Bluebirds over the Mountain
| "Bluebirds over the Mountain" | ||||||||||||
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| Single by The Beach Boys | ||||||||||||
| from the album 20/20 | ||||||||||||
| B-side | "Never Learn Not to Love" | |||||||||||
| Released | December 2, 1968 [1] | |||||||||||
| Format | Vinyl | |||||||||||
| Recorded | September 29, 1967 and November 14, 1968 | |||||||||||
| Genre | Hard rock[2] | |||||||||||
| Length | 2:51 | |||||||||||
| Label | Capitol | |||||||||||
| Writer(s) | Ersel Hickey | |||||||||||
| Producer | Bruce Johnston and Carl Wilson | |||||||||||
| The Beach Boys singles chronology | ||||||||||||
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"Bluebirds over the Mountain" is a song written by Ersel Hickey. This is perhaps his best known song. The song was covered by notable artists such as The Beach Boys and Ritchie Valens. The Echoes 1962 version hit Billboard's Bubbling Under The Top 100 survey and was a top 20 hit on Chicago's WLS.
The Beach Boys version
"Bluebirds over the Mountain" was also covered by The Beach Boys and it was released on their 1969 album 20/20. It was also released as a single on December 2, 1968 with the B-side of the single being "Never Learn Not to Love". The song features Mike Love on lead vocals and it also features Ed Carter on guitar.
The single peaked at #61 on the Billboard pop chart in the United States and at #33 in the United Kingdom and went to #9 in Holland. It reached #36 on the Record World national Top 40 and went into the top 20 in Los Angeles, San Diego, Boston, Detroit, Minneapolis and Columbus.
Performers
- Mike Love: Lead vocals (verses, bridge)
- Carl Wilson: Lead vocals (chorus), Guitar
- Bruce Johnston: Lead vocals (chorus), Bass Guitar, Keyboards
- Al Jardine: Backing Vocals, Guitar
- Dennis Wilson: Backing Vocals, Drums
- Ed Carter: Electric lead guitar
Other covers
West Virginian horror punk band Blitzkid covered this song on their 2002 split, "Exhuming Graves and Making Dates". American new wave band The Jet Blackberries on their 1984 album Sundown on Venus.
See also
References
- ^ Badman, Keith. The Beach Boys. The Definitive Diary of America's Greatest Band: On Stage and in the Studio Backbeat Books, San Francisco, California, 2004. ISBN 0-87930-818-4 p. 232
- ^ "Lindsay Planer review". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/song/bluebirds-over-the-mountain-t995513. Retrieved 2011-04-29.
