#1 for week of June 19th, 1961.
I can safely say that I have never been a fan of Pat Boone. To me, he always epitomized the "safe" side of 1950's music that the more old fashioned folks preferred as opposed to that "Devil's music - Rock and roll". His covers of Fats Domino's "Ain't That A Shame" and Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti" add nothing new to the originals other than giving Pat a hit as opposed to Fats and Richard. Also, much of his 1950's hits are in the easy-listening country vein which I don't care for at all.
Not being familiar with his cover of Gary Bruce's "Moody River", I didn't have any high expectations. After giving the song the obligatory three listens a-piece, I can say that it's by far the most likable of all of his tunes I have heard so far, but that doesn't mean it's a good song.
Lyrically, the song is another teenage tragedy record which this time deals with the singer's girlfriend committing suicide by a river due to her infidelities. I've never been too much of a fan of songs which seem to almost glorify premature death so already that aspect doesn't win me over.
My primary problem with most of these songs is that the music is either too sappy or happy, which contrasts to the very depressing lyrics. To this song's credit, only the choruses are unfittingly happy sounding while the verses are in a minor key and match the dark lyrics much better.
Pat Boone's singing voice is also not as overly mellow as some of his 1950's work and to be honest, if someone tried to play me this song without telling me who the artist was, I'd probably assume it was Ricky Nelson or someone similar. So I give Pat a bit of credit for at least not making this song a total snooze-fest.
Final Verdict - A much more tolerable Pat Boone song, but I'm still not a fan of his work. The song is just a bit too mellow and happy sounding, especially considering its dark lyrics. While it certainly wasn't unlistenable, I don't have any interest in playing it again.
Coming Up Next - "Quarter To Three" by Gary U.S. Bonds.
Until Next Time - I'm Dr. Rock, and I'd rather be listening to "Moody Blues".
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