Happy, Happy Birthday Baby

"Happy, Happy Birthday Baby" is a 1957 song written by Margo Sylvia & Gilbert Lopez. "Happy, Happy Birthday Baby" was originally performed by The Tune Weavers, who had their only hit with this song. Both Margo Sylvia and Gilbert Lopez were members of The Tune Weavers. The single went to number four on the R&B chart and went to number five on the Hot 100.^[1] The B-side of "Happy, Happy Birthday Baby, was The Tune Weavers version of "Ol' Man River"

The inspiration for the song came from Margo's then-boyfriend, Donald Clements, who was a member of a group called the Sophomores. When he broke up with her, Margo came up with the lyrics to express how she wanted to stay with him. "The words came so easily. It was real," she recounted to Wayne Jancik in The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders. Margo and the rest of the Tune Weavers recorded it and "Ol' Man River" in an 18-hour session on March 7, 1957, in Boston, with Margo eight months pregnant. Seven months later, the song reached its peak of popularity in the United States.^[2]

Based on the similarities in melody, "Happy, Happy Birthday Baby" appears to have inspired two future Top 20 hits. I'm On The Outside (Looking In) by Little Anthony and the Imperials (#15 1964) appears inspired by the main tune of this song, and Wasted Days and Wasted Nights by Freddy Fender (#8 1975) appears inspired by the chorus of this song.

The track was originally released on the Casa Grande label. It was later re-released on the Checker label, but this later version omitted the final four saxophone notes (at the coda) which were part of the song's signature.

In 1988, Margo Sylvia recorded a Christmas version of the song called Merry Merry Christmas Baby for classic Records. It was included on the Ultimate Christmas Album by Collectables Records.

Cover versions

Dolly Parton covered the song in 1966, and it became her first charting single, though it peaked at only #8 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart; in 1982, a duet recording of the song was included on the album The Winning Hand, featuring Parton and Willie Nelson (though the recording featured Parton's original 1966 vocals, with new vocals from Nelson edited in to creat a "duet").
Sandy Posey hit #36 on the country charts with a remake in 1971.
In 1986, Ronnie Milsap had his twenty-eighth number one on the country chart with his version of the song.^[3]
Wanda Jackson performed the song for her 1958 eponymous debut album. In 1960, it was released as a single but did not chart.
Rosie & the Originals released a previously unreleased version on their 2000 album The Best of Rosie & the Originals.^[4]

Chart performance

Chart (1986)	Peak position
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)^[5]	1
Canadian RPM Country Tracks	1

In other media

The song replaced "16 Candles" in the 1997 reissue of the 1972 film "Pink Flamingos."

References

↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 592.
↑ Wayne Jancik, The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders, expanded first edition (Billboard Books, 1998) ISBN 0-8230-7622-9, pp. 40.
↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 233.
↑ "Rosie & The Originals - The Best Of (CD)". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2016-08-29.
↑ "Ronnie Milsap – Chart history" Billboard Hot Country Songs for Ronnie Milsap.

Preceded by "Whoever's in New England" by Reba McEntire	Billboard Hot Country Singles number-one single (Ronnie Milsap version) June 7, 1986	Succeeded by "Life's Highway" by Steve Wariner
Preceded by "Tomb of the Unknown Love" by Kenny Rogers	RPM Country Tracks number-one single (Ronnie Milsap version) June 14, 1986	Succeeded by "One Love at a Time" by Tanya Tucker

Ronnie Milsap

Studio albums	Ronnie Milsap Where My Heart Is Pure Love Legend in My Time A Rose By Any Other Name Night Things 20/20 Vision It Was Almost Like a Song Only One Love in My Life Images Milsap Magic Out Where the Bright Lights Are Glowing There's No Gettin' Over Me Inside Keyed Up One More Try for Love Lost in the Fifties Tonight Christmas with Ronnie Milsap Heart & Soul Stranger Things Have Happened Back to the Grindstone True Believer Sings His Best for Capitol Records Just for a Thrill My Life Then Sings My Soul Country Again Summer #17

Compilation albums	Ronnie Milsap Live Greatest Hits Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 Greatest Hits, Vol. 3 The Essential Ronnie Milsap Super Hits Only One Love 40 #1 Hits Ultimate Ronnie Milsap 16 Biggest Hits Playlist: The Very Best of Ronnie Milsap The RCA Albums Collection

#1 singles	"Pure Love" "Please Don't Tell Me How the Story Ends" "(I'd Be) A Legend in My Time" "Daydreams About Night Things" "What Goes On When the Sun Goes Down" "(I'm A) Stand by My Woman Man" "Let My Love Be Your Pillow" "It Was Almost Like a Song" "What a Difference You've Made in My Life" "Only One Love in My Life" "Let's Take the Long Way Around the World" "Back on My Mind Again" "Nobody Likes Sad Songs" "Why Don't You Spend the Night" "My Heart" "Cowboys and Clowns" "Smoky Mountain Rain" "Am I Losing You" "(There's) No Gettin' Over Me" "I Wouldn't Have Missed It for the World" "Any Day Now" "He Got You" "Inside" "Stranger in My House" "Don't You Know How Much I Love You" "Show Her" "Still Losing You" "She Keeps the Home Fires Burning" "Lost in the Fifties Tonight (In the Still of the Night)" "Happy, Happy Birthday Baby" "In Love" "How Do I Turn You On" "Snap Your Fingers" "Make No Mistake, She's Mine" (with Kenny Rogers) "Where Do the Nights Go" "Don't You Ever Get Tired (Of Hurting Me)" "A Woman in Love" "Stranger Things Have Happened"

Other songs	"Too Late to Worry, Too Blue to Cry" "Just in Case" "In No Time at All" "Prisoner of the Highway" "Old Folks" (with Mike Reid) "Button Off My Shirt" "Houston Solution" "Are You Lovin' Me Like I'm Lovin' You" "Since I Don't Have You" "Turn That Radio On" "All Is Fair in Love and War" "True Believer"

Related articles	Discography Warner Bros. Records RCA Records Liberty Records

Book:Ronnie Milsap

Wanda Jackson

Albums Singles

Studio albums	The Party Ain't Over Unfinished Business

Live album	Wanda Live! at Third Man Records

Notable songs	"You Can't Have My Love" "I Gotta Know" "Riot in Cell Block Number 9" "Let's Have a Party" "Happy, Happy Birthday Baby" "Right or Wrong" "Funnel of Love" "In the Middle of a Heartache" "A Little Bitty Tear" "The Box It Came In" "Tears Will Be the Chaser for Your Wine" "If I Had a Hammer" "My Big Iron Skillet" "Two Separate Bar Stools "A Woman Lives for Love" "Fancy Satin Pillows" "You Know I'm No Good"

Related articles	Jack White Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Third Man Records

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