Years ago, I got a great email from Ed Erxleben about a "special WLS DJ version" of Tex Ritter’s 1961 hit "I Dreamed I Was In Hillbilly Heaven." The country crossover to pop hit reached #20 on the Hot 100 and #5 on the Billboard Country charts as well at reaching #7 on the WLS Silver Dollar Survey! Not bad for a total country tune on a pop top 40 station!
Yesterday, I was telling my stereo mix master and brother, Roger, about the tape Ed sent to me in 2013 that had replaced the last names in the song with the current DJ names at WLS, but that it was recorded with a mic in front of the radio, so the quality was not good. I sent it to him and he brushed it up and inserted the special part into the stereo original which I attached. It's pretty cool to hear it a little better soundwise. ALL of the WLS greats I grew up with!!! Only my buddy, Ron Riley is left but it has been great getting to know him in recent years and I hope he stays well!
Oddly enough, Ed told me that the 1961 DJ version was made and then redone in 1965 for this version, so the first would have had the original seven (like Biondi) or close to that, while the version attached is the DJs I HEARD as a kid including later Ron Riley, Dex Card and others. I have yet to hear the 1961 DJ version, tho.
Regarding Tex Ritter - I Dreamed Of A Hill-Billy Heaven was recorded at Capitol Studios in Hollywood on February 3rd, 1961, during sessions for Tex's album "The Lincoln Hymns." That album was timed to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the Civil War. Hill-Billy Heaven was indeed a stereo recording with an orchestra and large chorus conducted by Ralph Carmichael that was already in studio for the album sessions. Lee Gillette was the producer.
Eddie Dean and Hal Sothern wrote that song. Dean's original recording was released in late 1954 on the Sage & Sand label and became a top ten country hit in early 1955.
Clark Besch
I could have sworn I had the original 1961 WLS version, too, but the only one I could find was the one you sent – my copy wasn’t anywhere NEAR as clean as yours!!! So kudos again to brother Roger, who did a fine job. (My copy was real wobbly, too, obviously recorded off of a pretty warped 45.)
Ritter recorded several custom radio versions of the track, inserting the names of deejays on the most popular radio stations in an effort to get his country hit played on pop top 40 stations … the ploy worked! (I don’t know if you’ve ever heard the original, unaltered version that became a country hit … I’ve included that here, too. Those names mentioned wouldn’t hit home with a large audience of top 40 rock and roll fans!)
Ritter had been hitting Billboard’s Country Singles Chart from the year it launched in 1944 …
His very first record (“I’m Wastin’ My Tears On You”) went to #1. It was a two-sided hit and the flipside, “There’s A New Moon Over My Shoulder” peaked at #2. His next release, “Jealous Heart” (1945), went to #2 as well, followed by another #1 hit, “You Two Timed Me One Time Too Often.” That one topped the chart for eleven weeks! (Don’tcha just love country song titles?!?!) He followed that with ANOTHER #1 Hit in 1946, “You Will Have To Pay.”
Ritter charted pretty consistently on Billboard’s Country Singles Chart thru 1950 … and then disappeared for ten years, not charting again until “I Dreamed Of A Hill-Billy Heaven” in 1961. (A good reason for that might be that Ritter was also in high demand as a movie actor, appearing in over 70 films between the 1930's and 1970's. He was also a regular fixture on television for most of his career.)
His final string of country hits ran thru 1974 (but only one of those ten chart hits made The Top 20.) He died in 1974 of a heart attack at the age of 68. And, for those of you who didn’t know this, he was the father of beloved actor John Ritter, whose son Jason has followed in his footsteps. (kk)
UPDATE: As mentioned earlier, I could have sworn I had the 1961 WLS version somewhere on the computer, but I sure couldn’t find it. Strangely enough (and you would not believe how often this happens) I did a google search to see what else I could find out about it … and a couple of comments from right here in Forgotten Hits came up from WAY back in 2013!!! (Yep, we’ve been doing this for a long time now!!!) kk
http://forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com/2013_01_27_archive.html
I don't know why Ritter remade the song in 1965 ... or did he???
I don't see it being reissued as a single at that time, so I wonder if WLS was simply adding it to their "golden oldies" database and initiated the remake themselves, inserting the names of their current on-air staff to make it sound a bit more contemporary to their current listeners. Music had changed so drastically during that four year period that his 1961 hit was already sounding desperately dated by 1965.
That being said, if anyone out there has a copy of the original 1961 version, we'd sure love to hear it. Maybe Clark's brother can clean it up for us and we can run it in a future follow-up edition of Forgotten Hits.
