesick Blues" in February 1949, and it became an overnight success, quickly reaching number one on Billboard's Top C&W singles and number 24 on the Most Played in Jukeboxes list. The publication named it the top country and western record of the year, while Cashbox named it "Best Hillbilly Record of the Year".
Several cover versions of the song have been recorded. The most popular, Frank Ifield's 1962 version, topped the UK Singles Chart. In 2004, Williams' version was added to the National Recording Registry.

Background and recordings

"Lovesick Blues" originally was titled "I've Got the Lovesick Blues" and published by Jack Mills, Inc. in 1922; Irving Mills wrote the lyrics and Cliff Friend composed the music. It was first performed by Anna Chandler in the Tin Pan Alley musical Oh! Ernest and first recorded by Elsie Clark on March 21, 1922 with Okeh Records. Following the recording, Friend and Mills copyrighted the song on April 3, 1922. It was featured in a show at the Boardwalk Club in New York City in June 1922 and recorded by Jack Shea on Vocalion Records later that summer.
On September 1, 1925, OKeh Records sent scout Ralph Peer and a recording crew to Asheville, North Carolina. Among the aspiring artists recorded by Peer was Emmett Miller. Accompanied by Walter Rothrock on the piano, Miller cut four sides for the label, including "Lovesick Blues". The single was paired with "Big Bad Bill " and released in November 1925. On June 12, 1928 accompanied by the Georgia Crackers, Miller re-recorded the song, which was released to weak sales. Miller's version was covered by country music singer Rex Griffin in December 1939 on Decca Records. Griffin rearranged the song by using the original chorus - "I got a feeling called the blues"—as a verse and turning the verse "I'm in love, I'm in love, with a beautiful gal" into the new chorus.

Hank Williams recording

, who heard both the Miller and Griffin versions, started performing the song on the Louisiana Hayride shortly after joining in August 1948. Horace Logan, the show's producer and programming director for KWKH, reported that the audience "went crazy" the first time Williams performed the song on the show. In light of the live audience's strong positive reaction, Williams decided to record the song. His decision was questioned by his musicians and also his producer, Fred Rose, who felt that the song did not merit a recording. Williams, mindful of the reaction he received live, persisted, and the recording took place during the final half-hour of a session recorded at Herzog Studio in Cincinnati, Ohio, on December 22, 1948. For this recording, Williams replaced the jazz musicians with a modern country music band, using a rhythm guitar, mandolin, string bass, drums and a steel guitar. Williams' session band was composed of Clyde Baum, Zeke Turner, Jerry Byrd, Louis Innis, Tommy Jackson and Willie Thawl. With little time left, Byrd and Turner replicated the musical arrangement they previously used on an Ernest Tubb session for a cover of Jimmie Rodgers' "Waiting for a Train". In the episode of American Masters about Williams, Drifting Cowboy Don Helms recalls, "When they recorded 'Lovesick Blues,' Fred told Hank, 'That song's out of meter! Got too many bars in it. And you hold that note too long.' And Hank said, 'Well, when I find a note I like, I wanna hold on to it as long as I can,' you know, just tryin' to be funny. And Fred said, 'Well, I'll tell you what I'm gonna do. That thing is so much out of meter, I'm gonna get me a cup of coffee and when I get back maybe ya'll have that thing cut.' And they did, but it was still out of meter. So Fred lived with that the rest of his life." Williams combined Griffin's lyrical arrangement with a two-beat honky-tonk track, borrowing the yodeling and beat drops from Miller's recording. "Lovesick Blues" was recorded in two takes.
MGM released "Lovesick Blues" on February 11, 1949, coupling it with "Never Again ". The single sold 50,000 copies in the first two weeks. On its February 26, 1949 review, Billboard opined: "Hank's razz-mah-tazz approach and ear-catching yodeling should keep this side spinning". Based on votes sent to Billboard, the record was rated with 85 points by disc jockeys, 82 by record dealers and 85 by jukebox operators. Between the three, the track scored an overall of 84. In reference to its 100-point scale, Billboard regarded the record as "Excellent". It reached number one on Billboard's Top C&W singles, where it remained for sixteen weeks and reached number twenty-four on Most Played in Jukeboxes. The magazine listed it as the "number one country and western record of 1949" while Cashbox named it "Best Hillbilly record of the year". In March 1949, Wesley Rose requested Williams to send him the records by Griffin and Miller to prove that the song was in the public domain. Irving Mills, the original lyricist, sued Acuff-Rose. The suit was settled on November 1, 1949 and it was agreed that Mills and Acuff-Rose would share the publishing of Williams' recording. Mills retained the rest of rights to the song as he had also purchased Friend's rights during the Great Depression.
Following the success of the song, Williams was invited to appear as a guest on the Grand Ole Opry, on June 11, 1949. After the performance, Williams received a standing ovation. "Lovesick Blues" became his signature song, which he used to close his shows. It was also his first number one hit, and garnered Williams the stage nickname of "The Lovesick Blues Boy". In 1949, the singer received second billing behind Eddy Arnold on the list of the "Year's Top Selling Folk Artists". Williams' version of the song was featured in the films The Last Picture Show, Forrest Gump and The Shawshank Redemption. In 2004, "Lovesick Blues" was added to the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress.

The Crickets recording

released their cover of the song in 1971 on the Philips label. The song appeared originally as the B-side to the single "My Rockin' Days". The recording lineup consisted of Sonny Curtis providing lead guitar and vocals, Joe Osborn on bass, Jerry Allison on drums, and Glen Hardin on piano. The song was performed live on The Old Grey Whistle Test in 1972.

Other versions

Hank Williams

Other artists

Footnotes