1st RECORDING OF: I Love You Because - Leon Payne (1949) (#1 C&W hit)

The composer of the much-recorded country-pop standard gave us this first version and reached #1 on Billboard’s C&W radio airplay chart in early 1950 (his only national chart appearance). Versions by Ernest Tubb and Clyde Moody also shared in the tune’s initial success that year. Some of us first heard the song in 1956 when Elvis included it in his first LP, and a top-5 version in 1963 revived the career of Al Martino (listen here: ) The original single was issued on Capitol 40238 - I Love You Because (Leon Payne) by Leon Payne with String Band, recorded August 11, 1949 For hundreds of other ‘originals,’ please visit the fascinating playlist “FIRST RECORDING OF THE SONG…” (click here: ) . ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The three* MusicProf channels are home to The HITS ARCHIVES, YouTube’s most comprehensive collection of U.S. ‘popular music’ recordings from 1925 thru 1975. Discover thousands of original hit versions, conveniently arranged in year-by-year playlists and sorted alphabetically in your choice of either song title or artist name. Simply visit this channel’s home page (here: @the78prof72 ), scroll down the rows of playlist categories, choose a favorite year, click on “view full playlist,” and then pick out the songs that you want to hear. Enjoy the music! * The78Prof The45Prof AnotherProf