Artist:Joe Dowell
Song:Wooden Heart
Album:Pop Memories of the '60s: Hello Dolly
The single Wooden Heart topped the charts in 1961. It was the only big hit for Joe Dowell and it could be one of the flukiest hits of all time. A couple of Dowell's other singles charted so he is not technically a one hit wonder. But Elvis Presley recorded Wooden Heart first so I think listeners remember that version and not this one. Dowell was born Jan. 23, 1940 in Bloomington, IN but he grew up in Bloomington, IL. He started performing in grade nine and attended the University of Illinois. Wooden Heart is based on a German folk song. It was adapted by bandleader Bert Kaempfert and Marlene Dietrich recorded it in German in 1958. Then Elvis Presley recorded it for the 1959 film G.I. Blues. Of course this film uses Elvis' real life in the service. In the film, Elvis is a G.I. stationed in Germany which is why there are German lyrics in the song. The English lyrics were written by Fred Wise, Ben Weisman and Kay Twomey. They all worked for Presley's publishing company so they wrote songs for his films. It's likely that Elvis' recording of Wooden Heart would have been a hit except that RCA didn't release it as a single. It's on the soundtrack album. While Dowell was still in school, he got a call to come to Nashville to record for Mercury's new country label Smash Records. Veteran producer Shelby Singleton suggested recording Wooden Heart. It shot to the top of the charts in 1961. A couple of Dowell's other singles charted. But then he wanted to write his own songs and that was not allowed in his contract. He refused to record and Smash terminated his contract. You can get Wooden Heart on this 2CD Time Life budget comp. Dowell recorded occasionally over the years unsuccessfully. He died on Feb. 4, 2016 at age 76. Here's a video of Wooden Heart by Joe Dowell.
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