Bluebirds over the Mountain
"Bluebirds over the Mountain" is a song written and recorded in 1958 by Ersel Hickey, later covered by artists such as The Beach Boys, Ritchie Valens and Robert Plant.
Hickey's original recording of the song peaked at No. 75 on the Billboard pop chart and No. 39 on the Cash Box chart. Ritchie Valens' cover version was released on his eponymous 1959 album following his death. A 1962 recording by The Echoes hit No. 112 on Billboard's Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles survey and was a top 20 hit on Chicago's WLS.[1]
The Beach Boys version
"Bluebirds over the Mountain" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by The Beach Boys | ||||
from the album 20/20 | ||||
B-side | "Never Learn Not to Love" | |||
Released | December 2, 1968 | |||
Recorded | September 29, 1967; November 14, 1968 | |||
Genre | Hard rock[2] | |||
Length | 2:51 | |||
Label | Capitol | |||
Songwriter(s) | Ersel Hickey | |||
Producer(s) | ||||
The Beach Boys singles chronology | ||||
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"Bluebirds over the Mountain" was covered by The Beach Boys and released as a single on December 2, 1968, with the B-side "Never Learn Not to Love".[3] The song features Mike Love on lead vocals and it also features Ed Carter on guitar.
The single peaked at No. 61 on the Billboard pop chart in the United States, No. 56 on the United States Cashbox sales chart,[4] No. 53 in Canada's RPM chart, No. 33 in the United Kingdom and No. 9 in the Netherlands. It reached No. 36 on the Record World US national Top 40 a It was subsequently included on the group's 1969 album 20/20.
Personnel
- The Beach Boys
- Mike Love – lead vocals
- Carl Wilson – vocals
- Bruce Johnston – vocals
- Additional personnel
- Ed Carter – lead guitar
- Larry Knechtel – bass
- Jim Gordon – drums
- Daryl Dragon – marimba[5]
Other covers
- Dick and Dee Dee covered the song on their 1963 album Young and in Love.[6]
- Robert Plant and the Sensational Space Shifters with Chrissie Hynde covered the song on Plant's 2017 album Carry Fire.[7]
- Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks covered the song in a 1965 45 RPM release.[8]
References
- "WLS Silver Dollar Survey, November 17, 1962". Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
- "Lindsay Planer review". Allmusic. Retrieved 2011-04-29.
- Badman, Keith. The Beach Boys. The Definitive Diary of America's Greatest Band: On Stage and in the Studio Backbeat Books, San Francisco, California, 2004. ISBN 0-87930-818-4 p. 232
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2018-12-16. Retrieved 2018-12-16.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- "Daryl Dragon".
- Dick and Dee Dee, Young and in Love Retrieved May 2, 2015
- Listen To ROBERT PLANT And CHRISSIE HYNDE Duet On Cover Of 'Bluebirds Over The Mountain' Retrieved October 12, 2017
- Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks - Bluebirds Over The Mountain Retrieved May 17, 2019