"Scarlet Ribbons (For Her Hair)" is a popular folk style ballad. The music was written by Evelyn Danzig and the lyrics by Jack Segal. The song has become a standard with many recorded versions and has appeared on several Christmas albums.
"Scarlet Ribbons" was written in only 15 minutes in 1949 at Danzig's home in Port Washington, New York after she invited lyricist Segal to hear her music.[1] The song tells a miraculous tale: the singer (who could be a mother or a father) peeks into their daughter's bedroom to say goodnight and hears the daughter praying for "scarlet ribbons for my hair". It is late, no stores are open in the town, and there is nowhere to obtain any ribbons. The singer's heart "is aching" throughout the night but when at dawn they again peek into the daughter's bedroom they see lovely "scarlet ribbons" in "gay profusion lying there." The singer says that if they live to be two hundred (or, in some versions of the song, a hundred), they will never know from where the ribbons came.[2]
Selected Renditionsedit
Jo Staffordedit
"Scarlet Ribbons" was first released by Jo Stafford in 1949. In January 1950, Stafford's version reached No. 14 on Billboard's chart of "Records Most Played by Disc Jockeys".[3]
Harry Belafonteedit
In 1952 Harry Belafonte, at his third session for RCA Records, covered the song with an arrangement using his guitarist Millard Thomas and male vocal group. The four-year-old recording finally became a success in 1956[4] after it appeared on his second album, which reached No. 1 on Billboard's album chart for six weeks and stayed on the chart for over a year. The song reached No. 18 on the UK's New Musical Express chart in late 1957.[5]
The Brownsedit
In 1959, the Browns released what would become the most successful version of "Scarlet Ribbons" in the US. The Browns' version spent 14 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching No. 13 on January 2, 1960,[6] while reaching No. 7 on Billboard's Hot C&W Sides.[7]
scarlet, ribbons, hair, scarlet, ribbons, redirects, here, biography, simon, bailey, rosemary, bailey, scarlet, ribbons, priest, with, aids, popular, folk, style, ballad, music, written, evelyn, danzig, lyrics, jack, segal, song, become, standard, with, many, . Scarlet Ribbons redirects here For the biography of Simon Bailey by Rosemary Bailey see Scarlet Ribbons A Priest with AIDS Scarlet Ribbons For Her Hair is a popular folk style ballad The music was written by Evelyn Danzig and the lyrics by Jack Segal The song has become a standard with many recorded versions and has appeared on several Christmas albums Scarlet Ribbons For Her Hair Single by the Brownsfrom the album Town amp CountryB side Blue Bells Ring Released1959 1959 GenreCountrypolitanLength2 35LabelRCA VictorComposer s Evelyn DanzigLyricist s Jack SegalProducer s Chet AtkinsThe Browns singles chronology The Three Bells 1959 Scarlet Ribbons For Her Hair 1959 The Old Lamplighter 1959 Contents 1 Background and lyrics 2 Selected Renditions 2 1 Jo Stafford 2 2 Harry Belafonte 2 3 The Browns 2 4 Cliff Richard 2 5 Sinead O Connor 3 ReferencesBackground and lyrics edit Scarlet Ribbons was written in only 15 minutes in 1949 at Danzig s home in Port Washington New York after she invited lyricist Segal to hear her music 1 The song tells a miraculous tale the singer who could be a mother or a father peeks into their daughter s bedroom to say goodnight and hears the daughter praying for scarlet ribbons for my hair It is late no stores are open in the town and there is nowhere to obtain any ribbons The singer s heart is aching throughout the night but when at dawn they again peek into the daughter s bedroom they see lovely scarlet ribbons in gay profusion lying there The singer says that if they live to be two hundred or in some versions of the song a hundred they will never know from where the ribbons came 2 Selected Renditions editJo Stafford edit Scarlet Ribbons was first released by Jo Stafford in 1949 In January 1950 Stafford s version reached No 14 on Billboard s chart of Records Most Played by Disc Jockeys 3 Harry Belafonte edit In 1952 Harry Belafonte at his third session for RCA Records covered the song with an arrangement using his guitarist Millard Thomas and male vocal group The four year old recording finally became a success in 1956 4 after it appeared on his second album which reached No 1 on Billboard s album chart for six weeks and stayed on the chart for over a year The song reached No 18 on the UK s New Musical Express chart in late 1957 5 The Browns edit In 1959 the Browns released what would become the most successful version of Scarlet Ribbons in the US The Browns version spent 14 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 reaching No 13 on January 2 1960 6 while reaching No 7 on Billboard s Hot C amp W Sides 7 Cliff Richard edit In 1991 Cliff Richard released the song on his Christmas album Together with Cliff Richard and as a single The song reached No 19 on the New Zealand Singles Chart and No 51 in Germany 8 Sinead O Connor edit In 1992 Sinead O Connor released the song on her third album Am I Not Your Girl This version failed to gain success in the charts but was featured in the 2006 Christmas special episode of The Royle Family 9 References edit Oliver Myrna 2005 02 18 Jack Segal 86 song lyricist The Boston Globe Boston com Retrieved 2012 12 25 Rufo Tony 2006 The Complete Book of Pop Music Wit amp Wisdom Tyndale House Publishers pp 68 69 Accessed September 25 2016 Records Most Played by Disc Jockeys Billboard January 28 1950 p 24 Accessed September 25 2016 Vosburgh Dick 1996 08 08 Obituary Evelyn Danzig People News The Independent Retrieved 2012 12 25 Official Charts Artist Harry Belafonte OfficialCharts com Retrieved 2015 03 28 The Browns Chart History The Hot 100 Billboard com Accessed September 25 2016 The Billboard Hot C amp W Sides Billboard January 11 1960 p 48 Accessed September 25 2016 Cliff Richard Scarlet Ribbons permanent dead link charts org nz Accessed September 25 2016 The Royle Family IMDB Accessed May 07 2023 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Scarlet Ribbons For Her Hair amp oldid 1173918601, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
