Sunday Morning Vault: Pat Boone--Love Letters in the Sand (1957)

     In the late 50's, the two most popular male artists were Elvis Presley and Pat Boone. Revisionist history want's to put all of the spotlight on Elvis and push Boone to the background, but the truth was that for all of the excitement that Elvis caused, America in the 50's was still very conservative, and many teens were as well. Boone made records that, in hindsight, were a natural progression of the early 50's pop sound, updated for younger listeners. He also appealed to many parents since he was practically asexual on record (and on screen as well), as opposed to artists such as Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis who practically oozed it.
      Many forget how young he actually was (21) when the hits started coming in 1955.  By the time he sang, "Love Letters In The Sand" hit #1, he had already been at the top of the charts three times. He would continue to be a force on the charts until 1962, and he still holds the record for having the most consecutive weeks (220) on the Billboard singles charts. Love Letters, was originally written in 1931 and was first a hit for Ted Black's Orchestra, Boone also used it in the film in which he starred, "Bernardine"