Misty Blue

This article is about the C&W/R&B song. For other uses, see Misty Blue (disambiguation).

"Misty Blue" is a song written by Bob Montgomery in 1966 which has become a hit in the pop, C&W and soul fields through various versions, the most successful being the 1976 pop/soul hit by Dorothy Moore.

C&W hit versions

"Misty Blue"
Single by Eddy Arnold
from the album The Last Word in Lonesome
B-side "Calling Mary Names"
Released May 1967
Format 7" single
Recorded 20 April 1966
Genre C&W
Length 2:06
Label RCA Victor
Writer(s) Bob Montgomery
Producer(s) Chet Atkins
Eddy Arnold singles chronology
"Lonely Again"
(1967)		 "Misty Blue"
(1967)		 "Turn the World Around"
(1967)

Montgomery wrote the song for Brenda Lee; he recalls: "I wrote 'Misty Blue' in about twenty minutes. It was a gift and it was perfect for Brenda Lee, but she turned it down. Her producer Owen Bradley loved the song and as he couldn’t push her to do it, he cut it country style with Wilma Burgess."[1] Burgess recorded the song in a 24 March 1966 session at the Columbia Recording Studio in South Nashville; after another track from the same session, "Don't Touch Me", was released to become a number 12 C&W hit that summer, "Misty Blue" was released in October 1966 to spend most of December 1966 and January–February 1967 in the C&W top ten, peaking at number 4 and was Burgess' highest charting release.[2]

Eddy Arnold recorded "Misty Blue" in a Chet Atkins-produced session at the RCA Victor Studio on 20 April 1966; included on the June 1966 album release The Last Word in Lonesome, Arnold's "Misty Blue" had a belated single release in May 1967 to introduce The Best of Eddy Arnold compilation album. Besides virtually matching Burgess' success with the song—Arnold's version peaking at number 3 on the C&W chart—Arnold's "Misty Blue" became the first version of the song to crossover to the pop field, reaching number 57 on the Billboard Hot 100 in June 1967 and rising as high as 3 on the Easy Listening. The single's pop chart peaks in Cash Box and Record World were respectively number 20 and 48.

Ella Fitzgerald, more known as a jazz singer, recorded a country-style version of the song in 1968 not unlike Wilma Burgess' original recording.

Billie Jo Spears had a number 5 C&W hit with "Misty Blue" in 1976 after the Dorothy Moore pop/soul hit version had revived interest in the song.

R&B hit versions

"Misty Blue"
Single by Dorothy Moore
from the album Misty Blue
A-side "Here It Is"
Released November 1975
Format 7" single
Recorded 1973
Genre Southern soul
Length 3:38
Label Malaco
Writer(s) Bob Montgomery
Producer(s) Tom Couch, James Stroud
Dorothy Moore singles chronology
"Making Love" (w/King Floyd)
(1975)		 "Misty Blue"
(1975)		 "Funny How Time Slips Away"
(1976)

The first R&B recording of "Misty Blue" appeared on the 1968 album "Simon Sings" and was subsequently released as a 1972 single by Joe Simon, which while not one of his biggest R&B hits at number 47, did return "Misty Blue" to the Hot 100 at number 91 (on the Cash Box pop chart, it peaked at number 62).']

In 1973 Dorothy Moore recorded "Misty Blue" at Malaco Records in Jackson, Mississippi[3] cutting her vocal in a single take: Malaco owner Tommy Couch was familiar with the song via the Joe Simon version.[4] Malaco, then a production company, were unable to successfully shop Moore's recording of "Misty Blue" to a label, and in November 1975 the cash-strapped Malaco used the last of its resources to press Moore's "Misty Blue" and release it on the Malaco label. Henry Stone through his TK Productions picked the single up for national distribution and began promoting it heavily using his own independent network.[5]

After receiving its initial airplay in Chicago and Washington DC,[4] Moore's single broke in the southern states in April 1976 and three months later it was nominated for a Grammy Award. In 1976 the single reached number 2 on the R&B chart and 3 on the Billboard Hot 100,[6] as well as number 14 on the Adult Contemporary chart. Billboard ranked it as the No. 19 song for 1976.

"Misty Blue" was also a UK hit, reaching number 5 there on the chart dated for the week of 8 August 1976.[7] Moore's single also achieved hit status in Australia (5), Canada (4), New Zealand (4), South Africa (11)[8] and also Brazil, ranking at number 19 on Brazil's Top 100 singles of 1976, while a re-release would rank at 56 on Brazil's Top 100 singles of 1983. Moore's version is included on the soundtrack of the 1996 movie Phenomenon and also the 2008 movie Made of Honor. In 2014 Dorothy Moore's "Misty Blue" had been on the iTunes blues top ten charts in up to nine countries for the last three years. When first released, her "Misty Blue" was on the B-side.

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Chart (1976) Peak
position
Australia 5
Brazil 19
Canada 4
New Zealand 4
South Africa 11
UK 5
US Billboard Hot 100[9] 3
US Billboard Adult Contemporary 14
US Billboard R&B 2

Year-end charts

Chart (1976) Rank
Australia[10] 41
Canada[11] 62
New Zealand[12] 11
UK 40
US Billboard Hot 100[13] 19

Other versions

Bob Montgomery estimates there are over 200 versions of "Misty Blue". In 2002, the English trip hop trio Amillionsons released a song which heavily sampled the track titled "Mistiblu", which reached number 39 in the UK.[14] Monica covered the song on her 1998 multi-platinum album The Boy Is Mine.

References

  1. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-09-27. Retrieved 2009-07-29.
  2. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 62.
  3. ↑
  4. 1 2 Sumrall, Jr, Johnny W. (2008). Classic Magnolia Rock: History of Original Mississippi Rock and Roll 1953-1970 (1st US ed.). Bloomington IN: AuthorHouse. pp. 21–22. ISBN 978-1-4389-2960-6.
  5. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-10-18. Retrieved 2014-08-24.
  6. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 412.
  7. ↑
  8. ↑ Brian Currin. "South African Rock Lists Website - SA Charts 1965 - 1989 Acts (M)". Rock.co.za. Retrieved 2016-07-26.
  9. ↑ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–2002
  10. ↑ "Australian Chart Book". Austchartbook.com.au. Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2016-07-26.
  11. ↑ "Top Singles – Volume 26, No. 14 & 15, January 08 1977". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved March 13, 2016.
  12. ↑ "Top Selling Singles of 1976 | The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Nztop40.co.nz. 1963-12-08. Retrieved 2016-07-26.
  13. ↑ "Top 100 Hits of 1976/Top 100 Songs of 1976". Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 2016-07-26.
  14. ↑ "Official Charts Amillionsons". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved 28 November 2014.

External links

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