Wooden Heart

"Wooden Heart" ("Muss i denn" lit. Must I then) is a song recorded by Elvis Presley and featured in the 1960 Elvis Presley film G.I. Blues. The song was a hit single for Presley in the UK Singles Chart, reaching No. 1 for six weeks in March and April 1961.[1][2]

This article is about the 1960 song. For the 2010 Listener album, see Wooden Heart (album).
"Wooden Heart"
Picture sleeve for one of 1961 German singles
Single by Elvis Presley
from the album G.I. Blues
A-side"Blue Christmas" (USA 1964)
B-side"Tonight is All Right for Love" (UK 1961)
Released1961
RecordedApril 28, 1960
GenrePop
Length2:03
LabelRCA
Songwriter(s)Fred Wise, Ben Weisman, Kay Twomey, Bert Kaempfert[1]
Producer(s)Steve Sholes[1]
Elvis Presley USA singles chronology
"Ask Me"
(1964)		 "Wooden Heart"
(1961)		 "Do the Clam"
(1965)
Elvis Presley UK singles chronology
"Are You Lonesome Tonight?"
(1960)		 "Wooden Heart"
(1961)		 "Surrender"
(1961)
Music video
"Wooden Heart" (audio) on YouTube
"Wooden Heart"
Single by Joe Dowell
B-side"Little Bo Peep"
ReleasedJune 1961
GenrePop
Length2:01
LabelSmash
Joe Dowell singles chronology
"Wooden Heart"
(1961)		 "The Bridge Of Love"
(1961)

Background

In the United States, the song was released as the B-side to "Blue Christmas" in November 1964. Presley performed the song live during his Dinner Show concert at the Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas in 1975, a recording available on the Elvis Presley live album Dinner At Eight.

The song was published by Elvis Presley's company Gladys Music, Inc.

A cover version by Joe Dowell on the Smash Records label made it to number one in the US at the end of August 1961, knocking Bobby Lewis' "Tossin' and Turnin'" off the number-one spot of the Billboard Hot 100 after seven weeks. Dowell's version also spent three weeks at number one on the Easy Listening chart.[3]

"Wooden Heart", created by Fred Wise, Ben Weisman, Kay Twomey and German bandleader Bert Kaempfert,[1] was based on a German folk song by Friedrich Silcher, "Muss i denn", originating from the Rems Valley in Württemberg, southwest Germany. "Wooden Heart" features several lines from the original folk song. Marlene Dietrich recorded a version of the song sometime before 1958, pre-dating Presley, in the original German language, which appears as a B-side on a 1959 version of her single "Lili Marlene", released by Philips in association with Columbia Records.[4] The Elvis Presley version was published by Gladys Music, Elvis Presley's publishing company. Bobby Vinton recorded his version in 1975 with those lines translated into Polish.

The Elvis Presley version featured two parts in German, the first one is the first four lines of "Muss i' denn zum Städtele hinaus", whereas the second part appears towards the end and is based on a translation of the English version (therefore not appearing in the original German folk lyrics). This part being Sei mir gut, sei mir gut, sei mir wie du wirklich sollst, wie du wirklich sollst... ("Be good to me, be good to me, be to me how you really should, how you really should...").

Chart history

Elvis Presley

Joe Dowell

Gus Backus
Chart (1960) Peak
position
West Germany (Official German Charts)[23] 2
US Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100[14] 102

Editions
  • (US) "Blue Christmas" b/w "Wooden Heart" Released: November 1964, RCA 447-0720

Other notable covers

References
  1. Rice, Jo (1982). The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits (1st ed.). Enfield, Middlesex: Guinness Superlatives Ltd. p. 56. ISBN 0-85112-250-7.
  2. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. pp. 122–3. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  3. Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–2001. Record Research. p. 82.
  4. ""Lili Marlene" Philips issue". Discogs. Retrieved 2014-06-24.
  5. https://archive.is/20160305064644/http://www.austchartbook.com.au/ David Kent's "Australian Chart Book 1940-1969"
  6. "Ultratop.be – Elvis Presley – Wooden Heart (muss i denn...)" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  7. "Ultratop.be – Elvis Presley – Wooden Heart (muss i denn...)" (in French). Ultratop 50.
  8. "Offiziellecharts.de – Elvis Presley – Wooden Heart (muss i denn...)". GfK Entertainment Charts.
  9. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Wooden Heart". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved July 8, 2020.
  10. "Dutchcharts.nl – Elvis Presley – Wooden Heart (muss i denn...)" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  11. Flavour of New Zealand, 18 May 1961
  12. "Norwegiancharts.com – Elvis Presley – Wooden Heart (muss i denn...)". VG-lista.
  13. https://web.archive.org/web/20090505214200/http://jamesleeky.tripod.com:80/elvispresleytop40hitsworldwide/id25.html
  14. Joel Whitburn's Bubbling Under the Billboard Hot 100 1959-2004
  15. "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 40, 1977" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40
  16. "Lescharts.com – Elvis Presley – Wooden Heart (muss i denn...)" (in French). Les classement single.
  17. "Swedishcharts.com – Elvis Presley – Wooden Heart (muss i denn...)". Singles Top 100.
  18. The 100 Best-Selling Singles of 1961
  19. Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
  20. Cash Box Top 100 Singles, September 9, 1961
  21. Musicoutfitters.com
  22. Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 30, 1961
  23. "Offiziellecharts.de – Gus Backus – Wooden Heart (Muß i denn zum Städtele hinaus)". GfK Entertainment Charts.
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