Guy Mitchell - Singing The Blues

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To some listeners, the name Guy Mitchell evokes contempt -- as the singer whose pop-styled covers of "Singin' the Blues" and "Knee Deep in the Blues" cut the legs out from under Marty Robbins' country-styled original renditions. To others, Mitchell evokes the last period of America's innocence, the mid-'50s, when he periodically ascended the pop charts in the company of singers like Frankie Laine. Mitchell was all of those things and more, in some ways a trail-blazer -- he was the first major recording artist whose career was crafted in the studio, by a record company, and sold to the public by way of records and the radio, not concerts. He was the precursor to the late-'50s teen idols crafted by the industry as an alternative to the burgeoning success of rock & roll. In contrast to some of the younger male singing idols of that era, however, Mitchell had a genuinely good voice as his starting point in music.

He was born Al Cernick in Detroit in 1927, into a Yugoslavian immigrant family whose members sang as often as possible, for their own pleasure. He made his first appearance as a singer at age three, at a wedding reception. The Cernick family moved across the country in search of a place they liked, before reaching Los Angeles in 1938. He was spotted by a talent scout and signed up as a child performer at Warner Bros. Studios that same year, and managed to broadcast over a studio-controlled radio station.

The family's move to San Francisco in 1940 ended the boy's relationship with Warner Bros., but he kept taking voice lessons. A summer job on a ranch in the San Joachin Valley taught him the basics of a cowboy's skills, and by the time he was 17 he was working as an apprentice saddle-maker. He kept on singing in his spare time, and this led to the offer of a spot on a local radio show.

He joined the navy for a two-year hitch in 1944, resuming his radio singing career afterward. In 1947, he joined the Carmen Cavallaro orchestra, still billed as Al Cernick, as the featured vocalist, but a bout of food-poisoning caused him to drop out. In 1948, he cut some sides for King Records as Al Grant, and won first prize on Arthur Godfrey's Talents Scouts radio program. This led to his being hired as a demo singer by various music publishers (one of the songs he demoed was "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer").

The singer was signed up by impresario Eddie Joy, who intensified his training and finally introduced him to Mitch Miller, the head of Artists and Repertory for Columbia Records. It was Miller who transformed Al Cernick into Guy Mitchell, using his own first same for the surname. Mitchell's first five singles at Columbia failed, and his career was only rescued when Frank Sinatra, still with Columbia Records, declined to cut a pair of songs for which Miller had already set recording sessions and engaged musicians. Mitchell was brought into the studio, and the resulting recordings of "My Heart Cries for You" and "The Roving Kind" rode the charts for 21 weeks in 1951, selling nearly two million copies.

Mitchell's cover of "Singin' the Blues" was a huge hit spending nine weeks at number one and selling well over a million copies. Mitchell had a follow-up hit with his cover of "Knee Deep in the Blues" and then milked the rock & roll bandwagon one last time with "Rock-a-billy." He never connected with audiences or the charts quite so strongly again. Late in 1959, Mitchell scored one last number one hit with "Heartaches by the Number."

~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide

Category:

Education

Tags:

• pop

[ChiefSailor1948]

This brings back many memories when I could not read but picked the records out by the label. THIS was one of my favorite songs.

[John1948Five]

@ChiefSailor1948 I can relate to that! 1948 was a good year!

[felixbautista]

A memorable song.. thanks for posting.

[John1948Five]

I remember riding around Omaha when this was on the car radio and Dad was singing along.  Great memories.

[Aasmund01]

@John1948Five Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't this a 1# hit in both the UK and the US back in '56?

[John1948Five]

@Aasmund01 Actually it was released so late in 1956 bthat it didn't hit #1 until 1957. It lost and regained the top spot twice more over the next few weeks. As far as the UK charts all I know is it topped the UK singles chart at the start of January 1957.

[cottonceena]

Good lawd! This was the first song I sang in public. The 1st grade teacher heard me singing this at recess, then took me into all the different grades and classrooms to sing it a capella in each room. (yea, scary) Thus began a lifetime of singing. It's so old, I almost thought it was a figment of imagination, but here it is!! People wonder about life before computers? What music freak can imagine life without YouTube (or John) to hear all of these? Thanks so much for posting! Priceless!

[1959passions]

I've always listen to JR's songs on the Martin Blocks radio shot top ten...His best too me was (the Little White Cloud) & (Cry)

[nintendude85]

This was the number one song the week of my birth.

[mkl62]

This hit by Guy Mitchell was the 20th #1 song in the United Kingdom of the Rock Era. It would hit #1 three times in the UK. That is probably the only time that has happened on any chart. It was the first new #1 in the UK in 1957.

[gabby63929]

@VStocker14 haha im from macc xD

[gabby63929]

he looks like my grandad :( <3

[devilwoman1401]

@glipzik - hahaha! weird and funny that whistling sounds...

[devilwoman1401]

Cliff Richard also sang this one brilliantly!

[glipzik]

@John1948five,

Actually this song went #1 on December 8 1956 on the Billboard Best Seller chart.

[glipzik]

Why sings the blues with all thay happy whistling? Guy Mitchell totally misintepreted this great Marty Robbins song.

[joeyraccoon]

:D . . . duuuuuuude . . . ta muchly.