"She Wears Red Feathers" is a popular song, which was written by

Bob Merrill Henry Robert Merrill Levan (May 17, 1921 – February 17, 1998) was an American songwriter, theatrical composer, lyricist, and screenwriter. Merrill was one of the most successful songwriters of the 1950s on the US and UK single charts. His ...

and published in 1952.

Background and reception

The best-known

recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, re ...

of the song was made by

Guy Mitchell Guy Mitchell (born Albert George Cernik; February 22, 1927 – July 1, 1999) was an American pop singer and actor, successful in his homeland, the UK, and Australia. He sold 44 million records, including six million-selling singles. His best-kno ...

in 1952 and was a No. 1

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

in the UK Singles Chart in March 1953 for four weeks. It was only the sixth single to reach the top spot in the UK. Mitchell's recording was made for Columbia in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

on July 2, 1952, with

Mitch Miller Mitchell William Miller (July 4, 1911 – July 31, 2010) was an American choral conductor, record producer, record-industry executive, and professional oboist. He was involved in almost all aspects of the industry, particularly as a conductor ...

and his Orchestra and Chorus. It was released in his native America on December 26 that year as a 78 and 45rpm single. There, it peaked at No. 19 on the ''Billboard'' charts. In the UK, Mitchell's single first charted on February 13, 1953, and reached No. 1 in its fifth week. It was the only charting recording of the song. "She Wears Red Feathers" first appeared on the UK's sheet music charts on February 21, 1953, and peaked at No. 3. February 1953 saw the only three recordings of the song issued in the UK: these were by Guy Mitchell, The

Ray Ellington Henry Pitts Brown (17 March 1916 – 27 February 1985), known professionally as Ray Ellington, was an English singer, drummer and bandleader. He is best known for his appearances on ''The Goon Show'' from 1951 to 1960. The Ray Ellington Quartet ...

Quartet with The Peter Knight Singers, and

Donald Peers Donald Rhys Hubert Peers (10 July 1908 – 9 August 1973) was a Welsh people, Welsh singer of traditional pop. His best remembered rendition and signature song was "In a Shady Nook by a Babbling Brook". Biography Early life Donald Peers was b ...

with The Kordites. In May, Mitchell's version was issued on the new 45rpm format, having initially only been available on 78rpm. In February 1982, Mitchell re-recorded the song for Triad International Productions at Audio Media Studios in

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

, alongside a number of other re-recordings of his earlier material. These recordings were released by

Arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated video, pinball, electro-mechanical, redemption, etc., game ** Arcade video game, a coin-operated video game ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade video game's hardware ** Arcad ...

on ''The World of Guy Mitchell'' album, and have been since been re-issued on multiple albums.

Other recordings

* Alberto Semprini, on pianoforte with rhythm accompaniment, recorded it in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

as the first song of the medley "Dancing to the piano (No. 20) - Hit medley of quick-steps" along with "Wild Roses" and " Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes". The medley was released by

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

on the

His Master's Voice His Master's Voice is an entertainment trademark featuring a dog named Nipper, curiously peering into the horn of a wind-up gramophone. Painted by Francis Barraud in 1898, the image has since become a global symbol used across consumer elect ...

label (catalog number B 10457). *The band

Mud Mud (, or Middle Dutch) is loam, silt or clay mixed with water. Mud is usually formed after rainfall or near water sources. Ancient mud deposits hardened over geological time to form sedimentary rock such as shale or mudstone (generally cal ...

also released a cover of this song. *Another cover, performed in a cabaret club, featured in the opening scene of the 1989 film ''

Scandal A scandal can be broadly defined as the strong social reactions of outrage, anger, or surprise, when accusations or rumours circulate or appear for some reason, regarding a person or persons who are perceived to have transgressed in some way a ...

''.

References

Songs written by Bob Merrill Guy Mitchell songs 1952 singles UK singles chart number-one singles {{1950s-pop-song-stub