'Tennessee Waltz'
A song, belonging to both the country music and popular genres, written by Redd Stewart and Pee Wee King in 1947, popularized by Patti Page and by Les Paul and Mary Ford in 1950. Country legend Roy Acuff recorded the song before either of these artists, however. In more recent years, a number of country artists have recorded the song, among them Emmylou Harris in 1981.
The Page recording was issued by Mercury Records as catalog number 5534, and first reached the Billboard pop music chart on November 10, 1950, lasting 30 weeks and peaking at #1. [1] It also reached #2 on the Billboard country music chart. The song became Patti Page's biggest hit and has received many awards.
The Les Paul/Mary Ford recording was issued by Capitol Records as catalog number 1316, and also reached the Billboard top 10.
Other recordings were made by Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians (on Decca Records, catalog number 27336) and by Jo Stafford (on Columbia Records, catalog number 39065). A British version was also recorded by Petula Clark.
On the Cash Box best-selling record charts, where all recordings were combined, the song first entered the chart on November 25, 1950, reached #1 on December 30, 1950, and remained #1 through the February 3, 1951 chart.
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*Adopted as the state song of Tennessee in 1965, it is second only to Bing Crosby’s White Christmas as the biggest selling song of all-time.
*Norah Jones played it as a tribute/encore during a live show at the House of Blues in New Orleans on August 24th 2002. It is featured as extra material on the following DVD-release of the show.
*The University of Tennessee Pride of the Southland Band plays "The Tennessee Waltz" at the end of every football game.
*The Baylor University Golden Wave Band plays "The Tennessee Waltz" following the end of every home football game.
*There is a ride at Opryland called the "Tennessee Waltz." It is a revolving swinging ride, with forty-eight swings suspended in a carousel made in Austria.
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