"candy kisses"

[Mickey Lawson]

Is this song "bubble gum pop"....sounds good for 1949?
---------------------------------------------
http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/8/21/ ... Morgan.mp3
---------------------------------------------
George Morgan:
b. 28 June 1924, Waverly, Tennessee, USA, d. 7 July 1975, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. Morgan was raised in Barberton, Ohio, and by the time he was nine, he was performing his own songs on guitar. He enlisted in the US Army during the war but was discharged three months later on medical grounds. He formed a band and found work on a radio station in Wooster, Ohio, and wrote "Candy Kisses" after a broken romance. RCA Records showed an interest in Morgan, who performed "Candy Kisses" on the Grand Ole Opry to great acclaim, but their tardiness led to Columbia Records signing him instead. "Candy Kisses" was a US country number 1 in 1949 despite competition from cover versions from Elton Britt, Red Foley and Eddie Kirk. However, there was friction between Morgan and Hank Williams, who regarded "Candy Kisses" as "stupid" and its singer "a cross-eyed crooner". Morgan, a crooner in the vein of Eddy Arnold, called his band the Candy Kids and he consolidated his reputation with "Please Don't Let Me Love You", "Room Full Of Roses", "Almost", "I'm In Love Again" and "You're The Only Good Thing (That's Happened To Me)". In 1953 Morgan became the first country performer to record with a symphony orchestra, and he hosted his own television show on WLAC-TV, Nashville from 1956-59. In 1964 Morgan's duet of "Slipping Around' with Marion Worth was very successful, but by then he was finding hits hard to come by. In 1967 he moved to Starday and then Nashville, Stop, Decca Records and 4 Star, all with only minor successes (only 1970"s "Lilacs And Fire" broke into the Top 20). Morgan, a CB enthusiast, suffered a heart attack while helping a friend install an aerial on his roof. Later that year, he celebrated his birthday at the Grand Ole Opry with the debut of his daughter, Lorrie Morgan. Within a few days he was undergoing open heart surgery but died on 7 July 1975. In 1979, a posthumous duet with Lorrie, "I'm Completely Satisfied With You", made the US country charts. In 1998 Morgan was inducted into the Country Music Hall Of Fame.


Encyclopedia of Popular Music
Copyright 2008 by Muze Inc.; all rights reserved.

[Andy Sandoval]

Love the steel in it. Classic!

[Theresa Galbraith]

Mickey,
I just made a comment. It's a classic!

[Alvin Blaine]

I would say that compared to most hillbilly songs on the radio in '49, that song was more pop and smoother then others.
It was kind of the beginning of the "syrupy sweet uptown moment" heading towards that '50s "Nashville Sound". So in other words, YES, bubble gum pop in it's day(not even close by today's standards).

[Chris LeDrew]

Related thread:

http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopi ... e58c37a66b

[Jon Gersh]

I am definitely agreeing that the steel guitar sounds more like Billy Robinson then speedy west, however read this from the country music Hall of Fame website. It explicitly states under the pedal steel section (scroll down) that this exact version of candy kisses by Eddie Kirk contained the first recorded version of speedy west’s Bigsby pedal steel.
Why would they say that?? Anyone have any insights?

https://countrymusichalloffame.org/educ ... struments/

[Clyde Mattocks]

It was the first song I learned on steel, taught to me by my mentor, forum member the late Kenny Dail. To complete the circle, George Morgan was the first star I ever backed on a J.B. Ham promoted show at the Kinston National Guard armory. I played the record break on Candy Kisses and George nodded his approval to this seventeen year old amateur. George was so nice and he got my friend who sang and me a spot on the Ernest Tubb Midnight Jamboree. So the whole journey started for me with Candy Kisses.