1963 Pop No. 1, First Recorded By Tony Bennett, Topped The Charts 63 Years Ago Today

On September 23, 1963, "Blue Velvet," the lush, dizzying, and memory-triggering pop classic from Bobby Vinton (but originated by Tony Bennett 12 years earlier), was just a few days into its three-week run as the No. 1 song on Billboard's Hot 100. One of the most timeless slow songs of the '60s, it topped the charts a little over a year after Vinton scored his first No. 1 back in July 1962 with "Roses Are Red."

Bridging the gap between 1950s crooners and early rock 'n' roll with his youth-targeted teen idol contemporaries, Vinton was an enormously popular singer in the early 1960s, often interpreting love songs that had broad appeal across age groups. By the end of the decade, he'd place 26 singles in the Top 40. "Blue Velvet" was among the biggest, one of Vinton's four No. 1 smashes. And he only notched that achievement after following through on a novel idea.

A romantic classic that might take boomers back to their first crush, "Blue Velvet" had already been covered several times by 1963, but Vinton made it his own. His innocent, tender warble was the perfect way to deliver a bittersweet and misty-eyed musical recollection about the narrator's first glimpse of an important woman in his life, one he found strikingly beautiful in a dress that was as impossibly blue as her eyes.

"Blue Velvet" was Vinton's first and only No. 1 inside of 1963, but it was his second hit of the year with the word "blue" in the title. Back in July, Vinton's recording of "Blue on Blue" reached the No. 3 position. That got Vinton thinking about the many pop standards and lesser-known songs out there that name-checked the color blue, so he opted to jump on the popularity of "Blue on Blue" with an entire LP of blue-themed tunes. In 1963, "Blue on Blue" the album hit stores, a collection of 12 Vinton covers including "Mr. Blue," "Blueberry Hill," "My Blue Heaven," and "Blue Velvet." The latter was recorded on the recommendation of a music publisher and was added to the track list during recording sessions in Nashville — the sheet music was purchased from a music store near the studio. From the suggestion to the recording of "Blue Velvet," all of an hour elapsed. Vinton nailed the No. 1 hit in just two takes, committing the song to posterity in a total of 10 minutes.