Wooden Heart

Pop song recorded by Elvis Presley
"Wooden Heart"
Picture sleeve for one of 1961 German singles
Single by Elvis Presley
from the album G.I. Blues
A-side"Blue Christmas" (USA 1964)
B-side"Tonight is So Right for Love" (UK 1961)
Released
  • 23 September 1960 (1960-09-23) (G.I. Blues album)
  • 10 March 1961 (1961-03-10) (UK single)
  • November 1964 (1964-11) (single)
Recorded28 April 1960
Genre
  • Pop
  • folk
Length2:03
LabelRCA
Songwriter(s)Fred Wise, Ben Weisman, Kay Twomey, Bert Kaempfert[1]
Producer(s)Steve Sholes[1]
Elvis Presley USA singles chronology
"Ask Me"
(1964) 		"Wooden Heart"
(1964) 		"Do the Clam"
(1965)
Elvis Presley UK singles chronology
"Are You Lonesome Tonight?"
(1960) 		"Wooden Heart"
(1961) 		"Surrender"
(1961)
Music video
"Wooden Heart" (audio) on YouTube
"Wooden Heart"
Single by Joe Dowell
B-side"Little Bo Peep"
ReleasedJune 1961
GenrePop
Length2:01
LabelSmash
Songwriter(s)Fred Wise, Ben Weisman, Kay Twomey, Bert Kaempfert
Joe Dowell singles chronology
"Wooden Heart"
(1961) 		"The Bridge Of Love"
(1961)

"Wooden Heart" is a pop song recorded by Elvis Presley. The composition is based on a German folk song "Muss i denn" (lit. Must I then) and it was 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.[1][2]

Background

The song was published by Elvis Presley's company Gladys Music, Inc. In the United States, it was released in November 1964 as 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.

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 on the Billboard Hot 100 after seven weeks. Dowell's version also spent three weeks at number one on the Easy Listening chart.[3]

"Wooden Heart", written by Fred Wise, Ben Weisman, Kay Twomey and German bandleader Bert Kaempfert,[1] was based on the German folk song, "Muss i denn", originating from the Rems Valley in Württemberg, south-west Germany, and arranged by Friedrich Silcher. "Wooden Heart" features several lines from the original folk song. Marlene Dietrich recorded a version of the song in the original German sometime before 1958, pre-dating Presley, which appears as a B-side on a 1959 version of her single "Lili Marlene", released by Philips in association with Columbia Records.[4] 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 features two sections in German, the first being the first four lines: "Muss i' denn zum Städtele hinaus". The second section is towards the end and is based on a translation of the English version (therefore not appearing in the original German folk lyrics): Sei mir gut, sei mir gut, sei mir wie du wirklich sollst, wie du wirklich sollst... ("Be good to me, be good to me, be to me how you really should, how you really should...").

Chart history

Elvis Presley

Weekly charts

Chart (1961) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[5] 1
Austria 1
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[6] 1
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[7] 8
Canada (CHUM Hit Parade) 2
West Germany (Official German Charts)[8] 2
Ireland (IRMA)[9] 22
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[10] 1
New Zealand (Lever Hit Parade)[11] 3
Norway (VG-lista)[12] 3
South Africa [13] 1
Spain 11
UK Singles (OCC)[2] 1
Chart (1964) Peak
position
US Billboard Bubbling Under the Hot 100[14] 107
Chart (1965) Peak
position
US Billboard Bubbling Under the Hot 100[14] 110
Chart (1977) Peak
position
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[6] 5
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[15] 2
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[10] 3
Chart (2005) Peak
position
France (SNEP)[16] 94
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[10] 23
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[17] 56

Year-end charts

Chart (1961) Rank
Australia [5] 3
South Africa [13] 1
UK [18] 3

Sales

Sales for Wooden Heart
Region Sales
Europe 1,000,000[19]
Germany 600,000[20]
Netherlands 90,000[21]

Joe Dowell

Weekly charts
Chart (1961) Peak
position
US Billboard Hot 100[22] 1
US Billboard Easy Listening 1
US Cash Box Top 100[23] 3
Year-end charts
Chart (1961) Rank
US Billboard Hot 100[24] 10
US Cash Box [25] 22

Gus Backus

Chart (1960) Peak
position
West Germany (Official German Charts)[26] 2
US Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100[14] 102

Editions

  • (US) "Blue Christmas" b/w "Wooden Heart" Released: November 1964, RCA 447-0720

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Released on their 2015 Album Nobody's Children of previously unreleased material

References

  1. ^ a b c d Rice, Jo (1982). The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits (1st ed.). Enfield, Middlesex: Guinness Superlatives Ltd. p. 56. ISBN 0-85112-250-7.
  2. ^ a b Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. pp. 122–3. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  3. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–2001. Record Research. p. 82.
  4. ^ ""Lili Marlene" Philips issue". Discogs. Retrieved 2014-06-24.
  5. ^ a b "Australian Chart Books". Archive.today. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  6. ^ a b "Elvis Presley – Wooden Heart (muss i denn...)" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  7. ^ "Elvis Presley – Wooden Heart (muss i denn...)" (in French). Ultratop 50.
  8. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Elvis Presley – Wooden Heart (muss i denn...)" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts.
  9. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Wooden Heart". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved July 8, 2020.
  10. ^ a b c "Elvis Presley – Wooden Heart (muss i denn...)" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  11. ^ "flavour of new zealand - search lever". Flavourofnz.co.nz. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  12. ^ "Elvis Presley – Wooden Heart (muss i denn...)". VG-lista.
  13. ^ a b "South Africa Top 40 Singles". 5 May 2009. Archived from the original on 5 May 2009. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  14. ^ a b c Joel Whitburn's Bubbling Under the Billboard Hot 100 1959-2004
  15. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 40, 1977" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
  16. ^ "Elvis Presley – Wooden Heart (muss i denn...)" (in French). Les classement single.
  17. ^ "Elvis Presley – Wooden Heart (muss i denn...)". Singles Top 100.
  18. ^ "Sixties City - Pop Music Charts - Every Week Of The Sixties". Sixtiescity.net. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  19. ^ Murrells, Joseph (1985). Million selling records from the 1900s to the 1980s : an illustrated directory. Arco Pub. p. 145. ISBN 0668064595. Wooden Heart - Elvis's 31st million seller achieved a seven-figure sale in Europe alone ...
  20. ^ "Cash Box - Germany" (PDF). Cash Box. March 4, 1961. p. 44. Retrieved June 26, 2023.
  21. ^ Wapperom, Hemmy J.S. (June 26, 1961). "Connie Froboes Set For Festival". Billboard. p. 41. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved June 26, 2023 – via Google Books.
  22. ^ a b Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
  23. ^ "Cash Box Top 100 9/09/61". Cashboxmagazine.com. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  24. ^ "Top 100 Hits of 1961/Top 100 Songs of 1961". Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  25. ^ "Cash Box YE Pop Singles - 1961". Tropicalglen.com. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  26. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Gus Backus – Wooden Heart (Muß i denn zum Städtele hinaus)" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts.

External links

  • Elvis News Network – G.I. Blues
  • Joe Dowell biography
  • "Muß i' denn zum Städtele hinaus", lyrics and translation
  • Joe Dowell Collection, McLean County Museum of History
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