PopArchives: The Blog: Bigger in Oz* (24): Paul Evans

Bigger in Oz: tracks that were more popular in Australia than in their countries of origin.

22. Paul Evans - Show Folk (Paul Evans)

Carlton B-side (USA) #539 December 1960
London single (Australia) #HL-1777 March 1961
London single (NZ) #NZL-L 649 August 1961

US charts: [Cash Box only] #98

Australian charts: #23 Perth | #67 Australia
NZ charts: #17

*Another case of Bigger in Oz and NZ.

New York singer and guitarist Paul Evans (b, 1938) has put in many decades as a prolific and versatile composer and performer.

He is probably most recalled for his first and biggest US hit (Seven Little Girls) Sitting In The Back Seat, from 1959. The rest of his chart history is respectable, if unspectacular, but it is just the conspicuous part of a large and varied catalogue of songs that includes co-compositions recorded by other artists, as well as TV or film music and advertising jingles. Roses Are Red (My Love), a #1 US hit for Bobby Vinton, is often cited as an example of his successful co-compositions.

Show Folk is typical of Evans's light-hearted touch. Australians were fond of records with a spot of comedy or novelty. Two other amusing American records of the era come to mind: Oliver Cool by Oliver Cool (1959) charted #17 Australia, but did not chart in the US (a clear case of Bigger in Oz), and Ambrose by Linda Laurie (1969) charted #52 USA, #33 Australia.

It is easy to find out about Evans. His website includes well curated discographies, something not always found at artists' websites. More than that, he is accessible. When I emailed him, he replied promptly and cordially, and he has been available for online interviews, for example at ClassicBands.com and SongFacts.

So, follow the links to explore Paul Evans's career, and here are some of the highlights in digestible form.

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Some notable singles by Paul Evans

• (Seven Little Girls) Sitting In The Back Seat (Bob Hilliard - Lee Pockniss) 1959 #9 USA) as Paul Evans & The Curls,

• Midnite Special (Traditional, attributed here to Milton Schnapf) 1960, #16 USA)
• Happy-Go-Lucky-Me (Paul Evans - Al Byron) 1960, #10 USA, #9 Australia, #6 NZ
• The Brigade Of Broken Hearts (Clint Ballard - Fred Tobias) 1960, #81 USA

• Hello, This Is Joannie (The Telephone Answering Machine Song) (Paul Evans - Fred Tobias) 1978, #6 UK, #22 Australia, #21 NZ

• See also the Paul Evans discography at paulevans.com.

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Hits by others, co-written by Paul Evans

• The Kalin Twins - When (Paul Evans - Jack Reardon) 1958, #5 USA, #1 UK, #1 Australia)

• Elvis Presley - I Gotta Know (Paul Evans - Matt Williams) 1960, #20 USA, #1 Australia)

• Bobby Vinton - Roses Are Red (My Love) (Paul Evans - Al Byron) 1962, #1 USA, #15 UK, #1 Australia #1 NZ)

• Pat Boone - Johnny Will (Paul Evans - Fred Tobias) 1961, #35 USA, #4 UK, #20 Australia, #5 NZ

In the collaborations, Evans's main role seems to have been as composer. For example, he tells Gary James at ClassicBands.com that he wrote the music for Roses Are Red in a couple of minutes: Al Byron ... said, "Paul, I got this lyric." I made a joke. I said to the musicians "Take five. I'm gonna write a hit song now." And I took his lyric, which by the way was complete, the way you hear it on the Vinton record, I wrote the entire melody in one pass... I tried for a couple of weeks to top the melody, but I couldn't do it.... So, I can tell you my biggest hit song was written in 2 minutes.

• See also Paul Evans' songs recorded by other artists, at paulevans.com.

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George Formby's last hit!

• Paul Evans - Happy-Go-Lucky-Me (Paul Evans - Al Byron) 1960, #10 USA, #9 Australia, #6 NZ)

• George Formby - Happy Go Lucky Me (1960, #40 UK)

Comic ukulele-playing singer Formby (1906-1961) was a huge star in British films and on records in the 1930s-40s. It is remarkable not only that he covered this track by Paul Evans, but also that the had some chart success with it, however modest. I'm sure that many British listeners, accustomed to Formby's original recordings, would have been unaware of the song's origin.

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Happiness is ... a Kent cigarette?

Ray Conniff And The Singers - Happiness Is (Paul Evans - Paul Parnes) 1965

Joe Sherman And The Arena Brass - Happiness Is 1966 Billboard Breakout (local hit), Milwaukee

The composition was used in ads for Kent cigarettes and thus became maddeningly familiar.

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TV theme

CBS This Morning News (Paul Evans)

Used from 1987 to 1990.

Audio and commentary at Network News Music

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Willie Nelson re-releases a Paul Evans song about Willie Nelson not singing with Paul Evans

Paul Evans - Willie's Sung With Everyone (But Me) (Paul Evans) 1993

Evans explains that this is a song about the 84 artists that Willie Nelson had recorded with and the one artist he hadn't (and still hasn't) sung with - me.

It later appeared as a bonus Track 23 on Willie Nelson's 22 Legendary Duets (1996), not a duet but Paul Evans's unaltered solo. If that makes sense.

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A fondly remembered obscurity

Karl Hammel Jr - Summer Souvenirs (Paul Evans - Jimmy Krondes) 1961, #68 Bb, #60 CB USA

This did not chart in Australia, but it was a favourite of mine as an 11-year-old after I heard it on the radio in Victoria.

Karl was in a New Rochelle NY band called The Nomads. They were managed by Paul Evans's co-writer on Summer Souvenirs, Jimmy Kronde, who also wrote both sides of their only single.

The Nomads' B-side, Bounty Hunter (February 1961), was released as an A-side in Australia in June 1961. This is a guitar instrumental that features the whistling of Karl Hammel Jr. A cover version on a B-side by Al Caiola (March 1961) dispenses with the whistling.

See my separate post on Karl Hammel Jr's Summer Souvenirs and The Nomads' Bounty Hunter

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Selected sources, further reading: 1. Paul Evans's website includes a discography of releases under his own name. A discography of compositions recorded by others is archived here. 2. Paul Evans interviews by Gary James at ClassicBands.com and by Carl Wiser at SongFacts.com. 3. Paul Evans biography by Eugene Chadbourne at All Music.

Chart sources for this post:
Australian capital cities: Gavin Ryan's chart books.
Australia: Grant Dawe's Top 100 Singles site.
New Zealand: Warwick Freeman's New Zealand Top 20 Singles of the Sixties
USA: Billboard Hot 100 (Joel Whitburn) by default; Cash Box: Frank W. Hoffmann's chart book.
UK: The Guinness book of British hit singles [archived here]