Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

There were many songs of the late fifties and sixties that would fit into the heartbreak category. Patches is but one good example. Dickey Lee (Dick Lipscomb) pulled out the stops in this September 1962 classic.

PATCHES

Down by the river that flows by the coal yards.
Stands wooden houses with shutters torn down
There lives a girl everybody calls Patches
Patches my darling of Old Shanty town
We plan to marry when June brought the summer
I couldn't wait to make Patches my bride
Now I don't see how that ever can happen
My folks say No, and my heart breaks inside
Patches oh what can I do
I swear I'll always love you
But a girl from that place would just bring me disgrace
So my folks won't let me love you
Each night I cry as I think of that shanty
And pretty Patches there watching the door
She dosn't know that I can't come to see her
Patches must think that I love her no more
I hear a neighbor tellin my father
He said a girl name of Patches was found
Floating face down in that dirty old river
That flows by the coal yards in Old Shanty Town
Patches oh what can I do
I swear I'll always love you
It may not be right But I'll join you tonight
Patches I'm coming to you

So, were there any more?

Another one of Dickey Lee's sob songs would be, "Tell Laura I Love Her." Some may also consider it a car song.

Then of course, another sob/car song is J. Frank Wilson's, "Last Kiss."

One from the other side of the pond - Noel (Girl From Uncle) Harrison's...."A young girl, a young girl of sixteen, lying here by the road...dead!"

Althought the tempos are upbeat, the lyrics on these two classics deal with heartbreak:

"This Diamond Ring"- Gary Lewis & The Playboys
"Midnight Confessions"- The Grass Roots

"This Diamond Ring" was co-written by Al Cooper of "BS&T fame.

BTW, How many other bands that had Top 40 hits in the '60s had a Cordovox player?

The New Colony Six. Their keyboardist started on a Cordovox and when they revamped in 1965, he played a Vox Continental.

They did break Top 40 with one or two songs but nothing like Mr. Lewis...

Don't forget Dicky Lee's upbeat followup to "Patches", "I Saw Linda Yesterday".

Dave: Are you referring to Mike Timoney of Cordovox, Piano and Moog fame who had affiliations with a number of groups including the Moody Blues. I also have heard that the Four Seasons many have had the Cordovox on their recordings at some point.

The all time sappiest sob song, and not to forget, most repugnant, was 1968's 'Honey' by Bobby Goldsboro.

"Seee the treee, how big it's grown..."

Does anybody remember his TV variety show?

That's sappy...tree...sappy...ya know?

"Don't Cry Daddy" by Elvis Presley,

"D-I-V-O-R-C-E" by Lynn Anderson and

"Teen Angel" by whoever did it.

Speaking of sad songs, I heard a story once that Roger Miller wrote "The Last Word In Lonesome Is Me" while he was on an airplane with his brand new bride on their way to a Vegas honeymoon. I guess it's not a good idea to read too much into what a person writes, when.

Ol' Yeller..... ??

Little Boy Lost..... ??

Any truth to the Bobby Goldsboro pedarasty rumor?

"Watching Scotty Grow", indeed...tearjerking or stomachturning?

Or "See the Funny Little Clown", the song that launched Gacy on his road to fame...

Tears of a clown - Smokey Robinson

Angel of the Morning - Merrilee Rush

Crying - Roy Orbison

Three great sob songs