JIMMY YOUNG - “Unchained Melody”
(24th June 1955)
Some pub debate as to whether Jimmy was the only BBC Radio DJ to hit the top of the charts (”The Floral Dance”, heavens be thanked, did not.). It makes for a curious listen because this is a song that everyone knows, and we know it with a completely different arrangement and approach to this recording, which is porridgey at best. Jimmy Young’s singing on this is horribly British, all studious strain and variety show bellow: his “lonely rivers flow’” is particularly stiff-backed and embarrassing.* The arrangement meanwhile is just odd: a patchwork of acoustic guitar, Spanish guitar, and big whomps of strings which never really fits together. 2
*At the end he audibly sings “God speed your lub”, though, which makes up for a lot.
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Marcello Carlin on February 5th, 2007
I have to say that JY wasn’t the only BBC radio DJ to make number one. DLT and Stewpot both appeared on the Crowd’s heart-rending “You’ll Never Walk Alone” in 1985.
John Snell on April 25th, 2007
In 1955 Jimmy Young’s Unchained Melody was a song that a lot of British servicemen who were abroad listened to as it reminded them that their girl friends were thinging of them. A lot of them they didn’t wait (mine was one of them) but it still gave them hope. The singers of that era were a lot different to todays singers.
Marcello Carlin on April 25th, 2007
The Goons’ version was far and away the best.
Marcello Carlin on September 24th, 2007
“To the open arms of the sea, you see…”
FT's rosie on May 26th, 2008
Considering that at its core it’s a pretty damned good song it’s fascinating trying to decide which version I loathe the most. (The winner is generally the one featuring the chap who was quite good playing a minor role in early Casualty and should have stayed there.)
The best version is of course by the Righteous Brothers and I’ll scratch out the eyes of anybody who says different.
wichita lineman on July 21st, 2008
When it was standard practise to rush out copycat versions of the Hit Song of the day, it’s odd that Unchained Melody was handled quite differently on each single to chart in the UK. Jimmy’s, as noted by Tom, is starchy, like a stockbroker in cowboy gear at a fancy dress party held by his boss (I’m thinking specifically of Terry Scott’s boss in Terry And June); Liberace’s slower take is a touching, surprisingly non-florid piano instrumental; Les Baxter’s starts with the odd “unchain me” bv’s nicked by Young Jimmy Young, and works well as a panoramic instrumental that gently gains momentum when the choral vocal comes in, suggesting long roads trodden on horseback (this single got to no.1 in the US); and finally Al Hibbler’s great version that would have made no.1 here if not for Jim, which is closest to the arrangement we’re all familiar with, and riddled with odd proto-soul inflections (subtle, though, so don’t expect Wilson Pickett).
DJ Punctum on July 21st, 2008
Whereas the Goons play it like elderly (or impossibly youthful apropos Bluebottle) Shoreditch High Street buskers and their version repeatedly caves in on itself. “Ineedyourloveineedyourlove/Godspeedyourlovegodspeedyourlove/Ying tong ying tong iddle I po/I played me ukelele ’til the ship went down.” Eventually the drumkit collapses (”Play them traps!”) and they don’t know how to finish the song (Bluebottle’s disgruntled “I’m goin’ home…”).
Mark G on July 21st, 2008
When it got re-released on CD, I played it to a friend who remarked “Do you buy, like, just everything?”
Which is not even slightly true. It was just that it was time for that song to get an almighty kicking.
DJ Punctum on July 21st, 2008
I have this on CD - it’s on one of the EMI Memories Are Made Of This V/A compilation 2CD sets, but it’s not the reason I bought it (if you must know, “Ma He’s Making Eyes At Me” by the Johnny Otis Show which is otherwise evasive to find on CD).
wichita lineman on July 21st, 2008
I’d like to think I don’t buy everything, but that doesn’t account for how I know what Liberace’s Unchained Melody sounds like. Rats. Hope that doesn’t make me a ‘consumer’ (just saw Wall-E over the weekend).
DJ Punctum on July 21st, 2008
My mum’s got the Liberace version!
Wall-E? It’s OK but not as good as Dark Side Of The Moon-E
(cymbal crash)
wichita lineman on July 21st, 2008
Ouch. In my bid to recycle as much as possible, I’m in great need of a 45 or EP with Liberace’s version!
I know I’ve plugged them before, DJP, but Acrobat’s British Hit Parade series include every UK hit single that is now in public domain (yes, even the Singing Dogs), and are a fabulous for recreating the JS Old Record Club on your hi-fi.
And they’ll remain the most concise way of getting the lot on cd until Macca dons his Dickensian rags once more and the European Court of Human Rights decides he’s a more deserving case than, errm, everybody else. I’m laying money on ‘62 being the first year that evades the 50 year rule. Any takers?
DJ Punctum on July 21st, 2008
It’ll be ‘58 if Sir Cliff has his way, which legally he may well do; apparently the European Court has said yes, the rights should be extended.
Another recent Acrobat issue well worth getting: Pig Iron, Washboards, Freight Trains And Kazoos - The UK Skiffle Boom 1954-7 (note the copyright subtext in that title), four CDs and 120 fascinating tracks from everyone who was anyone in the skiffle game, with the Vipers, Johnny Duncan, young Alexis Korner, Bob Cort, Dickie Bishop etc. all getting as much space as Lonnie. Sleevenote’s a bit biased though (histories tend to take the Donegan/Barber side or the Colyer side and this one comes down on the latter).
wichita lineman on July 21st, 2008
Yes, it makes for a fascinating read (Ken Colyer being jailed in New Orleans for playing with black musicians!), even if some of the stuff is ropy. But I guess a 4cd of British post-punk DIY would sound pretty ropy too, and that’s the closest analogy I can think of to skiffle. My fave tracks all have Joe Meek fingering the controls to some extent - Last Train To San Fernando, Cumberland Gap, and the quite deranged Sizzlin’ Hot.
As Tom has wisely noted, the rarely mentioned shift towards country (Rose Marie, Man From Laramie) and away from Neapolitan popera in ‘55 surely did some groundwork for Lonnie and co.
wichita lineman on July 21st, 2008
DJP, do you know how far down the line Cliff is? I’m guessing if he’s trying to keep 1958 under private ownership it’s pretty much settled. I’d really like to know.
And, back to the matter in hand, I assume Sir Jimmy is too dignified to tamper with the law in the name of avarice.
DJ Punctum on July 21st, 2008
At the moment, it’s still at the plans/pins hopes stage.