The most successful version of the song was recorded by Patti Page. 'Boogie Woogie Santa Claus (original release)' 3 (Pee Wee King's Golden West Cowboys) and No. īoth singles became Top Ten C&W hits – the chart was then known as 'Best Selling Folk Retail Records' – in the spring and summer of 1948 with respective peaks of No. Ī version by Cowboy Copas, a former member of the Golden West Cowboys was released by King Records (King 696) two months later in March 1948. Īcuff-Rose Music, the publisher, did not immediately register a copyright to the song when it was presented to the company by King and Stewart and did not obtain the 'consummate proof of ownership, and the key to protecting a songwriter's property' until February 1948. 300,000 copies were sold for this release. Their recording, made on Decemat the RCA Victor Studio in Chicago was released as Victor (20–2680) the following month.

King and Stewart presented 'Tennessee Waltz' to music publisher Fred Rose the next day, and Rose adjusted one line in the bridge of Stewart's lyric from 'O the Tennessee waltz, O the Tennessee Waltz,' to 'I remember the night and the Tennessee Waltz.'Īlmost a year passed before Pee Wee King's Golden West Cowboys were able to record 'Tennessee Waltz'. Stewart had an idea to write a Tennessee waltz using the melody of King's theme song: 'No Name Waltz', and wrote the lyrics on a matchbox as he and King thought up the words. Pee Wee King, Redd Stewart, and their fellow Golden West Cowboys members were en route to Nashville 'close to Christmas in 1946' when King and Stewart, who were riding in a truck carrying the group's equipment, heard Bill Monroe's new song ' Kentucky Waltz' on the radio. Page's recording was inducted into Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998. The popularity of 'Tennessee Waltz' made it the fourth official song of the state of Tennessee in 1965. The lyrics are altered for pronoun gender on the basis of the gender of the singer. The song became a multimillion seller via a 1950 recording – as 'The Tennessee Waltz' – by Patti Page.Īll versions of the lyrics narrate a situation in which the persona has introduced his or her sweetheart to a friend who then waltzes away with her or him. ' Tennessee Waltz' is a popular country music song with lyrics by Redd Stewart and music by Pee Wee King written in 1946 and first released in January 1948. Pee Wee King and His Golden West Cowboys singles chronology RCA Victor Studios, Studio A, Chicago, Illinois Single by Pee Wee King and His Golden West Cowboysįebruary 26, 1948 ( ) by Acuff-Rose Publications, Inc., Nashville For other uses, see Tennessee Waltz (disambiguation).

Tennessee Waltz by Elizabeth Leigh