Tony Orlando & Dawn: Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree (1973)

The idea of using a yellow ribbon has been a part of culture since the English civil war in the 17th century as soldiers would wear yellow sashes out to war. This was visualized in the U.S. cavalry as early as the 1880's by the painter Fredric Remington, although there was nothing in the dress code that made it specific to a man's uniform to wear a kerchief. We see it in the actual form of a yellow ribbon to remember a loved one out to war in a popular marching song from the World War I, called, "'Round Her Neck She Wears a Yeller Ribbon".

The idea of it being linked to a convect has been an American folk tale since at least the late 1950's, and it was this tale that inspired Irwin Levine and L. Russell Brown to write this song in the summer of 1972. Interestingly enough this was shortly after ABC had showed a movie starring James Earl Jones called, "Going Home" which had the same storyline. This movie had been based on a New York Times article by Pete Hamill, written in 1971. Hamill sued the songwriters for taking his idea, but folklorists proved this had been a story that had around for at least 13 or 14 years. Coincidental?  For sure, but it could not be proven that the idea for the song was taken directly from the article/movie.

Tony Orlando and Dawn were riding the crest of a wave begun in 1970, which at the time was just Orlando and studio singers. When "Candita" and "Knock Three Times" became hits, Telma Hopkins and Joyce Vincent Wilson were added. There had been a lull in 71 and 72, but hit big with "Tie a Yellow Ribbon", which sparked a huge resurgence in their popularity and led them to several more big hits in the mid-70's along with a television show from 74-76,