“Don’t Forbid Me” was written by Charles Singleton who was a songwriter in the Fifties and Sixties. Besides “Don’t Forbid Me,” he also wrote “Strangers in the Night” which Frank Sinatra went on to record in 1966. I’ll talk more about that when I get to 1966.

“Don’t Forbid Me” was first sent to Elvis Presley’s house but was never seen by him. He said it got lost in the junk mail. It is known that Elvis recorded a short version of the song when he got together with the other three superstars who made up the “Million Dollar Quartet.” (See the post just prior to this one.) The song was recorded at Sun Records, but somehow has been lost and it seems the recording does not exist today.

The Beatles never recorded the song, to my knowledge, but they did perform it in the years 1960 and 1961 when they were playing in Liverpool and Hamburg. However, no recording of any of those concerts is known to exist today. The orchestra leader Bert Kaempfert later recorded the song and it is believed that he heard the Beatles play the song in Hamburg and liked it enough to include in on a later album he recorded.

So, the song has been around. This is the third number one by Pat Boone so far in the Fifties. I mentioned before that he is second only to Elvis Presley in record sales during the Fifties, being the wholesome type of singer that the parents approved of. Parents had a lot more influence over their children then and when the parents liked someone, it made it a lot easier for the children to buy the records. Pat Boone was wholesome and he was handsome and he had a great voice, the perfect performer.

“Don’t Forbid Me” entered the charts on February 9, 1957 and stayed at number one for one week.

The video doesn’t show anything, just the record, but you can hear the original song.

Next: “Young Love” – Sonny James and Tab Hunter