Charles Eugene Patrick Boone (born June 1, 1934) is an American singer whose smooth style made him a popular performer of the 1950s. His cover versions of African-American rhythm and blues hits had a noticeable impact on the development of the broad popularity of rock and roll. He is also an actor, a motivational speaker, a television personality, and a conservative political commentator.
Boone began recording in 1954 for Republic Records. His 1955 version of Fats Domino's "Ain't That a Shame" was a huge hit. This set the stage for the early part of Boone's career, which focused on covering R&B songs by black artists for a white market. Randy Wood, the owner of Dot, had issued an R & B single by the Griffin Brothers in 1960 called "Tra la la-a", different song to the later LaVern Baker one - and he was keen to put out another version after the original had failed. This became the B side of the first Boone single "Two hearts two kisses", originally by the Charms - whose "Hearts of Stone" had been covered by the label's Fontane Sisters. Once the Boone version was in the shops, it spawned more covers by the Crewcuts, Doris Day and even Frank Sinatra. In the UK the song was covered by Lita Roza, a band singer with Ted Heath and her version was in the shops first.
A #1 single in 1956 by Boone was not as much a cover as a revival of a then 7 year old song I almost lost my mind-a song which had been covered at the time by another black star Nat King Cole from the original by Ivory Joe Hunter who was to benefit from Boone's hit version not only in royalties but in status as he was back in the news. In 1957 Boone cut an album simply called "Pat" which was full of R & B covers.
Six of Boone's hit singles were R&B covers. These were "Ain't That a Shame" by Fats Domino and "Tutti Frutti" and "Long Tall Sally" by Little Richard, and "At My Front Door (Crazy Little Mama)" by the El Dorados. The other two R&B covers were blues ballads, "I Almost Lost My Mind" by Ivory Joe Hunter and "Chains of Love", a hit for Big Joe Turner and later B.B. King that had been written by Ahmet Ertegün and Why baby why recorded first by the Blockbusters for a film called Rock All Night. By 1957, Boone was concentrating on middle-of-the-road music, although he would continue to record R&B songs (such as "Two Little Kisses," a non-alcoholic version of "One Mint Julep"), and his version of The Capris' song, "There's a Moon Out Tonight" as cover versions.
Boone soon began turning more and more to ballads. Some of his biggest hits included "Love Letters in the Sand" (with the instrumental break featuring Boone's whistling), "April Love," "Friendly Persuasion (Thee I Love)," and "Don't Forbid Me."
His recording of the theme song from the 1957 film April Love (film) topped the charts for six weeks and was nominated for an Academy Award. Pat also wrote the lyrics for the instrumental theme song for the movie Exodus, which lyrics he titled "This Land Is Mine." (Ernest Gold had composed the music.)
The British Invasion ended Boone's career as a hitmaker, though he continued recording throughout the 1960s. In the 1970s, he switched to gospel and country, and he continued performing in other media as well. He is currently working as the disc jockey of a popular oldies radio show and runs his own record company which provides an outlet for new recordings by 1950s greats who can no longer find a place with the major labels.
Tags: R&B pop
