Patti Page Made History With This 1950 Song, Which Was Not Meant To Be a Single

In 1950, Patti Page released several singles, including “Tennessee Waltz“. The title track of her third studio album, “Tennessee Waltz” was written by Pee Wee King and Redd Stewart. It was first recorded by King. R&B singer Erskine Hawkins also recorded “Tennessee Waltz”, which is the version that Page heard first.

Page’s second No. 1 single, “Tennessee Waltz” also became her first crossover hit. The song reached the top of the country charts, something Page wouldn’t do again, although she did have other moderate hits at country radio.

“Tennessee Waltz” says, “I remember the night and the Tennessee Waltz / Now I know just how much I have lost / Yes, I lost my little darling the night they were playing / The beautiful Tennessee Waltz.”

Ironically, although “Tennessee Waltz” remains one of Page’s biggest hits, it was not intended to be a single. Instead, it was the B-side to “Boogie Woogie Santa Claus”, a Christmas song.

“Mercury was really hyped on ‘Boogie Woogie Santa Claus’”, Page later says. “It was being released like on the 15th of November, because no one ever had a record that did anything around that time except a Christmas song. They put ‘Tennessee Waltz’ on the other side of ‘Boogie Woogie Santa Claus’ because they wanted a song that was obscure and didn’t really mean much.”

How Patti Page Made History With “Tennessee Waltz”

With “Tennessee Waltz”, Page reportedly became the first artist to have a chart-topping hit on the pop, country, and R&B charts. It was also the last song to ever sell a million copies of sheet music. The song made Page the best-selling record by a female artist in history at the time.

But that isn’t the only way Page made history with “Tennessee Waltz”. She is also the first artist to overdub her vocals, which she did on “Tennessee Waltz”.

Page made “Tennessee Waltz” popular, but she is far from the only artist to record the song. It has been covered multiple times by artists over the last several decades. Jo Stafford, Bobby Comstock & the Counts, Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, Pat Boone, Anne Murray, and many others also put their spin on this song.

After “Tennessee Waltz”, Page went on to have plenty of other successful songs. Her other hits include “I Went To Your Wedding”, “The Doggie In The Window”, “Changing Partners”, and more.

In 1965, Page had her final big crossover hit with “Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte”. Her final country hit came in 1967, with a cover of Glen Campbell’s “Gentle On My Mind“.

Photo by Steve Oroz/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images