Kisses Sweeter than Wine

"Kisses Sweeter Than Wine"
1951 45 rpm release by the Weavers, 9-27670
Single by the Weavers
A-side"When the Saints Go Marching In"
Written1950
Published1951
ReleasedJuly 1951 (1951-07)
RecordedJune 12, 1951
Genre
LabelDecca
Composer(s)Traditional Irish (credited to "Joel Newman")
Lyricist(s)Pete Seeger, Lee Hays (under pseudonym "Paul Campbell")
1951 sheet music, Folkways, New York.

"Kisses Sweeter Than Wine" is a popular song, with lyrics written and music adapted in 1950 by Pete Seeger and Lee Hays of the Weavers. It became a US hit in a version recorded by the Weavers in 1951, and an even bigger hit in 1957 when recorded by Jimmie Rodgers. Frankie Vaughan also had a top ten hit with the song in the UK in 1958.

The tune was adapted from Lead Belly's "If It Wasn't for Dicky" (1937), which in turn was adapted from the traditional Irish folk tune "Drimindown / Drumion Dubh". The Weavers first released the song in 1951 as a Decca single, which reached number 19 on the Billboard chart and number 20 on the Cashbox chart in 1951.[1] Rodgers hit number 7 on the Billboard charts with the song in 1957, and Frankie Vaughan hit number 8 in the UK with it the following year.

  1. ^ "Songs from the Year 1951". Tsort.info. Retrieved 4 May 2021.