Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream / Make him the cutest that I’ve ever seen / Give him two lips like roses and clover / Then tell him that his lonesome nights are over, the words waft from a dazzling celestial arrangement. Since it first graced ears, bubbling to life with a bursting rhythm and several rounds of bom-bom-boms, “Mr. Sandman” has been a classic.
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The mid-century pop tune, nearly inescapable over the last seven decades, may seem to have been born from a collective fever dream, but the song came from someone. Was it Mr. Sandman himself?
Who Wrote It?
Rather, “Mr. Sandman,” sometimes written as “Mister Sandman,” was penned by songwriter Pat Ballard. The song was published in 1954 and recorded shortly after by The Chordettes, the female vocal group—made up of Jinny Osborn, Nancy Overton, Lynn Evans, and Carol Buschmann—whose effervescent harmonies have over time transformed the tune into a standard.
According to Bob Leszczak’s book, Who Did It First?: Great Pop Cover Songs and Their Original Artists, Cadence Records executive Archie Bleyer worked on The Chordettes’ recording. It is he who can be heard providing the song’s snappy beat, a sound he achieved by simply tapping on his leg. He was even credited on the record as “Knees Played by Archie Bleyer.”
Listen for his knees in The Chordettes’ recording of “Mr. Sandman” below.
The Versions
Since its release, “Mr. Sandman” has been covered time and again. The year 1954 produced another hit rendition of the song by way of The Four Aces, who shifted the lyrics slightly to reflect the male perspective.
“Mr. Sandman” has also found its way across genres. Country guitarist Chet Atkins released an instrumental version of the tune not long after its release in 1955. Before they were officially a full-fledged trio, country greats Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton, and Linda Ronstadt recorded a version of the song, one that Harris would release in 1981 on her album Evangeline.
Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
