Sincerely (song)

"Sincerely"
Single by The Moonglows
B-side"Tempting"
ReleasedOctober 1954
RecordedOctober 1954
StudioUniversal (Chicago)[1]
Genre
Length3:12
LabelChess 1581
Songwriter(s)Harvey Fuqua, Alan Freed
The Moonglows singles chronology
"219 Train"
(1954)
"Sincerely"
(1954)
"Most of All"
(1955)
"Sincerely"
Single by The McGuire Sisters
from the album By Request
B-side"No More"
ReleasedNovember 1954
Recorded1954
GenreTraditional pop
Length2:54
LabelCoral
Songwriter(s)Harvey Fuqua, Alan Freed
The McGuire Sisters singles chronology
"Christmas Alphabet"
(1954)
"Sincerely"
(1954)
"No More"
(1955)

"Sincerely" is a popular song written by Harvey Fuqua and Alan Freed and first released by The Moonglows in 1954.[3]

The Moonglows recorded the song during their first session for Chess Records, which took place in October, 1954 at Universal Recording Corporation in Chicago.[1] The Moonglows' version reached number one on the Billboard R&B chart and number 20 on the Billboard Juke Box chart.[4] Co-writing credits were shared by Moonglows band member Fuqua and disk jockey Freed. After it became known that Freed had inappropriately claimed songwriter credits for songs by bands he promoted (associated with his downfall in a payola investigation years later), Fuqua noted that Freed had in fact contributed to the songwriting for "Sincerely", thus his claim to a songwriting credit in this case was legitimate.

McGuire Sisters cover

The best-selling version of "Sincerely" was a pop cover recorded by the McGuire Sisters, which entered the charts in 1954 and reached number one the next year.[5] It was eventually certified as a gold record.

Other covers

  • Pat Boone recorded "Sincerely" as a non-album track and a B-side in 1964.
  • In 1988, a cover of the song by the country quartet Forester Sisters reached number eight on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b "The Chess Label Part II (1953-1955)". The Red Saunders Research Foundation. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
  2. ^ a b Marsh, Dave (1989). The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made. Plume. p. 208. ISBN 0-452-26305-0.
  3. ^ Gilliland, John (1969). "Show 11: Big Rock Candy Mountain: Early Rock 'n' Roll Vocal Groups & Frank Zappa" (audio). Pop Chronicles. University of North Texas Libraries. Track 5.
  4. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–2004. Record Research. p. 411.
  5. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits (8th ed.). New York: Billboard Books. p. 414. ISBN 0-8230-7499-4.
  6. ^ "Hot Country Songs - Forester Sisters Chart History". Billboard. Archived from the original on May 20, 2018. Retrieved June 27, 2018.