A Thousand Miles Away

Album: A Thousand Miles Away (1956)
Charted: 53
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Songfacts®:

  • The Heartbeats started out as The Hearts but changed their name in 1955. The members were Robbie Tatum, Wally Roker, Vernon Sievers, Albert Crump and James Sheppard. They signed with Hull Records and recorded this (co-written by Sheppard) in 1956. After Hull sold the master to Rama Records, this reached #5 on the R&B charts. >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Frank Pellicone - Yardley, PA
  • Shortly after this hit, Sheppard left the Heartbeats to form his own group, Shep and the Limelites, who eventually recorded an answer record. Five years later (in 1961) Shep and the Limelites hit #2 on the Hot 100 with "Daddy's Home." >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Brad Wind - Miami, FL

Comments: 5

  • Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn May 11, 1961, Johnny Nash was a guest on the Dick Clark ABC-TV weekday-afternoon program, 'American Bandstand'...
    The month before in April of 1961, ABC-Paramount Records released his "I Need Someone To Stand By Me", b/w his covered version of "A Thousand Miles Away"*, neither side made Billboard's Top 100 chart...
    Between 1957 and 1974 the Houston, Texas native had twelve records on the Top 100 chart, two made the Top 10 with one reaching #1, "I Can See Clearly Now", for four weeks in 1972...
    Besides "I Can See Clearly Now", his other Top 10 record was "Hold Me Tight", it peaked at #5 for two weeks in 1968...
    One of his twelve charted records was as a member of a trio with Paul Anka and George Hamilton IV, "Teen Commandments", it reached #29 in 1959...
    John Lester Nash, Jr. will celebrate his 78th birthday in three months on August 19th {2018}...
    * And from the 'For What It's Worth' department, the original version of "A Thousand Miles Away" by the Heartbeats charted twice on the Top 100 chart, it reached #53 on December 20th, 1956 and three years later on November 7th, 1960 it re-entered the Top 100 for a one week stay at position #96.
  • Barry from Sauquoit, NyPer: http://www.oldiesmusic.com/news.htm
    Wally Roker, bass singer and manager of the Heartbeats passed away early Wednesday (December 2nd, 2015) at the age of 78...
    Formed in Jamaica, Queens in New York, they were originally known as the Hearts but changed to the longer name because of a conflict with another group...
    After four releases on Network and Hull Records, the group jumped to Rama with their fifth - the classic "A Thousand Miles Away" (#53 in 1957). The follow-up, "Everybody's Somebody's Fool," reached #78 later that year, but by 1960, the group disbanded and Wally moved to the West Coast to work in the business end of the recording industry - most notably as a promotion man for Capitol Records...
    Wally owned at least five record labels and produced the original version of Tyrone Davis' "Turn Back the Hands of Time." He later served as the Director of Music Marketing for the Doo Wop Hall of Fame in Los Angeles (who inducted the Heartbeats in 2012)...
    May he R.I.P.
  • Steve Dotstar from Los Angeles, CaI love the answer syllables "Rat A-Tat"...lol
  • Frank from Valley Stream, NyI thought that James Sheppard wrote this song,
    when his girlfriend moved from
    New York to Texas. You're a 1000 miles away.

    Frank B.//
  • Ray from Laughlin, NvOne of the singers in the group The Heartbeats was Al Attles who became a great NBA player and eventually Head Coach of the Golden State Warriors.
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