Charlie Gracie - Butterfly (1957)

[BUZOSKARSON]

I SAY GROOVY MAN, DIG IT !

[goneoverboard2]

Correction......Charlie`s version was the original, however, I made the mistake in saying he wrote "Butterfly" in fact, I believe it was penned by "Anthony September"...Sorry......

[mudsailor]

I saw Charlie Gracie in London a lifetime ago. He started to sing Que Sera Sera (When I was just a little boy, I asked my mother what shall I be) and then burst into Hound Dog. It brought the house down. Great entertainer.

[sammilea90]

He's my grandfather's cousin if I remember correctly and I finally met him at my grandfather's funeral last year. He is such an awesome and humble guy. :)

[jimandot]

charlie looks middleaged in this when was it made .it was still better than andy williams version jimandot

[march149]

Great clip. So many people still enjoy this style, I don't see why the right people do not bring it back to the charts.

[goneoverboard2]

Thats what I am talking about.......... He was playing a Guild way back in 57 and still plays a Guild now. What a star................

[bigkatt1974]

@goneoverboard2 I have had the honor of backing up Charlie a few times,

he plays the SAME Guild as in 57! He says his guitar is more famous than he is

because of all the big 50's Rock and Roll stars that have played it over the years,

in jam sessions!

[goneoverboard2]

@bigkatt1974 What an honor!!! Thanks for the reply. I last saw Charlie perform here in the UK, early 90s. He was brill as always, reminded me so much of Eddie Cochran,{or should I say Eddie reminded me so much of Charlie} the way he moved and the way he held his Guitar. I guess they must have been good friends back in the late 50s.Charlie`s old Guild is "Somthin`else",still playing today!!!just think,all the great R and R"Stars" of the 50s, who have had the priv of playing that fine guitar.Wow!!

[bigkatt1974]

@goneoverboard2 Eddie and Charlie were best friends back then, Charlie has many stories about the two of

them! That's the best part of playing for him, getting to hear about the legends from a legend!

[mrwarmth100]

@goneoverboard2 also done by tommy sands and again by andy williams

[goneoverboard2]

@mrwarmth100

I have never heard Tommy Sands version, will look for it on YouTube. Remember Andy`s version being the big hit over here in the UK in 57/58. Still, dont think you can beat the original by the guy who wrote it !!! Charlie Gracie, with his 57 Guild, one of the great Rock n Roll singer guitarist, of all time....... "Fabulous".

[danielmkubacki]

Andy Williams made this song populer it was his only #1 hit.

[bbooz]

i just dig daddy , the beatnik in everyone comes out when you hear the crazy 45 

[Poolprayers]

Charlie was a friend with Bobby Darin BEFORE Bobby Made it Big!

[onemikehart]

Watch "Wages of Spin" Trailer on YouTube and see just how Charlie and anyone else who had a song played on Bandstand were treated....

[rockitradio]

Thank you for posting this video - We have made it our video pick of the week here at Rock-it Radio. Thank you for preserving this great piece of early Rock and Roll History.

Bennie Dingo

Rock-it Radio

[GereDJ]

That was an extremely cool hairstyle in 1957 and only the very coolest dare wear it. Charlie's guitar is cooler now then it was then.  Gere

[metakkijakki]

fab, thank you! I have this on a 78 that my dad (well, me, actually!) played endlessly - sadly have no deck to ply it on these days!

[metakkijakki]

fab, thank you! I have this on a 78 that my dad (well, me, actually!) played endlessly - sadly have no deck to ply it on these days!

[ernlay]

That's some strange looking dude.

[pillroller88]

Charlie you are a greaser

[MrMusicman488]

Did Andy Williams cover this? Andy is a superb vocalist and i'm a big fan of his but i like this version better.

[myepiphone]

@MrMusicman488 Andy Williams did indeed cover this,it gave him (to date) his only British number one single.Both versions are very catchy.....but I just love Charlie's guitar playing...and his guitar !

[Jaybird1103]

@myepiphone The guitar that Charlie Gracie is playing is the same model that Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees used from the mid 1970s to early 1980s. I believe Barry had one in a sunburst finish and one in a natural finish.

[MikeBlitzMag]

One of rock and roll's absolute masters! We are truly blessed to still have him with us.

[13loomisst]

Cool. Thanks very much.

[reneesluse]

Who Has the LAST LAUGH? Just Look At Charlie, then Dick. Even with ALL Dicks Money, You Can't Buy Health !!!!!!

[pamindoc]

Great show last night at Keswick Theatre

in Glenside, Pa. Charlie looked and

sounded wonderful and plays a mean

guitar. Friendly guy, chatting with fans

in front of theatre after show ; seems like

the real deal.

[hajune]

Feb 3  Just heard him interviewed this morning. He is a super guy. Will perform at the Buddy Holly annual Feb3 event.

[Turpinutz]

This man is a legend, such a talent and still touring almost everywhere (tho based in Drexel Hill, PA; a Philly suburb).  He still plays that same archtop, is a class act and the nicest guy too. See him when you can.

[dbirdez]

There was talk of another "misplace" legend , Al Kooper , doing a gig with Charlie. I would love to catch that. Check out Kooper sometime

[optandus]

By all accounts, Charlie Gracie was probably just about the first white guy to record Rock'n'Roll, his first records reputedly being cut as early as 1952 when Charlie himself was still only 16 years old. He and his music deserve to be remembered!

[MrCallipygous]

New documentary on Dick Clark states

" Gracie sued his Cameo Records label to recover unpaid royalties, and subsequently found himself blacklisted from "American Bandstand" and radio stations.

It emerged that Clark had a financial arrangement with Cameo, the documentary said, which had paid him $14,000 for unspecified services related to "Butterfly." Gracie, subsequently revered by the likes of Graham Nash, George Harrison and Paul McCartney, slipped into obscurity"

[bulbheadmyass]

Thanks for that info, MrCallipygous. That explains a lot, why someone that good slipped into obscurity.

[julianindica]

What a wicked guitar player.

[RonaldVaughan]

This is LIVE. Note the interesting guitar

break!

Would be nice to have the original

Cameo studio version,also...

[steve89z]

fuck you dick clark,you fucked up this guys career,you didn't honor his contract and pay him.yeah dick, honor,something you never had.

[dowopper51]

Not many people know how rotten crooked Dick Clark was! They nailed Alan Freed, but big DICK walked away! Clark was also a silent partener is some record labels & was huge in PAYOLA. Yes, Dick Clark screwed many!

[26highstreet]

yea dick clark was a bastard but at the same time a legend, he gave the world what it wanted and he knew it. if it wasnt for didk clark the world would be a darker place and a lot of acts would be completly unknown

[granskare]

I am looking at my Parlophone 45 rpm disc :) - this is a UK version...I had hoped to find nineyt-nine ways here but no luck but this is super :)))

[BUFFROCKER58]

CHARLIE'S original version DID hit NUMBER 1 on the Billboard Charts for TWO weeks in the spring of 1957. (See Joel Whitburn's Book). Andy Williams' cover also hit Number 1 that same year.

[bulbheadmyass]

This was one of my favorite songs as a kid. I've been hoping to bump into it again, and finding this was such a treat!

[0114elvis]

Great piece of Nostagia! Always felt that Charlie never quite got the recognition his talents deserved.

[rockake]

Gracie was one of the first ever to record rock´n roll in may, 1951(His "Boogie Woogie Blues"). He made some great rock´n roll in 1954-55 and signed with Cameo at the very end of 1956. "Night And Day, USA", "Cool Baby", "Trying", "Hurry Up, Buttercup" are titles that should have been big hits too hadn´t it been for the fact that Gracie was the first rocker to fight for justice and his right to his royalties(Cameo had to pay him 50000$ they kept away )and then lost interest in promoting him.

[AlbertMarsh]

Thanks for this uploading. Just seen him on stage at Newcastle, very good for over 70 years old. I rember him the first time in the 50s. Marsh.

[ilovethefifties]

i love this song! its great and one of my favorites! and its eazy to sing also... yeah!!

[johnnyvallis]

Had the pleasure of working on the same show with Charlie Gracie. He is an excellent entertainer and the crowd loved him. See him when he comes to your area. Keep Rockin' Charlie!

[RockabillyWilly1]

Thanks for this!!!

[renew2day]

According to BILLBOARD, it initially climbed to #5, and was indeed kept from #1, by Como, Knox, Tommy Sands and Tab Hunter. By April 6, 1957, it went to #4. It was topped by "Round and Round", "Little Darlin'" and "Party Doll".

What also kept it from #1, was the cover by Andy Williams, which overtook the Gracie record, and briefly hit #5, as the former started going down the bestseller list.

[oldschoolen1]

rockin!

[mkl62]

A Top 5 for Charlie Gracie in 1957. It was kept from #1 by Buddy Knox (Party Doll) and Perry Como (Round and Round).

[LaVerne37]

Thanks for posting!!! This song and "Fabulous," are two of my favs. !!!

[sexysassyandlovely69]

Thanks wehavejoy for uploading this video and thanks to the individual whom sent it to me...I have the lyrics to this song...great song.

[Fegen]

He did a good job on the song -- and oh my

what a hairdo.

[sturdle]

well, I liked this and I bought it on a 78rpm

sad innit geting old... thanks again.....

[bulbheadmyass]

Half a century later, and still a great performance by a great artist who all but disappeared from the US music scene.

[Pequinito]

Charlie Gracie is an original...I much prefer his version of Butterfly to Andy Williams.

[Madame54Butterfly]

Funny, I was sent the lyrics to this song and never knew there was a recording out there of this song...thx for posting wehavejoy.

[thefamilycat]

Cameo Parkway was a great label -they had writers who copied everything .Here they copied Singing the blues and for Gracie's followup they copied Elvis' Don't be cruel.

And Colonel Parker threatened to sue!

[CHUCKIE1BROWN]

So true about Cameo...and they ripped off many of their artists too. Bobby Rydell's We Got Love was a rip off of Lloyd Price, Chubby Checker stole the Twist from Hank Ballard, Dee Dee Sharp's Mashed Potato Time was a copy of he Monster Mash and on it goes....

[thebiggavone]

Wake up! Even THE BEATLES ripped off stuff and admitted it! In the Beatles Anthology Paul McCarney is quoted as saying that they "borrowed" Rydell's famous YEAH YEAH's in SHE LOVES YOU.

[shifta65]

And the word "love" was used in many previous tunes, too. So that proves that all the recording artists who recently used the word "love" in their lyrics is a scoundrel and a rip-off artist. I'm never listening to music again!

[thebiggavone]

Even the Beatles "Copied" stuff. Paul McCartney is quoted in the famous Beatles Anthology as "borrowing" Rydell's famous "Yeah Yeah's" for SHE LOVES YOU. It wasn't a Cameo exclusivity thing. Paul has also been quoted as saying that Rydell's FORGET HIM was the original inspiration for SHE LOVES YOU as an "answer song" to Forget Him. Cameo did alright and gave us lots to listen to back in the day. Hate sour grapes.

[CHUCKIE1BROWN]

Those "yeah, yeahs" don't amount to much--ditto for songs that answer other songs--done fairly often. No "crime" there. And Paul did an outright cover of another Gracie hit-"Fabulous! a few years back too. Cameo got rich on the artists--rarely sharing the profits. The Beatles vanquished them in '64 and Dick Clark's move to the left coast was the final nail.

[thebiggavone]

I see Chuck1Brown is really Charlie Gracie JR. Your post made it sound like Cameo was the only company who did take offs on other artists. My point was they ALL did it, even The Beatles. Artists like your father are still performing & Cameo is long gone. Let it go.

[CHUCKIE1BROWN]

CARL G. Back at ya"!!! What you say is true enough--but we're only stating fact here...something the casual reader may not know--and yes, other labels did the same--more or less, I suppose. Still, if someone owned you roughly $100,000, (at the time) you'd be sore too. But as you said, most of these people are long gone--but it doesn't change history!

[jt123egypte]

Many thanks for this video of the great Charlie Gracie

[cgreid60]

I bought Charlie's version of Butterfly when I was a teenager. Never cared for Andy William's version. Always wondered what happened in Charlie's life after this....

[nanaspoohbear27]

he still performs a lot over in europe, my hubby met him and he still rocks on to this day, just as good as the first day

[copewood333]

I was eighteen when I first heard this. Happy days!

He could play too!

[thehooligan86]

that's cool!

[emil909090]

@copewood333 wow, u were eighteen and that's 4 years ago

so now ur twentytwo.

i were ten in 2007, now im 14.

[Alikah1]

@emil909090 Ever consider a career as a math teacher?

[smudgey6120]

damnnnnn that big o'l guild has got some mellow sound

love charlie gracie