1955 Songs: Hummingbird

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And what do you know, here’s yet another song from 1955 where you have half a dozen versions to pick from!! I guess “they” all thought that fans of one group wouldn’t like a song if it was done by someone else, so that group had to cover it to make it likable. Whatever reason for it, that was an interesting era for music…and one I’m kind of glad has gone by the wayside (to some degree). Here’s today’s song from 70 years ago. Hummingbird - Les Paul and Mary Ford The sweethearts of music!! (Not really, they got divorced in 1964.) This may sound antiquated to you, but let me assure you of something: whatever you’re listening to, it may not exist without Les Paul. If you’re a little music savvy you might know there’s a brand of guitar called the Gibson Les Paul (not to mention a dozen knock-offs that look like it). Well, there’s a reason: Les Paul developed things like the solid-body electric guitar, multi-track recording, overdubbing, and delay techniques. There’s a reason he’s one of the few people with a permanent display in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. You can argue about the “Mount Rushmore of Rock Guitar Players,” but without Les Paul’s innovations, it’s just a pile of granite. Anyway, back in the 50s, Les and Mary Ford, then married, really were the “sweethearts of music.” Mary did the singing and Les did the picking. (Trivia for you: his right arm was severely injured in a car wreck, so he had the doctor set his arm permanently at a 90-degree angle so he could continue to play guitar.) They had a boatload of hits all over the place. This was one of them. As I mentioned, you have a number of versions to pick from: the Chordettes (famous for “Mister Sandman”) and Frankie Laine also recorded this in 1955. The biggest hit version, though, was this one. And why not: Mary Ford was a terrific singer. Bet you didn’t know all that heavy-metal punk noise hardcore stuff had such an intimate connection to things like this. Hummingbird Written by Don Robertson Recorded by Les Paul and Mary Ford Released as a single, 1955 Too wild to tame: