Song - If I Give My Heart To You

Lyrics Jimmy Brewster, Jimmy Crane and Al Jacobs

If I give my heart to you
Will you handle it with care
Will you always treat me tenderly
And in every way be fair

If I give my heart to you
Will you give me all your love
Will you swear that you'll be true to me
By the light that shines above

And will you sigh with me when I'm sad
Smile with me when I'm glad
And always be as you are with me tonight

Think it over and be sure
Please don't answer till you do
When you promise all those things to me
Then I'll give my heart to you

* * *

I don’t know when was this song written and who was the original singer. Since Doris Day recorded it in 1954, It must be written in 1954 or earlier.

The song describes about a woman who is about to accept a man’s love. So she has to be convinced that the man “will always treat her tenderly”, “will be true to her” and “will sigh with her when she’s sad and smile with her when she’s sad”, then she’ll give her heart to him. Oh, so much dream, hope and anticipation !!!

I own an LP of Miyoshi Umeki wich contains this song but I could not find the video clip of “If I Give My Heart to You” sung by Miyoshi Umeki on YouTube. Here’s a link to the version performed by Dorothy Collins, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0HKEty9_is&feature=related

Eddy Arnold - The Greatest of Eddy Arnold

Eddy Arnold was a country singer who performed from 1940s to 1990s. He was very popular from 1940s to 1960s where he had 28 singles that hit the number 1 position in Billboard’s Top Country Chart.

According to Wikipedia, “Eddy had 147 songs on the Billboard Magazine music charts, second only to George Jones. Though Jones had more individual hits, one authoritative study ranks Arnold as the all-time leader for hits and their time on the charts. Arnold sold more than 85 million records from 1943 to his death in 2008”.

In this album, Eddy crooned the songs in pop style rather than belted them out in country fashion. The song I like most in this LP is “Cattle Call”. This is my second LP that contains my favorite song, “Cattle Call”.

Song List:
Side 1 – Bouquet of Roses, Make the World Go Away, Here Comes Heaven, Somebody Like Me, Anytime, Lonely Again, But For Love

Side 2 – Turn the World Around, Cattle Call, The Tip of My Fingers, Here Comes My Baby, I Want to Go With You, I’ll Hold You in My Heart

Ernest Tubb - Honky Tonk Classics

Ernest Tubb (1914-1984) was a pioneer of country music. His musical career spanned all the way from his first radio appearance in 1933 to his death in 1984. It was a whopping 50+ years of singing, recording and performing on the roads. Ernest Tubb wrote over 150 songs himself and sold over 20 million records.

I love Ernest Tubb’s distinctively twangy and nasal singing style very much. Although I own only 1 LP of Ernest Tubb, I have searched Youtube and found quite a number of Ernest Tubb‘s song and downloaded them for my own listening pleasure.

Ernest Tubb’s biggest hit song is "Walking The Floor Over You". His other hit songs include "Tomorrow Never Comes", "Let's Say Goodbye Like We Said Hello", "Slippin' Around" and "Two Glasses Joe".

You can watch the video clip of Walking The Floor Over You to hear the legendary Ernest Tubb yourself at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCFVR7cPbbA

Song List:

Side 1- Blue Eyed Elaine, I Ain’t Going Honking Tonkin’ Anymore, Try Me One More Time, You Nearly Lose Your Mind, Answer To Walking The Floor Over You, There’s Gonna Be Some Changes Made Around Here

Side 2 – Filipino Baby, That Wild And Wicked Look In Your Eye, Letters Have No Arms, You Don’t Have To Be A Baby To Cry, I Need Attention Bad, Jealous Loving Heart

Miyoshi Umeki - Miyoshi Sings For Arthur Godfrey

This album was released in 1956.

The note at the back of this album mentioned that "Godfrey first introduced Miyoshi to American audiences on his CBS-TV show "Talent Scout" at the beginning of 1956... Miyoshi astonished both the famous red-head (Godfrey) and his audience by singing a sultry version of "How Deep Is The Ocean" in perfect English, enhanced by the merest trace of an exotic accent" It was definitely a stunning debut for Miyoshi.

In this album, Miyoshi sang the songs in English/Japanese. Although I like many the songs in this album, I would like to single out "If I Give My Heart To You", "China Nights" and "Hanna Ko San" as 3 songs that I like most.

Song List:

Side 1 - If I Give My Heart To You, China Nights, I'm In The Mood For Love, My Baby's Coming Home, How Deep Is The Ocean, Slowly Go Out Of Your Mind

Side 2 - Teach Me Tonight, Hanna Ko San, Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man, S'Wonderful, Over The Rainbow, Sayonara

Pat Boone - Moonglow

I was working in Singapore during the late 80s. For about 1 year during that period, I had to go to Orchard Road twice a week to attend a part-time course. Although I have forgotten about the venue of my class, I still remember that after the end of the class at 10pm, I had to walk past an open-air beer garden (on the same row as Centre Point but a few lots away??) that had live band performances.

Since I loved listening to music but did not have much S$ in my pocket, I normally stopped at the walk way for a while to get a free dose of music. On quite a number of occasions, I knew that I was in for a treat when the guitarist started a new number by strumming then plucking his guitar followed by the lead vocalist's narration, "It was a moonlit night in old Mexico...". That's how I got to know about Pat Boone and the song, Speedy Gonzales.

This Pat Boone's album, Moonglow, does not contain Speedy Gonzales. However, the 12 songs in this album reflects the typical healthy, wholesome and very easy going styles of Pat Boone.

Song List:

Side 1 - Moonglow, San Antonio Rose, Hands Across The Table, You Always Hurt The One You Love, The Very Thought Of You, Girl Of My Dreams

Side 2 - Again, Who's Sorry Now, We Love But Once, It's a Sin To Tell a Lie, Imagination, Unchained Melody

Song - Cold Cold Heart

Lyrics by Hank Williams

I tried so hard my dear to show that you’re my every dream
Yet you’re afraid each thing I do is just some evil scheme
A memory from your lonesome past keeps us so far apart
Why can’t I free your doubtful mind and melt your cold cold heart

Another love before my time made your heart sad and blue
And so my heart is paying now for things I didn’t do
In anger unkind words are said that make the teardrops start
Why can’t I free your doubtful mind and melt your cold cold heart

You’ll never know how much it hurts to see you sit and cry
You know you need and want my love yet you’re afraid to try
Why do you run and hide from lies, to try it just ain’t smart
Why can’t I free your doubtful mind and melt your cold cold heart

There was a time when I believed that you belonged to me
But now I know your heart is shackled to a memory
The more I learn to care for you, the more we drift apart
Why cant I free your doubtful mind and melt your cold cold heart

* * *

Cold Cold Heart was written and sung by Hank Williams in 1951.

Wikipedia aptly describes that “the song achingly and artfully describes frustration that the singer's love and trust is unreciprocated due to a prior bad experience in the other's past”.

With Hank Williams’ slightly coarse voice, I can’t find any singers who can sing this song better than him. Every time I listened to this song by Hank Williams, my heart felt the pain and frustration of the Hank too.

Here’s a link to Hank Williams’ Cold Cold Heart in YouTube,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUuzrB_TGyk