Goodbye, Little Darlin', Goodbye
1939 song by Gene Autry and Johnny Marvin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Goodbye, Little Darlin', Goodbye" (also known as "Goodby Little Darlin") is a 1939 song written by Gene Autry and Johnny Marvin.[5] Autry sang it (as a duet with Mary Lee) in the December 1939 movie South of the Border,[6][7] and released it as a single in April 1940.[7] It went on to make both Popular and Hillbilly (Country) listings for 1940.
| "Goodbye, Little Darlin', Goodbye" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||
| Single by Gene Autry | ||||
| B-side | "When I'm Gone You'll Soon Forget" | |||
| Published | March 15, 1940 by Western Music Publishing Co., Hollywood, Calif.[1] | |||
| Released | April 1940[2] | |||
| Recorded | March 12, 1940[3][4] | |||
| Studio | CBS Columbia Square, Hollywood, California[3] | |||
| Genre | Hillbilly, Western | |||
| Length | 2:46 | |||
| Label | Vocalion 5463[3][2] | |||
| Songwriters | Johnny Marvin, Gene Autry[1] | |||
| Producer | Art Satherly | |||
| Gene Autry singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Audio | ||||
| "Goodbye Little Darlin' Goodbye" on YouTube | ||||
| "Goodbye Little Darlin'" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two | ||||
| A-side | "Goodby Little Darlin'" "You Tell Me" | |||
| Released | 1959 | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Label | Sun 331 | |||
| Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Audio | ||||
| "Goodby Little Darlin'" on YouTube | ||||
The song would be notably recorded by Johnny Cash[6][8] at Sun Records probably on December 13, 1956,[9] and released as a single (Sun 331, with "You Tell Me" on the opposite side) in September 1959,[10][11][12][13][14][15] when he had already left the label for Columbia.
Cash version
According to John M. Alexander's book The Man in Song: A Discographic Biography of Johnny Cash, the song was not released as a single:
“Goodbye Little Darlin',” which was written by cowboy legend Gene Autry and songwriter Johnny Marvin, was the first Cash song Jack Clement produced. Its haunting beauty reveals a side of Cash not yet realized. His final farewell to a lover who is leaving him is truly heartbreaking. While the song was never released as a single, Cash had faith in it and would rerecord it in 1964 for his I Walk the Line album on Columbia Records. Both versions are impeccable, and either one would have made a worthy single for either label.
— John M. Alexander. The Man in Song: A Discographic Biography of Johnny Cash[5]
Chart performance
Gene Autry
| Charts (1940) | Rank |
|---|---|
| US Billboard National Best Selling Retail Records | 20 |
| "The Billboard Hillbilly Record Hits of the Month" column[16] | 1 |
| US Billboard National Best Selling Retail Records Year-End | 264 |
| "The Billboard Hillbilly Record Hits" Year-End | 3 |
Johnny Cash
| Chart (1959) | Rank | |
|---|---|---|
| US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[17] | 22 | 22 |