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09 Jan 25 - 09:37 PM (#4215035) Subject: Title & Singer of 1950s Song From: GUEST,Manuel Will be very grateful for help in finding out name and singer of a song (about the love of an aged mother for her son) which I often heard on radio as a young boy in the late 1950s. It began something like this: "There's a little old lady with silvery hair/ She sits all day in an old rocking chair" and ended, as I recall, like this:"Because, my son, my beloved one/You're much more than life to me." The singer was female. Thanks in advance to anyone who tries to help. |
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10 Jan 25 - 12:43 AM (#4215041) Subject: RE: Title & Singer of 1950s Song From: Helen Hi Guest, Manuel, I tried an internet search for these lyrics: "my son, my beloved one" but that is the only site which came up, and the page has a list of song titles from the 1940's, but you'd have to look at every song to find the one you are looking for, if it is even there. You might recognise the singer or the song title if you look at that page. If you find the song, please come back here and let us know the answer to your question. Helen |
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10 Jan 25 - 07:38 AM (#4215061) Subject: RE: Title & Singer of 1950s Song From: FreddyHeadey Islington Gazette 18th July 2020 had a similar query ,,,some of the lyrics extracted from an old songbook scribed by my dear old mother over 60 years ago went like this: There’s a little old lady with silvery hair Who sits by herself in an old rocking chair She’s had plenty of troubles and plenty of strife But she’s worked very hard to give me a good life... I last heard it play over the radio in the late 50s www.islingtongazette.co.uk/news/21225179.gazette-letters-lost-song-sgt-peter-fitzpatrick-scooting-tfl-tv-licence-fee-vaccinations-nrpf-covid-safety & same query in The Islington Tribune Friday, 17th July 2020 a Walter Roberts writes about his mother Maria, loved to sing along, and would write down her favourite songs in an old notebook for her children. There's a not very legible picture of about a dozen lines of the handwritten words https://www.islingtontribune.co.uk/article/can-you-help-track-down-this-track Manuel, I wonder if you could use the picture there to transpose some more words for us(if it is the same song). |
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10 Jan 25 - 07:51 AM (#4215063) Subject: RE: Title & Singer of 1950s Song From: gillymor It bears some resemblance to Rocking Alone (in an old Rocking Chair) by the Everly Brothers. |
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10 Jan 25 - 07:56 AM (#4215064) Subject: RE: Title & Singer of 1950s Song From: FreddyHeadey btw mudcat has a few other threads for songs mentioning "mother" & "silvery hair" www.google.com/search?q=%22mother%22+%22+silvery+hair%22+site%3Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fmudcat.org |
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10 Jan 25 - 08:23 AM (#4215065) Subject: ADD: Rockin' Alone in an Old Rocking Chair From: cnd The song is awfully close to Rockin' Alone (In An Old Rocking Chair) by Miki & Griff (with many covers by many others). You can listen to it here; my transcription of that link follows. It does lack the ending line. ROCKIN' ALONE (IN AN OLD ROCKING CHAIR) (Bob Miller) Sitting alone in an old rocking chair I saw an old mother with silvery hair She seemed so neglected by those who should care Rocking alone in an old rocking chair It wouldn't take much just to gladden her heart Just some small remembrance on somebody's part A letter would brighten her lonely life then Rocking alone in an old rocking chair I know some youngsters in an orphan home Who'd think they were in Heaven if she were their own They'd never be willing to let her sit there Rocking alone in an old rocking chair I look at her and I think it a shame The ones who've forgot her, she loves just the same And I think of angels as I see her there Rocking alone in an old rocking chair |
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10 Jan 25 - 10:36 AM (#4215071) Subject: RE: Title & Singer of 1950s Song From: GUEST A really huge "Thank you" to each & all who have so kindly rushed to my rescue. Preliminarily, my short general response is that "Rockin' Alone (In an Old Rocking Chair)" is not the song I'm looking for. And the list I was led to by helpful Helen has yielded no leads. What is, however, now gripping my attention is the intensely hot info provided by FreddyHeadey. That faded page appearing in the Islington publication contains lyrics which remain in my memory but which I omitted from my post last night. Will certainly get back to y'all upon concluding my scrutiny of it. |
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10 Jan 25 - 10:44 AM (#4215072) Subject: RE: Title & Singer of 1950s Song From: cnd Helen, unfortunately the hit you found is another request for this song hidden in a collapsed comment window at the bottom of the page: Name of song or singer around 1950 I think - 3 Aug 2016 |
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10 Jan 25 - 11:21 AM (#4215077) Subject: RE: Title & Singer of 1950s Song From: GUEST cnd, these lyrics in your post are definitely from the song I so fondly remember! I know a poor woman in my city who has also been yearning for years and years to hear this beautiful song again. After so many years of personally searching in vain for a recording of it on the Internet, I fear it is now irretrievably lost treasure! (sighs) |
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10 Jan 25 - 01:07 PM (#4215084) Subject: RE: Title & Singer of 1950s Song From: Helen Guest, Manuel, please don't give up yet. We have only had one day to look for the song. Mudcatters are good at finding songs and tunes. |
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10 Jan 25 - 01:10 PM (#4215085) Subject: RE: Title & Singer of 1950s Song From: Helen And thanks cnd for solving the mystery of why that page came up in my search. |
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10 Jan 25 - 01:23 PM (#4215086) Subject: RE: Title & Singer of 1950s Song From: Helen Ok, I've tried to make that image of the handwritten lyrics a bit clearer and this is what I can make out, bearing in mind that the right hand side of the page is not visible because of the fold in the page: The heading on the page is "Mother" There's a little old lady with silvery [hair] Who sits by herself in her old rocking [chair] ...charm She [said?] to me my ... While [?] she said to me my son, my [son] I love you, much more, much more, than... I'd climb the highest mountain, and swim the wildest sea, Because my son, I would give[?] You are much more than life to me She’s had plenty of troubles and plenty of strife, but she's... |
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10 Jan 25 - 03:31 PM (#4215090) Subject: RE: Title & Singer of 1950s Song From: Helen Guest, Manuel, do you remember the style of the song, e.g. country and western (which is the music style of the other song mentioned here about the lady being neglected), a ballad, swing, rock, something else? Also, do you remember the melody of the song. Could you sing it or play it? And were there any instruments that you remember, e.g. piano, guitar, flute, strings, etc? |
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10 Jan 25 - 11:15 PM (#4215111) Subject: RE: Title & Singer of 1950s Song From: GUEST Hello Helen, You are such a kind soul; and I thank you again for your efforts to assist. If you were listening to the song at such a distance from the radio that you could not make out the lyrics, you might, I think, mistake it for gospel music. Unhappily, the melody is no longer clear in the memory and I am unable to recall specific instruments that stood out in the recording. One more thing: I cannot be sure the female singer was white. |
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11 Jan 25 - 12:47 AM (#4215112) Subject: RE: Title & Singer of 1950s Song From: Helen Thanks for telling us what you remember, Manuel. (I used to be a librarian. I don't like giving up on a search. :-D ) The lyrics of the song remind me a little of the story in the Irish song, Danny Boy. A mother lamenting the loss of her son who has travelled to another country because of a major social upheaval, like the famine in Ireland, and will never be able to return home. Danny Boy Oh, Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling From glen to glen, and down the mountain side. The summer's gone, and all the roses falling, It's you, it's you must go and I must bide. But come ye back when summer's in the meadow, Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow, It's I'll be here in sunshine or in shadow, Oh, Danny boy, oh Danny boy, I love you so! But when ye come, and all the flowers are dying, If I am dead, as dead I well may be, You'll come and find the place where I am lying, And kneel and say an Ave there for me. And I shall hear, though soft you tread above me, And all my grave will warmer, sweeter be, For you will bend and tell me that you love me, And I shall sleep in peace until you come to me! |
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11 Jan 25 - 01:03 AM (#4215113) Subject: RE: Title & Singer of 1950s Song From: Helen I know this isn't the song, but it mentions a mother with silvery hair and a rocking chair and it is from around the 1950's.... Gold Star Mother With Silvery Hair |
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11 Jan 25 - 03:02 AM (#4215115) Subject: RE: Title & Singer of 1950s Song From: Sandra in Sydney Helen - once a Librarian, always a Librarian! sandra (another retired librarian currently doing various other bits of research, some music related) |
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11 Jan 25 - 12:57 PM (#4215152) Subject: RE: Title & Singer of 1950s Song From: GUEST No problem, FreddyHeadey. Good to see you're still thinking of this thread! Helen, my career having been in Law, I know only too well the indispensability of a dedicated and efficient librarian! You're quite right in drawing the comparison with "Danny Boy", with which I am familiar, having watched and heard, on television, Renee Fleming's unforgettable rendition of it at the funeral service for the late Sen McCain. As to "Gold Star Mother with Silvery Hair", however, this is the first time I am hearing it. |
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11 Jan 25 - 01:52 PM (#4215158) Subject: RE: Title & Singer of 1950s Song From: Helen I have never heard of "Gold Star Mother with Silvery Hair" but it came up when I changed my internet search term from "lady" to "mother" because of the image of a handwritten page of lyrics on a link to the Islington Gazette 18th July 2020, provided by FreddyHeadey. The title of the song was written as "Mother". Thanks for the recognition of the skills of librarians! :-) |
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11 Jan 25 - 11:06 PM (#4215175) Subject: RE: Title & Singer of 1950s Song From: GUEST I had promised to get back to you all, upon concluding my scrutiny of the old page to which FreddyHeadey helpfully drew our attention in his second post above. Having completed that examination today, I only find it necessary to say that I entirely agree with Helen's transcription of the note appearing on that page. This, however, is not to say that my recollection of the lyrics of the rendition I used to hear accords fully with the recollection of the author of such note. For example, my memory is clear that the second sentence goes: 'She sits all day in an old rocking chair." "Who sits by herself in an old rocking ..." is definitely not what I used to hear. |
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11 Jan 25 - 11:45 PM (#4215176) Subject: RE: Title & Singer of 1950s Song From: Helen There are probably various versions of it. Identifying the song is tantalisingly out of reach. I suspect the song which mentions an old woman who is neglected might be a variation of this song, or maybe it is the other way around. My internet search trick is to put double quotes around a phrase I am searching for, e.g. "She sits all day in an old rocking chair" and then I try a few less words in the phrase, or another phrase from the lyrics. I used to use Google to search but I stopped when they started using AI, but I used to be able to exclude words from a search, e.g. "She sits all day in an old rocking chair" NOT neglected Or something simple like that. I found this page which searches lyrics containing specific words of phrases: lyrics containing rocking chair That returned 1973 songs containing that phrase, How much time do you have? :-D Maybe if more words were added to the search it might narrow down the list. |
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12 Jan 25 - 12:50 AM (#4215177) Subject: RE: Title & Singer of 1950s Song From: GUEST On the website Peterbe.com, someone else sought help in finding a recording of this song sometime near the middle of last year but, unfortunately, the appeal has elicited no response whatever to date. |