“Blue Velvet” is a popular song written and composed in 1950 by Bernie Wayne and Lee Morris. A top 20 hit for Tony Bennett in its original 1951 version, the song has since been re-recorded many times, with a 1963 version by Bobby Vinton reaching No. 1.
| “Blue Velvet” | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Bobby Vinton | ||||
| from the album Blue on Blue | ||||
| B-side | “Is There a Place (Where I Can Go)” | |||
| Released | 1963 | |||
| Format | Vinyl, 7 in, 45 RPM | |||
| Recorded | 1963 | |||
| Genre | Traditional pop | |||
| Length | 2:47 | |||
| Label | Epic | |||
| Songwriter(s) |
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| Producer(s) | Bob Morgan | |||
| Bobby Vinton singles chronology | ||||
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The most successful recording of “Blue Velvet” was released by Bobby Vinton in 1963. Vinton’s version reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on 21 September 1963 and remained at No. 1 for the subsequent two weeks. “Blue Velvet” also afforded Vinton a No. 1 hit on the U.S. Middle-Road Singles chart, where its No. 1 tenure was eight weeks.
Vinton’s No. 3 hit in the summer of 1963, with “Blue on Blue,” prompted the recording of the Blue on Blue album comprising songs featuring the word “blue” in the title. Vinton’s friend, music publisher Al Gallico, suggested “Blue Velvet” as a Blue on Blue album track and sent his secretary with a dollar to a music store to purchase the song’s sheet music; an hour later, Vinton had recorded “Blue Velvet” in two takes. Vinton did not expect the song to be a hit, and believed that his remake of “Am I Blue?” had more sales potential.
Vinton’s version was ranked No. 4 on Cash Box‘s “Top 100 Chart Hits of 1963” and No. 8 on Cash Box‘s “Top 100 Chart Hits of 1964”.
Vinton’s recording failed to make the British charts when originally released, but a re-release in 1990 reached No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart, with “Blue on Blue” as the B-side.
Lana Del Rey version (H&M 2012 Autumn Collection Commercial)
| “Blue Velvet” | ||||
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| Single by Lana Del Rey | ||||
| from the album Paradise | ||||
| Released | September 20, 2012 | |||
| Format | Digital download | |||
| Length | 2:36 | |||
| Label | Interscope | |||
| Songwriter(s) |
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| Producer(s) | Emile Haynie | |||
| Lana Del Rey singles chronology | ||||
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| American singer and songwriter Lana Del Rey released a cover of the song “Blue Velvet” in 2012. It was taken from reissue of her debut studio album Born to Die – The Paradise Edition and her third EP, Paradise. It was released as a single on September 20, 2012, through Interscope Records, and used in an advertising campaign for the clothing retailer H&M. | ||||
Del Rey had recorded a cover of “Blue Velvet” for her 2012 H&M Autumn campaign. On September 20, the song was released as a single. Del Rey was selected for the H&M ad campaign after an impressionable performance at a Mulberry dinner party. Industry moguls Michelle Williams, Alexa Chung, Elizabeth Olsen, and Anna Wintour attended the party and were impressed by the performance. A public relations manager for H&M said Del Rey was chosen because they “were looking for a style icon and singer to model our fall collection and so Lana Del Rey was the perfect choice.”
On September 19, the music video, which served as a commercial for the H&M 2012 Autumn Collection as well, for “Blue Velvet” was released through H&M. In the video, Del Rey is singing the song in a low-lit room before an audience of pallid people, playing an Americana lounge singer dressed in a pink mohair sweater, She is then hypnotized. Three women dressed identically to Del Rey sit on a couch and watch her coldly. At the end, a little man walks into the room, pulls out the plug for Del Rey’s microphone, silencing her. Compared to the David Lynch film of the same name, it was directed by Johan Renck. and composed in post-World War II Americana fashion and the notion of external beauty cloaking inner vulnerability. A behind the scenes video was filmed and posted to H&M’s official YouTube channel.
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