Dorsey Burnette - "That Lucky Old Sun"

[jjkoekemoer]

Great tune, thankyou

[hardballboogie]

Okay -- enough on Dorsey. Yeah, I'm a rockabilly to the core, but I like other vintage stuff, too. You mention the "big voice" guys and Capitol Records. Well, that brings to mind one of my favorite vocalists of all time -- the great Al Martino. Man, he could knock it out of the park. Does crooning get any better than "Here In My Heart"? I have to admit that I also admire Martino for what he did in WWII. He was a Marine, wounded at Iwo. He went from shooting an M1 to shooting up the pop charts.

[markalson1938]

Yes, Al Martino was a great singer and he was at his best in the Goodfather movies. I have a couple of his sixties LP's. I haven't put anything of his on YT because all his great stuff is already on there.

[hardballboogie]

Dorsey was never going to set the world on fire with his vocals, but he's a rockabilly legend, having ferociously slapped the bass for the Rock-N-Roll Trio. Still, he does a nice job on this tune. "Lucky Old Sun" is such a fine song, it's hard to find a truly bad version. For me, though, no one can top the Jerry Lee Lewis rendition that he recorded for Sam Phillips at Sun. Heartfelt emotion-soaked vocals, Jerry Lee's killer piano accompaniment, and that unmistakable Sun sound. Go check it out.

[markalson1938]

No Dorsey would never set the world on fire with his singing, but he had a unique sound to his voice he used to great effect when he was with era records. I loved his "River And The Mountain"

which few ever heard. But later he went Country

and I don't think he was that good at it.

Now the best of Lucky Old Sun" was by Frankie Laine and Vaughn Monroe had a good version too in 1949. I never heard Jerry Lee Lewis's version and Don't think I would like it as I didn't like much from Sun Records.

[hardballboogie]

You're right -- Dorsey does have unique pipes. I always believed that the much-deserved attention brother Johnny received often left Dorsey overlooked. Dorsey felt that way, too, and the brothers often fought over the slight. I can't find fault with either Frankie Laine's or Vaughn Monroe's version of "Lucky," but, as a rockabilly guy, I'm partial to Sun and Jerry Lee. If you're not into the Sun sound, then you're probably right to steer clear of The Killer's version -- but you're missing out.

[markalson1938]

Yes, brother Johnny had a better voice, one more suted for country music than Dorsey's. I bought

a couple of Dorsey's country albums and that what he had in the fifties with ERA records was gone. At this time he was metioker at best. I think the boose had got to him. It was a shame.

"Rock A Billy" is fine but I've alway leaned to the "Big Band" sound and the "Big Voiced" Singers that record companys like "Columbia and

RCA or Capitol had back in the fifties.

[countrysinger1952]

I agree with you in that Johnny had a better voice. I was a big fan of his when he first came out.

[NYDutch1968]

While I think Frankie Laine's rendition is the definitive version, Dorsey Burnette's version is very credible. Thanks for posting.

[jimjimellell]

I saw a live cover of this song by the Jerry Garcia Band. It was quite moving.

[SummerRkl]

A very good rendition by Dorsey!

[ra9922]

i didnt know sinatra did luck old sun .

[markalson1938]

Sinatra even charted with the song comming in at # 16 in 1949. Which was a long way from

Frankie's # 1 or Monroe's #6. even Sarah Vaughan had a recording of it that charted #14

and Louis Armstrong at #19 that year.

[Gunthersdad1]

Nobody can beat Frankie Laine on most songs. But Dorsey does a good job his voice has a very distink quality that sets ir apart from most singers. maybe that's why he didn't make it real big.

[highnrising]

This is a pretty weak version of the song. This guy does some nice vocal contortions, but he doesn't convey the meaning of the lyric at all.

The two best of this song are FL's Mecury and Columbia recordings.

While nowadays, Frankie's not properly recognized and most people seem to think "Lucky Old Sun" and "Georgia On My Mind" are Ray Charles songs, it's obvious that Ray based his versions of both of those songs on Laine's records. And Ray did not surpass Laine either time!

[markalson1938]

Your right it isn't the best. But if you only posted "THE BEST" YouTube would be kind of small. What I like to post is something that is done diffently or was over looked by the public when it was new.

[starbank2]

I like this but I think Frankie Laine's version is better,cheeers...