"Oh! Carol" is an international hit written by Neil Sedaka in 1958. Co-written with Howard Greenfield, the song is noted for Sedaka's spoken recitation of the verse, the second time around.
At the time Sedaka produced the record, his second and third singles, "I Go Ape!" and "Crying My Heart Out For You" had fared poorly on the charts, and RCA Victor was ready to drop him from their label, but producer Al Nevins persuaded the RCA executives to give Sedaka one last chance. Determined to create a hit song, Sedaka purchased the three top singles of the day and listened to them repeatedly, studying their melody, chord progression, and lyrical styles; and he found that they were very similar in structure. He then used this knowledge to create the song, "Oh! Carol".[citation needed]
"Carol" was a reference to Carol Klein, Sedaka's ex-girlfriend from high school and a fellow songwriter at the Brill Building. She had since married Gerry Goffin, who took the tune, and wrote the playful response "Oh! Neil", which she recorded and released as an unsuccessful single the same year (1958) under the stage name Carole King.[4][5][6][7]
Sedaka also recorded a Hebrew-language version of "Oh! Carol"' which was written by Chaim Kaynan. It has been covered by other artists in other languages as well.
The B-side song, "One Way Ticket", also earned Sedaka a #1 ranking in Japan for several months in 1960, where it was affectionately known as "The Choo-Choo Train Song".
carol, other, uses, carol, international, written, neil, sedaka, 1958, written, with, howard, greenfield, song, noted, sedaka, spoken, recitation, verse, second, time, around, side, singlesingle, neil, sedakafrom, album, neil, sedaka, sings, little, devil, oth. For other uses see Oh Carol Oh Carol is an international hit written by Neil Sedaka in 1958 Co written with Howard Greenfield the song is noted for Sedaka s spoken recitation of the verse the second time around Oh Carol Side A of US singleSingle by Neil Sedakafrom the album Neil Sedaka Sings Little Devil and His Other HitsB side One Way Ticket To the Blues Released1959Recorded1959GenrePopLength2 15LabelRCA VictorSongwriter s Neil Sedaka Howard GreenfieldNeil Sedaka singles chronology Crying My Heart Out for You 1959 Oh Carol 1959 Stairway to Heaven 1960 The song spent 18 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 reaching No 9 on December 6 1959 1 while reaching 3 on the UK s New Musical Express chart 2 It also earned Sedaka his first 1 ranking when it went to 1 in the Netherlands and Wallonia 3 After its release as a single it was included in the album Neil Sedaka Sings Little Devil and His Other Hits At the time Sedaka produced the record his second and third singles I Go Ape and Crying My Heart Out For You had fared poorly on the charts and RCA Victor was ready to drop him from their label but producer Al Nevins persuaded the RCA executives to give Sedaka one last chance Determined to create a hit song Sedaka purchased the three top singles of the day and listened to them repeatedly studying their melody chord progression and lyrical styles and he found that they were very similar in structure He then used this knowledge to create the song Oh Carol citation needed Carol was a reference to Carol Klein Sedaka s ex girlfriend from high school and a fellow songwriter at the Brill Building She had since married Gerry Goffin who took the tune and wrote the playful response Oh Neil which she recorded and released as an unsuccessful single the same year 1958 under the stage name Carole King 4 5 6 7 Sedaka also recorded a Hebrew language version of Oh Carol which was written by Chaim Kaynan It has been covered by other artists in other languages as well The B side song One Way Ticket also earned Sedaka a 1 ranking in Japan for several months in 1960 where it was affectionately known as The Choo Choo Train Song Chart performance EditChart 1959 1960 PeakpositionBelgium Flanders 3 2Belgium Wallonia 3 1Canada CHUM Hit Parade 8 4Netherlands Single Top 100 9 1Norway VG lista 3 9UK New Musical Express 3US Billboard Hot 100 9US Billboard Hot R amp B Sides 10 27US Cash Box Top 100 11 5West Germany 3 25Other recorded versions EditThe Four Seasons in their album Sherry amp 11 Others 1962 General Saint featuring Don Campbell 12 a minor UK hit at 54 1994 References Edit Oh Carol Chart History Hot 100 Billboard com Retrieved June 8 2020 Neil Sedaka Full Official Chart History Official Charts Company Retrieved June 9 2020 a b c d e Neil Sedaka Oh Carol norwegiancharts com Retrieved April 13 2018 Curt Schleier 7 June 2012 Q amp A Neil Sedaka on Adele and Carole King The Arty Semite Forward com The Forward Retrieved 19 March 2013 Carole King Oh Neil A Very Special Boy Vinyl at Discogs discogs com Retrieved 18 March 2013 James E Perone 2006 The words and music of Carole King Greenwood Publishing Group ISBN 978 0 275 99027 5 Michael Billig 1 June 2001 Rock n Roll Jews Syracuse University Press p 95 ISBN 9780815607052 Retrieved 18 March 2013 CHUM Hit Parade November 16 1959 Neil Sedaka Oh Carol in Dutch Single Top 100 Retrieved December 23 2020 Oh Carol Chart History Hot R amp B Hip Hop Songs Billboard com Retrieved June 8 2020 Cash Box Top 100 Singles December 19 1959 Official Charts on songs by Don Campbell Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Oh Carol amp oldid 1130169222, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
