Billboard Notes: 2023-12-28

[dwvanstone]

Music from 1960 is weird. Many of the songs are covers of Standards or of previous hits, but a sizeable portion which are renditions of popular songs from the 40s or earlier. (I'm thinking of "Chattanooga Choo Choo", "Waltzing Matilda", "Oh My Darling, Clementine," or "Don't Fence Me In".)

The one track that caught my attention was the spiritual "Down by the Riverside" performed by Le Compagnons De La Chanson, a French choir. Why was there such fascination of French music in 1960 in America?

Enjoy if you are curious!