Whenever Michelle Hoge comes back to visit her old band mates, as she did last week, this tune is among the ones we trot out.
Just listen to how Michelle’s superb harmonies seal the deal on this song that Ivory Joe Hunter recorded 77 years ago this month.
The Extraordinary Mister Hunter
As reported here earlier, on Oct. 1, 1949, Ivory Joe recorded a 12-bar blues that was released a year later as “I Almost Lost My Mind.” Topping the 1950 R&B chart, it had sold a million copies by 1956.
Hunter’s output — some estimate he wrote more than 7,000 songs in his 60 years — ranged from R&B to blues, boogie-woogie to country music, and he made a name in all of those genres. Uniquely, he was honored at both the Monterey Jazz Festival and the Grand Ole Opry.
The Song
“I Almost Lost My Mind,” in particular, has had an extraordinary life. While Hunter’s original interpretation secured its place in R&B history, the composition was destined for an even broader commercial reach. Over the decades, the song has been a vehicle for a diverse array of performers.
It has been recorded by jazz artists like Lionel Hampton and Nat King Cole, by country crooners like Hank Snow and Conway Twitty, by pop stars like Connie Francis and Patti Page and rockers like Chubby Checker and Bill Haley, and by R&B players like Fats Domino and Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup. It has also been a darling of instrumentalists Duane Eddy, Billy Vaughn, Jimmy Smith, Roy Clark, Woody Herman and others.
For white teens in the 1950s, it was probably best known for Pat Boone’s vanilla version, bridging the gap between traditional rhythm and blues and pristine, mainstream pop sensibilities that defined his career.
Entering the Billboard 100 on June 2, 1956, at No. 68, the track immediately signaled strong upward momentum, reaching No. 1 two months later. Boone’s single stayed on the charts for 23 weeks.
Click here to read our earlier back story on Ivory Joe Hunter and this song.
More from Michelle
If this tune has you in the mood to get more Michelle into your Flood Friday, it’s as easy as dropping into the free Radio Floodango music streaming service and clicking on the Michelle Channel.
We’ve now got ways to mobilize the ol’ Floodanago. Click here to find out how to put the Flood radio on your computer desktop and on an iPhone so your Flood fix is always just a click away.
