Your favorite pop singer (not rock) of the 1950s

OneEyedDiva said:
I liked that song by Tennessee Ernie Ford.
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I'm no expert on this, but I believe that TEF ushered in a new style of "singing" in some aspects of country/pop/crossover stuff that did him well, put him on the map, and encouraged others -- like Jimmy Dean with his "Big Bad John" song to adopt a Mozart-like "singspiel". Meaning, of course, not to "sing" so much, but to speak in rhythm.

Yeah, it's a different thing altogether, but Mozart did it pretty well with his opera "The Magic Flute". And hell, that was 1791. He did it with speaking and singing roles both -- sorta like Big Bad John himself.

Kinda amazing how music sorta repeats itself, eh? LOL
 

I have a bunch of my late parents Deca 78 records. I still have a record player that will play them. A few of my favorites are:

Mills Brothers - favorite song on it - "Open the door Richard", Sweet Adeline, etc.

Bing Crosby - "The Bells of St. Mary's", I'll take you home again Katleen"

A Columbia record "Night and Day", Fox Trot

Decca Record with Al Jolson singing, Swanee, April Showers, You Made Me Love You, Sonny Boy and My Mammy

Old stuff but fun to listen too...
 
1950’s …. Pat Boone was very popular then, and he was 'more Pop than Rock.'

And also, I remember the very smooth voices of Dean Martin and Perry Como, often on the billboard charts….. and Harry Belafonte too.


Never confused them with all the ROCK music that was on the horizon in the mid 50’s.
 
Having been born in '46, most of the 50s music is unknown to me. However, one of my favorites is Nat King Cole's 1959 recording of "The Very Thought Of You."

I stole a line from that song. Back in Ohio, we lived near a huge public Rose Garden, and my wife loved it and visited it often (it was in walking distance for a number of years..), and after she passed away I purchased a memorial paver stone, with the line "I see your face in every flower" inscribed. I thought it was fitting.

If you want to go back to the Big Band/Swing era, you can't go wrong with Ella Mae Morse singing Cow Cow Boogie.
 
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Way before my time, but influenced through my Dad's appreciation:


Billy Fury -- Halfway to Paradise



Cliff Richard -- Travellin' Light

 
JBR said:
There were a lot of good singers. Sam Cooke was one of my favorites from that time. He recorded a lot in the '50s. I always liked his deliver of this song, "Unchained Melody", though I think it may have been released around 1960.
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Great song, and a big hit for Cooke. It really brings back that era.
My favorite of his was "You Send Me" (1957), which became #1 on the pop singles chart.
Cooke sure had a tragic end at aged 33, being shot dead in South Central L.A. Had he lived, he could have been making hits for several decades.
 
ChiroDoc said:
Great song, and a big hit for Cooke. It really brings back that era.
My favorite of his was "You Send Me" (1957), which became #1 on the pop singles chart.
Cooke sure had a tragic end at aged 33, being shot dead in South Central L.A. Had he lived, he could have been making hits for several decades.
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I love "You Send Me" -- I nearly chose at as the first dance at our wedding reception. What a voice! And he did indeed have such a tragic end.
 
Bedroom voice, Dino Martin, of course.
There was a guy from Texas, Don Cherry who could sing so smoothly, but he preferred to play golf. Met him at the Country Club in Wichita Falls, Texas, where he became their pro golf instructor. Back in the day, he brought an unknown fellow, named, of all things, Elvis Presley, to town introducing him to the teens, and the rest was history.
This is one of his more famous songs:

 
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