"Candy Man"
Single by Roy Orbison
A-side"Crying"
ReleasedJuly 1961 (1961-07)
RecordedJune 27, 1961[1]
StudioRCA Victor Studio B, Nashville, Tennessee[1]
Genre
Length2:43
LabelMonument
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Fred Foster
Roy Orbison singles chronology
"Running Scared (Roy Orbison song)" / "Love Hurts"
(1961) 		"Crying" / "Candy Man"
(1961) 		"Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream)" / "The Actress"
(1961)

"Candy Man" is a song by Roy Orbison, released as the B-side to his international hit "Crying" in July 1961.[2] It was later covered by British beat group Brian Poole and the Tremeloes, becoming a top-ten hit in the UK.[3]

Writing and recording

"Candy Man" was written by Beverly Ross and Fred Neil. Ross was introduced to Neil at Cafe Wha? in Greenwich Village after being suggested by publishing company Hell and Rage that they co-write. Ross had had success as a co-writer of "Dim, Dim the Lights" for Bill Haley & His Comets and "Lollipop", which became an international hit for the Chordettes. Neil, on the other hand, was yet to have such success having been writing, and also recording, for past few years. Knowing that Ross had written "Lollipop", Neil wanted to write a "candy song" with her. Determined to have another hits, Ross agreed and Neil proposed the title "Candy Man", saying that in New Orleans, where he was from, "the prostitutes, y’know, the hookers all have a pimp, and they call him their Candy Man". Whilst Ross wasn't particularly pleased with this, she liked the title, so they wrote the song, "giving the title an affectionate, cute definition lyrically rather than the sleazy actual meaning it derived from".[4]

After ending her contract with Hell and Rage, Ross went to friend Aaron Schroeder, who had recently started his own publishing company, January Music. After being played the song, Schroeder loved it and sent Ross and Neil into the studio to cut a demo. Schroeder then gave the recording to producer Fred Foster who then cut the song with country artist Roy Orbison.[4] "Candy Man" was recorded at Nashville's RCA Victor Studio B on June 27, 1961, the day after the recording of "Crying".[1] The song prominently features a harmonica, performed by the then-relatively unknown Charlie McCoy. The success of "Candy Man" helped boost McCoy's career.[5]

Release

"Candy Man" was released as the flip side to "Crying" in mid-July 1961, whilst Orbison's previous single, "Running Scared", was still in the charts.[5] It was well-received, becoming Orbison's first B-side to make the US charts. It entered the Billboard Hot 100 in the first week of August, a week before the appearance of "Crying", and spent a total of fourteen weeks on the chart, reaching its peak at number 25 in the first week of November.[6] It entered the Cash Box Top 100 in the third week of August, spent a total of sixteen weeks on the chart and achieved its peak at number 34 in the second week of September.[7] "Candy Man" was not included on any of Orbison's studio albums, though it was included as a bonus tracks on subsequent reissues of Crying, and its first release on album was the compilation Roy Orbison's Greatest Hits in August 1962.

Personnel

Charts

Chart (1961) Peak
position
US Billboard Hot 100[6] 25
US Cash Box Top 100[7] 34

Brian Poole and the Tremeloes version

"Candy Man"
Single by Brian Poole and the Tremeloes
B-side"I Wish I Could Dance"
Released24 January 1964 (1964-01-24)
Recorded8 January 1964 (1964-01-08)[8]
StudioDecca Studios, London
GenreBeat
Length2:24
LabelDecca
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Mike Smith
Brian Poole and the Tremeloes singles chronology
"I Can Dance"
(1963) 		"Candy Man"
(1964) 		"Someone, Someone"
(1964)

Background and release

Brian Poole and the Tremeloes were introduced to "Candy Man" by Roy Orbison whilst they were on tour with him in the UK. Whilst in the tour coach, Orbison began playing his version of the song (described by Poole as "slower and more bluesy"), before suddenly telling the group "you can make this a dancer", playing it more quickly.[9] During the recording of the song at Decca Studios, the group wanted to have a "really dry snare drum sound" on "Candy Man", but due to the primitive multitrack recording equipment, this was hard to do. In order to get around this, they used advice give to them by Norman Petty about using a matchbox on some of the Crickets' songs. Tremeloes drummer Dave Munden taped a matchbox to his knee and drummed on it with one stick. Along with careful positioning of the microphone, this led to the desired sound effect.[9]

The single was released in January 1964 with the B-side "I Wish I Could Dance", a cover of a 1963 song by Jimmy Soul. "Candy Man" became the group's third top-ten hit in the UK and spent a total of thirteen weeks on the Record Retailer Top 50 chart.[3]

Reception

Don Nicholl for Disc wrote "there's something less dramatic about Poole and the Tremeloes this time out as they skip-beat to "Candy Man". After the weird, almost oriental twanging of the start the side provides a very catchy count. I think it has the mood for the moment, and it'll have customers chanting along in company".[10] In Record Mirror, it was described as being "much more original than his [Poole's] last", with "a crashing guitar [that] leads the way, and Brian [singing] the vocal with more than a touch of R&B in the delivery".[11]

Charts

Chart (1964) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[12] 18
Denmark (Danmarks Radio)[13] 20
Ireland (IRMA)[14] 8
Sweden (Tio i Topp)[15] 15
UK Disc Top 30[16] 7
UK Melody Maker Top 50[17] 6
UK New Musical Express Top 30[18] 8
UK Record Retailer Top 50[3] 6

Other cover versions

"Candy Man" has been covered by a number of artists, including Bobby Vee and the Ventures, Dion, the Hollies, Wanda Jackson and Brian Hyland. Co-writer Fred Neil released a version of the song on his 1965 debut solo album Bleecker & MacDougal and harmonicist Charlie McCoy covered it on his 1968 debut album The World of Charlie McCoy.[19] However, the most successful other recording was by Mickey Gilley and Charly McClain, whose duet version peaked at number 5 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles and number 3 on the Canadian RPM 50 Country Singles chart in 1984.[20][21]

References

  1. ^ a b c Weize, Richard (2001). Orbison 1955-1965 (7-CD Deluxe Box Set) (booklet). Bear Family Records. BCD16423. Retrieved October 11, 2021.
  2. ^ Orbison, Roy Jr. (2017). The Authorized Roy Orbison. Orbison, Wesley,, Orbison, Alex,, Slate, Jeff (First ed.). New York: Center Street. ISBN 9781478976547. OCLC 1017566749.
  3. ^ a b c "TREMELOES | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 2022-09-22.
  4. ^ a b ""Candy Man" story behind the song". beverlyross.info. Archived from the original on 24 July 2013. Retrieved 23 September 2022.
  5. ^ a b Orbison, Roy Jr. (2017). The Authorized Roy Orbison. Orbison, Wesley,, Orbison, Alex,, Slate, Jeff (First ed.). New York: Center Street. ISBN 9781478976547. OCLC 1017566749.
  6. ^ a b "Roy Orbison Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  7. ^ a b "Cash Box Top 100 Singles – Week ending September 9, 1961". Cash Box magazine. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  8. ^ Tracy, John (1991). Do You Love Me (CD). Europe: Deram. 820 980-2.
  9. ^ a b "Continuing the story of our biggest hits - 'Candy Man'". Brian Poole. 2013-07-19. Retrieved 2022-09-22.
  10. ^ "Reviews" (PDF). Disc. 25 January 1964. p. 8. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  11. ^ "Pop Disc Jury" (PDF). Record Mirror. 25 January 1964. p. 9. Retrieved 23 September 2022.
  12. ^ Kent, David (2005). Australian Chart Book 1940–1969. Australian Chart Book Pty Ltd, Turramurra, N.S.W. ISBN 0-646-44439-5.
  13. ^ "danskehitlister.dk". 2016-04-12. Archived from the original on 12 April 2016. Retrieved 2022-09-22.
  14. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Candy Man". Irish Singles Chart.
  15. ^ Hallberg, Eric; Henningsson, Ulf (2012). Tio i Topp - med de utslagna "på försök" 1961–74 (in Swedish) (2nd ed.). Premium. p. 286. ISBN 978-91-89136-89-2.
  16. ^ "Top 30" (PDF). Disc. 22 February 1964. p. 3. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  17. ^ "National Chart". Melody Maker. 7 March 1964. p. 2.
  18. ^ "NME Top Thirty". New Musical Express. 21 February 1964.
  19. ^ "Cover versions of Candy Man by Roy Orbison with Bob Moore's Orch. & Chorus | SecondHandSongs". secondhandsongs.com. Retrieved 2022-09-23.
  20. ^ "Mickey Gilley - Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved May 12, 2022.
  21. ^ "RPM 50 Country Singles" (PDF). RPM. Vol. 40, no. 9. 5 May 1984. Retrieved 2022-09-24 – via Library and Archives Canada.
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