"Wedding Song " is a title of a 1971 hit single by Paul Stookey: the song—which Stookey credits to divine inspiration— has since been recorded by many singers —and remains a popular choice for performance at weddings.
Composition and original recording
Stookey had first performed the song at the wedding of Peter Yarrow—Stookey's co-member of Peter Paul & Mary—to Mary Beth McCarthy at Saint Mary's Catholic Church in Willmar, Minnesota. Stookey was best man at the ceremony, which took place in the evening of October 18, 1969. Stookey recorded "Wedding Song " for his solo album Paul and, which was released on July 23, 1971. On this track he accompanied himself on a 12-string guitar tuned a tone and a half down. On June 28, 1971, "Wedding Song" was issued as an advance single from the Paul and album. It reached No. 24 on the Hot 100 in Billboard and reached No. 3 on the Easy Listening chart. Internationally, Stookey reached No. 31 in Canada and No. 55 in Australia with "Wedding Song".
recorded "Wedding Song " in the August 1972 sessions at Trident Recording Studios in London for her album Now produced by Mike Curb with the album's arranger Don Costa. "Wedding Song..." was issued in September 1972 as the second advance single from the Now album which would be a December 1972 release: "Wedding Song..." would chart at No. 9 on the Adult contemporary music charts and reached No. 65 on the Billboard Hot 100. In the UK "Wedding Song " had an October 6, 1972 single release, being Clark's first UK single release since "I Don't Know How to Love Him" in November 1971. "Wedding Song..." did not enter the UK singles chart despite being aired on October 26, 1972 Top of the Pops broadcast. A minor mainstream Pop chart item in Canada with a No. 67 peak, "Wedding Song " afforded Clark a major hit in Australia in the spring of 1973, spending 11 weeks in the Top 20 with a peak of No. 10. Clark also recorded a French rendering of "Wedding Song " entitled "Il est temps", featuring lyrics by Pierre Delanoë: this version was issued as the B-side of Clark's December 1972 French single release "Bleu, Blanc, Rouge" and was included on Clark's 1973 francophone album Petula. The 2002 DVD release Petula Clark: A Sign of the Times which features footage from Clark's performance at the Virginia Arts Festival May 20–21, 2001, includes her performance of "The Wedding Song ".
Other versions
Prior to the release of the Petula Clark version, Southern Comfort had recorded "Wedding Song " for their 1972 album Stir Don't Shake from which it was issued as a single in August 1972. "The Wedding Song "—so titled—became a Top Ten hit in Ireland via the May 1974 release credited to the veteran showband Kelley and the Nevada, fronted by vocalist Eileen Kelley. The single reached No. 3 on the Irish hit parade dated July 11, 1974. This was the Nevada's second hit version of a Petula Clark US charting single - Red Hurley and the Nevada scored a 1971 Irish No. 1 hit with a remake of Clark's 1968 US Top 20 hit "Kiss Me Goodbye". "The Wedding Song" was the second and final chart single by the Nevada fronted by Kelley—subsequent to the band's version of "How Great Thou Art", and was the fourth and final collaboration between Kelley and the Nevada; in 1974, Eileen Kelley, the vocalist on the Nevada's 1966 debut recording "Be My Man", elected to sever her ties with the Nevada and join the Big Eight Showband. Captain & Tennille recorded "Wedding Song " for their 1976 album Song of Joy. "Wedding Song" was intended to be issued as a fourth single from the album and would have followed up the 1976-77 Top Ten hit "Muskrat Love": A&M Records had gone as far as assigning a catalog number for the track's single release when it was canceled; Captain & Tennille's follow-up single to "Muskrat Love" turned out to be "Can't Stop Dancin'", the advance single from the duo's upcoming Come in from the Rain album. "The Wedding Song "—so titled—returned to the Billboard charts in the autumn of 1978 via a version by Mary MacGregor which reached No. 23 Easy Listening and No. 81 on the Hot 100. MacGregor had been discovered by Peter Yarrow, whose wedding occasioned the song's composition, but Yarrow was not involved in MacGregor's recording of "The Wedding Song", which was produced by Gene Cotton and recorded at the Creative Workshop studio in Berry Hill, Tennessee. The Mary MacGregor version made its album debut on the 1979 release Mary MacGregor's Greatest Hits. Other versions of "Wedding Song " have been recorded by Harry Belafonte, the Lettermen, Helena Vondráčková, Nana Mouskouri, Daliah Lavi, Bonnie St. Claire, and Sandler and Young. Instrumental versions have been recorded by James Last, the O'Neill Brothers, and Bradley Joseph.
