Last Kiss
| "Last Kiss" | |
|---|---|
| Single by Wayne Cochran | |
| B-side | "Funny Feeling" Written by: Joe Carpenter and Milt (Pete) Skelton |
| Released | 1961 |
| Format | Vinyl |
| Recorded | 1961 in Athens, Georgia on UGA's Campus, (original version) 1963 in Macon, Georgia (re-recorded version) |
| Label | Gala (original version – 1961) King (re-recorded version – 1963) |
| Writer(s) | Wayne Cochran, Joe Carpenter, Randall Hoyal & Bobby McGlon |
| "Last Kiss" | |
|---|---|
Danish vinyl single
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| Single by J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers | |
| from the album Last Kiss | |
| B-side | "That's How Much I Love You" |
| Released | 5 September 1964 |
| Format | Vinyl |
| Recorded | August 1964 in San Angelo, Texas Accurate Sound Co. |
| Length | 2:25 |
| Label | Josie |
| Writer(s) | Wayne Cochran, Joe Carpenter, Randall Hoyal & Bobby McGlon |
| Producer(s) | Sonley Roush |
| "Last Kiss" | ||||
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| Single by Wednesday | ||||
| from the album Last Kiss | ||||
| B-side | "Without You" | |||
| Released | 1973 | |||
| Format | 7" single | |||
| Genre | Pop | |||
| Label | Ampex | |||
| Writer(s) | Wayne Cochran, Joe Carpenter, Randall Hoyal & Bobby McGlon | |||
| Wednesday singles chronology | ||||
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| "Last Kiss" | ||||
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| Single by Pearl Jam | ||||
| from the album No Boundaries: A Benefit for the Kosovar Refugees | ||||
| B-side | "Soldier of Love" | |||
| Released | June 8, 1999 | |||
| Format | CD single, Cassette, vinyl | |||
| Recorded | September 19, 1998 at Constitution Hall, Washington, D.C. | |||
| Length | 3:16 | |||
| Label | Epic | |||
| Writer(s) | Wayne Cochran, Joe Carpenter, Randall Hoyal & Bobby McGlon | |||
| Pearl Jam singles chronology | ||||
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"Last Kiss" is a song released by Wayne Cochran in 1961 on the Gala label. It failed to do well on the charts. Cochran subsequently re-recorded his song for the King label in 1963. It was later revived by J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers, Pearl Jam and several international artists, including the Canadian group Wednesday, with varying degrees of success. The song was one of several teen tragedy songs from that period. The song's opening lyrics mirror the opening lyrics of Septimus Winner's "Der Deitcher's Dog".
The singer borrows his father's car to take his beloved sweetheart out on a romantic date (on a rainy night). Coming upon a stalled car in the road, the singer swerves to the right to avoid it, losing control and crashing violently in the process. The crash renders both the singer and his girlfriend unconscious. The singer later regains consciousness and finds several people at the scene of the accident, but was still able to find his girlfriend, still lying unconscious. When the singer cradles his girlfriend lovingly in his arms, she regains partial consciousness, smiling and asking the singer to "hold me, darling, just a little while." The singer then gives his sweetheart what would be their "last romantic kiss" as she fades into death and enters the afterlife.
In the song's chorus, the singer vows to be a good boy so that he may reunite with his dear sweetheart when his time comes, believing she has made it into Heaven.
By Wayne Cochran, Joe Carpenter, Randall Hoyal & Bobby McGlon (1961)
In the summer of 1961, four friends traveled to the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, to record a song Wayne Cochran had written, with Joe Carpenter, Randall Hoyal and Bobby McGlon, called "Last Kiss". Wayne Cochran (vocals), Joe Carpenter (guitar), Bobby Rakestraw (bass), and Jerry Reppert (drums) recorded the song for the Gala label, a small label based in Vidalia. When the labels for the 45s, Gala #117, were printed, the names of co-writers Joe Carpenter, Randall Hoyal and Bobby McGlon were left off. Cochran evidently never asked Gala to change the label, to include the other names; to this day Cochran is the only one credited with writing "Last Kiss".
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Wikipedia