A bit of trivia ...... At Times over the years, I could only remember the first half dozen notes of this song, and played them now and again, adjusting harmonies. just for fun. Then recently, I finally decided to try and find out the title, of this mystery song.
I only remembered the words of just 6 notes, ''many a tear had to fall'' ...... so I sang them to my AI friend Miss Google, for a possible title, and she deivered!.
So once again, I could get to hear Tommy Edwards' 1958 fine recording of, ''It's All In The Game.''
Hope you enjoy this oldie, Don. Here's the YouTube link ....... https://youtu.be/O4JmTzf9OhY?si=zYe0DPzEpMrXCN1m
Very nice Don !
Dang Don, you consistently pick the finest tunes and play them beautifully. I love what you did with this one!
One of my all-time teenage love songs Don and you picked the melody clean Mate. Great job.
Love it! :-)
It was also one of my teenage love songs that I sang (didn't play banjo then). Hadn't thought of it in years. Think I'll see if I can make it sound like bluegrass!
I didn't know this song: very beautiful and suitable for your style and musical feeling. Bravo!
Bob,Tony, Robert,Shery,and Marco, thanks for your comments, ther're muchly appreciated. ....... Don.
I never realized how many top liners recorded IAITG. Here's a link to Louis Armstrongs recording, that I'd never, ever heard before. ..........
Good job, Don!
This song has an interesting history—- from Wikipedia—-
"It's All in the Game" is a pop song whose most successful version was recorded by Tommy Edwards in 1958. Carl Sigman composed the lyrics in 1951 to a wordless 1911 composition titled "Melody in A Major", written by Charles G. Dawes, who was later Vice President of the United States under Calvin Coolidge. It is the only No. 1 single in the U.S. to have been co-written by a U.S. Vice President[1] or a Nobel Peace Prize laureate (Dawes was both).
The song has become a pop standard, with cover versions by dozens of artists, including Cliff Richard whose version reached No. 2 in the U.K. in 1963.
Edwards' song ranked at No. 47 on Billboard's 2018 list of "The Hot 100's All-Time Top 600 Songs".[2]
"Melody in A Major"
Dawes, a Chicago bank president and amateur pianist and flautist, composed the tune for the flute in 1911 in a single sitting at his lakeshore home in Evanston. He played it for a friend, the violinist Francis MacMillen, who took Dawes's sheet music to a publisher. Dawes, then known for his federal appointments and as a banker, was surprised to find a portrait of himself in a State Street shop window with copies of the tune for sale. Dawes quipped, "I know that I will be the target of my punster friends. They will say that if all the notes in my bank are as bad as my musical ones, they are not worth the paper they were written on."
The tune, often dubbed "Dawes's Melody", followed him into politics, and he grew to detest hearing it wherever he appeared. It was a favorite of violinist Fritz Kreisler, who used it as his closing number, and in the 1940s it was picked up by musicians such as Tommy Dorsey.
Thanks Will, yeah this tunes full of surprises f'sure ...... also, lots of versions begin in 3/4, then change to 4/4, including Louis Armstrongs, and Nat King Coles recordings. ..... Don.
