The Fleetwoods; Gretchen Christopher, Barbara Ellis, and Gary Troxell, formed the group while in high school in Olympia, Washington. Their forte was ballads and as you can hear, they are smooth af. "Mr. Blue" was their third single and second number one song of 1959, the first being "Come Softly to Me".
This song popped in my head last night while I was lying in bed and I woke up with it still there. The reason is simple. The song is featured in one of my all-time favorite movies, National Lampoon's Vacation. Do you remember the scene?
Archie Bell and the Drells are from Houston, Texas. But you already know that if you are listening to the song as you read this. I love the beginning of this song. The music starts then the lead singer (Archie) says, "Hi everybody, I'm Archie Bell and the Drells, of Houston, Texas..." xD
I don't know why but that just strikes me as an awesome and funny opening, and the song is great so that helps.
Do you recognize it?
Patsy Cline was not only one of the greatest country singers of all time, she also helped blaze a trail for female singers in the male-dominated Nashville country music scene of the late 1950s into the early 1960s.
I first became aware of this song in 1994 with it's inclusion on the best movie soundtrack ever, Natural Born Killers.
When I was in Nashville a few years back I went to the Johnny Cash museum, which was great. Upstairs from that is the Patsy Cline museum, which I sadly did not visit. I think I had somewhere to be, plus it was a separate fee from the Cash museum. This place is tops on my list when I get back to Nashville.