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Music Appreciation
Related: About this forumWhat was charting in Sepember and October of 1951?
Down Yonder
Published: 1921
Songwriter(s): L. Wolfe Gilbert
Down Yonder is a popular American song by L. Wolfe Gilbert. It was first published in 1921, and introduced in the same year at the Orpheum Theatre, New Orleans.[1]
Gilbert had written the lyrics for the 1912 song "Waiting for the Robert E. Lee" (for which Lewis F. Muir wrote the music). In "Down Yonder," Gilbert brought back four of the characters from the earlier song Daddy, Mammy, Ephram and Sammy. However, the lyrics of "Down Yonder" are seldom heard because the song has usually been performed as an instrumental, especially on the piano or organ.
"Down Yonder" is an expression meaning "down there", referring to a place that is considerably lower in elevation or farther south. In the sense of the song's lyrics, it means "in the American South."
{snip}
Versions
Before 1951
Recordings by Ernest Hare & Billy Jones, and by the Peerless Quartet were very popular in 1921.
In 1934, the instrumental version by Gid Tanner & His Skillet Lickers sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA.
1951
Versions that charted in 1951 included those by Del Wood, by Joe ´Fingers´ Carr, by Champ Butler, by Lawrence (Piano Roll) Cook, by the Freddy Martin orchestra, by the Frank Petty Trio, and by Ethel Smith.
Charting singles (1951)
Artist Company Chart date
Weeks Peak
Del Wood Tennessee Records 775 8/24/51 25 4
Joe ´Fingers´ Carr Capitol Records 1777 10/12/51 17 14
Champ Butler Columbia Records 39533 9/21/51 16 18
Lawrence (Piano Roll) Cook Abbey Records 15053 9/21/51 2 23
Freddy Martin RCA Victor Records 20-4267 10/12/51 4 24
Frank Petty Trio MGM Records 11057 11/9 1 26
Ethel Smith (Juke Box chart)[6] King Records 986 10/27 1 16
On the Cash Box charts, where all versions were combined, the song got even higher, making #1 in one week, December 15, 1951.
Published: 1921
Songwriter(s): L. Wolfe Gilbert
Down Yonder is a popular American song by L. Wolfe Gilbert. It was first published in 1921, and introduced in the same year at the Orpheum Theatre, New Orleans.[1]
Gilbert had written the lyrics for the 1912 song "Waiting for the Robert E. Lee" (for which Lewis F. Muir wrote the music). In "Down Yonder," Gilbert brought back four of the characters from the earlier song Daddy, Mammy, Ephram and Sammy. However, the lyrics of "Down Yonder" are seldom heard because the song has usually been performed as an instrumental, especially on the piano or organ.
"Down Yonder" is an expression meaning "down there", referring to a place that is considerably lower in elevation or farther south. In the sense of the song's lyrics, it means "in the American South."
{snip}
Versions
Before 1951
Recordings by Ernest Hare & Billy Jones, and by the Peerless Quartet were very popular in 1921.
In 1934, the instrumental version by Gid Tanner & His Skillet Lickers sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA.
1951
Versions that charted in 1951 included those by Del Wood, by Joe ´Fingers´ Carr, by Champ Butler, by Lawrence (Piano Roll) Cook, by the Freddy Martin orchestra, by the Frank Petty Trio, and by Ethel Smith.
Charting singles (1951)
Artist Company Chart date
Weeks Peak
Del Wood Tennessee Records 775 8/24/51 25 4
Joe ´Fingers´ Carr Capitol Records 1777 10/12/51 17 14
Champ Butler Columbia Records 39533 9/21/51 16 18
Lawrence (Piano Roll) Cook Abbey Records 15053 9/21/51 2 23
Freddy Martin RCA Victor Records 20-4267 10/12/51 4 24
Frank Petty Trio MGM Records 11057 11/9 1 26
Ethel Smith (Juke Box chart)[6] King Records 986 10/27 1 16
On the Cash Box charts, where all versions were combined, the song got even higher, making #1 in one week, December 15, 1951.
Del Wood
Birth name: Polly Adelaide Hendricks
Also known as: Del Wood
Born: February 22, 1920; Nashville, Tennessee, United States
Died: October 3, 1989 (aged 69)
Polly Adelaide Hendricks Hazelwood (February 22, 1920 October 3, 1989), known professionally as Del Wood, was an American pianist.
{snip}
Career
Shortening her married name (Adelaide Hazelwood) to something easier to remember (and intentionally non-gender specific), Wood began playing in bands and honky-tonk joints in her 20s. After a decade of building repertoire and reputation, she spent some time as a staff pianist at WLBJ in Bowling Green, Kentucky. It was there that she was heard playing "Down Yonder" among other pieces, which led to a gig with a recording group called Hugh "Baby" Jarrett and his Dixieliners. This led to the first of many recording sessions for the Tennessee Records label starting in 1951. "Down Yonder" soon became a national hit in both the country and pop categories in Billboard record charts, sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. She is probably the first female country solo instrumentalist to sell a million copies of a record.
This success was turned into appearances on the Grand Ole Opry starting in 1952, which led to an eventual full-time gig there in 1953, fulfilling her long-time dream. Two years later her fame culminated with a contract from RCA Victor Records, where she would make some of the first country/honky-tonk stereo recordings in the late 1950s. While nothing else that she put out had the same success as "Down Yonder", her offerings over the next decade were frequent and consistent. Wood gained the title, Queen of the Ragtime Pianists, sometimes shared with junior fellow plunker Jo Ann Castle. She was also divorced from her stage-namesake, Carson Hazelwood, during this period, but not before adopting a son they named Wesley.
In 1984, Del Wood appeared in the movie Rhinestone, starring Dolly Parton and Sylvester Stallone as the pianist in the Wild Possums Band.
Death
During the Vietnam War, Wood was part of one of the Grand Ole Opry package tours that entertained troops overseas in 1968. Her recordings after the late 1960s were infrequent at best, but her appearances on the Opry continued until just before her death from a stroke on October 3, 1989 at the age of 69.
She was interred in the Mount Olivet Cemetery in Nashville.
{snip}
Birth name: Polly Adelaide Hendricks
Also known as: Del Wood
Born: February 22, 1920; Nashville, Tennessee, United States
Died: October 3, 1989 (aged 69)
Polly Adelaide Hendricks Hazelwood (February 22, 1920 October 3, 1989), known professionally as Del Wood, was an American pianist.
{snip}
Career
Shortening her married name (Adelaide Hazelwood) to something easier to remember (and intentionally non-gender specific), Wood began playing in bands and honky-tonk joints in her 20s. After a decade of building repertoire and reputation, she spent some time as a staff pianist at WLBJ in Bowling Green, Kentucky. It was there that she was heard playing "Down Yonder" among other pieces, which led to a gig with a recording group called Hugh "Baby" Jarrett and his Dixieliners. This led to the first of many recording sessions for the Tennessee Records label starting in 1951. "Down Yonder" soon became a national hit in both the country and pop categories in Billboard record charts, sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. She is probably the first female country solo instrumentalist to sell a million copies of a record.
This success was turned into appearances on the Grand Ole Opry starting in 1952, which led to an eventual full-time gig there in 1953, fulfilling her long-time dream. Two years later her fame culminated with a contract from RCA Victor Records, where she would make some of the first country/honky-tonk stereo recordings in the late 1950s. While nothing else that she put out had the same success as "Down Yonder", her offerings over the next decade were frequent and consistent. Wood gained the title, Queen of the Ragtime Pianists, sometimes shared with junior fellow plunker Jo Ann Castle. She was also divorced from her stage-namesake, Carson Hazelwood, during this period, but not before adopting a son they named Wesley.
In 1984, Del Wood appeared in the movie Rhinestone, starring Dolly Parton and Sylvester Stallone as the pianist in the Wild Possums Band.
Death
During the Vietnam War, Wood was part of one of the Grand Ole Opry package tours that entertained troops overseas in 1968. Her recordings after the late 1960s were infrequent at best, but her appearances on the Opry continued until just before her death from a stroke on October 3, 1989 at the age of 69.
She was interred in the Mount Olivet Cemetery in Nashville.
{snip}
Colorized, unfortunately:
Del Wood-Down Yonder
24,705 views Mar 19, 2015
kelbrit
1.59K subscribers
Del Wood Plays Her Big Hit Down Yonder
In color to begin with:
Del Wood - Down Yonder 1968 (In Color)
4,109 views Dec 29, 2018
The Del Wood Channel
60 subscribers
Del Wood playing Down Yonder on a Nashville TV show.
Filmed at The Ryman Auditorium in 1968.
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What was charting in Sepember and October of 1951? (Original Post)
mahatmakanejeeves
Sep 2021
OP
msongs
(67,199 posts)1. a tad repetitious but she's got the chops on the piano nt
Glorfindel
(9,706 posts)2. I remember it well. It got lots of play on the radio
We usually listened to WSB radio from Atlanta at that time. I would have been 5 or 6 years old.