Elvira

“Elvira” is a song written and originally recorded by Dallas Frazier in 1966 on his album of the same name. Though a minor hit for Frazier at the time of release, the song became a bigger and much more famous country and pop hit by the Oak Ridge Boys in 1981. “Elvira” is now considered one of the Oak Ridge Boys’ signature songs. Songwriter Dallas Frazier wrote “Elvira” in 1966 and included it as the title track of an album he released that year. The title of the song was inspired not by the name of a woman, but by the name of a street in East Nashville, Tennessee. The song’s chorus bears a resemblance to the song “Searchin” written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and recorded famously by the Coasters. Frazier’s version peaked at No. 72 on the Billboard Hot 100, and was a top 40 hit in Canada, reaching No. 27. A number of other artists recorded the song through the years with varying degrees of success, most notably Kenny Rogers and the First Edition. Rogers’ version appeared on the album Something’s Burning, which reached the top 30 of the Billboard 200. In 1978, alternative country recording artist Rodney Crowell recorded his cover of “Elvira” (with “Ashes by Now” on the B-side).Crowell’s version hit No. 95 on Billboard’s country chart. Single by Rodney Crowell from the album Ain’t Living Long Like This In 1978, twelve years after Frazier’s original version, country singer Rodney Crowell covered the song and released it as his debut single on Warner Bros. Nashville and Reprise Records, and later appearing on his debut studio album Ain’t Living Long Like This. Crowell’s version peaked at No. 95 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. Crowell’s version also served as an inspiration for the Oak Ridge Boys’ version The Oak Ridge Boys, who were fans of Rodney Crowell’s version of “Elvira”, decided to include the song on their 1981 album Fancy Free. Duane Allen said when Frazier played the song on WSM (AM) in 1966 “I heard it once and never forgot it. That’s when you know a song is a hit.”[8] Their rendition featured Joe Bonsall on lead vocals, as well as bass singer Richard Sterban’s on backing vocals for the chorus (“Giddyup, ba oom, papa oom, papa mow mow”), which producer Ron Chancey of MCA Records suggested. Allen said, “”We wanted ‘Elvira’ to be a summer record for families of four …. Mom’s singing the verses, the kids sing the ‘giddy up’ hook, and dad comes in with the ‘oom papa’ chorus. It’s the best planning we ever did.” “Elvira” quickly climbed the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart, and over Memorial Day weekend it became the group’s fourth number one country hit. It was also their biggest pop hit, reaching number one on the Cashbox Top 100 on August 1, and peaking at number five on the Billboard Hot 100 that July and August. “Elvira” was certified platinum for sales of two million units by the Recording Industry Association of America, a distinction for a country song that for years it shared only with “Islands in the Stream” by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton. In 1982 at the 24th Annual Grammy Awards, “Elvira” by the Oak Ridge Boys won the Grammy for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.