Pat Boone

Synopsis of Pop Music

“April love is for the very young,
Every star's a wishing star that shines for you...”

It goes without saying that parents didn’t approve of most teen idols, but there was one that every parent felt comfortable with: ‘Mr. White Bucks’ himself, Pat Boone. With his pleasant, all-American looks and his wholesome image, Boone was the young singer that everyone could enjoy.

Boone was born in Jacksonville, Florida, but attended school in Nashville, Tennessee. He became fond of the area’s native country-and-western sounds and began singing while he attended college. Boone’s vocal prowess quickly won him honors in local talent shows, as well as an appearance on The Ted Mack Amateur Hour. The Ted Mack appearance led to a tenure on Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts and the beginning of his recording career. At the end of 1955, Boone hit #1 on the pop charts with a cover of Fats Domino’s “Ain’t That A Shame.” Boone’s career as a pop artist was born.

Between 1956 and 1963, Boone would make 54 visits to the pop charts with a mixture of mellow, carefully-polished covers of rhythm-and-blues songs and pretty ballads. One of his most impressive achievements came in 1957 when he scored three #1 pop hits with the songs “Don’t Forbid Me,” “Love Letters In The Sand” and “April Love.” He achieved one additional #1 hit, “Moody River,” in 1961. Boone would also do the occasional novelty tune, the most notable example being 1962’s “Speedy Gonzales.”

Boone became a show-business renaissance man during his hit era, branching into several different areas. He hosted a successful television variety show, The Pat Boone-Chevy Showroom, from 1957 to 1960. Also in 1957, he began a screen acting career in films like Bernadette and April Love. Appropriately, these films often featured Boone’s songs as theme music. Boone also became an author in 1959 with the release of Twixt Twelve and Twenty, a self-help book for children who fell in the titular age bracket (the book’s title was also the title of another Boone hit song). Somehow, Boone managed to find the time between all these other achievements to finish college in 1958 and graduate with a degree in Speech and English.

Boone continued recording and touring throughout the late 60’s, often including his wife and daughters as performers on his tours. Boone’s already family-friendly image became even stronger when he began to focus on gospel material in the 70’s. As the 80’s arrived, Boone continued to perform but focused his attention on charity work and hosting religious-themed radio and television shows. He continues to record today, usually making gospel albums but also dabbling in country-western and other styles.

Pat Boone’s most interesting recent recording was In A Metal Mood: No More Mr. Nice Guy, a 1997 album that re-interpreted heavy-metal classics like “Stairway To Heaven” and “Panama” in a jazz-inflected, big band style. Boone displayed his often-unrecognized sense of humor to good effect with this effort, even promoting the album in a mock 'leather and tattoos'-style on the American Music Awards and The Tonight Show. This unintentionally created a bit of controversy for Boone and caused him to be briefly dismissed from Gospel America, a TV show he had been hosting for several years. However, cooler heads prevailed and Boone was reinstated as host shortly afterwards.

Despite this recent attention to his musical efforts, Boone has chosen to put his music career on the back-burner while pursuing his radio, television and charity work. However, his pop legacy will live on years to come. Even though decades have passed since his initial success, Pat Boone remains the ninth biggest-selling singles artist of all time. It is likely that Boone will always be remembered by pop fans as the king of “good clean fun.”

Artist Release History

1956 - Howdy!
1956 - Pat Boone
1957 - Pat
1957 - A Closer Walk with Thee
1957 - Four by Pat
1957 - Hymns We Love
1957 - Pat Boone Sings Irving Berlin
1957 - Pat's Great Hits
1958 - Star Dust
1958 - Yes Indeed!
1959 - Tenderly
1959 - Side by Side
1959 - He Leadeth Me
1959 - Pat Boone Sings
1959 - White Christmas
1960 - Moonglow
1960 - Hymns We Have Loved
1960 - This and That
1960 - Great! Great! Great!
1960 - Pat's Great Hits, Vol. 2
1961 - Moody River
1961 - My God and I
1962 - I'll See You in My Dreams
1962 - Pat Boone Reads from the Holy Bible
1962 - State Fair [Soundtrack]
1962 - Pat Boone's Golden Hits
1962 - Pat Boone's Greatest Hits
1963 - I Love You Truly
1963 - Days of Wine and Roses (And Other Movie Themes)
1963 - The Star Spangled Banner
1963 - Pat Boone Sings Guess Who?
1963 - Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport
1963 - Sing Along without Pat Boone
1963 - Golden Hits
1964 - The Touch of Your Lips
1964 - Pat Boone
1964 - Ain't That a Shame
1964 - The Lord's Prayer (And Other Great Hymns)
1964 - Boss Beat!
1964 - 12 Great Hits
1964 - True Love: My Tenth Anniversary with Dot (compilation)
1965 - Near You
1965 - Blest Be Thy Name
1965 - The Golden Era of Country Hits (compilation)
1966 - Great Hits of 1965
1966 - Memories
1966 - Wish You Were Here, Buddy
1966 - Winners of the Reader's Digest Poll
1966 - Christmas Is a Comin'
1967 - How Great Thou Art
1967 - I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman
1967 - Golden Hits/15 Hits of Pat Boone
1968 - Look Ahead
1969 - Departure
1972 - Sings (The New Songs of the Jesus People)
1972 - In the Holy Land
1972 - Sixteen Great Performances (compilation)
1973 - I Love You More and More Each Day
1973 - Born Again
1973 - Family Who Prays
1973 - Pat Boone S-A-V-E-D
1973 - All in the Boone Family
1974 - Songs from the Inner Court
1974 - The Pat Boone Family
1975 - Something Supernatural
1976 - Pat Boone Originals
1976 - Texas Woman
1977 - The Country Side of Pat Boone
1977 - Country Love
1981 - Just the Way I Am
1981 - Songmaker
1982 - Whispering Hope
1982 - The Best of Pat Boone
1984 - Pat Boone Sings Golden Hymns
1985 - Love Letters in the Sand (compilation)
1986 - Jivin' Pat(compilation)
1986 - All the Hits
1987 - Let's Get Cooking, America
1987 - Tough Marriage
1987 - 16 Golden Classics
1988 - Pat Boone with the First Nashville Jesus Band
1990 - Greatest Hits
1992 - The Best of Pat Boone: April Love
1992 - Merry Christmas
1993 - The Best of Pat Boone: Love Letters in the Sand
1994 - More Greatest Hits
1994 - Remember (compilation)
1995 - Greatest Hymns (compilation)
1995 - His Greatest Hits
1995 - Family Christmas
1997 - In a Metal Mood: No More Mr. Nice Guy
1997 - Pat Boone: Members Edition (compilation)
1997 - Fifties: Complete (compilation)
1997 - EP Collection (compilation)
1998 - Sing the Biggest Christmas Hits
1998 - The Inspirational Collection (compilation)
1998 - The Best of Pat Boone
1998 - Masters (compilation)
1999 - Hymns We Love (compilation)
1999 - The Very Best of Pat Boone
1999 - Gold Collection (compilation)
1999 - Golden Treasury of Hymns (compilation)
1999 - Hits of the 60's (compilation)
2000 - Love Letters in the Sand (compilation)
2000 - April Love (compilation)
2000 - 20th Century Masters - Millennium Collection (compilation)

Pop Sub Categories

pop

Essential Music Albums

Masters(CLE)
In A Metal Mood- No More Mr. Nice Guy (Hip-O)

Band Members

Pat Boone vocals

Other Pop Music Links

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