Wooden Heart
"Wooden Heart" is a song recorded by Elvis Presley and featured in the 1960 Elvis Presley film G.I. Blues. The song was a hit single for Presley in the UK Singles Chart, reaching No. 1 for six weeks in March and April 1961.
Background
The song was released as a single in the United States in November 1964, where it was the B-side to "Blue Christmas". Presley performed the song live during his Dinner Show concert at the Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas in 1975, a recording available on the Elvis Presley live album Dinner At Eight.The song was published by Elvis Presley's company Gladys Music, Inc.
A cover version by Joe Dowell on the Smash Records label made it to number one in the US at the end of August 1961, knocking Bobby Lewis' "Tossin' and Turnin'" off the number-one spot of the Billboard Hot 100 after seven weeks. Dowell's version also spent three weeks at number one on the Easy Listening chart.
"Wooden Heart", created by Fred Wise, Ben Weisman, Kay Twomey and German bandleader Bert Kaempfert, was based on a German folk song by Friedrich Silcher, "Muss i denn", originating from the Rems Valley in Württemberg, southwest Germany. "Wooden Heart" features several lines from the original folk song, written in the German Swabian dialect, as spoken in Württemberg. Marlene Dietrich recorded a version of the song sometime before 1958, pre-dating Presley, in the original German language, which appears as a B-side on a 1959 version of her single "Lili Marlene", released by Philips in association with Columbia Records. The Elvis Presley version was published by Gladys Music, Elvis Presley's publishing company. Bobby Vinton recorded his version in 1975 with those lines translated into Polish.
The Elvis Presley version featured two parts in German, the first one is the first four lines of "Muss i' denn zum Städtele hinaus", whereas the second part appears towards the end and is based on a translation of the English version. This part being Sei mir gut, sei mir gut, sei mir wie du wirklich sollst, wie du wirklich sollst....
Chart history
Weekly charts
;Elvis Presley| Chart | Peak position |
| Australia | 1 |
| Austria | 1 |
| Belgium | 1 |
| Canada | 2 |
| France | 94 |
| Germany | 2 |
| - | |
| Netherlands | 1 |
| New Zealand | 3 |
| Norway | 3 |
| South Africa | 1 |
| Spain | 11 |
| Sweden | 12 |
| UK Singles | 1 |
| Chart | Peak position |
| US Billboard Bubbling Under the Hot 100 | 110 |
Year-end charts
;Joe Dowell| Chart | Peak position |
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 1 |
| US Billboard Easy Listening | 1 |
| US Cash Box Top 100 | 3 |
| Chart | Rank |
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 10 |
| US Cash Box | 22 |
Editions
- "Blue Christmas" b/w "Wooden Heart" Released: November 1964, RCA 447-0720
Other covers
- Gus Backus in 1961 -- U.S. #102
- Stuart Sutcliffe often performed the song during The Beatles early concerts in Hamburg, Germany.
- Nanci Griffith recorded the song with the Blue Moon Orchestra.
- Kitty Wells with The Jordanaires on the 1962 Decca Records collection Queen of Country Music
- The Sandpipers on the 1967 album Misty Roses
- The Four Lads on the 1962 album Hits of the 60s
- The Chordettes on the 1962 album The Chordettes Sing Never on Sunday
- Bobby Vinton released it as a 45 single on ABC Records in 1975 -- U.S. #58
- Ral Donner on the 1979 album 1935-1977 - I've Been Away for Awhile Now
- Daniel O'Donnell on the 1988 album From the Heart
- Billy Swan on the 1999 album Like Elvis Used to Do.
- Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers covered the song in 1995 on the Playback album.