"Roses Are Red (My Love)" is a

popular song Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...

composed by Al Byron and Paul Evans. It was recorded by

Bobby Vinton Stanley Robert Vinton (born April 16, 1935) is an American singer and actor, who hosted his own self-titled TV show in the late 1970s. As a teen idol, he became known as "The Polish Prince", as his music paid tribute to his Polish heritage. One ...

, backed by Robert Mersey and his Orchestra, in New York City in February 1962, and released in April 1962, and the song was his first hit."Bobby Vinton's All-Time Greatest Hits," Varese (Vintage) Sarabande CD compilation, copyright 2003

Bobby Vinton version

Bobby Vinton found the song in a reject pile at

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...

. He first recorded it as an R&B number, but was allowed to re-record it in a slower more dramatic arrangement, with strings and a vocal choir (from Robert Mersey and his Orchestra) added."Bobby Vinton's All-Time Greatest Hits," Varese (Vintage) Sarabande CD compilation, copyright 2003 The song was released in April 1962. Alan Levy,
A dozen red roses - to disc jockeys
, ''

Life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

'', March 12, 1965. p. 89 It reached No. 1 in Australia, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, and the United States, and was a major hit in many other countries as well. The song topped the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 singles chart on July 14, 1962, and remained there for four weeks.Hot 100 - Bobby Vinton Roses Are Red Chart History
''Billboard.com''. Retrieved March 19, 2018. The single was also the first number-one hit for

. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' ranked the record No. 4 in their year end ranking " Top 100 Singles of 1962"Top 100 Singles of 1962
, ''

'', Section II, December 29, 1962. p. 82. Retrieved February 24, 2018. and No. 36 in their year end ranking of the top Rhythm and Blues records of 1962.The Top 50 Country Music and Rhythm & Blues Records of 1962
, ''

'', Section II, December 29, 1962. p. 88. Retrieved March 19, 2018. The song was also ranked No. 17 on ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

''s "Top 100 Chart Hits of 1962".

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications

Ronnie Carroll version

In the UK, a cover version by

Northern Irish The people of Northern Ireland are all people born in Northern Ireland and having, at the time of their birth, at least one parent who is a British Nationality Law, British citizen, an Irish nationality law, Irish citizen or is otherwis ...

singer Ronnie Carroll reached No. 3 on the ''

Record Retailer ''Record Retailer'' was the only music trade newspaper for the UK record industry. It was founded in August 1959 as a monthly newspaper covering both labels and dealers. Its founding editor was Roy Parker (who died on 27 December 1964). The ti ...

'' chart on August 8, 1962, the same week that the

record peaked at No. 15.Ronnie Carroll- Full Official Chart History
''

Official Charts Company The Official UK Charts Company Limited (formerly Music Industry Chart Services Limited), trading as the Official Charts Company (OCC) or the Official Charts (formerly the Chart Information Network), is a British inter-professional organisation ...

''. Accessed October 13, 2015Bobby Vinton - Full Official Chart History
''

''. Accessed October 13, 2015 It peaked at No. 7 in the very first

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are ...

published in September 1962.

Chart performance

Other versions

In July 1962, David MacBeth released his version of the song as a single on

Piccadilly Records PYE or Pye Records is an independent British record label. It was first established in 1955 and played a major role in shaping rock 'n' roll and pop music history. The Pye name was dropped in 1980 due to trademark issues, after which it produced ...

. The song was recorded by

Jim Reeves James Travis Reeves (August 20, 1923July 31, 1964) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. One of the earliest pioneers and practitioners of the Nashville sound, he played a central role in the sonic development of country music in th ...

in 1963 and released on the album '' Gentleman Jim'', one of the last albums released while he was still alive. Caterina Valente recorded the song in German, ''Rosen Sind Rot''（1962）.The single reached #7 in Germany. Musik-Charts 1962 ranked the record #29 in their year end ranking. A Swedish version, "En ros som lyser röd" recorded by the Swedish/Danish artist

Carli Tornehave Carli Tornehave (born 26 August 1932, in Stockholm), is a Swedish/Danish singer and actor. Tornehave was born in Stockholm, but grew up in Denmark, where he and his family moved when he was four years old. He started playing music at an early ag ...

was released 1962 (Philips 433 415 PE). The song was covered by

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

an female artist Zhuang Xue Fang (莊雪芳), in edited

Standard Chinese Standard Chinese ( zh, s=现代标准汉语, t=現代標準漢語, p=Xiàndài biāozhǔn hànyǔ, l=modern standard Han speech) is a modern standard form of Mandarin Chinese that was first codified during the republican era (1912–1949). ...

lyrics written by Suyin (舒雲/雨牛) under title name of "玫瑰花香", with Ruby Records in 1967. In 1962, an

answer song An answer song, response song or answer record is a song (usually a recorded track) made in answer to a previous song, normally by another artist. The concept became widespread in blues and R&B recorded music in the 1930s to the 1950s. Answer son ...

, entitled "Long as the Rose Is Red", was recorded by Florraine Darlin. The song spent seven weeks on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, reaching No. 62, while reaching No. 15 on ''

''s

Easy Listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to the 1970s. It is related to middle of the road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit s ...

chart. It was released by

(single #9529)Late Pop Spotlights
, ''

'', August 4, 1962. p. 10. Retrieved March 20, 2018. and was produced by Robert Morgan.

References

{{Authority control 1962 singles Bobby Vinton songs Wednesday (Canadian band) songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles Number-one singles in Australia Number-one singles in New Zealand Number-one singles in Norway Number-one singles in South Africa Songs written by Paul Evans (musician) 1962 songs Epic Records singles

Bobby Vinton version

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications

Ronnie Carroll version

Chart performance

Other versions

See also

References