78 RPM - Patti Page - Mockin' Bird Hill / I Love You Because - Mercury - USA

78 RPM Record

Artist:	Patti Page
Label:	Mercury
Country:	USA
Catalogue:	5595
Date:	Feb 1951
Format:	10"
Collection:	I Own It I Want It
Community:	16 Own, 1 Wants
Price Guide:	Valuation Page
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Track	Artist	Title	Composer	Rating
A	Patti Page	Mockin' Bird Hill	Vaughn Horton	Rate
B	Patti Page	I Love You Because	Leon Cayne	Rate

Notes

A: Patti Page, Jimmy Carroll and His Orchestra. Vocal by Patti Page & Patti Page (1st version).
Patti Page with Orchestra Conducted by Jimmy Carroll and his Orch. Vocal by Patti Page, Patti Page, Patti Page & Patti Page (2nd version).
Corrected to: Patti Page With Orchestra Conducted by Jack Rael. Vocal by Patti Page and Patti Page (3rd version).
B: Patti Page with Jack Rael Quintette.

A side (mx. 4080) recorded New York, NY, January 27, 1951.
B side (mx. 3954) recorded New York, NY, October 14, 1950.
(source)

Billboard, Feb. 10, 1951, p. 37 (The Billboard Picks), p. 22 (Mercury ad)
Billboard, Feb. 17, 1951, p. 25 (Mercury ad)
Billboard #2 Pop - Mockin' Bird Hill

Leon Payne wrote "I Love you Because" even though Mercury continually misspelt as "Cayne"

Images

Comments and Reviews


Bob1951 26th May 2019		More label variant images added. These labels have "Merco plastic NON-BREAKABLE under normal use" on both sides. The A side has "Patti Page", 4 times to the right of the spindle hole, and "with Orchestra Conducted by Jimmy Carroll".



Bob1951 4th Nov 2018		Label variant images added.



patentpumps 10th Sep 2018		Patti had always commented that when she was called to New York to record Mocking Bird Hill.......it was the first time recording without Jack Rael present. So Jimmy Carroll conducted the session. Why Jack Rael later took the credit and labels were changed is a mystery. It may be the same type of thing that later happened with Elvis and the Colonel who didn't want Elvis recording any songs unless he was listed as one of the writers and/or it was published through one of his companies. Jack seemed to control everything that went on with Patti same as the Colonel did with Elvis



fixbutte 19th Jul 2016		Thanks, chippe01, for uploading an image of the corrected A side label ("Orchestra Conducted By JACK RAEL"). Actually it is not quite identical to the one that we have linked as the third version ("with Orchestra Conducted by Jack Rael" and "Vocal by Patti Page & Patti Page").



slholzer 14th Nov 2015		The fact that Mockin' Bird Hill had not yet charted in Billboard when the first ads were placed does not mean that Mercury had no indication that it was going to chart when they composed and placed them. I'm not sure what kind of reports Billboard was getting on Feb.14-15-16, but they must have been engendered by some kind of sales activity, possibly advance orders from retailers, that Mercury would certainly have known about before Billboard did, possibly even before the record's actual release. In that context, the ads would not be wishful thinking but savvy promotion of a property that appeared to be getting out of the gate fast and looked ready to break big.



fixbutte 26th Oct 2015		Actually, the Mercury ad (from the Feb 17, 1951 Billboard issue, as the comprised date shows) was set before "Mockin' Bird Hill" was an acknowledged hit. Mercury 5595 was obviously released only a few days before the ad (it was first mentioned in the Feb 10 issue in The Billboard picks and in another Mercury ad with the same preference - see adjusted notes). Although there are two Patti Page records on the Best Selling Pop Singles chart of the Feb 17, 1951 Billboard issue, "Mockin' Bird Hill" was not among them ("Tennessee Waltz" at #1, "Would I Love You" at #10). It would first chart only in the next Billboard issue (based on reports received Feb 14, 15 and 16). So the Mercury text ("Two Top Hits") was just wishful thinking when it was written.



slholzer 24th Oct 2015		The ad would mean more (at least to me) in the discussion of A and B sides if it had been issued before Mockin' Bird Hill was an acknowledged hit. Anybody with half a brain would exploit their hot properties by advertising them this way while they're hot. I think they would be reluctant to highlight one side while the record is freshly released and untested, though, if it meant that reviewers and disc jockeys would conclude the other side was beneath their notice. In point of fact, I think that side designations fell out of favor largely because the industry was afraid that such prejudgments were being made and that worthy recordings were not getting a fair hearing.



fixbutte 11th Oct 2015		Scans of A & B label (second version): link. Early Mercury ad uploaded, showing "Mockin' Bird Hill" as the highlighted side ("A Side") of the record.



slholzer 11th Oct 2015		I think xiphophilos has answered the question. The first version and the last (which is actually the 4th version after comparison to my other Jack Rael version) both claim to be mx 4080. Unless the Rael versions were remakes bearing higher take numbers (check the wax if you want to find out for sure), it would appear that Jimmy Carroll was never actually involved, hence his absence from the Patti Page sessionography listing. For those who worry about such details, the difference in the two Jack Rael 78 versions is a change of font on some elements of the label text. The elements are arranged in essentially the same order. It is most notable in the lowest line of text, where Jack Rael's name is more prominent than previously because of its change to a blockier form of lettering. Maybe they were trying to make up to him for the goof!



xiphophilos 10th Oct 2015		Scan of A Side (first version): link Scans of A & B label (third version):link



slholzer 10th Oct 2015		The A side is a mental construct that has surprising prominence among followers of the 45 rpm disc. In point of fact, there were no side designations of any kind on most Mercury records and almost certainly none at the time this disc was made. If there had been, I would strongly argue with sticking with the ones assigned rather than imposing an arbitrary ranking based on which one did better in the charts, or even worse, which one was expected to do better in the charts. I personally don't think that the matrix number has any bearing on whether a side is the so-called A side, although I also understand that among some more rabid "discographers" it does dictate which side gets listed first on a data sheet. Matrix numbers were sometimes assigned ahead of time, but more usually indicate the order in which the first takes of each track were recorded. in the end analysis, they are assigned so that master recordings can be stored and located when needed, likes books at the library. So back to the real question at hand, since I think we would all agree that Mockin' Bird Hill earned the A side spot, if there has to be one. Was Jimmy Carroll's name on the earlier 78s an accident or were there actually versions made with both the Carroll orchestra and the Jack Rael orchestra? Were they all mx 4080?



fixbutte 8th Oct 2015		On further research, I found two more 78rpm label variants of the A-side, see adjusted notes. The last variant actually names Jack Rael as the orchestra conductor, in line with slholzer's photo archive and with Patti Page's sessionography: 27 January 1951 New York City – Patti Page (orchestra conducted by Jack Rael) YW-4080/PB-3070 MOCKIN‘ BIRD HILL 5595-x45 1270x45 A-111x45 C-30026x45/MG-25154 MG 20076 MG 20495 Strangely, in the second variant the Page and Page vocal duet (the singer's voice double tracked for the refrain) becomes a Page quartet.



fixbutte 8th Oct 2015		Although I have found two different versions of the 45rpm (original maroon and blue reissue) with the accompaniment information Orchestra Conducted by Jack Rael, all 78rpm labels that I have seen read Patti Page, Jimmy Carroll and His Orchestra. Vocal information consistently goes Vocal by Patti Page and Patti Page. Anyway, again in contrast to the matrix number order and the original submission, "Mockin' Bird Hill" was the A-side and the chart hit, see adjusted notes.



slholzer 8th Oct 2015		The copy of "Mockin' Bird Hill" in my photo archive shows the accompaniment by Orchestra conducted by Jack Rael and the vocal by Patti Page X2. This is mx 4080. This matches exactly the information on the 45 rpm issue displayed in the clip posted by BigBadBuesMan. I am not prepared to say that there are no copies showing an accompaniment by Jimmy Carroll, but I would like to see one if they do exist.



BigBadBluesMan 21st Apr 2015



BigBadBluesMan 21st Apr 2015

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Linked Releases

Canada - Mercury - 1951

UK - Oriole - 1951